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Pilgrimage (demo party)
Encyclopedia
Pilgrimage was a demoparty
which took place annually in Salt Lake City, Utah
each summer between 2003 and 2006. The event was founded by Rich "Legalize" Thompson of the demoscene group Polygony. Pilgrimage was, at the time, the only active demoscene event of its kind in all of North America
(succeeding events such as NAID
), while many demoparties take place each year throughout Europe
.
, most of which require a skill in electronic art and/or computer programming, such as:
In 2004, Pilgrimage managed to raise over US $14,000 in cash
and prize
s to award winners of each of the various competitions. Major sponsors that year included Utah's largest independent ISP XMission, ACiD
, ATI Technologies
, Bawls
, Microsoft
, and DeviantArt
.
In addition to competitions, which are the main focal point of any demo party, Pilgrimage also hosted seminars on art and technology-related subjects such as 3D programming and design, the history of art in computing, and game design.
Many European demosceners have raised voice against various antics regarding Pilgrimage.
". He also delivered a side-jab to attenders from Canada
stating that they are "wussies", as they don't have an active demoparty anymore - to which the members of demogroup Northern Dragons responded that the actual party invitation demo was "written by Canadians". They gave another tongue-in-cheek response to the controversy in 2005 by naming their compo-winning demo entry "Eurotrash".
called PartyMeister, which proved itself worthy during many tests and is still the favored tool of many organizers.
Pilgrimage organizing, however, publicly denounced PartyMeister in 2005 on its mailinglist for not having a software license fitting their needs and stating various incompatibilities with Internet Explorer
. Ironically, the party that year was forced to use PartyMeister after the failure of their own system.
. This had caused concern among sceners, largely because the description of the demoscene on the P42 website was extremely inaccurate and diminutive.
Perhaps due to the above criticism, the 2006 edition of the party (which was supposed to happen as a part of P42) had very poor attendance, and nothing happened from an organized perspective, though the few members who did attend did a couple of demoscene related activities apart from the organization.
Demoparty
A demoparty is an event that gathers demosceners and other computer enthusiasts to compete in competitions. A typical demoparty is a non-stop event lasting over a weekend, providing the visitors a lot of time to socialize. The competing works, at least those in the most important competitions, are...
which took place annually in Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
each summer between 2003 and 2006. The event was founded by Rich "Legalize" Thompson of the demoscene group Polygony. Pilgrimage was, at the time, the only active demoscene event of its kind in all of North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
(succeeding events such as NAID
North American International Demoparty
The North American International Demoparty was a demo party held in the years 1995 and 1996, and the first demo party held in North America. Both years, the party was held at Collège Édouard-Montpetit in Longueuil, Quebec, Canada, a suburb of Montreal....
), while many demoparties take place each year throughout Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
Competitions
Pilgrimage hosted a variety of different composCompo (demoscene)
Compo is a slang word for competition commonly used by the demoscene and related subcultures when referring to their contests related to programming, computer graphics and music....
, most of which require a skill in electronic art and/or computer programming, such as:
- DemoDemo (computer programming)A demo is a non-interactive multimedia presentation made within the computer subculture known as the demoscene. Demogroups create demos to demonstrate their abilities in programming, music, drawing, and 3D modeling...
- Combined Music (MP3MP3MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
and tracked music) - PixelPixelIn digital imaging, a pixel, or pel, is a single point in a raster image, or the smallest addressable screen element in a display device; it is the smallest unit of picture that can be represented or controlled....
GraphicsDigital artDigital art is a general term for a range of artistic works and practices that use digital technology as an essential part of the creative and/or presentation process... - Text ModeText modeText mode is a kind of computer display mode in which the content of the screen is internally represented in terms of characters rather than individual pixels. Typically, the screen consists of a uniform rectangular grid of character cells, each of which contains one of the characters of a...
GraphicsASCII artASCII art is a graphic design technique that uses computers for presentation and consists of pictures pieced together from the 95 printable characters defined by the ASCII Standard from 1963 and ASCII compliant character sets with proprietary extended characters... - "Blender" competition (equivalent to fast-compos at European demoparties)
- "Wildcard" (equivalent to wild-compos at European demoparties)
In 2004, Pilgrimage managed to raise over US $14,000 in cash
Currency
In economics, currency refers to a generally accepted medium of exchange. These are usually the coins and banknotes of a particular government, which comprise the physical aspects of a nation's money supply...
and prize
Prize
A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people to recognise and reward actions or achievements. Official prizes often involve monetary rewards as well as the fame that comes with them...
s to award winners of each of the various competitions. Major sponsors that year included Utah's largest independent ISP XMission, ACiD
ACiD Productions
ACiD Productions is a digital art group. Founded in 1990, the group originally specialized in ANSI artwork for BBSes. More recently, they have extended their reach into other graphical media and computer software development...
, ATI Technologies
ATI Technologies
ATI Technologies Inc. was a semiconductor technology corporation based in Markham, Ontario, Canada, that specialized in the development of graphics processing units and chipsets. Founded in 1985 as Array Technologies Inc., the company was listed publicly in 1993 and was acquired by Advanced Micro...
, Bawls
Bawls
Bawls Guarana is a highly caffeinated soft drink containing natural Guarana flavor and a relatively high amount of caffeine, amongst other ingredients. BAWLS products are owned by BAWLS Acquisition of Miami, Florida.- Packaging :...
, Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
, and DeviantArt
DeviantArt
deviantART is an online community showcasing various forms of user-made artwork. It was first launched on August 7, 2000 by Scott Jarkoff, Matthew Stephens, Angelo Sotira and others. deviantArt, Inc...
.
Seminars
Partying
Not forgetting the "party" in demoparty, Pilgrimage 2004 included the following activities:- A Dance Dance RevolutionDance Dance RevolutionDance Dance Revolution, abbreviated DDR, and previously known as Dancing Stage in Europe and Australasia, is a music video game series produced by Konami. Introduced in Japan in 1998 as part of the Bemani series, and released in North America and Europe in 1999, Dance Dance Revolution is the...
tourney, including several "old school/new school" matchups. - A city-spanning scavenger huntScavenger huntA scavenger hunt is a game in which the organizers prepare a list defining specific items, using which the participants — individuals or teams — seek to gather all items on the list — usually without purchasing them — or perform tasks or take photographs of the items, as specified...
organized by members the local 2600 meeting. - A demoscene trivia quiz show hosted by Jason ScottJason Scott SadofskyJason Scott Sadofsky , more commonly known as Jason Scott, is an American archivist and historian of technology. He is the creator, owner and maintainer of textfiles.com, a web site which...
and Severina and featuring drunken/delirious nerd antics. - A demonstration of how the popular Finnish cocktail Salmiakki KoskenkorvaSalmiakki KoskenkorvaSalmiakki Koskenkorva, is a pre-mixed liqueur which caused a minor revolution in drinking culture in Finland during the 1990s. Canonically salmiakkikossu consists of Koskenkorva Viina vodka and ground up Turkish Pepper brand salty liquorice...
can be made, and a tasting for all hearty souls.
Criticism
"Eurotrash"
In 2004, main organizer Legalize stirred up quite a few attenders during his opening speech of the party, where he (in response to European critics of the party) verbally offended the complete European demoscene, labelling them "EurotrashEurotrash (term)
Eurotrash is a derogatory term used in North America for Europeans, particularly those perceived to be arrogant, affluent, and expatriates in the United States....
". He also delivered a side-jab to attenders from Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
stating that they are "wussies", as they don't have an active demoparty anymore - to which the members of demogroup Northern Dragons responded that the actual party invitation demo was "written by Canadians". They gave another tongue-in-cheek response to the controversy in 2005 by naming their compo-winning demo entry "Eurotrash".
PartyMeister
Several demoparties (including Breakpoint) across Europe use a demoparty-CMSContent management system
A content management system is a system providing a collection of procedures used to manage work flow in a collaborative environment. These procedures can be manual or computer-based...
called PartyMeister, which proved itself worthy during many tests and is still the favored tool of many organizers.
Pilgrimage organizing, however, publicly denounced PartyMeister in 2005 on its mailinglist for not having a software license fitting their needs and stating various incompatibilities with Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer
Windows Internet Explorer is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting in 1995. It was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 that year...
. Ironically, the party that year was forced to use PartyMeister after the failure of their own system.
Protocol 42
In February 2006, it was announced that Pilgrimage was cooperating with the annual Protocol 42 LAN partyLAN party
A LAN party is a temporary, sometimes spontaneous, gathering of people with computers, between which they establish a local area network , primarily for the purpose of playing multiplayer computer games. The size of these networks may vary from the very small to very large installations...
. This had caused concern among sceners, largely because the description of the demoscene on the P42 website was extremely inaccurate and diminutive.
Perhaps due to the above criticism, the 2006 edition of the party (which was supposed to happen as a part of P42) had very poor attendance, and nothing happened from an organized perspective, though the few members who did attend did a couple of demoscene related activities apart from the organization.
External links
- Pilgrimage 2005 (archived)
- Pilgrimage 2004 (archived)
- Pilgrimage 2003 (archived)
- Pilgrimage demoparty releases indexed at Pouet.
- Pilgrimage 2004 photographs hosted on Slengpung.