originally typed around 2001
I have been playing since 1997. Right now, as I write this I think about the next panel I want to make in the current level! Level 690 at the time of my creating this.
I must state that I love this "game." As far as links to the actual examples, I will have them at a certain spot on the page soon. This page will be organized into a few sections.
1. My experience with this online collaborative activity and how it has effected me overall.
2 .My explanation, an addendum, to the brief one provided at the GC web location.
3. A tutorial on how I like to play, as well as classic examples of what one can expect should they participate, examples learned throughout the years: what can happen and DOES happen while playing along with the imagery.
Again, this is just my take on things.
HISTORY OF MY INVOLVEMENT
-----------------------------------------------------------
I cannot exactly recall when I got the e-mail. When I first got back online, with a degree of regularity, it was when I returned home to my parent's abode, after a disastrous period of decline where all went badly in my life, a slow slide into a thick mud of stagnation and waste.
My folks had a Packard Bell 486 running Windows 3.1. I had used this computer once before, during a period where I briefly stayed at what will from now on be referred to as 1709. When I returned back to the ( now retired ) " Old 3.1" I was even more drawn to it as a dedicated, creative tool for the first time in my life. The last time I had regularly been exposed to a computer and its nitty gritty issues of crashes, maintenance and noises was 1990-91 and even then it was only to watch Mr. Allen Wang do those yellow brick Norton Diagnostics on what was, I think, Windows 3.0. I had played with Paint a few times.... but that was it.
I had real time on my hands now and was in front of this computer a lot. In 94 I would screw around with Prodigy - but by the time I had returned, things had changed. 1709 was outfitted with proper ISP account and Netscape 3 etc. I was slowly being introduced back to the online world, but in essence, this WAS my first introduction, my toe in the water, leading me to the deep end of today.
As I became more and more aware of what could be possibly done, by ME at least, at that time, through the web, I started to simultaneously LOOK for art on the web, more importantly, as best I can truly recall, places to show MY art. I cannot remember if I was looking for collaborative art at all. I found SITO ( http://www.sito.org ) some time around this period.
I do not remember at all what I was trying to do through SITO. I think I posted a few things and tentatively contacted someone. Ed Stastny is, to my best knowledge, one of the founders of SITO, the online collaborative art community. I may have contacted him directly but again I am unsure. One can find out more from others, if interested, as to the strict, exact history of SITO by going there and researching, but I can say thus far, only what have about such matters, for I wish to remain focused on Gridcosm.
Sometime in the spring of 97 I think, I received an e-mail inviting me to participate in a project that was being launched, called Gridcosm. I wish I had that letter, yet I did not know so much about archiving back then; today I would say archive the e-mail, back then I was still very green and I did not archive very much, or at least I did not have a method or any degree of consistency.
I thought the concept sounded cool though and felt special to feel invited. Who knows how many got that letter, but I felt invited.
I was online all the time. What I had known as a social life had changed radically and the Internet became my social life. I was changing in many ways. I decided I would try this game. It happened at a good point for, as I said, I was investigating how to get my art on the web, and had gotten my feet damp, learning about art programs, FTP and basic html.
I started participating at level 012 ( 1997/04/21) and have been playing ever since. My first programs I used were on that old 3.1, they were: JASC Paint Shop Pro 3 and Aldus PhotoStyler 2.1, uploading with CuteFTP. The humorous thing was using PSP and seeing that message which I am sure if I were to look at every level of the Grid to date, would be included , somewhere, graphically: YOU ARE ON DAY 639 OF YOUR 30 DAY TRIAL PERIOD. Oh yes and sometimes I would make use of crazy programs like that ULead thing that would make 3d objects. I had no scanner until late 1997. When I started, I was a real novice at any kind of graphics on the web. My programs, even at that time, were crude. How did I work without a screen cap and a history list!
Importantly, I do not remember " falling in love " with the game; I did not think about it as I do now. I simply fell into it, a rhythm. I would do at least a panel a day - or 2. As my life changed, as I learned new things, as I made mistakes (falling back into old habits, to my great shame) over periods, this game became part of my daily ritual. It could serve as diary, its 450x450 pixel area, with expressions of 150x150 pixels for my reservation - available at most any time, should things have been going smoothly.
I started out with those crude old programs and my methods changed as I moved up to my current situation using a Windows 98 machine and mainly Photoshop 5.5 to create with. At one point I had the most panels created by anyone to have participated in the game, owing to my steady, daily attention to contributing. SITO had other such collab games, but only this one really consumed me. It still does!
go.TOP
WHAT
GRIDCOSM IS-----------------------------------------------------------
Gridcosm is a game where artists, with their graphics program of choice, ( i.e. Photoshop ) can play alongside other artists, creating images online. GC started with one seed image and 8 spaces around it, initiated at level 000. Henceforward, around the middle image, other artists were and still are invited to connect, however they wish to, to the central image, as well as the adjoining images beside the space they've chosen to reserve. Reservation of a Space: this is done by obtaining a SITO ID. More about this later....
The only real RULES are as such:
- images created must be 150x150 pixel JPEG
- image be created during a set time period
or else the space
reserved, becomes open for anyone else to reserve.
After
completing one's panel, although not a TRUE rule, the artist has the
choice of adding text to correspond with the image.
There is no limit to how many spaces one can create. If you have the time
and energy, you can go on and on.
When all the squares are filled the entire level itself is reduced into a
150x150 square -- this compression creates the center " seed square" for the
new level.
In the
past, should one have chosen
not to title a new level, the tried and true
phrase " thus inspiring
" would appear. Look for it - should you go deep in the levels of yore. I
just saw one in level 298...plus there was the option, for the person
finishing a level, of naming the new level -- adding a title to it. This has
since been eradicated, in favor of a semi-automated producer of wordspew.
Rather
recently, a "new engine" was given to the game and things take
much less time and effort. New programming by certain wonderful
talents at SITO, has made things more fluid.
Look at the image to the left. The top half of the image ( taken from an old
.psd
file I saved when I was working on my pieces for level 450) shows that old
white square in the middle, where one would type in their SITO ID then press the gray button
to complete the reservation process. Consequently, the person had a great deal of time to finish a
level, like 2 hours if I recall correctly. After finishing the
piece, it would have to be uploaded via FTP to the SITO server. This step
has been eliminated too. In the lower half of the image you see 690 as it
is taking shape. If you look at the lower gray square pictured, you can see
the message, telling me that the square can be reserved by me, for I've
already logged in.
All I would need to do now (
besides stopping my creation of this primer ) would be to click on
RESERVE, and the square would be mine.
My SITOid you can unclearly see, is
SNY. I happen to be logged in to the SITO system, which is a current
necessity that enables one, after doing so, to do a number of things,
beside playing Gridcosm, such as: manage a personal " artchive",
create via a different game such as HyGrid, or discuss various issues
"SITOID".
go.TOP
BEYOND
SIMPLICITY: GRIDPLAY & POLITICS-----------------------------------------------------------
GRIDPLAY. How does one get those squares linked up? I cannot remember exactly what my old old system was, back in the Stone Age for 3.1 but I can say -- ask any player and you will get a flava of Gridplay -- how they approach their panels creation.
Along with the current revised " engine " of GC, my method has become a fluid, consistent one. In order of action:
- I take a screencap (
PrintScrn) and grab the image of the square I have reserved in
conjunction with the center or adjoining squares
and paste it into a new window in Photoshop.
- I flatten the layers -
cropping then to a desired, manageable area I can work with. My screen
is now 1280x960, quite the jump from the old 640 by 480 days - but then
I had a utility that would let me drag and cap, a special , precise
screen capturing program....
- I place a 1 pixel by 1 pixel
bright, contrasting colored dot at the upper most left portion of
what is my square's perimeter -- actually IN the other image I am
joining to -- this gives me some orientation while creating. If I lose
the dot via a gaff, I coordinate with guides, my available area. This
dot also helps for a later step.
- I lasso ( rect ) the message
in yellow, mid-square, the one confirming my rsv.time left and fill it with the
gray that is the main color of the square. I consider this then my
"canvas" and proceed to create the image which, most likely, is
conceptually running around, loose in my head, the very thing that prompted me (usually ) to take
the space.
- I then improvise around the
concept, adding any kind of image that floats my boat, gaining
inspiration from the Grid, my life, or any thing -- ANYTHING.
- I try to use colors that are
in other panels, in my panels, but as in nature ( a cat never has a
bad fur day ) all the colors, no matter how garish they may be seem to
be, in a great " fractal " sense, work out
eventually.
- After I am satisfied with my
creation I switch my lassoing tool over to a setting of 150x150 (
Fixed Size ) and then proceed to copy merged ( if I have not flattened
the image already ) after aligning the lasso tool with the DOT I have
left for myself as guidance.
- I open up a new window (
Ctrl-N Return Ctrl-V ) and then save the image as it should be saved:
level_coordinate_SITOID.jpg --------- for example 690a3sny.jpg.
- return to browser
- UPLOAD
NOTE: If I want to do
more than a few panels, a triptych or diptych, I just extend my sense or
orientation and say increase my lasso to 450x150 etc etc.
Now.... one has to be careful with the current, sleek GC engine.
The "GC" will name
your file as it has to be named ANYWAY - so mistakenly upload the wrong
file and you will be stuck with an image that is not meant to be where it will
surely be... that is of course... unless you plead with the GC Makers on High to mercifully go
under the hood and change it for you.
BTW: There are certain things one does as a newbie.
I think it is like " Rite of Passage. "
EX: I would have to say the NUMBER
ONE mark of a newbie is the
choosing of somehow using the reservation square ITSELF as the MAIN
subject matter of one's ACTUAL panel.
It used to be ( again in the olden times ) a maroon tile with white or
yellow letters, now it is a gray field.
I did this, I used
this tactic, thought it a unique expression, as others had done before me,
save the initial BETA
TESTERS. It is NOT guaranteed that this will always be - but it just so
happens that this is, to the experienced collabers, the most recognizable way of practically declaring
one's newbiness.
go.TOP
BEYOND GRIDPLAY=POLITICS
-----------------------------------------------------------
Now I know what you,
should you be a newbie, are thinking. What do I mean by politics? Well I
will tell you.
Above all Gridcosm is a collaborative art entity, with few rules and
constraints. When you agree to create, and make your panels, what you may envision,
may or may not happen, either in the course of what you choose to do or what others
choose to do with your panel.
In most ways this is
a glorious feature.
You can ask yourself: What will become of my panel; will people add to my
theme; will my color/pattern flow into another level, becoming the
dominant color/pattern of a future level -- will it last through
-- 2 generations perhaps? Essentially the main question could be: Will my " world
" be added on to, blended with, thereby creating a greater extension of
my vision?
Think about it.
What if Arioch does not favor you? What if your panel, done with the
precision required of a Fabergé apprentice, is connected to by someone
who chooses to ( in your opinion ) LAY an
egg, right beside YOUR little meisterwork? Well the
first time you might be disappointed - but depending on how much you enjoy
the " chance " and the GC " game " you might just go
on.
" Try try again. " You may not care that time and simply go on
to create something next to another's "nice" piece on the
same level or the next.
This game has <<<< IDs >>>> of course and if you play long enough you will see styles and watch people.
" Oh look! There is DDT connecting to my piece - oh JOY! "
" Oh GOD! There is TTD connecting to my piece - oh NO! "
This brings me to the most common, controversial, consequence of
this game, an argument vented directly through the forum
or subtly/not-so-subtly included as " message " in the content
of an image or two, a level or so later after something has displeased some
player once too often.
To BLEND - or not to BLEND?
It is your choice really. If you wanted to, you could post up a panel of
pea green, with a scan of a bear claw on it for 400 levels, unwavering in your
Warholian desire for uniformity. You might be hated - but you could do it. You can choose
to intricately create spaces within the space, blending in a way seemingly
only you can, pleasing someone immensely without your knowing it (
unless they CHOOSE to tell you via Forum or direct e-mail ) You might be
at a different skill level or simply have a different style COMBINED with
say particular, older software and these factors could make your attempt
at a nice blend, seem lesser. Who knows? Some times one just says "
Screw it. I am gonna post a picture of Fabio! AND I AIN'T GONNA BLEND
ANYTHING!"
Arguments have happened! Grand displays of profanity and ire in the forum,
flames a-plenty have raged like typographical wildfire!
I know. I have been involved in a few classic ones. But oddly, like
the Grid, things go on. Some people stay and some people go. Some people
go away for a while and come back. If you look through the levels, all
600+, you will see some familiar names you may come to know, love or hate.
Sadly, the Grid witnessed its first death, where a new artist, who
actually was quite good at rousing people in ways both bad and good, died.
That made me think, about those arguments in the Forum, about blending /
non-blending, in a way I had never thought before.
There is also the issue of what some might call
" Flooding ", where one artist, decides to take up a few levels
with his visions. That has inspired a few shoutyping matches!
In conclusion, I can say that this is a game I am obsessed with. It has,
for example, allowed me to discover Photoshop " techniques "
free from any heavy book, and given me great proficiency in as far as simply
operating the software. I have proselytized a few, via the posting of my
own invitations via alt.comp.graphics or other newsgroups devoted to
things graphical. ( see AAG )
Sometimes I will find myself using the game as a way to free myself - to get
ideas flowing - when another project has stalled for me. Sometimes I
loiter obscenely, procrastinating, when I SHOULD be devoting time to much
more important things.
Once, I made a panel at another person's house, which entailed getting CuteFTP
on their computer and using Photoshop LE.
In the room next to the one I gestate in, there leans against the wall, in
the corner, a box. I have a cherished poster made by SITO member Pat
Lichty.
He graciously sent it to me a long while ago. It is huge and has 200+ levels
on it -- beside this BIG Gridcosmic assembly, a list of the main
contributors, my name being at the top. Wow, did it freak me out! I could
not believe how many panels I had done. Nor could my close friends fathom
making so many squares - like a Space PixelQuilter!
( NOTE: In a former version, there was something called the
OmniReport. On this page one could see just how many panels people had
done and I think one used to be able to go right to each specific level
via a drop down menu. That feature is not currently active.
ANTI
NOTE: )
I have not yet hung up that poster. It is GIGANTIC*. I want to frame it. I
was just so thankful to get this and not for my name at the top; I did not
know any names would be on there. The only reason my name was there - let
alone at the top of a list ( along with
Unk and
Casey and whomever else I
cannot immediately recall ) was because I was ( and AM ) a freak
about this game. I still make about a panel a day unless I go somewhere
where I cannot. Sometimes I do not have the spirit at all - but those
periods haven't ever lasted more than a few weeks.
I guess it is that very same drive - that energy I have in me right now -
some strange obsession to tell about this project in detail, this cumulative effort of many people, over a period of 4 years now.
Well that is my take on this " game. "
go.TOP
// SNY
* The large poster I had only exists in memory -- it became lost during a
2004 move. I should have never taken it out of the tube at all.... It is November 2007 and
I approach 3000 pieces in the grid. I keep saying to myself, " Mark, when
you reach 3000, stop that is all you need do -- it will have been a 10
year project, a project unframed, to which who-knows how many man-hours
were devoted to." I don't know -- but I can say I don't find as much time
as I once did for this wonderful app.