Forever III – Invitation

I bet you know it. The slight excitement when you’re packing your stuff, a couple clothes, the sleeping bag, then hurrying back home from the bus stop to get the forgotten passport, and afterwards finally setting out. Several hours on a bus, train or in a car, some wandering around an unknown town and then you’re there, finally.
 

You enter a hall and have a look around. Here is a registration desk, there are some organizers working frantically, and the cute corner over there – it must be yours! And hey, the guy who’s waving his hand at you like a maniac – it’s a friend you haven’t seen for three long years. This all feels like coming home. Sure, you’re at a computer party! 

Do you want to experience all this and more?
Come to this year’s Forever party!
15. – 17. 3. 2002 – Trencin, Slovakia

What is the Forever party?
 

The Forever party is a party only for 8-bit computers. In fact it’s the only 8-bit party where you’ll meet the three major platforms: the C=64, the Atari and the Spectrum (& clones) together. Nevertheless, running into a Sharp MZ 800 or SAM Coupe isn’t uncommon there either.

Meet sceners from Germany, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Hungary, the Czech Republic, England, Poland and if the things go OK with their visas, then also Russia. If you want to know who’s coming for sure, check out the Forever visitors list!

Having the three most remarkable European 8-bit platforms concetrated at one place creates a unique atmosphere. The old times of turbulent argues concerning parameters and power of respective platforms might be long gone, but the thrill of competitivity and platform loyalty is still there. At Forever, one for all and all for one, the 8-bit users share the best creations and inspire each other and create one big family of dedicated creative people.

Enhanced Newcomer Team (Hungary) & Protovison (Germany)

Features

There are not hollow moments at the party. There’s always something going on!
Almost non-stop, big-screen ZX, Atari and C=64 demo, game & music (usually ruled by the C=64 one as there’s nothing like the SID) shows, newest hardware and software presentations, realtime competition and of course the standard party competitions.

Competitions

General rules

Your presence at the party is not required – but is warmly welcome (and it’s nice to have your moment of fame, isn’t it?). You should have a friend at the party though, to take your prize in case you win any.

In the graphics, music and intro compo, two entries per person are allowed. The demo compo allows one entry per group.

At the Forever party, the competitions are in the following categories for the C=64:

1K intro. Warning! This is the specialty of the Forever party! The intro competition is 1024 B, not the more common 4K. Be sure to count with this before you bring your intro!!!
 

Ninja / The Dreams (Germany) – the winner of last year’s C64 1k compo

SID music. Must be an executable file. Samples are allowed. Entries (much) exceeding 3 minutes will probably not be played in full size. If you’re absolutely sure that your entry will sound best on the old SID, let us know when submitting..

Sebaloz / Lepsi Developments (Poland) – the winner of C64 graphic compo

Graphics. Must be an executable file in whatever graphic mode. Create your own original image. Wiring (software conversion) of images which originally weren’t made for C=64 and didn’t use C=64 color palette, is not encouraged. The scene is annoyed by this already. 

The winner takes it all! Raster (Czech Republic) won all 4 compos on Atari ;-)).

Demo competition has just one rule – it should be executable on C=64 and 1541-II disk drive.

Gasman/Raww Arse (England) (winner of demo compo, and music compo for Speccy)

This year we also open a Crossplatform 8-bit Wild Compo for the first time in history of Forever (and probably the 8-bit scene ever). General wild-compo rule says, that your entry should be original and entertaining. It can be anything you can imagine, but you should be able to present it, so either bring all the necessary hardware needed for it’s presentation, or videotape your production. The compo machines are any machine (C=64, ZX Spectrum (and clones), ATARI) plus any additional hardware stuff. 

System of voting

In our honest opinion, Forever uses one of the most reasonable voting systems. Each entry can get 1–9 points. The better the entry is, the more points it deserves. It’s a lot of work for organisers to count the votes, but the results are fair and unaffected by the usual delays between the compo entry presentation and voting. You don’t have to make any temporary top-lists or anything, just individually assess the compo entry immediately after you saw/heard it. Also this year we will present graphic entries in 2 rounds in order to assure that people can first estimate the overall quality of the compo entries and then evaluate the single entries accordingly.

We strongly encourage you to visit the Forever party and join the every-year stronger Commodore audience which counted 39 commodore enthusiasts from 6 countries of total 75 visitors and many many more compo contributors from more than 12 countries last year. We accept the fact that not always it is possible to attend the party. Try to check the maps we have provided and also check the visitors list at www.fvl.studiostyle.sk whether there is not someone with whom you could travel together. If you can’t manage to travel so far, at least consider about attending the competitions and thus making them stronger and more entertaining. 

If you’re curious about who is going to visit/compete at Forever, check visitors&contributors list at www.fvl.studiostyle.sk. If you consider to visit the party or join the competitions, don’t forget to register. Few days before the party opening, we are sending out the last minute info with all the necessary information (info updates, hotline phone numbers, e-mails and such), which can help you in case you have some troubles.

For any further information, or compo-entry submissions contact creamd@c64.sk or wotnau@c64.sk.
 

We wish you a lot of creative energy,

Yours Forever organizing team.

Thanx to ROLE for sponsorship! (60 EUR)
Thanx to Brainstorm, MacGyver, PCH, POL & D. Chlebec for photos.
Thanx also to Anonym/Padua for support.
 

More info at: www.forever.studiostyle.sk
Links to maps, travelling info & compo rules: maps&info, rules.
 

Official Wallpaper by CVM: 800×600 1024×768
Unofficial wallpaper by Poison/Singular
 

Download old releases here: Forever 2000, Forever 2001


The only PC at Forever 2001 versus Doc Bacardi/Dreams