Nova 18

22nd - 24th June, Budleigh Salterton (UK)

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About Nova

The UK's #1 Demoparty that used to be called Sundown is back again!

Now in our second year, and after 13 years of successful UK parties, we're stoked to bits to present to you Nova 18 - the UK's biggest demoscene party! Come join us on Friday 22nd of June until Sunday 24th of June!

This year, our organisers are going all out to bring a milestone party experience - a feast for the eyes and ears! As ever we will be bringing our whopping sound system, a full 16'x10' Full HD screen - and now thanks to our man Polynomial we are upping our lighting foo to levels unseen.

Friday is the night for socialising, meeting and greeting friends old and new - our DJs will provide the soundtrack. Come fill our fridges with your beer and food and get settled in.

Saturday is for finishing up productions and competitions - after which the legendary traditional beach trip will take place as soon as the clock strikes midnight, where the party continues until the small hours.

Sunday is the time for farewell until the next party...

Are you new to the demoscene?

The demoscene is an international computer art subculture that specializes in producing demos: small, self-contained computer programs that produce audio-visual presentations. The main goal of a demo is to show off programming, artistic, and musical skills.

NOVA is the UK's premier demoparty - a place for demosceners to convene, spectate and compete in demo competitions, as well as socialise amongst like-minded people.

The weekend long event will showcase live acts and competitions in the evenings, and the daytime is used for people to socialise or work on their productions.

Due to a noise curfew at midnight, we have to stop live acts strictly at this time - at which point many visitors choose to take the annual pilgrimage down to the beach and to enjoy the clear skies, campfire and music.

Visitors can either stay in the hall throughout the duration of the party, or opt to book a hotel, camp in a nearby campsite or stay in a B&B.

Location

Nova is held in the Budleigh Salterton Public Hall which is quite near Exmouth and a half an hour drive from Exeter.

Budleigh Salterton is a small town on the coast of East Devon in the South West of England. It is 15 miles from Exeter, and is situated within the East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Budleigh Salterton also is the location of the start of the Jurassic Coast, the starting point for picturesque and compelling walks, as well as containing a variety of charming local shops, cafés and restaurants.

Central to Budleigh Salterton is its' unspoilt pebble beach, which when paired with a sunny day make for an idyllic break from the party should you need it.

You can find out more about Budleigh Salterton at www.visitbudleigh.com.

Public Hall

The Public Hall has been the home of NOVA and Sundown since 2005.

The hall contains capacity for 100 sceners. We will be equipping the hall with tables, chairs, lighting, Full HD projection and a suitably large sound system for the party.

There is also a bar, catering facilities, backstage areas and disabled access.

You are welcome to sleep in the hall if you choose not to opt for a local hotel or B&B, however you may find it to be rather noisy so consider bringing earplugs if you need them.

We have a very strict noise curfew of 12pm Midnight. Please make absolutely sure that any noise taking place after this time occurs inside the hall with shut doors and windows, or by the bus stop on the road side of the hall.

We are on our last warning regarding this so please take part in enforcing this if you find anyone breaking this rule.

  • Facilities

    The large hall can accommodate at the most around 100 visitors - we do allow people to sleep overnight on location but recommend people consider a local hotel or B&B, camping or hostelling should you require solid rest.

  • Kitchen

    The hall includes a well specified kitchen with commercial grade flame hobs, ovens, grill, high power microwave and ready boiling water to help with any food preparation you need to take care of. There is also limited refrigeration space; first come first served.

  • Network

    Kris Sum from Switch Systems will be providing us with our robust wireless and wired networking. We'll have a 60Mbit uplink to the internet, complete PartyMeister setup available throughout the duration of the party.

Features

Demoscene Mentoring

Are you new to the demoscene and would like to learn how demos are made? Or perhaps you’re a demoscener looking to learn more. If so we have a couple of mentors available who can spend some time teaching a few tricks of the trade. Currently we can help you learn:

  • Raymarching and raytracing
  • Shaders (Shadertoy / OpenGL / GLSL or Metal / MSL)
  • Classic 2D demo effects
  • Size coding

If you’re interested please drop psonice a line at psonice[at]me.com. Priority will be given to people new to the scene, but all are welcome to apply.

And if you have some skills in code, music production, graphics (or anything else) you could share and don’t mind spending a few hours at Nova passing some skills on, let psonice know.

Midnight Beach Trip

As is with tradition, upon our midnight noise curfew many sceners head down to the beach to enjoy the midnight sky, some music and a campfire.

Amiga Repair and Recap Service

Paul (Vampire) Carpenter will be offering an incredible cut-price service for Amiga owners needing a re-cap or repair fix.

Prices - Recaps:

  • A500 - £25
  • A600 - £25
  • A1200 - £25
  • A2000 - £40
  • A3000 (includes daughter board) - £40
  • A3000 Daughter board only - £2.50
  • A3000T - £50
  • A4000 (Any Rev + A3640) - £25
  • A4000T - £50
  • A3640 - £2.50
  • CD32 - £35
  • PSU brick recap - £10

Other services:

  • NiCad Battery replacement (with button cell) - £10
  • Fault diagnostics - Free triage (30 minutes)

Vampire will happily attempt recaps/diagnostics/repairs on other machines, depending on what parts are required.

Games

As is tradition on the Sunday morning we will be hosting Jackbox party games on the big screen - hilarious audience participation quizzes and games to wake you up in the aftermath of Saturday's partying!

Who is coming? [63+]

  • Aldroid
  • Azzaro
  • Bossman
  • Crypt
  • d0pefish
  • Dan
  • Deltafire
  • EBICHU
  • Fei
  • Felice
  • ferris
  • ga354
  • Gasman
  • Giles Ruscoe
  • greg
  • gwEm
  • havoc
  • Henley
  • Hoffman
  • Horsenburger
  • Insomniac
  • Ixion
  • Jim Cod
  • Junosix
  • keito
  • kieranhj
  • KrispyK
  • kusma
  • Madame
  • Mantratronic
  • megmeg
  • Molive
  • Molive's dad
  • Mrs Beanbag
  • nativ
  • NoNameNo
  • omegasteff
  • Polynomial
  • psonice
  • Radian
  • rc55
  • reality404
  • reenigne
  • SaVannaH
  • Spenot
  • spiny
  • stavs
  • stewboy
  • Subi
  • susencrusen
  • Tat
  • tdhooper
  • The Formula
  • Tom Dagone
  • Tronic
  • TropicalTrevor
  • Vampire
  • Vince
  • wobble
  • Zeb

Competitions

General rules

  • Don't be an idiot.
  • Don't break any UK laws, respect copyright law and don't cheat.
  • Remote entries are allowed in any compo. We are happy to receive them at rc55@rc55.com.
  • Competitions can be consolidated or cancelled at the compo team's discretion.
  • Technical details, formats and platforms for entries will be announced beforehand.
  • Bring your own hardware configuration for entries running on alternative platforms.
  • If you feel that your entry for any unlisted platform shouldn't be run in the Wild competition, please get in touch with the compo team as soon as possible.
  • The compo team has the final word on things. We are reasonable people though, so we will do our best to be of help!

PC Competitions

  • We officially support entries for Windows and Linux. We also accept Mac entries, but please bring your own hardware.
  • We'll have the latest versions of the .NET (Windows only) and Java runtimes installed. Stay tuned for more precise details of our setup.
  • We also welcome realtime web browser entries. We'll have the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge installed. Please specify the preferred browser to run your entry with.

New School Intro

  • For PC based productions that are 64k (65536 bytes) or smaller.
  • Please ensure your beam slide states the size limitation.
  • If there are less than 3 entries in the competition, it will be merged with New School Demo

New School Demo

  • For PC based productions that are larger than 64k.
  • If there are less than 3 entries in the competition, it will be merged with New School Intro.

Old School Competitions

  • Entries will be shown on real hardware when available.
  • Stay tuned for the final list of available machines.
  • If your required setup is unavailable, please bring it with you.
  • Maximum playtime for all entries is 10 minutes.

Old School Demo

  • Productions for any old school platforms, C64, Amiga, BBC, consoles etc.
  • Intros and demos will be mixed, please ensure you’re beam slide states it if is a demo or size restricted production.
  • Please try to bring the hardware with you, otherwise we may have to run your production in an emulator.
  • Please try to provide a video capture if possible. If this is not possible, please contact the compo team as early as possible.

Music competitions

  • Original works only; remixes, covers, and previously released songs are not allowed.
  • Maximum playtime for all entries is 4 minutes. Longer entries will be faded out.

Old School Music

  • Music made for obsolete machines, this includes computers and consoles from 8 and 16 bit era as well as tracked music formats MOD, IT and XM.
  • The platform will be displayed on the big screen so our party goes know the difference.
  • Maximum file size: 2MB (2097152 bytes).
  • Entries will be video pre-recorded where possible. Please state the tracker / player you want your capture to be taken from and any audio settings required for playback. Ensure your entry is not late to avoid disappointment.

Dancefloor Streaming Music

  • Banging music for the dance floor is welcome here, House, Techno, Drum n Bass etc. If you’re not sure or have written some new genre defining masterpiece, please speak to the compo team.
  • The entry has to be delivered as single MP3, OGG or FLAC file.
  • Maximum running time is 4:00.
  • If less than three entries are submitted, it will be merged with the Mixed Genre Compo

Mixed Genre Streaming Music

  • Everything else that doesn’t fit into the above category. If you’re not sure or have written some new genre defining masterpiece, please speak to the compo team.
  • The entry has to be delivered as single MP3, OGG or FLAC file.
  • Maximum running time is 4:00.
  • If less than three entries are submitted, it will be merged with the Dance Music Compo.

Executable Music

  • Executable file size must be 32kb (32768 bytes) or smaller and runnable from Windows
  • The executable must have a WAV Writer option. If you cannot include an option provide a second executable which produces a WAV file.
  • Maximum running time is 4:00.
  • If less than three entries are submitted, it will be merged with the Dance and Mixed Genre Music Compos.

Graphics competitions

  • Original works only.

Teletext

  • Back by popular demand.
  • Entries can be made using the fantastic site http://edit.tf
  • Please submit the saved link of your Teletext image and also a PNG

ASCII / ANSI

  • Still images only, no animations
  • The viewer Sahli will be used during the compo, please check your entry looks correct https://github.com/lastebil/Sahli

Photography

  • You have to be the creator of the photo entered.
  • Retouching and collages are allowed but you must state this with your entry.
  • If submitting a collage, please provide a PNG or JPG images of the original unmodified photo(s).
  • Maximum image size 1920 x 1080 pixel.
  • Please deliver your image in PNG or JPG format

Old School Graphics

  • Graphics created on any old school platform (C64, Atari, Amiga, Spectrum etc.).
  • Please include at least 4 work stage images.
  • Please include the tool used on your submission so we can check the working stages. If that is not possible for some reason, contact us on the party.
  • All formats/modes are allowed. Please specify which mode you use, it will be displayed on the beam slide before the entry.

New School Graphics

  • Anything goes, rendering, pixelling etc.
  • Please include at least 4 work stage images.
  • You may include a hi res version of your final picture.
  • Please deliver your image in PNG or JPG format.

Wild

  • For productions on strange new platforms, videos, animations, poetry, interpretive dance, etc.
  • A video for the production should be provided where possible, obviously poetry is exempt from this.
  • Maximum running time for entries shown on screen is 5:00.

Floppy Discus

  • You will need to be at the party place for this. A remote entry would be very impressive if you can throw that far!
  • The compo will be conducted in the nearby luscious green of Budleigh, next to the party hall.
  • Maximum running time for entries shown on screen is 5:00.
  • Entrants will be given one floppy disk to throw as far as they can.
  • Once you throw your disk you must stand next to it until the end of the compo, trying to avoid the flying disks of other participants.
  • Furthest throw wins.

Backhand Drawing

  • You will need to be at the party place for this.
  • Participants will be given 1 minute to hand draw a picture based on the theme provided on the day of the party.
  • You must use your non-dominant hand (i.e. if you’re right handed, you must use your left).
  • Entries will be shown on the big screen.
  • Entries will be anonymised for speed reason.

Shader Showdown

  • You will need to be at the party place for this.
  • Maximum of four participants allowed (please contact us if you wish to enter).
  • Friday night knockout heat will consist of two rounds at 20 minutes.
  • The winners of the heats will then go head to head in the Saturday night final for 25 minutes.
  • Participants will be using Bonzomatic - https://github.com/Gargaj/Bonzomatic
  • You may use your own keyboard and mouse.
  • Winner of the compo will be seeded higher in the qualification rounds at the Revision showdown 2019.

Tickets

NOVA offer two types of ticket - Standard (£50) or Supporter (Pay what you like, £75+).

There is no difference between the tickets, only if you wish to add anything more to the party funds we'd be absolutely stoked. If you do arrive and haven't paid in advance, please bring cash with you as you arrive.

  • Bank Transfer

    Make sure you register, and send a payment by BACS to MR R P FULLAM (Halifax), Sort Code 110298, Account 00148134 clearly marked Sundown in the reference field.

  • PayPal

    Send PayPal money as a gift to rc55@rc55.com to avoid unnecessary fees.

  • Cash

    You can opt to pay by cash on arrival as you come to the party. There are cashpoints in the town nearby should you need to make a withdrawal.

Contact us

You can contact us via e-mail, telephone, Facebook, Slack, IRC or Twitter.

  • Email

    Email rc55@rc55.com if you have remote entries or any questions regarding the party.

  • Telephone

    Main organiser Ruairi Fullam (rc55) can be contacted at any point on 07882 450575.

  • Other

    Visit us on Facebook, Slack or Twitter - or you can catch us on IRCnet #ukscene if you like.