Breakpoint demo party
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Breakpoint is a German demoscene party. Since 2003, it takes place annually on Easter in Bingen.
Breakpoint is the successor to the legendary Mekka & Symposium. With about 800 visitors, it is the world's biggest pure demoscene-party, attracting sceners from not only Germany, but also from other European countries (e.g. Sweden, Finland, Poland, Spain), or even from overseas (for example Australia, Canada). The party is also the traditional host of the scene.org awards ceremony.
History
The concept of Breakpoint was born in late 2002 when internal tensions within the Mekka & Symposium organizing team made another M&S party impossible. Part of the remaining organizing team teamed up with other organizers of Dialogos and The Ultimate Meeting, and decided to create a new demoscene party for Easter. The location was changed, from the northern city of Fallingbostel to Bingen, a little town near Frankfurt. The partyplace was decided to be an abandoned military depot out at the city borders.Breakpoint 2003 proved to be an unmatched success among demosceners who attended, both veterans and newcomers applauded the party's incredible atmosphere and almost literally unlimited freedom, often designated by a large (often 25-30 feet tall) bonfire. (The nearest residents lived kilometers away from the party, thus noise pollution and the general rowdyness was never an issue.) Criticisms of the party were minor, but pointed out that due to the failure of one of the heating pipes, the party hall became freezing during the night - this was actually parodied in various demos released there, entitling the party "Freezepoint".
Breakpoint 2004 saw a major change in the funding of the party: ATI Technologies became the platinum sponsor of the event, and apart from the lucrative prizes, offered various other features to the party, such as seminars and workshops, and also sponsoring a helicopter flight for willing visitors over the hills of the Rhein-region. (The sponsorship remained constant ever since.) The party was an inarguable success, although not as buoyant as its precursor, especially considering that the heating issues from last year turned out to be unfixable due to the structure of the hangar which served as a party hall - this caused the party to be even colder than the previous year.
Breakpoint 2005 caused a shock to the demoscene when it was announced that the military depot was scheduled to condemnation by the German government, and the next edition was scheduled to be held in the city's sport hall in the middle of Bingen. Many feared that the degrees of liberty which made Breakpoint so popular will be lost at the new location, including the symbolic bonfire. They were, however, proven wrong when the party turned out to be what most people stated as "the best demoparty ever". The limited nature of freedom was proven to be enough for sceners to use the surrounding outdoors area as a chillout zone, even having a bonfire (although not as grandiose as in previous years). The new location also provided a solution to the heating problem, since it was a professional sporting hall - the floors inside were covered by the organizers by a layer of carpet so visitors were even able to walk barefeet or sleep on the floor. (Some visitors even joked about spending the night outdoors to get the "good old Breakpoint freeze-to-death-feeling".) The party's atmosphere were improved with both seminars for the interested and 4 live concerts of bands playing demoscene music live. The competitions also featured high quality releases and the event was voted as the "Best Alltime Demoparty" in the PAiN diskmag.
Breakpoint 2006 was probably the demoparty with the highest expectations of all time; promotion started almost directly after it's precursor and many sceners who have been avoiding demoparties for years signalled that they would attend. The party excelled all other previous demoparties in the amount of decoration the organizing team created to the "jungle"-theme: the partyplace was adorned with torches, rocks, skeletons and vines, doors were surrounded with totempole-like ornaments, speaker stands and other accessories were wrapped in an inca-esque setting. The party theme revolved around sceners losing their scene spirit and fighting their ways in competitions to retrieve and free them. The event featured the annual Scene.org Awards ceremony in a much more formal and ceremonial setting, and various live acts, including a performance by [[Welle:Erdball]]. The party was somewhat overshadowed by technical problems; the organizers experienced an incredible amount of hardware failures, but nevertheless managed to transact the event without major lockups or delays.
Events
- Breakpoint 2003 (April 18, 2003 - April 21, 2003)
- Breakpoint 2004 - "The Code Inside" (April 9, 2004 - April 12, 2004)
- Breakpoint 2005 - "Aliens ate my demomaker" (March 25, 2005 - March 28, 2005)
- Breakpoint 2006 - "Rumble in the Jungle" (April 14, 2006 - April 17, 2006)
Competition winners
| Year | Platform | Demo | 64k intro | 4k intro |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Amiga | Magia (The Black Lotus) | Cancelled | Timur Lenk (Ephidrena & Spaceballs) |
| C64 | Beertime 3 (Dekadence) | N/A | Voyage Sans Fin (K2) | |
| PC | FR-025: The.Popular.Demo (Farbrausch) | Project Genesis (Conspiracy) | Mojo Dreams (Frenetic & R0k) | |
| 2004 | Amiga | Silkcut (The Black Lotus) | A Dream (Scoopex) | Ikanim (Loonies) |
| C64 | You Know The Routine 2 (Camelot) | N/A | Bar4kode (Plush) | |
| PC | Winnerdemo (Metalvotze) | Saturday Night Scener (Conspiracy) | Ex-Fabric (Frenetic & KB) | |
| 2005 | Amiga | Ocean Machine (The Black Lotus) | A Dream 2 (Scoopex) | Noxie (Loonies) |
| C64 | RCC 2005 Invitro (RCC Team) | N/A | Pico (Dekadence) | |
| PC | 195/95 (Plastic) | Binary Flow (Conspiracy) | Parsec (Frenetic, r0k & Sonic) | |
| 2006 | Amiga | Kilofix (Iris) | Planet Loonies (Loonies) (combined 64k/4k compo) | |
| C64 | Non Plus Ultra (Singular Crew) | N/A | Artefacts (Plush) | |
| PC | Deities (mfx) | Meet the Family (Fairlight) | Origami (Kakiarts) | |
External links
- [Official Site]
- [The ARTS Radio] (MP3) contains an interview with Breakpoint organizer Steeler, live on location at Breakpoint 2004.
- [Breakpoint] on Pouët
- [Breakpoint 2006] on Demoparty.net
Invitation demos
- [Breakpoint 2003 Invitation] Intro - fr-024: welcome to... by farbrausch
- [Breakpoint 2004 Invitation] Demo - fr-037: The Code Inside by mfx and farbrausch
- [Breakpoint 2005 Invitation] Demo - Aliens Ate My Demomaker by mfx and kewlers
- [Breakpoint 2006 Invitation] Demo - fr-049 of spirits taken by Farbrausch and Vacuum
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