"Revive, once again..."
Wow. This sure went by pretty fast.
Ambivalent as I feel, I think it's safe to say that Breakpoint 2007 was one of my best demoparties so far. It's not that it was more bombastic or larger-than-life than the previous years, but actually quite the opposite: lack of stress, lack of duties, lack of pointless rushing... for the most part anyway, but largely replaced by booze, hugs, and really great demos.
I'll skip reporting from the entire party, but there are a couple of major events I'd like to put some emphasis and detail on:
BASS: Truck already noted that this was the sloppiest gig we ever did, and I'm quite eager to join him on his opinion - but more on this later.
Scene.org Awards: There I am sitting on the bench, looking at the floor... Ryg is on stage, about to announce the winner... "It has to be us... it MUST be us... I didn't do it to lose this... aaaaargh, dammit!!..." And then the voice goes on. "Chaos Theory by Conspiracy" Blackout. The next thing I remember I'm on stage and one thing keeps repeating in my head: WE WON! WE DID IT! I think relatively few people realize how much this prize weighs for me... The first award we got was more BoyC's feat, with the tool and everything, while the second went to Zoom... And then we kindof stopped, few releases, questionable quality... And then Chaos Theory comes along after months of work, and piledrives all of us into the ground, and suddenly I feel like we actually have something we can be proud of and be excited about, and something _I_ have to be proud of... We lose Assembly, but we don't care, it's all about the awards... AND WE WIN! Ask Zania how I was in a trance for the upcoming 30 minutes - I was literally on some other astral plane. And hell, I feel we deserved it, we broke our barriers as a group and introduced a brand new style for us, and the soundtrack is probably one of the best songs I ever did... So yeah. Happy. Proud. Content... And drunk. God, that Saturday night... Preacher handed me a bottle of Salmiakki after the awards ceremony (which, mind you, was by far the BEST Scene.org Awards ceremony ever - mad props to Nina for taking every critic to account and skyrocketing the whole show!!), and I kindof started boozing with anyone in sight, including Rubberduck, Smash ("YOU FUCKING CUNTS! HOW COULD YOU WIN?"), Okkie, Imbusy, Archmage, ... a lot of people. And a lot of booze... That Saturday night ended up rather strange for a lot of people, some more than others, and some things might need some mending still; I hope everything works out eventually. I had fun anyway.
PC 4k compo: We scored the second place, which I'm a bit miffed about - I expected us to win - but it's all good since I'm pissed off enough to finally invest much more work into the next one and kick ass. Also, interesting note that as soon as the name "Ümlaüt Design" showed up on the screen, the crowd started to rumble. Does this mean we're considered a "threat" now?
Demo compo: Pixtur is a magician when it comes to poetry in motion, and once again his work was pixel perfect and absolutely heartfelt to watch, especially with Gloom's amazing track to accompany it. (Dude, get to Breakpoint already!) Preacher totally matured up and finally made a demo that wasn't just entertaining, but also lightyears ahead in quality and good taste - basically all what we've been waiting for. The STS guys made an excellent remix of Deities (I love remixes, because it kindof shows artistic versatility to take something and interpret it in a severely different way), with enough wit and technical edge to make it something I'll keep watching over and over. AOA made their comeback after 13 years of hiding undercover with an excellent demo, and here's me hoping they don't stop - it was such a blast to see a comeback that grandiose and that spectacular, just seeing that some things never change, but in an other way, they do. I just hope they start to come back to parties too - meeting Archmage was, in a sense, unreal. (Not as unreal as meeting Alien / Antitrax - a guy who stopped coding when I started - but still, I did feel extremely honored.)
And there's also Farbrausch. Who, again, set the bar for other demos an eon higher. Not just technically (although I don't really consider the size that impressive - we saw .kkrieger before - albeit the engine is probably generations ahead), but the whole way it was directed just nailed my jaw to the floor. And in a way, that's good - I'm a rabid type, I want to take the challenge and do better, beat them in their own league once again... And I know it won't happen for a while, but hell, even if I can't, I might make enough progress to do something I'm proud of again. Until then, screw you guys, you rule!
Pre- and afterparties: The best things ever. Seriously. Nothing better than being warmed up for a great event than a small barbecue with lots of stupid fun beforehand (poor Jeenio, we kindof cut down on him severely, but at least Michael Jackson came to rescue, followed by a recital of virtually every Monty Python skit afterwards...), and some little campfire with some grilling afterwards... It's a much better feeling to leave a party with some friends still around than being cooked at various transport terminals all alone with complete craving after the next such event.
And of course, fun 24/7, lots of hugs and cuddles (thank you Zani <3), meeting old and new friends, ... and heh, it's cliche so I'll just stop now, but hey, see you next year. It'll be worth it.
Ambivalent as I feel, I think it's safe to say that Breakpoint 2007 was one of my best demoparties so far. It's not that it was more bombastic or larger-than-life than the previous years, but actually quite the opposite: lack of stress, lack of duties, lack of pointless rushing... for the most part anyway, but largely replaced by booze, hugs, and really great demos.
I'll skip reporting from the entire party, but there are a couple of major events I'd like to put some emphasis and detail on:
BASS: Truck already noted that this was the sloppiest gig we ever did, and I'm quite eager to join him on his opinion - but more on this later.
Scene.org Awards: There I am sitting on the bench, looking at the floor... Ryg is on stage, about to announce the winner... "It has to be us... it MUST be us... I didn't do it to lose this... aaaaargh, dammit!!..." And then the voice goes on. "Chaos Theory by Conspiracy" Blackout. The next thing I remember I'm on stage and one thing keeps repeating in my head: WE WON! WE DID IT! I think relatively few people realize how much this prize weighs for me... The first award we got was more BoyC's feat, with the tool and everything, while the second went to Zoom... And then we kindof stopped, few releases, questionable quality... And then Chaos Theory comes along after months of work, and piledrives all of us into the ground, and suddenly I feel like we actually have something we can be proud of and be excited about, and something _I_ have to be proud of... We lose Assembly, but we don't care, it's all about the awards... AND WE WIN! Ask Zania how I was in a trance for the upcoming 30 minutes - I was literally on some other astral plane. And hell, I feel we deserved it, we broke our barriers as a group and introduced a brand new style for us, and the soundtrack is probably one of the best songs I ever did... So yeah. Happy. Proud. Content... And drunk. God, that Saturday night... Preacher handed me a bottle of Salmiakki after the awards ceremony (which, mind you, was by far the BEST Scene.org Awards ceremony ever - mad props to Nina for taking every critic to account and skyrocketing the whole show!!), and I kindof started boozing with anyone in sight, including Rubberduck, Smash ("YOU FUCKING CUNTS! HOW COULD YOU WIN?"), Okkie, Imbusy, Archmage, ... a lot of people. And a lot of booze... That Saturday night ended up rather strange for a lot of people, some more than others, and some things might need some mending still; I hope everything works out eventually. I had fun anyway.
PC 4k compo: We scored the second place, which I'm a bit miffed about - I expected us to win - but it's all good since I'm pissed off enough to finally invest much more work into the next one and kick ass. Also, interesting note that as soon as the name "Ümlaüt Design" showed up on the screen, the crowd started to rumble. Does this mean we're considered a "threat" now?
Demo compo: Pixtur is a magician when it comes to poetry in motion, and once again his work was pixel perfect and absolutely heartfelt to watch, especially with Gloom's amazing track to accompany it. (Dude, get to Breakpoint already!) Preacher totally matured up and finally made a demo that wasn't just entertaining, but also lightyears ahead in quality and good taste - basically all what we've been waiting for. The STS guys made an excellent remix of Deities (I love remixes, because it kindof shows artistic versatility to take something and interpret it in a severely different way), with enough wit and technical edge to make it something I'll keep watching over and over. AOA made their comeback after 13 years of hiding undercover with an excellent demo, and here's me hoping they don't stop - it was such a blast to see a comeback that grandiose and that spectacular, just seeing that some things never change, but in an other way, they do. I just hope they start to come back to parties too - meeting Archmage was, in a sense, unreal. (Not as unreal as meeting Alien / Antitrax - a guy who stopped coding when I started - but still, I did feel extremely honored.)
And there's also Farbrausch. Who, again, set the bar for other demos an eon higher. Not just technically (although I don't really consider the size that impressive - we saw .kkrieger before - albeit the engine is probably generations ahead), but the whole way it was directed just nailed my jaw to the floor. And in a way, that's good - I'm a rabid type, I want to take the challenge and do better, beat them in their own league once again... And I know it won't happen for a while, but hell, even if I can't, I might make enough progress to do something I'm proud of again. Until then, screw you guys, you rule!
Pre- and afterparties: The best things ever. Seriously. Nothing better than being warmed up for a great event than a small barbecue with lots of stupid fun beforehand (poor Jeenio, we kindof cut down on him severely, but at least Michael Jackson came to rescue, followed by a recital of virtually every Monty Python skit afterwards...), and some little campfire with some grilling afterwards... It's a much better feeling to leave a party with some friends still around than being cooked at various transport terminals all alone with complete craving after the next such event.
And of course, fun 24/7, lots of hugs and cuddles (thank you Zani <3), meeting old and new friends, ... and heh, it's cliche so I'll just stop now, but hey, see you next year. It'll be worth it.