
 ............................................................................
        
                     [ms2k-1] aka [mekka & symposium '99]

                                organized by
                         amable.Lego.Phantasm.Padua

                           heavily supported by
            Polka Brothers.FEB.Teklords.Cubic & $een.Smash Designs

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                  Official Invitation-Textfile Version 1.0
                             21. February 1999

  This is a very raw-cutted textfile; if you want style and stuff, go visit
  our homepage! :) Anyway, the information is right here though, so what? :)

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 a. WHAT'S ALL THIS ABOUT ?
 b. LOCATION & DATE
 c. TRAVEL INFORMATION
 d. FACILITIES & FEATURES
 e. TIME TABLE
 f. COMPETITIONS
 g. RULES
 ...........................................................................

 a. WHAT'S ALL THIS ABOUT?
 
 Welcome to the official invitation-textfile for ms2k-1 a.k.a. ms99.
 The mekka & symposium party is an annual convention of demo-scene members,
 which features 72 hours of party entertainment, lots of inspiring people to
 chat with and competitions in which individual people and groups show off
 their talent with regards to a traditional form of electronic art called
 Demos. Note that this is not a stupid LAN gamer party; Quake kiddies are
 likely to have a hard time here!

 On our parties, the focus lies on Amiga, PC and C64 systems.
 The fact that two of these have almost lost their significance on the mass
 market does no harm to their popularity among our visitors; a rough estimate
 is that only 40 to 50 percent of the guests are equipped with a PC
 exclusively.

 This event, in its current form, is taking place for the fifth time now.
 We've gone a long way from 1995, with 300 mostly German visitors, up to now
 ms98 has had nearly 1000 visitors from all over Europe and the most stunning
 releases.

 Decide for yourself if it's worth the ride, the info is right here!
  
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 b. LOCATION & DATE

 The party place is, once again, Fallingbostel. Situated between Hamburg and
 Hannover, this small town offers us the best-suited hall in northern
 Germany. Most of you already know this hall from earlier mekka & symposia
 and although space could be a problem this year, we hope it will be
 sufficient one more time. The party starts on Good Friday (2nd April, 1999)
 at 12:00 CET and ends on Easter Monday (5th April, 1999) at 12:00 CET.

 The familiar address is:

                          Heidmarkhalle
                          An der Heidmarkhalle 1
                          29683 Fallingbostel
                          (GERMANY)

 The entrance fee amounts to 60 DM (30 Euro). We don't accept currencies
 other than DM. We don't have single-day visitor tickets. 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 repair of damages to the
 hall and on competition prizes (in this very order, so please behave :D).
 If you bring your own computer equipment (this does not cost extra,
 of course!), bring your own power connectors!

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 c. TRAVEL INFORMATION

 If you're going to come by car, you reach Fallingbostel through the highway
 A7; Fallingbostel is announced. We have a map which guides you from the
 highway exit to the party place. Find it included in this archive!

 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
 You might want to check the "Deutsche Bahn info page"; see ONLINE RESOURCES
 AND ADRESSES. Once you've arrived in Fallingbostel, you can make use of the
 free 24h Bus Shuttle service we will set up like last year.
 You must contact us in advance, so that you will be picked up (please tell
 about number of people and time of arrival). Please see ONLINE RESOURCES &
 ADRESSES. If you're coming without equipment, you can also take the walk
 (half an hour); watch out for the Bahnhof in the center of our map.

 Last, but not least, there are bus trips from various countries; some of
 them may have a free place left for you (mail us if you want to be listed
 here as well):

 * Cytron/Depth organizes a bus for all the Danes; there is a homepage in
   Danish. 

 * Unlock/Padua took over the organization of the traditional bus trip from
   Switzerland - there's a homepage as well. 

 Find the URLs and Contactadresses of these guys organizing this at...
 right, ONLINE RESOURCS & ADRESSES :)

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 d. FACILITIES & FEATURES

 Just some action to make sure you won't get bored... 

 Lots of competitions for Amiga, PC and C64 and some platform-independent
 ones such as a Graphics competition and various music competitions.
 Just like last year, we don't have competitions for Atari and Acorn systems;
 feel free to participate in the Wild compo with productions for these
 machines.

 Competitions presented on a big screen sized 6x4 m^2, including powerful
 sound equipment - yes, the sound will be loud if you are sitting at the
 first table row. No, we will not turn the volume down. Choose your fate in
 advance by sitting down at the front of the hall if you want loud sound
 (note that you don't need your own stereo to make even more noise),
 or by taking place at the remote side of the hall if you are in need of a
 quiet place (note that some guy next to you will be pissed if you turn up
 your own stereo too much). Also, having some wax to put into your ears when
 you want to sleep is really fantastic!

 Place for 1200 visitors plus equipment; enough power for everyone -
 nothing to say here; this should be sufficient if the current expansion rate
 doesn't change. Oh yes, please do not bring equipment you don't really need.
 This has two advantages: You can't lose it, and it can't bring the power
 down. More details on the subject of electricity in the General Rules. 

 A warm sleeping hall - In this year, the sleeping hall will be smaller, but
 we will spend some more money on it to make it comfortably warm (of course
 you can sleep in the main hall as well). If you want to, you can also stay
 at the local youth hostel, which is located about 500m from the party place
 (you probably need a member card):
                        
                                    Jugendherberge Fallingbostel
                                    DJH Landesverband Hannover e.V.
                                    Liethweg 1
                                    29683 Fallingbostel
                                    Phone: +49 5162 2274

 Info on hotels is available from the Fallingbostel homepage (see ONLINE
 RESOURCES & ADRESSES)

 A stable party network! - the mekka & symposium 2k-1 is a party, not an
 Internet access provider :-) Some kind of Internet connection will be there,
 but it is not our primary concern. Other than that, the local network will
 be even more stable than last year; you will also be able to vote and
 contribute via network (paper voting will still be possible, of course).
 We will have a 100MBit network, though not every table will have its own
 100MBit hub. But you can bring your own hub/switch; in that case you will
 get full 100MBit. There will be a big fileserver with a complete Hornet
 mirror. Quake and other network game packets will be filtered. Network
 configuration uses DHCP. For more questions, mail our network master MoM. 

 Food supply - there's a city nearby, with shops and bars; and we have 24h
 drinks & snacks available on the party. Of course you may and should also
 bring your own food and drinks, as it will be less expensive this way.
 A snack-bar providing fries, hamburgers etc. will be in front of the
 building, almost 24h a day (this is the same guy from last year).

 Clean toilets - yes, last year's cleaning personnel :-). Some shower hours
 will also be held, but in general there aren't any public showers. 

 Live music performances, traditional entertainment provided by Steeler,
 cool party t-shirts! - let's see what we will offer this year... 

 ...and the unique Mekka & Symposium party feeling! 

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 e. TIME TABLE

 Finally there is an official time table; competitions start earlier on
 Saturday this year, and some deadlines are a bit earlier as well. Note that
 this version does NOT cover special events such as live acts!



    Fri 12:00       Opening
    Fri 16:00       Opening Ceremony

    Sat 08:00     * DEADLINE: C64 Music, Ray-Traced & Pixel, PC 64K
    Sat 12:00       C64 Music
    Sat 12:00     * DEADLINE: ProTracker Module & Music Competition
    Sat 14:00       Ray-Traced Graphics
    Sat 16:00       PC 64K Intro
    Sat 15:00     * DEADLINE: PlayStation, Wild, ANSI, Amiga 40K
    Sat 18:00       ProTracker Module
    Sat 20:00       Pixel Graphics
    Sat 21:00       Amiga 40K Intro
    Sat 23:00       ANSI
    Sat 24:00       Wild

    Sun 08:00     * DEADLINE: 4K Intros, C64 Graphics, Game 32K
    Sun 11:00       Amiga 4K Intro
    Sun 12:00       C64 Graphics
    Sun 14:00       PlayStation Demo
    Sun 15:00     * DEADLINE: Demo Competitions
    Sun 15:00       PC 4K Intro
    Sun 16:00       Music
    Sun 18:00       C64 4K Intro
    Sun 19:00       Game 32K
    Sun 21:00       PC Demo
    Sun 23:30       Amiga Demo

    Mon 02:00       C64 Demo
    Mon 05:00       Voting deadline
    Mon 10:00       Prize giving, closing ceremony
    Mon 12:00       End of the party

 
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 f. COMPETITIONS


 GENERAL RULES

 * The competitor must be present, or in case of a group contribution,
   at least one person of the group. 

 * All entries must be delivered until deadline
         
 * There will be a preselection for the music competitions (we can't show all
   the modules which are handed in).

 * Contributions must be handed in on CD, on MS-DOS or Amiga formatted
   3.5" disks, or on 5.25" C64 disks. If you hand in HD disks, they should
   also be formatted in HD mode (otherwise put some tape around the ID hole).
   No contribution disks, videos or CD's will be given back. There will
   probably be a possibility to upload your contributions to a server in the
   party network.

 * You have to agree that we'll spread your contribution during and after the
   party over the Net; we might also produce commercial CD-ROMs orsomething
   like that.

 * These rules are not final. No rules ever are :) Stay tuned to
   announcements!


 AMIGA COMPETITIONS


 * The Amiga competition machine is an A1200 or A4000 with a 68060 and 16MB
   FastMem, AmigaOS 3.0 or 3.1.
 * The minimum configuration on which your demo must still work is a 68030
   with FPU.
 * Assigns and installation scripts are forbidden (this means that unpacking
   the archive and running one program is all that is necessary to start the
   demo).
 * Custom libraries may be used, but not installed outside of the
   contribution directory.

 * Demos requiring a graphics card or a PowerPC are not permitted in the
   Amiga competitions. This has been subject of extensive discussion between
   the organizers; due to reasons of fairness and the current
   non-standardness of such hardware, we believe that such hardware is best
   placed in the Wild competition as of now.

 AMIGA DEMO COMPETITION

 * Maximum size is 6 MB uncompressed. 

 AMIGA 40K INTRO COMPETITION

 * The intro size is 40KB at most.
 * The intro is a single executable file. 

 AMIGA 4K INTRO COMPETITION

 * Maximum size is 4096 bytes.
 * Booting AmigaOS without startup-sequence, running SetPatch and then simply
   running the 4K executable from a standard PAL screen must work. 


 PC COMPETITIONS


 * The PC competition machine is a Pentium II, 266MHz with 64MB RAM.
   Graphics card: S3 Trio64V+ (80C765) with SDD running (no 3D accelerators).
   Sound cards: GUS and SB16.

 * Your contribution must work on at least one of these operating systems:
   MS-DOS (plus all necessary extensions),
   Windows 98,
   Linux (fbdev, GGI, X11 or svgalib),
   BeOS;
   there are no separate competitions, the respective OS will be announced
   before the demo starts.

 * Maximum resolution is 800x600 (avoid mode switches, the beam might be slow
   in  resyncing). 

 PC DEMO COMPETITION

 * Maximum size is 8 MB uncompressed.
 * SB sound must be supported by DOS executables. 

 PC 64K INTRO COMPETITION

 * As the name indicates, the maximum size is 64KB.
 * The intro must be a single executable.

 PC 4K INTRO COMPETITION 

 * Maximum size is 4096 bytes.
 * The intro has to be a single executable file. 



 C64 COMPETITIONS

 * The competition computer contains a new SID and an Action Replay MK6,
   and is connected to a 1541-II floppy drive. All releases must be handed in
   on 5.25" disks.

 C64 DEMO COMPETITION

 * Maximum size is a standard 5.25" DD disk (both sides).
 * The demos may require user interaction. 

 C64 4K INTRO COMPETITION

 * Maximum size is 4096 ($1000) bytes =16.12 blocks). 



 GRAPHICS COMPETITIONS


 PIXEL GRAPHICS 

 * Maximum resolution is 800x600 in 24 Bits TrueColor.
 * Raytraced pictures do not belong into this category, only hand-pixelled
   graphics are to be handed in for this competition. The entries must be
   handed in in IFF, PNG or TGA format. All entries will be shown at least
   twice, at different daytimes. 

 RAY-TRACED GRAPHICS

 * Maximum resolution is 800x600 in 24 Bits TrueColor.
 * The entries must be handed in in IFF, PNG or TGA format.
 * All entries will be shown at least twice, at different daytimes.

 C64 GRAPHICS 

 * All formats/modes are allowed.
 * The entry must be handed in as an  excutable file (if you need help with
   a display-program, contact any of the Padua organizers).
 * Any sounds or extra info-screens included in the file will not be
    shown/played.

 ANSI COMPETITION

 * No rules specified, yet. Will look similar to last year's rules. 





 MUSIC COMPETITIONS


 MULTI-CHANNEL 

 * Maximum module size is 1,400,000 bytes.
 * Module formats permitted are those playable by OpenCP.
 * We will show selected entries to the audience, using OpenCP.
   If you think this player doesn't play your module correctly, contact the
   authors (kb@ms.demo.org) - they will also be present on the party, so they
   can fix bugs for you.
 * We will show 4:27 minutes of each song.

 * ProTracker modules should be put into the Module competition.
 * Impulse Tracker modules MUST be saved in uncompressed form (click on
   "IT2.1x" in the save screen), as this would be a too big advantage against
   other tracked formats.
 * Also, be aware of your channel usage, you don't want the compo machine's
   cpu to be overloaded (and thus your tune to sound like a CD with a big
   scratch on it), just because you can't track efficiently enough, want you?
   But be sure that our compo PC will play 40 channels without problems.

 PROTRACKER MODULE 

 * Maximum module size is 1,400,000 bytes.
 * Allowed are ProTracker modules only, that means four channels, and
   playable with all the usual mod players on all the usual platforms.
 * We will show selected entries to the audience, using ProTracker V2.2a on
   Amiga.
 * We will show 4:27 minutes of each song. 

 C64 MUSIC

 * All formats allowed.
 * The entry must be an executable file (if you need help with a program to
   play your tune contact any of the Padua-organizers).
 * The c64 screen will not be shown during the competition.
 * We will play up to 4:27 minutes of each tune.
 * The competition equipment features a new SID.





 OTHER COMPETITIONS


 32K GAME COMPETITION 

 * For PC and Amiga. For configurations, scroll back to the Demo competition
   rules.
 * 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(s) will play it on the big screen.
 * If you are planning networked games, contact us in advance.
 * We will do a quality preselection on this competition.

 PLAYSTATION DEMO COMPETITION 

 The PlayStation is a very nice platform for making demos.
 This has been demonstrated again at The Party 8. More than one person has
 requested such a competition, and we want to support the PSX scene, that's
 why we have created this very special competition genre.

 * All entries must be handed in on CD.
 * All entries will be spread (that means that it must be possible to rip the tracks of your CD in an easy
   way).

  WILD COMPETITION 

 Here you can deliver anything that doesn't fit into the other categories.
 We will not have separate Wild ("classic") and Video competitions, as the
 number of entries in the former would be too low. The most welcome
 contribution medium is a VHS or S-VHS tape recorded in PAL; you can
 optionally hand in a graphics file containing some information about the
 hardware used to create your entry. If you can't tape the thing yourself (if
 you are using really Wild hardware...) please contact us in advance. 

 There aren't many restrictions on this competition. Your entry should be
 related to computers, though. People are not interested in watching yet
 another skateboard video. Please help keeping this competition interesting!

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 g. RULES

 The 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 previous parties due to heavily drunken
 individuals, we chose to put up this rule from 1998 on. Drunken guys won't
 be let inside, disturbing guys (this includes Quake players :D) will be put
 outside. Don't consume Vodka in front of the stage. Don't vomit onto the
 floor either.

 Should we discover that you are destroying things, either intellectual
 property (hacking the network system), or physically damaging the building
 or people, you can be sure that we will never forget you. 

 Please respect German law. Illegal actions, especially regarding software
 piracy, can not be approved of. Dutch visitors should be aware of the fact
 that weed is an illegal drug here. 

 Oh yes, some words about the power infrastructure from Decca, our mighty
 master of power: This year we will try again to supply you with enough power
 for everyone. We invested in new cables and fuse-racks, just to serve your
 equipment more than well. To make this event as enjoyable as possible and to
 avoid the last years power-failures, we would be pleased if you did not
 bring all that stuff like: toasters, fridges, heaters or cheap extension
 sockets with you. These things were/are responsible for those failures,
 because they violate the fi-protection. We can not remove this protection,
 because it is required by the law here in Germany, in case of insurance and
 your safety. So please leave them at home (mummy and daddy will keep an eye
 on them). Let's also stress that we are also not responsible for any
 damage of your equipment (yes, your CD-Rs too!!!),just keep this in mind :-). 

 Last but not least, 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.

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 h. ONLINE RESOURCES & ADRESSES


 mekka & symposium Homepage                               http://ms.demo.org
 ms2k-1                                                http://ms.demo.org/99
 Padua's ms2k-1 C64 Homepage                   http://www.aniston-park.de/ms

 City of Fallingbostel                           http://www.fallingbostel.de
 Deutsche Bahn info page                                http://bahn.hafas.de

 Cytron/Depth (Danish Bustrip)             http://www.art-works.dk/symbus99/
                                                         6820@e.aarhus.ih.dk
 Unlock/Padua/Albion (Swiss Bustrip)       http://www.profzone.ch/vantage/ms
                                                          unlock@profzone.ch

 Hardball/amable (PC)                                   hardball@ms.demo.org
 Raw Style/Lego  (Amiga)                                rawstyle@ms.demo.org
 Gandalf/Phantasm (Amiga)                                gandalf@ms.demo.org
 Decca/Lego (Amiga)                                        decca@ms.demo.org
 Chaotic/Padua (C64)                                     chaotic@ms.demo.org

 MoM/Cubic (Questions concerning the network)                 netcrew@dnx.de

 24h Bus Shuttle Service Registering:                   rawstyle@ms.demo.org
                                                             
 Organizers are hanging around on IRCnet's #ms99, join in!

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 text invitation by Chaotic                             Content by Raw Style

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