Competitions

Demo

The central focus of the demoscene, an extravaganza of executable animation and audio, it's the demo compo. We accept entries for newschool platforms (that is, desktop computers, web, etc.) as well as oldschool (8 and 16-bit home computers and consoles), and fantasy consoles such as TIC-80 and Pico-8. Sizecoded entries are welcome too.

Badge / Microcontroller

This is a hacker camp, so let's do something with a hacker camp vibe! Anyone who's seen an EMF Camp badge knows its potential. But maybe you have an Arduino, or a MicroBIT, sitting around waiting to be used creatively? Now is your chance to make a demo for a new platform!

Teletext

As Count Binface once said: bring back teletext!

We recommend using edit.tf for this

Young Field-FX

15 or younger and want to get creative? We have a special category for you! Scratch demos, animations, music, photography, whatever you shine at.

Music

If it makes sound you can enter it. Max running time 5 minutes.

Anything goes as long as it's under 5 minutes.

Graphics

If it can be displayed on a projector screen and it doesn't move, it's graphics. From photography to executable graphics, Blender to weaving.

Big Up Your Tent

A tent covered in lights, in the late evening
A 2024 decorated tent by jtruk

A festival special, to celebrate the fabulous tent-art onsite! Decorate your tent with signs, lights, glitter or plushies, or whatever you think looks most epic, and submit a photo or video to the competition!

Wild

And then there is everything else. What could we possibly have missed?

These competitions are quite broad because this is only a small party, but if a particular sub-category is very popular, we may (with the consent of the entrants) split the competition to make it fairer. For instance oldschool vs newschool or sizecoded vs full-size. All entries will be loved, respected, and cheered!

Planetarium (Domeparty)

A large, dark inflatable dome with a doorway at the front. It has an image of a starfield on the dome part. It is inside a barn-like building.
The planetarium dome itself.

Unusual hardware? We've got you. How about a 6-metre diameter planetarium dome!

Please note: this competition deadline is earlier than others!

We welcome real-time demos, individual effects, animations, still images, and 360° photography, provided they have been prepared for dome projection. Space-themed entries are especially welcome.

Please provide either:

  • - a still image in JPG or PNG format (must not exceed 4096x4096 pixels)
  • - a video capture of your entry in MP4 format (must not exceed 1024x1024 pixels)

You may use any platform to create your entry, but the submitted image or video:

  • - must have a square aspect ratio
  • - must use power-of-two dimensions, e.g. 128x128, 512x512, etc.

Videos may be up to 5 minutes long. We may shorten entries that are repetitive or if the total running time of all submissions exceeds the time available in the dome.

A boing cube with scrolltext announcing the competition.

The dome will display the circular area contained within the square image or video frame. Content outside this circle will not be visible.

The projection uses an equidistant azimuthal, or angular fisheye, mapping:

  • - centre of circle represents the top of the dome, the zenith
  • - edge of circle represents the horizon, or springline
  • - angular distance from the centre maps linearly to elevation
  • - e.g. a point halfway between the centre and the edge of the circle will appear at an elevation of 45° on the dome

Sound system: stereo

The audience will be seated in a circle, all looking up at the dome, but from different angles

N.B. the entry deadline for the Planetarium is earlier than others. Please check the Timetable.