Aminet 30/Aminet 30 (1999)(Schatztruhe)[!][Apr 1999].iso/Aminet/demo/mag/Eurochart36a.lha/eurochart36/Articles/TP8Take2

Text File | 1999-02-02 | 25KB | 740 lines

»CL9:»SML:--------------------------------------
»CL7:        »BIG:THE PARTY VIII REPORT
»CL9:»SML:--------------------------------------

           »CL5:by DarkHawk/Iris

»CL4:Oh yes, once again an opportunity for
an easy article presents itself, and
I'm ofcourse there to take it.. Ehrr,
welcome to this report from »CL5:The Party
8», which I hope will form the »CL5:Alfa and
Omega» of TP8 reports (if there'll be
others, hehe)..

Naturally enough, we start with the
start, which are the usual boring facts
about how, where and why we got there.
We drove in 3 cars from some obscure
place in southern Denmark, and we
decided to attend TP the day before it
officially opened. Who needs to spend
time with one's family during Christmas
anyway? So, »CL5:Nutman», »CL5:Adonis», »CL5:Bifrost» and
I took the trip, along with some non
sceners. Hehe, as mentioned, we
travelled in 3 cars, and already after
half an hour, there was trouble, when
SOME people got involved in a major
carcrash, which demolished several cars
(well, a bit anyway) and left a huuuuge
queue on the highway (ohh yes, and
guess who ran straight into it, because
we were behind? Hmmrrpph). Well, we
managed to get around the accident and
eventually ended up in »CL5:Aars» at around
14' o-clock or so. Yes, TP was held in
»CL5:Aars» again this year. They were very
close to arranging it in »CL5:Odense» instead
(the 3rd biggest Danish city, and also
the city where I live), but changed
»CL4:plans at the last (for them) minute,
something about it being too expensive
I imagine. Too bad, »CL5:Odense» would have
been perfect!   »CL6:(Yeah - from YOUR point
                       of view :-) -ed)»

»CL0:But, anyway, we arrived and met up with
»CL1:MJ» and his brother, who were ready to
party, since they'd also spend New
Years Eve in Denmark»CL6: (How very, very
strange -ed)». Already at this point, I
must come with a somewhat positive
remark; there was »CL5:electricity»
available when we arrived, and we had
no trouble finding our nice reserved
seats and setting up our gear. That was
nice. Also the network was already
running, which means some people must
have been close to dropping their
Christmas, hehe. The network was (for
free) set up, rented and maintained by
»CL1:Compaq» people I think. Since »CL1:TP» is so
big, it is an ideal place to test
network equipment, so the organizers
were quite lucky there.. Not that the
entrance fee was lower or anything,
ofcourse! Last »CL1:TP» there had been a lot
of problems with power and the network,
we arrived there the day before the
official start too, and nothing was up
and running then. Well, I'll go into
detail with my impressions on the
network later, infact I'll dedicate a
whole article about it, so I'll
probably not mention it anymore here.





»CL2:So, I have already given praise, but I
can do the opposite too! Just as we
were beginning to get comfortable in
our seats, some organizer told us that
there was a mistake, those were NOT our
seats! Never mind the fact that I had
booked and got them 3 weeks before, or
that »CL3:IRIS» was even written on the
table reservations ON the party, it was
a mistake, and »CL3:72 Germans» would replace
us. After that, we got relocated
farther down hall 1, and the organizer
even thought he was friendly and cool
in finding us another place in hall 1.
Well, well, our new place was ok too,
so..




»CL2:We left several beerbottles at our old
position, and some of us decided to buy
more beer. In town we saw that the
local pub/disco was open, so we went in
there, and they had happy hour! So we
stayed there for some time and found
out that there was strip at midnight in
that place, and that almost all pubs in
Aars were clossed the 27th to 29th
December. So, we figured out we had to
party, but later one slept and 2 others
didn't feel like seeing strip anyway
(no names mentioned, heeheh), so we
never saw any naked bodies while being
at »CL3:TP», sadly ;)

In the evening, »CL3:Tricktrax» and »CL3:Hexagon»
joined us, and infact, it seemed like
our table was the only one (almost)
exclusively consisting of Amigas. The
first day, one really had to look for
»CL3:Amiga» owners, as it was mostly »CL3:PC»
play.. Sorry, owners, who had come the
day before since all of those unserious
»CL3:porno watching», »CL3:Quake playing» people
came from »CL3:Denmark» (after all, who'd
want to travel from a foreign country
to »CL3:TP», just to play games? Some I
guess, hmm). I met some other »CL3:Amiga»
owners though, before deciding to sleep
for about 2 hours under the tables. It
seemed like the organizers didn't at
all mind people sleeping in the hall
instead of the school, there were
sleeping people everywhere during the
party days. When I woke up again, at
around 8 o-clock the 27th, people had
really started to enter, »CL3:Bandy» and
»CL3:Ransom» from our group too, and the
place was looking full already (there
were around »CL3:3500» visitors). The 26th,
it had seemed half full, which is
unusual, seems like people are
beginning to know that they can attend
TP a day before the official start.

»CL4:That day was fun too, I found out were
all »CL5:Amiga» owners were sitting, and
chatted with a lot of them. Later, I
was interviewed by the biggest
newspaper in Denmark, and »CL5:Nutman» for
the evening news for our major TV
Channel, called DR. Seems like our
group got all the press, that was
probably because we were surrounded by
hordes of gaming or porno watching PC
owners, but we were all busy finishing
contributions :) This implies we were
the only serious people there, and in a
way we were, as there were 50 or so
metres from us to another scene group
(yes, there weren't many, heh).

But, let's get a bit more official,
before I just babble happily away for
30 kilobytes aprox... Therefore, I'll
mention the overall facilities at TP.
There are »CL5:3 halls» in the complex, the
mainscreen, which was big and adequate,
was located in hall 1, as is usual.
Their »CL5:audioequipment» appeared to be
able to pack a major punch, but when
they showed something else than
compo's, they apparently were too
afraid to turn up the volume, which was
a damn shame when they showed some old
»CL5:Amiga» demos. Hmm yes, mostly they just
showed the usual IP adresses, warnings,
useless info on cafeteria prices, etc.,
but somebody seemingly convinced them
to show 2 or so Amiga demos, and that
was it, hehe. Ohh, »CL5:Grey» brought his 2
hour demotape, but they didn't use it.
Quite incredible, considering how much
experience the organizers must have
after all these years, that they don't
understand that it would be a good idea
to actually USE their expensive video
and audio equipment. Watching the same
messages 200 times is a bit excessive,
much better to show interesting stuff
on the bigscreen now and then, as they
do on e.g »CL5:Symposium». It doesn't have to
be Amiga demos, hell, aslong as they
show SOMETHING! It would have
heightened the general party feeling if
they did that, I believe. But no, when
I asked them (repeatedly) to do it,
they said that they couldn't, because
other things were scheduled.. But apart
from the messages, there was nothing..
It is probably too hard for them to
connect a video output to the viewer ;)

»CL0:Food and drink... Some catering firm
made sure that one could buy food
24hours a day, and 12-14 hours a day
hot food like »CL1:Spaghetti Bolognese», etc.
This year, as last year, it was all
ridicously expensive ofcourse, but it
was there allright and the food was ok,
but the selection of hot food could
have been more varied. However, »CL1:Aars»
has some excellent places to eat, so
that was no problem.
»CL1:Toilets»... Well, as usual, the halls
were filled and crowded, and you had to
wait a long time to take a shit (even
if you used the ladies room), but they
got cleaned regularely and worked ok.
The power also stayed there. All the
time, although they warned against
using microovens, etc. Seems like there
WERE batteries around this year ;)

»CL1:Sleeping»... From the 27th at some time
you could use the school (were »CL1:TP1» was
held, waaay back in time, before most
of you were born.. EHRR, or not) for
sleeping, and you could use the showers
there too.. That was nice ofcourse,
eventhough I had to fight my way past
sleeping people in the bath! Yeah, 3500
sleeping people hardly fit into two
small gym halls, hehe.. Luckily only a
few hundred (or even less) decided to
sleep in the school, but it was crowded
nevertheless.


»CL0:I missed the official opening ceremony,
as some of us would rather eat
something than watch another
self-gratulating ceremony telling us
all how special and cool TP is. Ohh, I
didn't miss the closing ceremony and
that's the same, only worse actually,
hehe.

Hmm, this year the organizers had
changed the deadlines and placement of
the competetions, so that the »CL1:intro
deadline» was already at »CL1:17 o-clock» the
first day. This must have caused some
trouble, it did for us anyway, but we
had the finished intro with us. What
did cause the most trouble, was that
you had to upload your production via
the network. For those unlucky people
who hadn't a netcard in their Amiga (or
who didn't bring a computer, or
whatever), Compaq had sponsored 6 or so
machines, that stood in the back of
hall 2 and could be used by everyone.
Too bad they didn't have a diskdrive,
haha! Anyway, we had plenty of
netcards, so that should have been no
problem. However, the network went down
and stayed down, when we had to deliver
the intro. You COULD also deliver on
disk, but then you had to mark your
disk with a number, which you got FROM
the network, haha ;) So we were a bit
desperate, but managed to upload it in
the end anyway, and although other
people complained a lot, it seems like
all the intros were delivered and
shown.


»CL4:In the department of entertaining the
party visitors, »CL5:TP8» was quite bleak,
there was the traditional »CL5:Cola Crashing
competition», there were »CL5:2 Amiga demos
shown», and mmhh.. Then some obscure and
totally irrelevant compo's like »CL5:best
website», »CL5:hack the firewall», and some
»CL5:games competitions». The last was nice
though, They played »CL5:International Karate»
on the bigscreen, quite entertaining.
And the »CL5:halflife compo» was cancelled
because of no interest. All those »CL5:PC
gamers» must have had their hands full
with the network, hehe. The »CL5:Compaq
Dealer» demo competition was also
cancelled, because no one participated.
Hehe, seems like something is still
going as it should ;) But, apart from
what I've mentioned, and the real
compo's, there were only those silly
messages being displayed on the big
screen. Not entertaining at all!
However, they used the old laserdisc
room for movies and even some
"seminars" like in old times. No
relevant conferenes though (»CL5:Amiga
relevant, that is»). How hard could it
be for them to invite some big »CL5:Amiga»
people to tell something? Afterall,
it's the worlds biggest computerparty
(NEVER ever call »CL5:TP» a »CL5:scene»party to my
face! Heh), they could have gotten a
lot of interesting persons. Well, but
why should the organizers care?
Afterall, they hardly care about the
»CL5:Amiga», and that is a fact I think. They
have one mainorganizer who is a fanatic
»CL5:C64 scener», and that's lucky for the
»CL5:C64 sceners», but if some of the
organizers still have »CL5:Amiga», it must be
a dusty »CL5:A500» under their beds, heh.
It didn't seem as if many people used
the laserdisc room though, my guess is
most people had enough of entertainment
via the network, and would not have
cared if there happened anything else
at all.

Now, I'm writing somewat biased about
entertainment here, as I didn't bring
any computer with me, and so you might
think I've just been bored to death and
looked for something to do. Well, far
from it, as always, I seem to be able
to have a great time at parties without
computers, mainly due to the fact that
I chat a lot with people I know. Hmm, I
am beginning to write about something
I'll reserve for the »CL5:Network» article,
so I better just shut up with it here!
»CL0:On with this confusing report! Well,
nothing much I could write about that
would interest you at this point except
for the competitions, so I'll do that.
But I'll only write about the compo's
that interested me, meaning no PC crap,
amongst other things ;)

»CL1:4 Channel:»

Well, interesting that »CL1:Pink» and »CL1:Moby»
made a coop tune (which won, did I hear
anyone say "ofcourse"?), don't know how
active »CL1:Moby» is or if he plans a reentry
into the scene, but I guess not.
Anyway, funny to hear. But that was
about all I noticed of that
competition, along with the fact that
both »CL1:Tricktrax» and »CL1:Nutman» got their
modules selected. Not that they were
bad (ehrm), but this year, »CL1:only 46» or
so modules were delivered (25 of them
were played), which is a lot fewer than
the hundreds we've been used to. Guess
only »CL1:Amiga» owners make 4chn these days,
and we're a dying breed, so it's only
logical. All modules were played on the
»CL1:PC» (OFCOURSE, guess they would prefer
running the »CL1:Amiga demos» on »CL1:PC» if they
could!) which was incredibly lame,
strange, etc., but then again, that's
usual ;)

»CL3:Graphics:

»CL2:I seem to eat a lot, because we were in
town eating when that one was shown,
heh. I saw that »CL3:Cougar» participated
with a picture, it's funny that 2 old
»CL3:Sanity» members and legends of the scene
suddenly participate in compo's at TP
at the same time, but I guess we can
deduct nothing from that. The pictures
were shown properly (almost that is)
and I've heard no complaining about the
compo (which is amazing, that must be
the first time, guess people get to
lazy to complain with time. Still,
people ALWAYS complained.. hmm).

»CL3:C64 Demo:»CL2:

Only two good demos this time, guess
talented people are leaving the »CL3:C64»
even more than the »CL3:Amiga» these days.
Very sad, as the »CL3:C64» group »CL3:Breeze»,
made one of the good demos and
announced that it was their last
production. I would get very afraid for
the future, if I was a »CL3:C64» scener.
Seems like reality has finally caught
up with them, after all those years.
Boring effects, boring scrollers,
below-standard effects, »CL3:the beginning
of the end for C64 demos»? Heh, still,
there were a few (11 or so?), and the
winning demo from »CL3:Smash Designs» (who
else) was good, if maybe designed a bit
boringly.

»CL5:Amiga Intro:»CL4:

No surprise that »CL5:Scoopex» (also) won
this competition, their 40k intro was
»CL5:VERY» good. A long intro with 3 (?)
different modules and a great deal of
effects (also »CL5:NON 3D» stuff, although
not much, ofcourse), added with some
very GOOD effects too, make this intro
»CL5:one of the best 40k's I have ever
seen»! It deserved to win, and »CL5:Loonies»
deserved the second place with their
little intro featuring »CL5:cartoon3d» and
some normal effects.
Well, the cartoonengine is pretty
nice, the other routines fairly
standard, but it's also »CL5:compressed»
pretty well. Too bad it doesn't work
TOO stable on my 060..
I can't start it from WB anyway. Hmm,
so these two intros deserved their
placement, but now we turn our
attention to the 3rd place. »CL5:Cruisin II»
by »CL5:Abyss». »CL5:Abyss», who were so lucky as
to have been in a bus full of »CL5:Germans»
(72 or so), and I guess they threatened
all the »CL5:Germans» with either voting for
them, or being thrown out, haha ;) Well
I like »CL5:Abyss» productions, and I am
about as nostalgic and oldtimer minded
as one can get, but this intro was
pretty hmm.. Boring.. One linevector
routine used over a year ago (but a
funny start), and that's it, apart from
telling us how »CL5:Oldskool rules» and
stuff.. Well, »CL5:oldskool rules», but this
was just plain boring. Anyway, not a
bad intro, but it should never have
gotten the 3rd place, even OUR intro
was much better, hehe. Our intro
was placed 7th (I think there were 17
intros?), and I frankly can't remember
that many of the other intros, apart
from »CL5:R.N.O»'s, which was rather good
too, I think :) But all in all a good
and interesting competition, with lots
of entries!



»CL0:It should be said that the 4k intro
compo was dropped (lame!), but there
were 2 4k's that participated in this
compo instead. Ofcourse they did not
get very far in THAT compo ;)

»CL6:Amiga Demo:

»CL8:There were »CL6:12» I seem to remember. They
announced »CL6:13» demos, but one was set up
twice, so that we only saw »CL6:12». Last
year there were »CL6:17» demos, and each year
there are »CL6:less Amiga demos» than the
previous year. However, I hope the
count will stabilize above »CL6:10», because
if we ever get under that count, I
think the organizers will fuck us even
more and give us as much pricemoney as
the »CL6:C64» owners, and drop us as a major
competition. That would be the end of
»CL8:my »CL6:TP» attending then, and I'd suggest
we make our own party instead then (as
we're some that have suggested for
quite some years, hmm). Anyway, don't
fear, the democompetition was great!
A lot of groups showed their dedication
in producing a good »CL6:Amiga» demo, and the
overall quality was good, except for
some of the later entries. »CL6:Scoopex» won,
with »CL6:Alien2», which was a great and
impressive demo (if in the somewhat
boring »CL6:3D style»), and in some ways it
set new standards for forthcoming »CL6:3D»
demos (unfortunately for our own »CL6:3D»
project, which did not make the
deadline at TP, hmm ;)). »CL6:Second place»
was »CL6:XIII» by »CL6:Oxyron». I hadn't expected
to see a demo from them again, but it's
nice to see that they live and can
produce quality stuff. The demo can run
on gfxcards and multitasks, btw. And
»CL6:AGAIN», »CL6:Abyss» was placed 3rd with a
stylish and entertaining demo (atleast
I think so, but that might be because
I'm OldSk00l fan), »CL6:BUT» again, that was
a way too high placement I think, and
sad for »CL6:DCS», who made a »CL6:Killer like»
demo, which was placed »CL6:4rth» (and this
year, only the 3 first got any prizes).
»CL6:DCS» surely spent a lot more time on
their demo than did »CL6:Abyss», and most
people would say it was better too, but
again. If not many people want to vote
(those damn PC porno kids couldn't care
less about the demoscene) it becomes
easier for people with a lot of friends
to influence the compo's. And hey,
»CL6:Abyss» members, don't kill me, I like
the style, but think I'm writing the
objective truth when I say that you
would never have attained that high
placements without the backing of the
other »CL6:Germans». I don't complain about
this (guess others will), as it's
natural enough (in »CL6:IRIS» we vote for
ourselves too, and I would like all
»CL6:Danish» people to vote for us in compo's
if I could arrange that, hehe ;)).
Enough of that though. As I said, »CL6:DCS»
made a nice (but OHH, it must be slow
on 030'ers!), if somewhat boring at the
start, demo, and »CL6:Ephidrena» made a good
one too. The demo from »CL6:Loveboat» was
so-so, but hehe, need I say the word
"»CL6:Germans»"? ;) Then we have our own
demo, which was placed 7th, and at the
8th place we find an »CL6:Artificial People»
demo (under 1mb, runs on gfxcard), and
that were the "good" demos I think.
Lower than 8th place we find a lot of
crap, and the fun demo from »CL6:Loonies»,
made at TP. You might want to get that
one, but otherwise the other demos are
not worth it I think. Still,  good
demos, that's something to be grateful
for these days, THAT competition was
a success I think! Ohh, there was
atleast one screwup, as the completely
finished and delivered »CL6:Floppy» demo
wasn't shown. I don't know why, so I'll
not critisize the organizers for that.
It couldn't be because it was bigger
than what was allowed however, because
»CL6:Scoopex» delivered »CL6:6.2 MB» (but ok,
that's »CL6:Scoopex» ;)), which is too much.
Later they released the complete demo,
featuring (another) 3D part. The final
demo fills »CL6:6.7 MB».


»CL0:As for the actual »CL1:prizegiving».. That
was lame! You could see all the 3 ranks
on screen at once, not very exciting,
and the organizers just went through
the ranks (with errors along the way),
without any special interest it seemed.
I can not understand how it can be that
organizers, who after all those years
should know better, can revert to such
a »CL1:boring» way of prizegiving! It is much
more exciting if they showed one
placement at a time, or made statistics
of it, like they do at »CL1:Symposium» (and
like they did on »CL1:TP3» or »CL1:4», can't
remember), instead of just splashing
the results on the screen. You may
think this is a small thing, and yes I
guess it is, but »CL1:TP» was »CL1:full» of those
small "»CL1:could have been done better»"
things, and each destroyed a part of
the party feeling that COULD have been
there (yes, yes, personal opinions
only), and it would have been so easy
incoorporating them, that I must take
their NOT being incoorporated as a sign
of »CL1:disinterest» from the organizers.
They boast and brag about the special
TP feeling and atmosphere, but that
which they brag about disappeared from
TP around »CL1:TP4» or »CL1:5» (if I'm very
lenient), although it still is present
on many other parties. The organizers
seem interested enough in organizing a
party, and the whole thing was
organized very professionally
(ofcourse, after so many years, they
should learn from mistakes), but uhmm,
a huge congress for blind people might
be organized well too, without being of
any interest to us whatsoever, and
that's what's my problem. »CL1:TP» is great
for some people, but it gets less and
less attractive for sceners who come
there to chat with their sceners and
to watch and participate in scenish
competetions. It all is one big
commercial networking, playing mass of
a monster, which is »CL1:NOT» focused on the
scene anymore. That is ofcourse no
news, around »CL1:TP4», the party started to
be for normal computerusers in earnest
too, and now, where we have maybe
»CL1:100-300 sceners» (including »CL1:PC» and
»CL1:C64»'er sceners) in a mass of »CL1:GAMERS»,
etc., it is only natural that we can't
get the attention we are used to, and
ofcourse there are always fewer and
fewer »CL1:Amiga» owners or sceners to talk
to, but I can't help feeling it every
time I'm at »CL1:TP» though, because I
remember the old times.

Therefore, as a conclusion, I can
summarize with a list of positive and
bad things, like one does when
reviewing a game (HMM! ;))

   »PIC:Mattarazzo4»












»CL3:Good things:

-»CL2: The Amiga competitions were good!»
-»CL2: Always nice to chat with friends»
-»CL2: Very good audio/video equipment»
-»CL2: "Grillhytten" in Aars»
-»CL2: The Johannes V pub»
-»CL2: Good overall organizing»
-»CL2: Stable and working network»
-»CL2: Finishing our productions ;)»
-»CL2: Beers in the car of Adonis»
-»CL2: Entertaining wilddemos for once!»








»CL5:Bad things:

-»CL4: Being totally dependant on the network
  when contributing»
-»CL4: As always, too many PC l(g)amers,
  destroying the atmosphere that MIGHT
  have been there»
-»CL4: Expensive food at TP»
-»CL4: Not that satisfactory toilet
  facilities»
-»CL4: Lame compo's (hacking, Halflife,
  Compaq Dealer, Cola crashing, PC demo
  ;))»
-»CL4: Screwing up our reserved tables»
-»CL4: Not showing anything INTERESTING on
  the big screen»




»CL8:If we look on the list of positive
things, we find little that is due
to the »CL6:TP organizing» and on the
negative things side, we find a lot of
things that are due to »CL6:TP and the
organizing». Hmm, but bear in mind, I'm
ofcourse very subjective, and if you
like chatting via »CL6:IRC», »CL6:downloading
porno» (and other stuff ofcourse), and
don't mind what is happening around you
except for that and the compo's, then
»CL6:TP8» was probably very cool.

As it is, I don't regret that I was
there (spent too much money though!),
it was as I had expected and as it has
been for the past 4 or so years, and
that is good enough, so I'll ofcourse
also be there the next time, BUT I
thank the gods for »CL9:Symposium», »CL9:Gravity»
and other »CL9:COOL SCENE» parties that I
will attend in the meantime, otherwise
I could never stomach »CL6:TP». There's only
one reason I (and a lot of others) are
there, and that's »CL6:fellow Amiga sceners».
Quite funny actually, if we could just
put up our own alternative.. But no,
and it's ok, as long as we get as much
attention as the »CL6:PC owners» (although
that is unrealistical and infact
unfair), but apart from »CL6:Amiga friends»
and contributions on »CL6:TP», there's not
much sceneparty about »CL6:TP», and if
there's not that, I see no reason to
attend.. Well, if I had a »CL6:PC» with
»CL6:netcard», »CL6:CD burner» and »CL6:10GB HD» I'd
attend ofcourse! One of our friends
burned »CL6:50 CD's» from the stuff he had
downloaded from the network! You can
call that a copy party, haha! :)

»PIC:Fly1»











This concludes this rather long and
confusing report, and if you're still
with me reading this, you must either
be a fellow editor or have
sadomasochistic tendencies ;)
»CL6:(or both -ed)»
»CL9:                    DARKHAWK