CC000 review.

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ccooo

"...between the past and the future..."

Sunday, August 20, 19:mm.

People slowly, but at the same time steadily leaving the premises of the cinema. The voice of Unbeliever can be heard answering someone's question from the crowd: "...I don't know where you're all going! I just wanted to
announce the results of ZX-compos and once again play the best
demos..." - but the one who asked can no longer hear him, and the rest
continue to move towards the exit, shaking their heads in disbelief.
Over the past 2 days, people have managed to get used to mutual excluding
or not fulfilled statements of the organizers. (Random just
asked everyone to leave the building due to the end of
the time allotted by the cinema administration for holding a
demo party.)

The area in front of the entrance.

People are habitually huddled together, as if this is another “10
minute” break, again stretching out for half an hour. Frunze still “swims” with a video camera among the small islands of the “scene”, catching “interesting” shots. Some, having said goodbye, some, having finished smoking a cigarette, and some simply, “spitting” in the direction
of the organizers who did not have time to show his work -people
in small groups begin to disperse.
Chaos Constructions is over...

Saturday, August 19, 12:mm.

Late visitors are in a hurry to get to the place
of the party. Those of them who were present at previous
events of this kind are almost sure of the delay in its
official opening, but something does not allow them to slow down. A white limousine glides silently down the street; passers-by turn around in surprise after him - even for St. Petersburg such a car is a rarity, the more strange its presence on the outskirts of the city seems. The car stops out of sight of the main mass of people, impatiently waiting for the party to begin. Frunze and his partner come out from there and quickly head towards the buzzing crowd of about 200 people. Ignoring the greetings, they point the video cameras towards the approaching limousine. The appearance of Random to the people begins.
Enthusiastic exclamations and applause are heard. Random, wearing pants and a sleeveless vest of camouflage color, from under which a T-shirt with a picture of a Kalashnikov assault rifle is visible, gets out of the car. A few words to the video cameras, quick greetings from acquaintances, and he hides in the cinema building, the doors to which will not open soon...

Security.

Security this time was quite real. Their harsh glances and
threatening intonations did not really fit in withenvironment,
however, they had a sobering effect on potential violators. Without a stamp on your wrist, it was practically impossible to get into the hall. This sometimes became a problem for individuals who had too much alcohol. Once even Random was escorted out of the room.

Competitions.

You never know how much time passed, but the main part of the party still
began. The first day, as has been the custom since Enlight, was entirely dedicated to the Spectrum. Graphics, music (copy / no copy),
512b intro, 4K intro, Demo: these competitions are today
an integral part of any more or less successful demoparty.
It was nice to observe strong works in all nominations -
once again you are convinced that, despite the pessimistic
statements of individuals, the Spectrum scene lives and develops.
Describe The exhibited works have no meaning - look and
enjoy yourself. It's worth your time.

I would like to thank Unbeliever and some other people
who were not initially part of the organizers, but during
the first day they did a lot to ensure that the Spectrum
part of the party was successful. Perhaps it was thanks to them that they were able to carry out all the Spectrum-compos and collect vote-lists, despite
some technical glitches and indifferent behavior of
individuals. Second level of organizationday dedicated to the Amiga and PC platforms was clearly lower...

Day two. 13:mm.

For more than 2 hours everyone had been waiting for the start of the show
of the works. People were only recently allowed into the hall; but it was announced
opening at 11:30... There were more people. PC people and
Ami people, who were not present at the Spectrum part of the demo party, showed up.
Some of the Spectrumists were still hoping to watch the demo from Real Masters, which was not shown yesterday
for technical reasons, which was supposed to be the last of the “best demos for the last time,” but this time
it didn’t work out... And, judging by the mood and passivity
of the organizers, they already have it it was, as they say, on the drum.
The general level of Amiga/PC compos compared to previous years has
increased greatly. There were excellent
works in each category. The audience especially liked the penultimate 64Kb
intro. The audience applauded to the beat of the music of this “mini-demonstration”.
It’s unlikely that even any of the full demos shown at CC000
can be ranked higher than it.

Hardware.

Finally, it’s happened! A normal color projector that worked correctly with both Spectrum and Amiga/PC. There is no need to crowd around the monitors anymore, constantly trying to look around someone's head; sit down with a calm soul in the center of the hall
and look - and you can see everything!

The sound was also quite good (except, of course,rare moments
when it began to float, or when one of the channels disappeared:
it is not wise, however, to pull wires and place the equipment in the
center of the hall...) A good balance of frequencies is especially
relevant for AY music, since otherwise some effects may simply fall out; In addition, after a couple of tens of minutes, the bad and loud
AY sound just starts to give you a headache. On CC000, fortunately, everything was in order with the sound-reproducing equipment.

Despite the fact that Scorpion with GS and GMX in Pentagon emulation mode was declared as a compo-machine in the rules, it was not at
the party, and all competitions were held on the real Pentagon. You will say - “that’s even better!” Maybe, -
but the authors of some of the works that did not launch may think
differently...

There was also KAY, which had already become familiar to everyone. As usual, it was kindly provided by Captain Nemo. The machine was intensively
used during the second day of the party to replicate
the exhibited works onto floppy disks for everyone.

Sprinter and his dad,
Ivan Mak,
who never stops trying to interest the public in his
brain, were modestly nestled in the corner... The video film "The Matrix" was shown with very
good quality: questions were heard about which computer
is showing it. Ivan's attempt to tell the people sitting inhall,
in more detail about Sprinter was not successful due to
the lack of a microphone.

Since the party was held in the cinema, when the lights were turned off, complete darkness ensued, and at first
it was quite difficult for voters to make marks on their sheets. Fortunately,
someone soon found a switch that lights dim violet
lamps, from which white objects glow - this greatly
simplified the voting procedure. However, there were also particularly “smart”
comrades who, having discovered various flashing lights and other attributes
of any disco, did not fail to use them, apparently
sincerely believing that blinding lamps add a special flavor to
the image on the screen.

Organization.

It can be described simply as frivolous and
irresponsible. The visitors were lucky that there were outside people who took on some of the organizational responsibilities.
The rest of them were simply not fulfilled. Thanks to everyone who
did not allow CC000 to suffer the fate of Enlight'97!

The official organizers can only credit the
spacious room, and also the fact that they managed to gather
most of the active groups within one party.

The location of the event, however, somehow did not work out very well.
The rules clearly stated that it would be announced
at least a month in advance. And what awaited those people whonaively
believed this statement and did not specify the address a week before
the start of the party? I would like to believe that there was at least a note on the door of that school...

Atmosphere.

The outskirts of the city, almost clean air without the smell of exhaust fumes and the taste of lead in the mouth... ...Hmm...What is he talking about?..

It's nice to see familiar faces, hear enthusiastic exclamations from
the audience and applaud great works or hear
applause to your creation. Meeting new
people, discussing your own and other people's projects, agreements to
work together, memories of old times... People,
attend demo parties! Not every event can give you so many impressions.

Alcohol.

Do you still think that demo parties are held in order to
compete who can drink
the maximum amount of alcohol in two short days, and you want to take part in this
“exciting” competition!?!

Do you need it?! Why spend money on going somewhere if later
you still don’t remember where you were and who you drank with? Why do some
in words be so jealous of their stage image, but
in reality they lower themselves into shit? In a word - children...

Famous people on CC.

Did you want to see the legends with your own eyes? Here they are in front of you!

Mast, who has lost weight beyond recognition, will tell you how Freeman writes
such high-quality code, what the group doesFatality and why
the game Pussy has not yet been released. Vlad/RM will tell a sad
story about why this time their work is far from
perfect, reveal the secret of the hidden part in the Anmnesis demo
and show an unfinished version of the game Worms. The well-known
CodeRipper(Frog) will share his thoughts about the ongoing party and
click your digital camera. Unbeliver will replace
half of the organizers.

And there, KANO in a fashionable jacket is hugging someone from the Virtual
Brothers! And this is Rom in dark glasses walking arm in arm with his girlfriend. The cheerful SerzhSoft sits nearby. The guys from Eternity Industry are discussing something. The long-haired Ruster walks between the rows, no longer trying to interview anyone. Arty is saying something from the stage. Flying tells interested listeners
about Scenergy magazine. Antares praise EA's music. Nemo
is trying to fix a burnt out power supply. Random walks with a
bottle of beer, sometimes climbing onto the stage and trying to say something.

And many others about whom you read in the electronic press, whose
creations you enjoyed, and whose level you aspired to...

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(c) Ulterior - Aug, Sep, 26 Nov 2000

======================================================================== Comments.

This text should have been publishedin one well-known
electronic publication, but for unknown reasons did not get there.
I decided not to change anything in the review compared to the original
version, although there was a temptation to smooth out or clarify some
places.

Remember that all such reviews are only a subjective
reflection of reality, passed through the prism of the author's thinking. Therefore, you should not perceive the various facts and
conjectures presented in the reviews as the ultimate truth. If you want to form your own opinion, look
with your own eyes; and then compare with what others saw.
Some things will be radically different, but still you will get a more or
less complete picture.

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(c) Ulterior - 1 Feb 2001

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..Bye..Ulterior.