Second Reality by Future Crew
Hacker ApprovedComputer demo
A 1993 PC demo that many people remember as their introduction to demos and programming, now runnable in the browser as a faithful rebuild with no emulation.
A 1993 PC demo that many people remember as their introduction to demos and programming, now runnable in the browser as a faithful rebuild with no emulation.
11 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 11
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 11 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Sparked early interest in computing
“Future Crew's "Second Reality" was my introduction to demos, back in the 486 PC days.”
Comment from 8 Apr 2026 in “Razor1911. A demo 40 years in the making” “Second Reality was one of the programs that made me a computer geek as a kid.”
Comment from 20 Aug 2026 in “Show HN: Future Crew's 1993 Second Reality, rebuilt by AI agents, no emulation” Inspired software engineering careers
“A mindbender demo that accelerated quite a few finish developer careers”
Comment from 1 Apr 2026 on Hacker News “it infused my software engineering career”
Comment from 13 Jul 2026 in “Beavis Ultrasound PnP ISA Sound Card Replica” Music and graphics still impress
“the music from second reality still gives me goosebumps”
Comment from 8 Oct 2026 in “Classic PC demoscene productions running natively in the browser” “I remember being blown away by the graphics and audio”
Comment from 8 Oct 2026 in “Classic PC demoscene productions running natively in the browser” Faithful, immersive browser rebuild
“I did not expect a full-screen, immersive experience.”
Comment from 20 Aug 2026 in “Show HN: Future Crew's 1993 Second Reality, rebuilt by AI agents, no emulation” “This is amazingly faithful to the original!”
Comment from 7 Feb 2026 in “Plasma Effect”
What people recommend instead
The same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Second Reality by Future CrewThis page | 11 | 0 | 100% | 6 | — | Approved |
| 8088 MPH | 6 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
11 of the 12 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I remember being blown away by the graphics and audio”
“A video does not do it justice.”
“the music from second reality still gives me goosebumps”
“I hope you keep the domain and wares active for a long time.”
“I did not expect a full-screen, immersive experience.”
“Second Reality was one of the programs that made me a computer geek as a kid.”
“it infused my software engineering career”
“Future Crew's "Second Reality" was my introduction to demos, back in the 486 PC days.”
“A mindbender demo that accelerated quite a few finish developer careers”
“fondly remember seeing little bits of”
“This is amazingly faithful to the original!”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.