Breakpoint
The Breakpoint ( BP ) was the largest meeting of the demo scene in Germany (and temporarily worldwide) between 2003 and 2010 and took place annually over Easter in Bingen am Rhein . The focus of the event was on the competitions to choose the best demo in various categories. These are digital works that various groups have programmed months, sometimes years, in advance on a wide variety of computer platforms. Among other things, the Scene.org Awards, one of the most famous awards within the scene , were presented at Breakpoint .
history
The Breakpoint has been the successor to the Mekka & Symposium since 2003 , which was last held in 2002; after disagreements within the organizers, the Mekka & Symposium was no longer held. Many of them, however, found a place in the organization of Breakpoint, which was held for the first time in 2003 and can be viewed as a follow-up party. Although the Breakpoint could not exceed the number of visitors of over 1300 at the time, it came very close with just under 1100 visitors.
In addition to the founder and main organizer Simon "scamp" Kissel, the event was recently organized by around 60 volunteers from the demo scene. The organization team receives additional support from the Verein für Digitale Kultur eV , which also organizes the second largest German demo party: Evoke , which takes place annually in August . Since 2005 the CMS PartyMeister, originally developed for the tUM party, has been used to organize the party.
From 2004 onwards, Breakpoint was financed primarily by the well-known sponsors ATI (until 2006) and Intel , and Commodore Gaming was added in 2007 . ATI's place as sponsor was taken by Nvidia in 2008 . In addition to technical equipment, they also presented prizes for the winners of the competitions. At Breakpoint 2004, the sponsors also held workshops for the first time, for example on pixel shaders on ATI graphics cards. But icons from the demo scene themselves also revealed their tricks there in three-quarter to one-hour seminars.
Above all, alternative platforms such as the Amiga or the Commodore 64 found serious competitions at Breakpoint and made up a not inconsiderable proportion of the computers brought along. The best-known demo, which was released on the breakpoint applies fr-025: the.popular.demo the group Farbrausch from 2003, which is also widely gained recognition beyond the borders of the demo scene out.
2009: Brokepoint
In 2009 Breakpoint had to contend with major financial problems. Due to the cancellation of the previous main sponsors due to the financial crisis , more than half of the required budget was missing. The event was therefore ironically renamed Brokepoint for a short time. Shortly before the start of the event, the organizers were finally able to raise the missing money through donations from members of the demo scene and by stepping in from 20th Century Fox with its film X-Men Origins: Wolverine as one of the main sponsors. In this context, an additional "Wolverine" contest for demos, videos, graphics and music was called for the material and artwork for the film. Despite the bad omens, the Breakpoint set a new visitor record on Easter weekend 2009. The organizers, who originally only wanted to host the Breakpoint for seven years, announced at the end of the event that they also wanted to organize the Breakpoint 2010 again.
2010: like there's no tomorrow
The official website announced that Breakpoint 2010 would take place for the last time. The reasons given include the “aging” of the scene, because despite the large number of visitors there were almost no new entrants among the participants, but also that there are now many alternative offers where programmers and graphic designers come together.
successor
At the tUM party 2010 the revision party in Saarbrücken was invited, a follow-up party also organized by the “Keyboard and Mouse” association, which was to replace the Breakpoint as the world's largest demo scene party.
Web links
- Reports and Reviews
- c't article on Breakpoint 2005 ( Memento from May 3, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
- Invitations
- Breakpoint 2010 Invitation ( ZIP ; 8.5 MB) Demo - fr-033: like there's no tomorrow
- Breakpoint 2009 Invitation Demo - Everything Is Under Control - The Breakpoint 2009 Invitation by mfx
- Breakpoint 2008 Invitation Demo - Digital Garden by Rebels
- Breakpoint 2007 Invitation ( ZIP ; 66 kB) Demo - Frameskool
- Breakpoint 2006 Invitation Demo - Of Spirits Taken by farbrausch & vacuum
- Breakpoint 2005 Invitation Demo - Aliens Ate My Demomaker by mfx and kewlers
- Breakpoint 2004 Invitation Demo - The Code Inside by mfx and farbrausch
- Breakpoint 2003 Invitation Intro - fr-024: welcome to ... by farbrausch
Individual evidence
- ↑ Computer freaks from 33 countries: International "Breakpoint" festival in Bingen . www.allgemeine-zeitung.de. April 8, 2004. Archived from the original on November 5, 2005. Retrieved on February 28, 2011.
- ↑ Steffi Schardt: "Sleep only in extreme emergencies": The global community of computer freaks is visiting the Dromersheimer Hörnchen for a weekend . www.allgemeine-zeitung.de. April 13, 2004. Archived from the original on February 1, 2005. Retrieved on February 28, 2011: “ For around 1000 computer freaks from 33 countries, the extended" Breakpoint "weekend on the Dromersheim" Hörnchen "[...] was the best Easter present. "
- ↑ Heise online: Breakpoint 2009: record number of visitors, despite all prophecies of doom
- ^ PartyMeister: Used at the following parties . partymeister.org. 2010. Retrieved March 20, 2011.
- ↑ Breakpoint 2004 press statement ( English ) ATI . April 5, 2004. Archived from the original on July 9, 2012. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
- ↑ c't: The whole world in 4 KByte c't article on Breakpoint 2009
- ↑ Stefan Göhler: Demo scene Easter party goes in "Revision" ( German ) heise.de . December 29, 2010. Retrieved March 4, 2011.
