                an invitation to ___/,       ___/,
               _____.____._______\___; _____ \___; _____  _____
              /  .  |    <___ .__/   |/     \|   |<  ___\/  __ \
             /   |  |  :__) :  \ |   >  : :  \   |/___  >  _____>
 . .._._____/    :  |  .    |   \|  /   |-|   \  /    )  \       \_____._.. .
            \_______|  :---'|   /|  \   | |   /  \_______<_______/
                    |__|    |__/ :   >__/ |__/ __: Demo Compo '95         fin

                      OPTIMIsE 95 - Optimise if you dare!
           Organised by the Association of South African Demo Groups


Ŀ
  CONTENTS                                                                  


  1..  Background : What is a Demo?
  2..  What is OPTIMIsE 95?
  3..  The Venue
  4..  Date 'n Times
  5..  Entry Fee
  6..  Organisers
  7..  Prizes
  8..  Competition Computers
  9..  Schedule
 10..  Party Site Rules
 11..  Basic Competition Rules
 12..  Demo Competition Rules
 13..  64KB / 4KB Intro Competition Rules
 14..  Graphics Competition Rules
 15..  Music Competition Rules
 16..  Contact Info


Ŀ
  BACKGROUND : WHAT IS A DEMO?                                              


 A  "demo"  is  a  program   that   demonstrates  its  creators'  skills  in
 programming, music, and  visual  arts.   Demos  DO  NOT  simply  play  back
 pre-calculated  or pre-rendered animations such as FLIs, MPEGs or AVIs, but
 instead calculate their images "on the fly".  Similarly, the music is never
 a straight recording, but tracked  in  realtime  as well.  Because of these
 advantages, most demos are extremely small in size (ranging from  4KB  till
 4MB)  because  demos  do  not  need  to store frames of pure animations and
 several minutes of digital  recordings.   A  typical demo will run anywhere
 between a few seconds and several minutes.

 Demo programming started on the Commodore 64 and Commodore  Amiga,  tapping
 all the potential that the video and sound chips on those machines offered.
 IBM PC demo programming lagged behind due to the lack of a capable standard
 for  graphics  and  audio.   The emergence of VGA broadened the horizon for
 visual wizardry on the  IBM  PC,  but  a  suitable sound standard was still
 missing, until recently.  The Sound Blaster and its work-alikes at the time
 offered FM synthesis, which did not meet the desires of most musicians  for
 sound  quality,  and  a  DAC  (digital  to analog converter) which was only
 capable for playing sound "spoon-fed"  to  it  by the CPU.  Many demos thus
 resorted to emulating "wavetable synthesis" by doing the  sound  processing
 in  software  and  then outputting the resultant digital signal to the DAC.
 This work-around provided much better music than FM can, but bogged the CPU
 down tremendously.  Today  with  fast  CPUs,  local  bus graphics and sound
 cards capable of wavetable synthesis, we can now enjoy  stunning  demos  on
 the IBM PC!



Ŀ
  WHAT IS OPTIMIsE 95 THEN?                                                 


 OPTIMIsE 95 is the third demo competition to be held in South Africa.  At a
 competition  such  as  OPTIMIsE  95  many  different  demo  groups  will be
 competing against each other, showing off  their demos.  The audience and a
 panel of judges votes on  all  the  demos  and  in  the  end  a  winner  is
 announced.

 At OPTIMIsE 95 you will see:

 o Demo Groups, Computer Artists and Musicians compete for the title as best
   South African group, artist or musician!
 o Meet and chat to other computer enthusiasts from all around the country!
 o See SA's top programming talent battle it out for the title!
 o Compete in a number of other events such as floppy disk throwing!
 o Full  catering  facilities will be provided.  ATM facilities are a block
   away in the town centre.


Ŀ
  THE VENUE                                                                 


 The Wits Multi-Purpose  Theatre.   This  venue  has been carefully selected
 from a wide variety of various venues.  The MPT is  strategically  situated
 on Wits West Campus in the heart of Braamfontein with literally hundreds of
 surrounding  businesses, cinema's, resturants, fast food outlets and banks.
 The MPT holds approximately 400  people,  has a fully equipped sound system
 and a giant screen for the competition entries.  Security staff will be  on
 hand at all times to ensure personal safety and safety of your property.

 Features :
   o Centrally located
   o Ample FREE parking
   o Theatre seats 400 people, cinema style
   o Massive area for Sponsors, Competitions and party attenders



Ŀ
  DATE                                                                      


 The 19th  August  1995.   Registration  starts at 08H00, with the first
 competition starting at 09H00.



Ŀ
 ENTRY FEE                                                                  


 Entrance fee of R10 per person.   Tickets  will  be sold at the entrance or
 bookings can be placed before the 1st August  1995.   Group  discounts  are
 available  (for  schools,  demo  crews,  LARGE  families  etc)  and must be
 arranged telephonically by the 1st August 1995.

 Bookings WILL be required to those  who  would like to bring their own PC's
 (or other equipment) to the party  place.   Details  at  the  end  of  this
 document.

 To  enter  any  of  the  competitions, a cover charge will be applicable as
 follows :

 4MB Demo ............. R 25
 64KB / 4KB Intros .... R 15
 Graphic Competition .. R 10
 Music Competition .... R 10



Ŀ
 ORGANISERS                                                                 


 This party was organised by  the  Association of South African Demo Groups.
 Please note that OPTIMIsE 95 has NOT been organised by  a  particular  demo
 group,  but  by  selected people from the demo world.  Individuals directly
 involved with organisation include :

  o  Travis Bulford
  o  Louis du Pisani
  o  Jaycen Dale
  o  Shane Greyvenstien
  o  Shaun Dicker
  o  Paul Furber

 Anyone who feels they can help out on  the  day or before in any way at all
 is welcome to contact the Association - details are  at  the  end  of  this
 document!



Ŀ
  PRIZES                                                                    


 Several  prizes for each of the competitions will be up for grabs.  Details
 are not yet finalised but will be announced as soon as they are available.



Ŀ
  COMPETITION COMPUTERS                                                     


 Two identical computers will be  setup  for the competitions.  One computer
 with a Gravis Ultrasound, the other with a SoundBlaster SB16.  Other  specs
 are :

 486DX2/66 with 8 Megs of RAM
 A 32bit Local Bus VGA card
 Gravis UltraSound (1MB)
 SoundBlaster SB16



Ŀ
  SCHEDULE                                                                  


 Optimize  '95  has  been  split  into  two major sections.  There were many
 reasons for this.  The split will be as follows :

 Phase One :
  o  4KB Intros
  o  64Kb Intros
  o  Mega Demos

 Phase Two :
  o  Graphics Competitions
  o  Music Competitions

 
 PHASE ONE will comprise  most  of  the  day,  from  8am  till about 6pm the
 evening, and will be held at the MPT.

 08h00 - 09h00 : REGISTRATION  of  all  4KB,  64KB  and 4MB demos.  NO LATE
                 REGISTRATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED!  This means that you cannot
                 under any circumstances be late for  the  competition.   If
                 you are and then try to register, you will spoil the entire
                 day for everyone else.  Don't be late!
 09h00 - 10h00 : 4KB Intro Competition
 10h00 - 10h30 : Interval for 4KB Voting
 10h30 - 13h00 : 64KB Intro Competition
 13h00 - 13h30 : Interval for 64KB Voting
 13h30 - 18h00 : 4MB Demo Competition
 18h00 - 18h30 : Interval for 4MB Voting, Announcement of Winners and
                 prizegiving.
 
 PHASE TWO will be held from 19h00 onwards.  This part  of  the  competition
 will  be  held  at  a  less  formal  venue.   Details  of the venue for the
 after-party will be released shortly.   The Music and Graphics competitions
 will take place here, and a braai will be organised.
 



Ŀ
 PARTY SITE RULES                                                           


 o The organisers CANNOT  be  held  responsible  for  any  damages  to  your
   personal equipment.
 o Alcohol will be forbidden in the entire complex.
 o No  smoking  in  the  hall  itself.   There  will be large outdoor areas
   available to smokers.
 o The Organizers CANNOT be held  responsible  for any illegal use or coping
   of software.
 o No weapons will be allowed in the Party Hall.  All weapons can be left at
   the receiption desk.
 o The Organizers have the right to reject entry to the  Party  Hall  to  an
   attender if he or she has broken any of these rules.



Ŀ
 BASIC COMPETITION RULES (APPLIES TO ALL COMPETITIONS)                      


 o The Organizers reserve the right to change any of the following rules.
 o The  Organizers  reserve the right to disqualify any entry.  Reasons for
   disqualification include:   obvious  plagiarism  whether  program code or
   otherwise, graphics  or  credits  in  bad  taste,  pornography  and  foul
   language.
 o Entries are to be NEW unreleased productions.
 o At  least  one  representative per group MUST be present at the venue in
   order to compete and receive possible prizes.
 o All 4kb intros,  music  and  graphic  entries  will be distributed at the
   party.  All other entries are to be released by the individual groups  by
   1  September  1994  or  the  original compo entry will be released by the
   organisers.



Ŀ
 DEMO COMPETITION RULES                                                     


 o Total demo size may not exceed 4096KB (4MB)
 o 10 min time limit
 o Any VGA mode supported by a 256KB VGA Card
 o NO animation files of ANY  kind.   If  the Organisers deem a demo to have
   consisted or contained animations in any shape or form  that  demo  will
   be publicly disqualified.
 o Demo must run without any kind of interactivity except the setup-options.



Ŀ
 64KB / 4KB INTRO COMPETITION RULES                                         


 o Total  intro  size may not exceed 65536 bytes (64KB intro) or 4096 bytes
   (4KB intro)
 o 8 min time limit on 64KB intro.  5 min time limit on 4KB intro.
 o Any VGA mode supported by 256KB VGA Card
 o NO animation files of ANY  kind.   If  the Organisers deem a demo to have
   consisted or contained animations in any shape or form that demo will be
   publicly disqualified.
 o Demo must run without any kind of interactivity except the setup-options.



Ŀ
 GRAPHICS COMPETITION RULES                                                 


 o Any VGA mode supported by 256KB VGA Card
 o Pictures must be drawn in either PCX, GIF or LBM format
 o Ripped, raytraced or scanned pictures will be disqualified
 o Only one picture per artist

 NB!  All  pictures must include two earlier versions of the picture called
      STAGE1.xxx and STAGE2.xxx which show  the  progress of the picture, an
      UNSIGNED version called GFXCOMP.xxx and the release version.


Ŀ
 MUSIC COMPETITION RULES                                                    


 o Maximum file size may not exceed 360kb (4 channel competition) and
   1024 kb (multichannel channel competition)
 o Maximum channels allowed is either 4 (4 channel competition) or 32 
   (multichannel competition)
 o Maximum running length is 4 minutes
 o ST3, DMP, IPLAY or FT2 will be used to play entries.   Supply your own
   player if nessecary.
 o No MIDI
 o No Adlib
 o All songs will be played with GUS 1.0 Mb
 o Only one song per artist


Ŀ
 CONTACT INFO                                                               


 o Call ShockWave BBS at +27-12-888-6345 and leave the necessary feedback.
   SysOp: Rancid / Penumbra Productions
 o Leave mail in: DEMO_CHAT, PDN_CHAT, TP_DEMO or RSA_PROG
 o Internet: E-Mail phlem@leclub.co.za
                    paulf@is.co.za
                    duende@lair.co.za
 o Optimise '95 WWW page : To be anounced soon on the nets!
 o Snail-Mail:

     OPTIMISE '95
     162 Bandelier Ave
     Elandspoort, 0183
     SOUTH AFRICA

 o  Bookings : Contact Shaun Dicker at (012) 386-1161 after 7pm


                      OPTIMIsE 95 - Optimise if you dare!