<s>
ANSI	B-Protocol
art	I-Protocol
is	O
a	O
computer	O
art	O
form	O
that	O
was	O
widely	O
used	O
at	O
one	O
time	O
on	O
bulletin	B-Application
board	I-Application
systems	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
similar	O
to	O
ASCII	O
art	O
,	O
but	O
constructed	O
from	O
a	O
larger	O
set	O
of	O
256	O
letters	O
,	O
numbers	O
,	O
and	O
symbols	O
—	O
all	O
codes	O
found	O
in	O
IBM	O
code	O
page	O
437	O
,	O
often	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
extended	B-Protocol
ASCII	I-Protocol
and	O
used	O
in	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
and	O
Unix	B-Application
environments	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ANSI	B-Protocol
art	I-Protocol
also	O
contains	O
special	O
ANSI	O
escape	O
sequences	O
that	O
color	O
text	O
with	O
the	O
16	O
foreground	O
and	O
8	O
background	O
colours	O
offered	O
by	O
ANSI.SYS	O
,	O
an	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
device	B-Application
driver	I-Application
loosely	O
based	O
upon	O
the	O
ANSI	O
X3.64	O
standard	O
for	O
text	O
terminals	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ANSI	B-Protocol
art	I-Protocol
and	O
text	O
files	O
which	O
incorporate	O
ANSI	O
codes	O
carry	O
the	O
de	O
facto	O
file	O
extension	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ANSI	B-Protocol
art	I-Protocol
is	O
considerably	O
more	O
flexible	O
than	O
ASCII	O
art	O
,	O
because	O
the	O
particular	O
character	O
set	O
it	O
uses	O
contains	O
symbols	O
intended	O
for	O
drawing	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
a	O
wide	O
variety	O
of	O
box-drawing	O
characters	O
and	O
block	O
characters	O
that	O
dither	O
the	O
foreground	O
and	O
background	O
color	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
popularity	O
of	O
ANSI	B-Protocol
art	I-Protocol
encouraged	O
the	O
creation	O
of	O
a	O
powerful	O
shareware	O
package	O
called	O
TheDraw	B-Protocol
coded	O
by	O
Ian	O
E	O
.	O
Davis	O
in	O
1986	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Not	O
only	O
did	O
it	O
considerably	O
simplify	O
the	O
process	O
of	O
making	O
an	O
ANSI	B-Protocol
art	I-Protocol
screen	O
from	O
scratch	O
,	O
but	O
it	O
also	O
included	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
"	O
fonts	O
"	O
,	O
large	O
letters	O
constructed	O
from	O
box	O
and	O
block	O
characters	O
,	O
and	O
transition	O
animations	O
such	O
as	O
dissolve	O
and	O
clock	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
No	O
new	O
versions	O
of	O
TheDraw	B-Protocol
emerged	O
after	O
version	O
4.63	O
in	O
1993	O
,	O
but	O
in	O
later	O
years	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
other	O
ANSI	O
editors	O
appeared	O
,	O
some	O
of	O
which	O
are	O
still	O
maintained	O
today	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
popular	O
game	B-Application
creation	I-Application
system	I-Application
(	O
GCS	O
)	O
ZZT	B-Application
used	O
ANSI	B-Protocol
graphics	I-Protocol
exclusively	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
later	O
GCS	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
same	O
concept	O
,	O
MegaZeux	O
,	O
allowed	O
users	O
to	O
modify	O
the	O
extended	B-Protocol
ASCII	I-Protocol
character	O
set	O
as	O
well	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Trade	B-Protocol
Wars	I-Protocol
2002	I-Protocol
,	O
a	O
multiplayer	O
BBS	O
game	O
that	O
remains	O
popular	O
decades	O
after	O
its	O
release	O
in	O
1986	O
,	O
used	O
ANSI	B-Protocol
graphics	I-Protocol
to	O
depict	O
ships	O
,	O
planets	O
,	O
and	O
important	O
locations	O
,	O
and	O
included	O
cutscenes	O
and	O
even	O
a	O
cinema	O
with	O
ANSI	O
animations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
of	O
these	O
ANSI	B-Protocol
graphics	I-Protocol
were	O
created	O
by	O
Drew	O
Markham	O
,	O
who	O
went	O
on	O
to	O
form	O
Xatrix	O
Entertainment/Gray	O
Matter	O
Studios	O
and	O
develop	O
Redneck	B-Application
Rampage	I-Application
and	O
Return	B-Application
to	I-Application
Castle	I-Application
Wolfenstein	I-Application
,	O
among	O
other	O
titles	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
rise	O
of	O
the	O
internet	O
caused	O
the	O
decline	O
of	O
both	O
BBSes	B-Application
and	O
DOS	O
users	O
,	O
which	O
made	O
ANSI	B-Protocol
graphics	I-Protocol
harder	O
to	O
create	O
and	O
to	O
view	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
lack	O
of	O
software	O
compatible	O
with	O
the	O
new	O
dominant	O
operational	O
system	O
Microsoft	O
Windows	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
2002	O
,	O
all	O
traditional	O
ANSI	B-Protocol
art	I-Protocol
groups	O
like	O
ACiD	O
,	O
ICE	O
,	O
CIA	O
,	O
Fire	O
,	O
Dark	O
and	O
many	O
others	O
,	O
were	O
no	O
longer	O
making	O
periodic	O
releases	O
of	O
artworks	O
,	O
called	O
"	O
artpacks	O
"	O
and	O
the	O
community	O
of	O
artists	O
almost	O
vanished	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nowadays	O
ANSI	B-Protocol
graphics	I-Protocol
have	O
a	O
niche	O
utility	O
for	O
a	O
few	O
telnet	O
BBSes	B-Application
still	O
active	O
and	O
is	O
mainly	O
created	O
by	O
artists	O
for	O
the	O
sake	O
of	O
it	O
and	O
exhibited	O
as	O
an	O
example	O
of	O
retro	O
digital	O
art	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
creation	O
of	O
newer	O
Microsoft	O
Windows	O
compatible	O
software	O
like	O
ACiDDraw	O
,	O
TundraDraw	O
and	O
the	O
currently	O
most	O
used	O
PabloDraw	B-Protocol
,	O
which	O
runs	O
on	O
both	O
Windows	O
and	O
Mac	O
,	O
allowed	O
the	O
small	O
number	O
of	O
remaining	O
artists	O
to	O
keep	O
creating	O
ANSI	B-Protocol
art	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
ANSI	B-Protocol
Art	I-Protocol
is	O
also	O
practised	O
among	O
demoscene	O
hobbyists	O
still	O
in	O
the	O
2020s	O
and	O
ANSI	B-Protocol
art	I-Protocol
compos	O
(	O
competitions	O
)	O
are	O
regularly	O
held	O
at	O
various	O
demoparties	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
could	O
be	O
simply	O
zipped	B-General_Concept
packs	O
of	O
loose	O
art	O
with	O
some	O
text	O
files	O
explaining	O
them	O
,	O
or	O
encoded	O
programs	O
that	O
displayed	O
the	O
art	O
,	O
sometimes	O
with	O
music	O
in	O
MOD	O
format	O
accompanying	O
.	O
</s>
