Observation #06: The race for the smallest MOD

There are almost 5000 modules that are smaller than 8 kilobytes. The size distribution for small modules (all formats) is displayed below.

Size has always been one of the competitive factors in Demoscene productions. I was still surprised by the amount of protracker MODs that target the minimum number of bytes possible on the format. There is a significant peak around 2112 bytes in the graph, and the shortest module is 2108 bytes.

alt Modules smaller than 8kb

There are two protracker mods that are exactly 2108 bytes in size.

The Ultimate Beeper by Groo
7 Silent Secounds by Frequent

What is remarkable about Groo’s tune is that it has only zero length samples and you can still hear music. Playing the module requires using a real Amiga or 8bitbubsy’s PT2-Intel clone. It won’t play on the regular LibOpenMPT based modern trackers.

Frequent’s tune is, like the title indicates, silent. If you want to hear the composition, you’ll need to load a sample in and then it is no longer as short as The Ultimate Beeper.

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