.. Intro .. Network '97 is a planned competition for the text-based art scene. Please take the time to read this info file. I really hope to make this a big event, and that can only happen with YOUR participation. I'm Dieznyik, the organizer for this particular thing. This is not a throwaway idea that won't materialize in a few months. I'm making a commitment, and all I ask is that you read this info file and throw in a submission or two. =) If you have any questions, just write me. .. History of Compos .. This is the history of the 'compo' as I know it. Perhaps people have done this kind of thing before, and surely in some form on local BBSes. Some time in 1996, Fractal thought up the entire 'compo' thing. He held an ascii compo which later became known as 'Infra'. I got in on the deal and created 'Nectar'. Other well-done compos were held in the next few weeks. Unfortunatly, the entire concept of a compo took a nose-dive when enterprising individuals took it upon themselves to pervert compos into nothing more than an ansi grabbing scheme. Network '97 is an attempt to create a well-organized LARGE competition for 1997. Personally, I have doubts about the scene's future, and would really like to see one event in my lifetime in the scene that really brings everyone together. Awards '96, run by Fractal, was really quite close in terms of a bigtime event, but unfortunatly, the immaturity of many scene individuals caused Awards '96 to not be so fun fun happy. Well, just as I have followed in Fractal's footsteps in the past, I intend to do so now. What I really hope for is a submissions from every nobody, every somebody, and every has-been thats in the art scene. There are no rules on what you have to draw for, no rules on who you have to give it to. All you have to do is send an entry into one or both of the categories. That's IT. I hope people find this to be a motivationary force, leading them to create the best work of their scene career. Spend some time on whatever you submit, please.Make this event memorable. And of course, go ahead and release it in whatever form you wish, anywhere you like. Duh. Basically, all you're doing is pointing to some recent work of yours,and saying 'thats the one I feel best represents me'. Of course, its preferable that you sit down and start from scratch with the idea that whatever piece you are creating will be the pinnacle of your career, but hey, thats not necessary. As long as its relatively recent, I'm happy. So hey, just send something over, from now until the submission deadline on April 11th. And at the very least, thanks for considering. Send your submission to: IRC: Dieznyik Email: erasmus2@hotmail.com netzach@idirect.com (preferable) .. Categories .. Text-mode graphics ONLY. Pictures - No restrictions. Short or long, whatever you feel best captures whatever you're drawing. Logos - No restrictions. Go nuts. Let us know about any viewing recommendations. (80x25, 80x50, etc). We will not grade your piece on its VGA appearance. Only one submission per category. We will nuke any 'joke' submissions. .. Judging .. Judging will take place from April 11th to April 18th. I'm gonna make my best attempt to recruit judges from a variety of backgrounds, whether its Old School, New School, Ascii, Music, and prolly some traditional Artists and such. Judges will be asked to grade each entered piece and to provide a small comment if they so desire. If you'd like to be a judge, leave me a short message or talk to me on the IRC. I'd like to know your history & credentials, if I don't know, and if its relevant. Judges can enter. We got enough so that one missing mark won't make much of a difference. I am aiming for a total of 25 judges, and owing to the fact that a bunch are most likely gonna wimp out by April, this is prolly a good number. =) Again, my info: IRC: Dieznyik Email: erasmus2@hotmail.com (preferable for comments and messages) netzach@idirect.com (preferable for submission attachments) .. Grading .. Submissions will be graded on the following scale by the selected panel of judges. Each aspect will be graded out of one hundred (100). Technical The technical aspect of a piece is the vehicle for the aesthetic sense. The message of a piece cannot be recieved without good technical skills, just the same way you can't take a good picture with a dirty lens. Shapes - Quality of shaping. Are the shapes innovative? Shades - Quality of shading. Does the piece flow? Does the shading capture the best aspect of the object being shaded? Is the light source correctly rendered? Aesthetic Creativity - The innovation put into the creation. Is there a message? Originality - How original the piece is. Is the piece fresh? Have you seen this kind of stuff before? Is the piece inspirational? Overall Impression - The impression the piece makes. Does every aspect of the piece fit together? Is it large enough to convey all the elements without scrunching them down? Does it make your heart skip a beat? The total will be out of 500. Results from the judges will be averaged, or maybe totalled. Whatever is neat. .. Timeline .. February - Release of the initial infofile. April 11th - Final date for Submissions and Judge selection. Judging begins. April 18th - Final date for judging. April 19th - Release of the final archive. Probably in #network97 on the IRC, but that will be subject to change. .. Contact Info .. (again) IRC: Dieznyik Email: erasmus2@hotmail.com (preferable for comments and messages) netzach@idirect.com (preferable for submission attachments) .. Outro .. Well, thanks for at least reading all this. Remember, it takes almost no time out of your schedule, and is potentially very rewarding. Please help make this a monumental art scene event. Its too bad I can't rent a building, get a bunch of old keyboards to throw around, and all that, but hey, we work with what we got. I hope it'll be good. =) Seeya. - Dieznyik