[mbel]

> This algo was heavily used in the demoscene and often referred to as 'meta balls'.

No. It is used to implement 'meta balls' effect sometimes. But the two terms are not synonymous. From my experience it's more common to see meta balls implemented with raytracing or some screen-space techniques.

[faceplanted]

The guy wasn't wrong, "A is often referred to as B", doesn't contradict "B isn't synonymous with A"

[jacobolus]

“Gears are often referred to as ‘pocket watches’” is not a correct statement, even though gears are sometimes used in the implementation of pocket watches.

Cf. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaballs

[faceplanted]

But they _are_ sometimes referred to as metaballs, _at the same time_ as being used to implement them.