X M/S 1998 announcementXWELCOME TO MEKKA / SYMPOSIUM 1998(Written by the SYMPOSIUM staff)Table of contents01 Introduction02 Location & Date03 Features04 Competitions05 Food06 Network07 Bus Trips08 General Rules09 Time Table0a The Organizers0b More Information0c ReleasesIntroductionIn the last years, this demo scene event has grown to the best and biggest German party and its name can sometimes be heard together with "The Party", "The Gathering" or "Assembly" in the same sentence.That doesn't mean it's just another huge anonymous lamer conference; in 1997 we had 750 visitors, in 1996 the Symposium had 640, the Mekka 300 visitors, in 1995 the BlackBox Symposium had also around 300 visitors.This party is known for its "scenish" flavour, for prominent sceners being there and for high-quality releases. Attendants come from all important platforms, that is mainly the C64, PC, Amiga and some other systems such as the Atari. For the Mekka & Symposium 1998, we expect about 850 visitors having four nice
Easter days.Location & dateThe party place is situated between Hamburg and Hannover, in a small town called "Fallingbostel". Most of you already know this hall from the Symposium & Mekka '97 and we are confident that the space will suffice one more time. Some mistakes we've made last time will be corrected, so we'll have a dark hall in the day-time, better sound equipment and clean toilets. The address is:HeidmarkhalleAn der Heidmarkhalle 129683 Fallingbostelhttp://www.fallingbostel.de/ ;-)A phone number will be published on our WWW site a few days before the event starts.If you're going to come by car, you will be driving down the highway A7 - Fallingbostel is announced. From the highway exit, there will be signs directing you to the party place. Also, people living there will know you by your weird look and gladly point you the way to the Heidmarkhalle.When coming by train, you have to use some major train to either Hamburg or Hannover (whichever is nearer to you), and change for Fallingbostel there. Then you can make use of the free 24h Bus Shuttle service we will set up like every year. You should have contacted Raw Style (for address see below) in advance, just to be sure. If you're coming without equipment, you can also take
the walk (half an hour).We'll open the doors on Friday, the 10th of April, 12:00 CET. The party will last until Monday the 13th, 12:00 CET.The entrance fee for the whole time amounts to 40 DM (about 25 US-Dollars). We don't take foreign currencies. Girls and Mat/Ozone get in for free! There is no table reservation, and no possibility of paying in advance! Money which is left is spent on the competition prizes.There will be an external sleeping hall right besides the party hall. Nevertheless, if you need a quiet place to sleep, you can stay at the local youth hostel, which is located about 500m from the party place. If you have the necessary member card and you are interested, this is the address:Jugendherberge FallingbostelDJH Landesverband Hannover e.V.Liethweg 129683 FallingbostelPhone: +49 5162 2274FeaturesJust a short overview, details are coming up below:Competitions presented on a big screen of 6x4 m^2Powerful sound equipmentLive music performances (even non-Techno!)Traditional entertainment provided by Steeler!Party network with Internet accessInternet cafeA city nearby, with shops and barsDrinks available on the partyCompetitionsWell, let's say that we had a lot of fun putting together this bunch of rules. In some competitions, you might feel a bit restricted. In fact, some configurations or limits did not rise (normally it is usual for numbers to grow from year to year), but even become lowered by us, for example in the music
competitions. Also, the PC, as it can be bought in shops nowadays, does not
contain MS-DOS 6.22 with thousands of enhancement devices (this stuff you fiddle around in config.sys with) any more, but it runs Windows95 with MS-DOS 7.0. It mostly does not contain a GUS either, but something SoundBlaster compatible. These facts also materialize in our new competition rules. Let's go:General competition rulesThe rules may change until the party starts. Stay tuned to
announcements.The competitor must be present, or in case of group
contribution, at least one person of the group.All entries must be delivered until deadline (for time table
see below)There will be a preselection for the music competitions (we
can't show 200 modules). The selections will be based on
quality, not on names or music styles.No contribution disks, videos etc. will be given back.You have to agree that we'll spread your contribution during
and after the party, via Internet, BBSs, CD-ROMs etc.C64 COMPETITIONSTwo fine competitions to honour the roots:The C64 Demo CompetitionMaximum size is a standard 5.25 DD disk (both sides).The C64 4K Intro CompetitionMaximum size is 4096 bytes (not more than 16.12
blocks...)Note that there are also the C64 Graphics and C64 Sound
competitions...The competition computer contains a new SID and an Action Replay
MK6, and is connected to a 1541-II floppy drive.IBM PC COMPETITIONSThe PC Demo CompetitionThe summed size of all the files belonging to the Demo must not exceed 6 megabytes (6291456 bytes). Note that the PC on which the demo will be shown will have an SB16 soundcard only. It must work without a GUS.The PC 64K Intro CompetitionThe size may not exceed 64 kilobytes (65536 bytes). The GUS may be used, but the intro must run on an SB16, too.The PC 4K CompetitionThe size may not exceed four kilobytes (4096 bytes). The GUS may be used, and a nosound option doesn't have to be provided.The configuration of the PC and some general notes go like this:CPU: Intel Pentium 166MHz, 512K Level 2 CacheRAM: 32MBSound: Gravis Ultrasound PnP 1MB and SoundBlaster 16. The GUS will be removed for the Demo competition.Graphics: An S3 Trio64V+ (80C765) based card with 2MB of display memory, SDD 5.3a or later will be running.Operating System: MS-DOS 7.0 (Windows95 MS-DOS Mode).Maximum resolution is 800x600. Please try to avoid excessive mode switches, as this may lead to considerable video beam drop out times.All entries (except the 4K ones) must also work if no
soundcard is present, or they must provide an explicit -nosound option.All entries must be handed in on double- or high-density FAT (MS-DOS) formatted disks.AMIGA COMPETITIONSThe Amiga Demo CompetitionThe summed size of all the files belonging to the Demo must not exceed 2,37 megabytes (2485125.12 bytes ;D).The Amiga 40K Intro CompetitionThe size may not exceed 40 kilobytes (40960 bytes). 40K, not 64K!The Amiga 4K CompetitionThe size may not exceed 4 kilobytes (4096 bytes).The competition Amiga is a 68060-based machine. We don't know yet whether it will be an A4000 or an A1200, and it doesn't matter either. Your contribution has to work on a 68030 with 8MB FastMem. Assigns and installation scripts are
forbidden. Custom libraries may be used, but not installed outside of the contribution directory. All entries must come on double-density (!) Amiga disks.GRAPHICS COMPETITIONSThe Graphics CompetitionMaximum resolution is 640x480 in 24 Bits TrueColor. The entries must be handed in on a double- or high-density FAT (MS-DOS) formatted disk in IFF, PNG or TGA
format. JPEGs will not be accepted, due to the loss of quality. The size of the file shouldn't grow beyond an MB, unless you've made some stupid error.The C64 Graphics CompetitionAll formats/modes are allowed, the contribution must be handed in as an executable file on a standard C64 disk.The ANSI CompetitionRules not really ready. Stay tuned.All the entries will be shown at least twice, at different daytimes.MUSIC COMPETITIONSThe MOD CompetitionAllowed are ProTracker modules only, that means 4 channels, and playable with all the usual mod players on all the usual platforms. We will use some Amiga based program, though. The only restriction is: Don't use more than 447 kilobytes (457728 bytes). We will show twelve selected entries to the audience.The XM CompetitionAllowed are FastTracker XM modules only, that means any number of channels and samples. Files which are not in XM format (Oktalyzer, S3M, IT...) are discarded immediately! Don't use more than 713 kilobytes (730112 bytes). We will show twelve selected entries to the audience.The C64 Sound CompetitionAll formats allowed, the entry must be an executable file delivered on a standard C64 disk. The C64 screen will not be shown during the competition.We will show 4:27 (four minutes and twenty-seven seconds) of each song.OTHER COMPETITIONSThe 32K Game CompetitionFor PC and Amiga, the above configurations apply. Maximum size of all files is 32768 bytes. Temporary files on the harddisk are allowed, they will not be
included in the byte count. They will be removed before playing the game. The coder will play it on the big screen. If you are planning networked games, contact us in advance.The Wild CompetitionUse any hardware you want, and hand in your work on a VHS or S-VHS tape. You may also bring your wild hardware, but please get in contact with the organizers
in advance to make sure we can actually connect it to big screen beamer.The Fast Intro CompetitionThe one thing that must not miss on any party. Surprise surprise ;-)=05. FOODWe'll sell sandwiches, snacks (Mars, Snickers etc.) and Coke/Sprite etc. all the time. Currently we can't guarantee that there will be more food supply, but we give our best to have a snack-bar with fries, hamburgers etc. in front of the
building. Besides that you can still walk those few meters into the city of Fallingbostel and make use of the shops and bars there (most shops open only on Saturday). Of course you may also bring stuff from home.06. NETWORKThere will be a reliable party network with high-speed Internet access. Details will follow later, but we are planning a Fast Ethernet (100Mbps) system!07. BUS TRIPSNo info available as of now. Please contact one of the organizers if you're about to organize a bus trip to this party!08. GENERAL RULESThe usual legal mush: We are not responsible for stolen computer equipment or other personal items you bring with you. We aren't responsible for personal injuries either. Take care of yourself, your friends and your luggage. We didn't have much trouble with theft on our parties, but it might be better to think twice about taking a certain valuable thing with you onto the party.The use of alcohol is hereby explicitly forbidden. After facing severe damages and personal attacks on the last party due to heavily drunken individuals, we chose to put up this rule. Drunken guys won't be let inside, disturbing guys will be put outside. We will not search luggage, but don't try to carry a twentyfourpack of beer into the hall, please, and don't consume Vodka in front of the stage. Don't *vomit* onto the floor.If we find you to be destroying things, either intellectual property (hacking the network system), or physically damaging the building, you can be sure we won't forget you.Please respect German law. Illegal actions, especially regarding software piracy, can not be tolerated. Dutch visitors should try to be aware of the fact that weed is an illegal drug here.Have fun! And if you have ideas of what might be fun on the party, don't hesitate to contact us, even on the party. You're part of the party.09. TIME TABLEStill to do.0a. THE ORGANIZERSThese are only a few addresses, they should cover most anything you might want:Hardball / Amable (PC, general organization)Malte Kanebley - Im Dorfe 3 - 21629 Neu Wulmstorf - GERMANY[hardball@ms.demo.org]Raw Style / Lego (Amiga, competition organization)Michael Krause - Mannesallee 24 - 21107 Hamburg - GERMANY[rawstyle@ms.demo.org]Gandalf / Phantasm (Amiga, general organization)Frank Schliefer - Am Musterplatz 27 - 21220 Seevetal - GERMANY[f_schliefer@vcc.de]Chaotic / Smash Designs (C64, general organization)[chaotic@dame.de]Decca / Lego (Amiga, general organization)[ham00665@mail.hamburg.roses.de]MoM / Cubic Team (PC, Network organization)[lukas@dn.demo.org]Steeler / Phantasm (Amiga, Entertainment)[steeler@ms.demo.org]Sultan / Teklords (Amiga, Security)[sultan@ms.demo.org]Doj / Cubic Team (PC, general organization)[doj@cubic.org]Crash / Polka Brothers (PC, general organization)[polkab@aol.com]0b. MORE INFORMATIONIt pays to have a look at our WWW page now and then. It is located at "http://ms.demo.org". Don't hesitate to contact any of the organizers personally, if any questions are open! The guestbook is also a matter of expressing criticism, but we consider it more nice if you were also to send us a personal e-mail in addition.There will be an Amiga and C64 invitation intro, to be released at The Party VII.0c. RELEASES28-Dec-97:_Amiga 40KB Invitation Intro___________("ms98-ami.lha"),___________C64 Invitation Demo___________("ms98-c64.zip")14-Dec-97:_Invitation Text, Version 0___________("ms98inv0.txt")30-Jul-97:_First Announcement___________("ms98-v01.txt")X by M/S staff (c) Insomnia'98
