Archives and databases
No public database is the Scene's official master record. Coverage depends on private feeds, public submissions, preserved files and later backfilling, so two reputable services can disagree without either being deliberately false.
| Resource |
Status |
Scope and cautions |
| SceneRules |
CURRENT ARCHIVE |
Signed category rulesets and historical rule documents. The site's Current English Rules collection is mirrored locally in this wiki's Current rulesets. |
| PreDB.net |
CURRENT |
Searchable release names, groups, sections, timestamps, nuke information and some NFO records. A pre timestamp can represent a later database insertion for an older release. |
| srrDB |
CURRENT ARCHIVE |
Historical release records, NFOs, file metadata and ReScene information. It is useful for package-level preservation but is not a complete pre database. |
| xREL |
CURRENT |
Release and NFO index with particularly strong German-language community context. It also records Scene notices and regional rulesets. |
| NGP |
CURRENT |
Metadata, NFOs and statistics with separate Scene and P2P coverage. The presence of both ecosystems does not make them the same thing. |
| crowdNFO |
BETA |
Community-submitted NFO and MediaInfo archive. Its own beta notice warns that data or accounts may be reset. |
Reading pre-database evidence
- A release name is metadata, not the release contents.
- An ingestion date is not always the original pre date.
- A familiar group tag can be reused by an unrelated group.
- Missing records do not prove that a release never existed.
- Public databases may mix Scene, P2P or regional material unless their filters are understood.
Warez and PC Scene history
| Resource |
Status |
Scope |
| Defacto2 |
CURRENT ARCHIVE |
PC Scene NFOs, magazines, group documents, cracktros, source code, historical websites and other digital artifacts. |
| Textfiles.com |
ARCHIVE |
BBS-era textfiles, phreaking and hacking material, art, magazines and early online-culture documents. Its scope is much broader than the warez Scene. |
| Internet Archive |
CURRENT ARCHIVE |
Web captures, software, video, magazines and collections such as BBS documentary interviews. Provenance varies by item. |
| Wayback Machine |
CURRENT ARCHIVE |
Preserved snapshots of vanished group sites, news pages, interviews and link directories. A capture proves what a page displayed, not that every claim on it was accurate. |
ANSI, ASCII and textmode art
| Resource |
Status |
Scope |
| 16colo.rs |
CURRENT ARCHIVE |
Web-viewable ANSI/ASCII artpacks and e-mags from the early 1990s onward, including current artpack releases. |
| Defacto2 art and NFO collections |
CURRENT ARCHIVE |
Textmode art in the context of PC cracking, release groups, magazines and NFO documents. |
| Blocktronics |
CURRENT |
Contemporary ANSI-art collective and gateway to modern textmode projects. |
Artwork remains the work of its creators. Public archival access does not automatically grant permission to reuse a logo, ANSI piece or artpack in another project.
Demoscene and cracktro preservation
| Resource |
Status |
Scope |
| Demozoo |
CURRENT |
Database of productions, people, groups, parties, BBSes, graphics and music; it also documents cracktros where preservation is legally possible. |
| Scene.org |
CURRENT ARCHIVE |
Non-profit demoscene organization and file archive for demos, music, graphics, party material and magazines. |
| Pouët.net |
CURRENT |
Community database and discussion site for demoscene productions. It often links to files hosted elsewhere. |
These services primarily document the demoscene, not a database of modern warez releases. The overlap comes from shared history, people, BBS culture, intros, music and visual techniques.