some impressions from Saarbrücken in 2026. Text by Ghandy of Nukleus, images by Viscid, thx!
I’d rather write this party report now, before my memories of it fade. To cut to the chase, it was simply fantastic! The only person with anything negative to say was Scamp, who complained about the event on Pouet beforehand and later on YouTube. He said it lacked innovation. I haven’t heard that criticism from anyone else, though. The claim that half the visitors were missing is simply untrue. Scamp is still worrying about it, but according to him, he left the scene two years ago. Spot the mistake, please!
What a great event!
There was nothing at all to complain about. The organisers were relaxed as usual and the compos were fantastic, no matter which platform you looked at. Throughout the night, security staff patrolled to ensure that nobody tampered with the parked cars. This was great, as over the years I have had a tyre slashed or a window smashed during an event.
If I had to pick one thing to complain about, it would be the security team’s announcement at Pouet, where they criticised the old copy parties from the ’90s. Some organisers were also walking around the hall to make sure that nobody was being harassed. Funnily enough, I had an encounter with Antje, one of the organisers, when I made a harmless joke to WOTW and her. ‘You’d better think fast about what you’re going to say to me,’ she said immediately, ‘otherwise you’ll be kicked out.‘ I wasn’t full of drugs, I was not drunken and my joke was really harmless. Apparently, we live in an era of extreme ‘political correctness’. I have to say, that really pisses me off.
Times have changed
I’ve organised a few small parties myself. Back then, we were very careful to ensure that nothing was vandalised, marked with a marker pen or covered by any stickers. However, we didn’t have to pay much attention to what the guests said. No, the old days were not bad at all. We shouldn’t forget that DocD criticised the scene’s roots in this context, even though, given his age, he should really know better. Even at The Party in Denmark, there weren’t any organisers running around making sure everything was ethically, politically and gender-correct. At The Party, we were checked for alcohol at the entrance — that was it. And that was despite the fact that the event took place in Denmark’s largest exhibition centre and attracted several thousand visitors. But, well, those really were different times.
Some Amiga Allstars came back to Revision
Some of the veterans of the Amiga scene returned to Saarbrücken. These included graphic artists Acryl and Cyclone, musician Jogeir Liljedahl and Jazz from Haujobb, who was accompanied by his daughter. His group, Konsumer, once again delivered an impressive demo for Picotron rather than PICO-8. Sadly, it seems that Hellfire, Acryl and Jazz are no longer involved with the Amiga scene.
Nevertheless, there were several impressive Amiga demos and intros, and the announcement of a new party in Italy. Incidentally, Roma.exe will be the first party in Italy for decades, and TRSI is currently organising it. I wonder where all these active TRSI members in Italy come from. But more activity in southern Europe is a really nice surprise.
The PC 4K intro by ‘Mandelbrötchen‘ was great fun to watch, too. I recognised a few of their members from TP in Denmark from the early ’90s. They were all wearing very colourful clothes with fractal patterns. It was also good to see that Syndrome is active again. This time not using Windows, but the open-source TIC-80 fantasy game console. Several Nuance members were also present and submitted multiple intros, winning with one of them.
The PC demo of the same name by Razor 1911 won by a significant margin, but it was difficult to decide which Windows demo to vote for. There were so many great entries — it was insane! Overall, though, the competition was really top-notch. This made it all the more difficult to secure one of the top three spots. Of course, many were waiting for The Black Lotus to return. However, since their 2019 masterpiece Eon, they haven’t released any new productions. From what I heard, Kalms, the coder, was completely exhausted when the OCS/ECS demo was finished — it still looks like an AGA production. They probably need a little more time off.
AI was forbidden. Did everyone uphold the law?
The topic of AI played a minor role this time. Most of the graphicians seem to have adhered to the AI ban, at least. However, with some of the perfectly polished artworks, I’m not entirely sure they didn’t use some kind of AI assistance after all. But then again, I can’t prove it either way. I really missed the latest issue of the Demovibes Mixtape. Last year, a new issue came out just in time for the Revision party. Come on guys, just do it once again!
Instead of complaining, come to Saarbrücken next year!
Otherwise, all I can say is: If having a good Easter party is important to you, then, as Scamp said, please just come to Revision next time. You could even offer your support instead of complaining from far away with random threads or videos. All I can say: I felt very comfortable there again, and I got to see many old friends and meet new ones.
Ghandy, the arsehole
This year, I actually managed to walk past Magic three times without him noticing me! Yes, I know I sound like a bit of a jerk. But every time I talk to him, it always ends up with me having to listen to what great things his group is doing and why he’s now active on the C64. At some point, even I find all the repetition boring, which is why I’d rather walk past him — if I can manage it!
See you in 2027! In the meantime, take a look at all the entries from the competition, if you haven’t already.
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