About Nova
The UK's longest-running demoparty is back in Budleigh!
After a long, long wait, Nova is back in its familiar home of Budleigh Salterton Town Hall. We can't wait to see you back here, to enjoy the best that the UK scene (and that legendary fish and chip shop) has to offer.
If you prepaid for the in-person NOVA 2020, your wait has been rewarded and your in-person ticket is complimentary.
There will be DJs, Competitions, Demo Shows, Live Coding and more. If you want to get involved, get in touch!
Are you new to the Demoscene? The Demoscene is an international computer arts subculture that specialises in the creation of Demos - self-contained computer programs for computers old and new showcasing the very best in visual splendour and technical ability. Core to the subculture are Demoparties, the social outlet for like minds to convene, socialise and share knowledge.
We're assembling the weekends proceedings so will have more information for you soon, but for the moment you can start working on your entries and please feel free to register below.
Location
Nova is held in the Budleigh Salterton Public Hall which is quite near Exmouth and a half an hour drive from Exeter.
Budleigh Salterton is a small town on the coast of East Devon in the South West of England. It is 15 miles from Exeter, and is situated within the East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Budleigh Salterton also is the location of the start of the Jurassic Coast, the starting point for picturesque and compelling walks, as well as containing a variety of charming local shops, cafés and restaurants.
Central to Budleigh Salterton is it's unspoilt pebble beach, which when paired with a sunny day make for an idyllic break from the party should you need it.
You can find out more about Budleigh Salterton at lovebudleigh.co.uk.
Public Hall
The Public Hall has been the home of NOVA and Sundown since 2005.
The hall contains capacity for 100 sceners. We will be equipping the hall with tables, chairs, lighting, Full HD projection and a suitably large sound system for the party.
There is also a bar, catering facilities, backstage areas and disabled access.
You are welcome to sleep in the hall if you choose not to opt for a local hotel or B&B, however you may find it to be rather noisy so consider bringing earplugs if you need them.
We have a very strict noise curfew of 12pm Midnight. Please make absolutely sure that any noise taking place after this time occurs inside the hall with shut doors and windows, or by the bus stop on the road side of the hall.
We are on our last warning regarding this so please take part in enforcing this if you find anyone breaking this rule.
-
Facilities
The large hall can accommodate at the most around 100 visitors - we do allow people to sleep overnight on location but recommend people consider a local hotel or B&B, camping or hostelling should you require solid rest.
-
Kitchen
The hall includes a well specified kitchen with commercial grade flame hobs, ovens, grill, high power microwave and ready boiling water to help with any food preparation you need to take care of. There is also limited refrigeration space; first come first served.
-
Network
Kris Sum from Switch Systems will be providing us with our robust wireless and wired networking. We'll have a 60Mbit uplink to the internet, complete PartyMeister setup available throughout the duration of the party.
Travel by Car
Budleigh Salterton is not too far from the M5 - enter EX9 6RJ into your Sat Nav.
There are two car parks - one of which is free and positioned to the side of the hall on the high incline.
Make sure you use this one if you can to avoid fees / fines!
Travel by Plane
The closest airport is Exeter Airport, which has links to Amsterdam, Paris, Dublin and more. Flights are usually around £60 each way for many European destinations, and from the Airport you can request a pick up from us which we’ll try to do as quickly as possible.
If you choose to fly to a further afield airport, transport links to the nearby city of Exeter are generally excellent - and from there we can send a scener via our Shuttle service out to pick you up or you can opt to travel in via bus.
Travel by Bus
We recommend travelling via national destinations to Exeter Bus Station
After this point you can use our free shuttle service, where we pick you up and take you to the party.
Should you wish to take an onward bus journey from Exeter, we recommend you look at the www.stagecoachbus.com website and check out the bus routes 57 (Exeter to Exmouth) and 157/357 (Exmouth to Budleigh Salterton) to plan your journey.
Prior investigation of bus stop locations is recommended via Google Maps.
Accommodation & Hotels
You can opt to sleep at the party – bear in mind it can be quite noisy!
We do have a limited amount of quiet sleeping spots if required, but please let us know if you require this. Failing that we recommend looking at the Visit Budleigh site and contacting the local tourist office to find a suitable Hotel or B&B.
Features
Competitions
This year we will have competitions in the form of the following:
- Old School Music: Music made with obsolete computers and consoles with a maximum 2MB file size.
- Streaming Music: Modern produced music in mp3, flac or ogg format.
- Executable Music: Procedurally generated or synthesized music for modern hardware with a maximum 32KB file size (samples allowed).
- ASCII / ANSI: Artwork created using fixed sized text characters and limited colour pallettes.
- Photography: Submitted original works photograph, optionally with post-production.
- Old School Graphics: Graphics on resolution and pallette limited hardware.
- New School Graphics: Unrestrained graphics created on modern hardware.
- Teletext: From the days of CEEFAX, ORACLE and TELETEXT - Single frame Teletext graphics competition.
- 4k Executable Graphics: Procedurally generated modern graphics competition with a 4KB filesize limit.
- New School Intro: Music and Graphics realtime productions on modern hardware with a filesize 64KB and under.
- New School Demo: Music and Graphics realtime productions on modern hardware with no filesize limit.
- Old School Demo: Music and Graphics realtime productions on old school hardware.
Find out more about our Competitions and rules below.
Events
More events, and the timetable, will be confirmed shortly.
Jackbox Games
As is the usual tradition, we'll be struggling through the hangover haze with a in-humour laden Jackbox Party Games session where we realise we don't understand the US references and carry on regardless. Almost certain to contain a shed-load of innuendo and silly banter.
Don't forget you can chat to us on Twitch or join the Nova Discord.
Competitions
Tickets
NOVA has an entry fee of £50 (Standard Entry). Those of you who are feeling flush can pay supporter entry for £100, or alternatively if you are struggling financially please get in touch.
If you have already prepaid for NOVA 2020, this fee is covered for you and you are welcome to full free entry for Nova 2022.
-
Bank Transfer
Make sure you register, and send a payment by BACS to MR R P FULLAM (Halifax), Sort Code 110298, Account 00148134 clearly marked NOVA in the reference field.
-
PayPal
Send PayPal money as a gift to rc55@rc55.com to avoid unnecessary fees.
-
Concessions
If you cannot afford the entry fee, please feel free to contact rc55@rc55.com and we will see if we can accomodate you. Challenging times and that, we'll help if we can!
Ticket Info
Watch, Register or Buy Vote Key?
You can watch the party free on twitch.tv/ukdemoscene and join in the chat on Discord or Twitch chat also.
Contact us
You can contact us via e-mail, telephone, Facebook, Slack, IRC or Twitter.
-
Email
Email rc55@rc55.com if you have remote entries or any questions regarding the party.
-
Telephone
Main organiser Ruairi Fullam (rc55) can be contacted at any point on 07882 450575.