Short and to the point video
Full game play with a few drawings
PLAY PIXEL DRAW HERE (mobile only)
This project is a collaborative pixel environment, where two users get assigned a role of black or white pixels and together they make small drawings or icons.
I actually really enjoyed making this game, my original idea was somewhat more simple and straightforward, it was more about drawing and erasing the lines people make. In this version, I implemented a way for two users to alter the same space simultaneously in different ways. I was primarily concerned with the idea of collaborative drawing and a relatively limited set of tools — In essence, both players can attempt to make compelling images just by using their color, but when they are connected, they are able to push it and collaborate to make something interesting. I especially payed attention to the third design issue listed in the deliverable — Equal roles vs. complementary roles— because to me, the idea of two people assigning each other tasks and roles to make something is interesting. Naturally, both colors will have different functions. Often, white is relegated as the background and black as the foreground… but what if the prompt wants the user to draw a night sky? Or a blank notebook page? This project is ultimately about the communication and problem solving these two parties use to reach their ultimate goal, especially when most of the prompts are abstract or have different interpretations.
Overall, this project was surprisingly difficult to make, but really rewarding and fun. The actual game was easy, but there were a lot of weird things about using UUIDs that made it funky (mostly just in trying to continuously update the same data from two different places). There are a few minor things about the interface that were not relevant to put on the video. I made a little help pop up, and a way of saving the images locally. These things aren’t really important, but I thought were worth mentioning.
I think the weakest part of my project is my documentation, I don’t have the best camera equipment so I spent most of my time trying to set up a way of filming myself without a tripod. I should’ve spent more time thinking about alternatives rather than brute-forcing it. For that reason, I am going to try to re-shoot my video in a way that get gets the message across in a more creative manner.
I personally have been having a lot of fun playing this game with my friends, we actually have made a lot of small drawings together and it has been a fun way to get connected over this shared language of pixels. And while the images in the videos are somewhat ugly, there is a lot of possibility to make compelling icons together:
Some drawings I did with friends (screenshots showing the interface):
Some extra doodles (saved using the save button):
(This is Benford)
Finally:
PROCESS:
MINOR EDIT: I added quotation marks after the prompt: ex. Draw “Rejection”