Scene - Multimatograph X.

 The three hardest days of my life               
 yu Nyuk                             
                                                                
 History                             
                                                                
It all started with a banal exhibition of retro computers. B       
2005, after a trip toChaos Constructions, me and the old ones     
Our friends decided that we could do this too. It turned out they have their own 
festival That's how I learned about"Multimatographe",which that year  
passed for the first time. And next year, at the second festival      
For the first time, an exhibition of retro computers took place.                        
                                                                
Naturally, we did not limit ourselves to just an exhibition. Yes, with
We started holding the fourth festivalOldGameCompo:          
competition in passing Spectrum games. In 2011, on     
seventh "Multimatographe" the competition was held for the first time "53s"-     
drawing Spectrum attribute graphics. Why not          
"classic" realtime? Yes, because it’s for spektrumists,   
of which there are almost none left in Vologda. But a person “from the street” doesn’t    
it’s realistic to master Spectrum graphics in a couple of hours and          
draw at least something.                                         
                                                                
I wanted something global, but the short duration got in the way 
events - only three hours. Dramatic changes have occurred in
2012, at the eighth festival. This year was the first time          
a single “space” and an exhibition of retro computers were organized together
I worked on the rest of the projects for three days. That's it for next year   
It happened again, and I decided: enough is enough! It's time to make your dreams come true and do   
your demofest.                                                  
                                                                
 Idea                              
                                                                
Demofest is always wonderful, but I wanted some           
features, certain “tricks”. And here are the features             
emerged:Firstly, multiplatform. I really wanted to "lift"      
retrocoms other than Spectrum, therefore strict restrictions  
no on the platform. There are two simple rules: computer, for      
which the work is written must be 8-bit. The computer must
be old school, i.e. not a modern development, but real     
a machine that existed in the 80s and early 90s. It's simple.         
                                                                
Secondly, it was decided to do a double vote:             
directly on partyplace and online. Moreover, the voices        
those who came from the Internet were considered on a par with native ones.          
                                                                
Well, being next to a major animation festival is a big deal   
plus. It's no secret that many stagers are partial to  
animation. And here they get a double benefit: they can  
hang out at the demofest, and go to a seminar with some guru        
go and chat in an informal setting with luminaries      
film industry. And if animation is not of interest, it doesn’t matter      
there is a plus of such proximity: there is much more “movement” than in    
standalon demopati.                                             
                                                                
Preparation                           
                                                                
The only thing that completely depended on me and only me was 
this is the site. Therefore, the most money was spent on its preparation. 
effort. “Dense” work on the site began six months before      
festival The general ideology of the work was as follows: to ensure        
maximum automation, because the more actions      
are performed automatically, the less likely there are "jambs"   
"stuck." And this approach has fully justified itself. During the festival
there were terrible problems with the Internet, but the site was successful     
worked offline: at a certain time it started and  
voting ended, submission of works began automatically  
for realtime competitions, etc. Counting votes, creating a file      
results results.txt,generating a pack of works was also done on 
side of the site, with virtually no manual work.                   
                                                                
To display my work at the party, I chose PartyMeister                  
( http://www.partymeister.org ), a system that has proven
yourself at such major festivals as the Ultimate Meeting,     
Breakpoint, Chaos Constructionsand many others. Initially     
planned to combine my website and BeamSystemPartyMeisterin   
a unified system, but everything turned out to be not so simple. Therefore I had to
raise a separate local site, put therePartyMeisterand 
once again enter all nominations and all works.                    
                                                                
In the end, everything turned out very mature, especially the musical ones. 
competitions. And with graphics and demos there was an overlay: when switching
from the timeister to real (and all works were broadcast from real 
computers) the projector took a very long time to figure out, “catch the signal.” Therefore 
PartyMeister broadcast only the sign "Let's start the compo       
such and such", then switching to real, showing the works, and at the end   
again the time manager with the sign “Such and such a component is finished.”       
                                                                
By the way, about real money. Since everything was broadcast from them, this   
separate headache. Okay, it’s easy with the Spectrum, Russia -second
home of the Spectrum, everything is ready. But there were works forAtariand
for C64. This means that it was necessary to burn floppy disks in advance,       
check, prepare connection to the projector...                  
                                                                
And a few more words about the organization of accepting work. The site has started         
accept work on January 1 at 00:00. And by the way, in just a year and a half  
o'clock the first 256 bytes of the intra were sent. Then I manually   
prepared files for the site: separately for display and voting,       
separately for release. The video for dem and intro was recorded in advance and
posted onYouTubewith the mark "Personal" so that earlier      
there is no time to shine.                                             
                                                                
Well, now a brief chronology of events.                         
                                                                
 Thursday                             
                                                                
In the evening they brought in retrocoms and other equipment and began        
arrange. We arrived closer to night Black Fox, Flast andKostya and
They immediately started helping. At some point I realized that everything    
I don’t have time to prepare what I have planned, I need to choose. Naturally 
the demoscene was chosen, and therefore the exhibition of retro computers and        
GameQuest were organized somehow.                            
                                                                
But the guys brought as many as four (!) slot machines. This    
originalKonami with ninja turtles for four players,   
homemade cabinet with MAME inside, as well as analog Tetris and    
analog nekmen. The children couldn't be pulled away.                      
                                                                
In the dead of night the whole crowd moved towards me so that at least a little 
sleep. Personally, I slept for three hours, the guys a little longer.         
                                                                
 Friday                             
                                                                
Thisday the competition began "53s",the first round passed          
GameQuest, and the opening ceremony. I have almost all day
I went to organizational issues, so everything happened somehow on its own. Or not
happened.                                                    
                                                                
In the evening a spontaneous buffet began, so I sat down at the computer and began   
prepare works and equipment for display. Most of the work has already been done  
prepared, but a lot also arrived after the deadline.             
                                                                
At night everyone left, I was left alone in the huge hall. Turned on 
projector demo content, loud music. Beauty! Spent the night straight
on partyplace so as not to waste time.                            
                                                                
 Saturday                             
                                                                
The busiest day. Second roundGameQuest,realtime graphics, and
the main thing is to show the work.                                          
                                                                
Shown with a projector behindcartoon rubles, so the picture was    
very bright and juicy. All works except one (Anogey)          
reproduced from real. There weren't many people in the hall, man 
maybe twenty-something, but they’re all our own. Music Norton       
survived with difficulty, but the rest of the works were applauded               
with inspiration. Respect to the authors!                                
                                                                
In the evening they tried to arrange a continuation of the banquet, but the guard    
I got caught angry and scattered everyone. Oleg (Black Fox)and associates     
stayed on partyplace to finish the most megaenic nahho, the rest
separated. I finally slept at home, and for a whole 4 hours!   
                                                                
 Sunday                           
                                                                
Organizational problems were not going to end, everything was as it should be 
demopati.                                                       
                                                                
The third and final round has passed.GameQuest.Thisonce again
without my participation. Of "ours" participated shuranЗЗ, took 2nd    
place. The Vologda team"Crabs"cannot be defeated, it's like     
Schumacher in Formula 1, only there are two of them, young, daring,   
decisive.                                                    
                                                                
A competition was heldHackCompo.I know that several people      
tried to cope with the task. They tried this on partyplace       
make shuranЗЗ andbenderbCh. But only one reached the finish line     
participant That is, the compo took place, but next year  
you need to seriously think about the organization.                       
                                                                
We held a show of realtime works. But first they showed the work of Yoda for
8bit gfx, which was late for the main shows. All works       
broadcast from ZX Evolution. The show was held twice, the second  
once especially for late stagers and me personally. Nice,   
damn it! :-)                                                
                                                                
After the votes were counted, there was an awards ceremony. Slightly       
crumpled and underorganized, but we will improve.         
                                                                
By the way, about voting. Voting was carried out in parallel on        
partyplace and online. On average, each work was voted for 
a little more than 40 people, about half of them from the party,        
the rest are online. The "weight" of votes from the party and online was      
same, no differentiation.                               
                                                                
In the evening we packed, took the equipment and started celebrating. But 
since everyone was a little tired, the celebration turned into 
an enjoyable, heartfelt conversation about everything. Well, then, naturally,    
goodbyes, tears, snot... Just kidding. ;-)                            
                                                                
 Total                              
Pati definitely succeeded. A total of 68 works were sent, of which 35
in main compo, the rest in realtime graphics. Geographically     
the whole country, plus Ukraine, Estonia,         
Great Britain and Argentina. There were many strong works that I
I'm sure they will remember it for a long time.                                     
                                                                
We will definitely repeat it next year. Special changes in    
rules are not planned yet. It is possible to expand the number of components,  
I would like to at least add wild, pixelart, track music. Yes  
some strange ideas for competitions that are too early         
voice. And a transition to a 10-point system is also planned   
voting. Otherwise everything will remain the same. And even unloved 
many nomination256 bytes introwill not go anywhere.             
                                                                
I hope that next year more guests will gather, because the demo-party
are organized primarily for them. And we will try         
organize more entertainment for visitors. Not yet     
I know what exactly. Maybe master classes, seminars, or maybe  
going out into nature.