October 21-22, Carnegie Mellon University campus, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
What is Demosplash?
Demosplash is a computer art festival in the spirit of the demoscene, going into greater depth on the artistic and technical skills of the demoscene through a series of short talks, tutorial/hacking events, and several competitions. In addition to demos, of course.
There will be demos
Demos are real-time graphics and music programs that show off a programmer's skills and push the limits of the hardware. These will be shown as much as possible on real hardware, retro and modern, using a collection amassed by the CMU Computer Club and a local collector. We can't be sure, but we think that this is one of the the most complete collections of functioning hardware actively used for this purpose in the United States, offering a rare opportunity for native demo execution.
This isn't a typical demoparty
Usually at such events, demos are submitted for exhibitions and judging. This doesn't seem to work too well in the US — Americans just don't write many demos. But, that doesn't mean we can't appreciate the amazing work of those who do! So, come and enjoy a thorough exhibition of classic and modern demos across many platforms and all of the popular categories. Think of it in large part as a demo-watching party.
There will be competitions
In addition to just soliticing pre-designed demo entries for Demosplash, we will be offering all attendees the opportunity to participate in a variety of similarly-themed competitions. These include a lockpicking challenge, a retro gaming tournament, and a Processing demo compeitition. (But if you'd like to submit a real demo, there's a general category too! Remote entries accepted!)
There will be judging
As a twist on the usual audience judging of demos, we're going to let all attendees rank their favorites among all of the demos shown. We'll then publish this list as a modern audience poll of all the famous demos. Which classic will reign supreme?
