GAMERS is an experimental real-time videogame artwork set in an entirely procedurally generated world. The game invites audiences to play a game of spaceship tag. One ship escapes, the other follows. When left idle, the game plays itself in autopilot mode forever. But as soon as the user presses the throttle, manual mode is enabled and the chase is on.
**Objective: tag the ship as many times as you can to get a high score!**
Tag the ship by entering its hit box. Each tag earns 2 points and 1 turbo credit. Collect 10 turbo credits to enable TURBO boost for 2 seconds. Every 10 points, the level increments along with the difficulty. You lose 1 point for crashing and every second that the game is idle, your score decreases by 0.03 points, so keep playing to preserve your score!
Token owners can submit their score to the GAMERS arcade leaderboard (www.gamers.gallery), which tracks the all-time high scores of all minted editions. Scores are stored off-chain but are associated with the minted token’s ID. Therefore, if a token is traded, its new owner also owns the high score associated with it, producing a secondary economy of high scores. Rank is not defined by features or rarity, but rather by players skill.
## Players:
- Press ‘w’ or click/tap anywhere for throttle (enables manual override).
- Double tap ‘w’ or double click/tap anywhere for TURBO boost (only when turbo meter is full).
- Press ‘a’ to roll left.
- Press ‘d’ to roll right.
- Arrow keys change direction (only during manual override).
- Press the spacebar to pause.
- Press 'h' to toggle the heads up display.
- Press 'g' to record a GIF.
- Press 'v' to save a screenshot.
## Token owners:
- Press ‘1’ to connect your wallet (requires browser wallet).
- Press ‘2’ to submit your current score to the leaderboard.
*Tip: begin by slowly tapping the throttle to get a feel for the acceleration and let the autopilot help you steer!*
```
lightweight reconstruction
┌─────┬─────┬─────┐
│ H×M │ M │ M×E │
├─────┼─────┼─────┤
│ H │ H×E │ E │
├─────┼─────┼─────┤
│ H×R │ R │ R×E │
└─────┴─────┴─────┘
fig. 1. combinatorial matrix
```
This project is part of an ongoing experiment in contextualizing and representing digital tectonics (simulated particles, 3D meshes, physics engines, etc) called Lightweight Construction. This generative iteration of the project follows Gottfried Semper’s speculations on the core elements of architecture laid out in the seminal 1851 essay The Four Elements of Architecture: hearth (H), mound (M), enclosure (E), and roof (R). Using Semper as a starting point, we developed a combinatorial matrix that suggests various types of ways the four elements can be assembled in pairs. The generative ruleset creates a limited set of assemblies that are expressed as blended mathematical primitives. Roofs are expressed as geometric extrusions, Mounds as tiled platforms, Hearths as smooth volumes, and Enclosures as rectilinear frames. Representing these as functions allows them to morph smoothly into each other in virtual space; something almost impossible to do in physical space.
```
hearth --> []
mound --> _/\_
roof --> >|(<
enclosure --> |==|
```
In lightweight reconstruction, Semper’s speculative history of architecture’s fundamental elements provides a model for interpreting digital materials, contemporary visual effects, and mathematical representations of the physical world. Each iteration of the algorithm generates assemblies of parts and objects that are somewhat familiar yet impossible to construct in the physical world. They are produced through mathematical approximations of surfaces and volumes rendered using a custom made path-tracing engine (a common technique for visualizing unbuilt architectures). The generated assemblies can be read as Semper’s Four Elements, but they can also exist as hybrids and hint at new categories. These impossible, strangely familiar details from another world ask us to reflect on how the instruments we use affect our imagination.
Double click/tap to pause the rendering.
Press 's' to save a still image.
```
-office ca, 2024
```
```
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___ _ _____ _ _ ___ __ __ ___ ___ ___ _ _ ___
/ __| |/ / __| | | |/ _ \| \/ |/ _ \| _ \ _ \ || / __|
\__ \ ' <| _|| |_| | (_) | |\/| | (_) | / _/ __ \__ \
|___/_|\_\___|\___/ \___/|_| |_|\___/|_|_\_| |_||_|___/
░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
```
A skeuomorph is a derivative object that retains ornamental design cues from structures that were necessary in the original. They are used widely in architecture, product design, and perhaps most familiarly in user interfaces. Think: desktop icons like trash cans or notepads. SKEUOMORPHS is a meditation on this digital tradition.
SKEUOMORPHS picks up where RASTER left off as an another exploration of the materiality of pixels and rasterized imagery. Here the study of pixels narrows in on the shallow depth of on-screen interfaces and the play of low-res figure-ground effects. Moments of skeuomorphism where the 2-dimensional plane of the screen becomes slightly 3-dimensional through beveling or drop-shadows are extracted and used as abstract painterly details. These elements that are typically used to make computation and interfaces more familiar become unfamiliar on the canvas, suggesting the possibility of an aesthetic between abstraction and realism.
SKEUOMORPHS employs recurring themes and techniques from my art practice: limited color palettes, low-res chunky pixels, dithering, and physics simulation. It uses a specific kind of dithering called R-sequence dither developed by Martin Roberts. Like traditional Bayer matrix-based dithering, this technique produces a patterned image akin to retro video games and early computer screens. In this project, the R-dither pattern results in a woven textile-like texture, which recalls the long relationship between computing and weaving. The canvas negotiates two scales simultaneously: that of the dithered pixel (rendered at 1/1024th of the canvas height) and the simulated particle that acts as a brush stroke (rendered at 1/256th of the canvas height). The two resolutions work together to produce a cohesive texture that is neither pretending to be a retrograde screen nor an analog material but something in between. Similar to RASTER, the goal is to investigate new avenues for digital aesthetics that rely on a combination of historical techniques and innovative practices.
Use mouse or touch controls to interact.
Press 's' to grab a still frame.
Collectors will be eligible to receive a signed archival giclée print of their mint.
```
░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
██▀███ ▄▄▄ ██████ ▄▄▄█████▓▓█████ ██▀███
▓██ ▒ ██▒▒████▄ ▒██ ▒ ▓ ██▒ ▓▒▓█ ▀ ▓██ ▒ ██▒
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▒██▀▀█▄ ░██▄▄▄▄██ ▒ ██▒░ ▓██▓ ░ ▒▓█ ▄ ▒██▀▀█▄
░██▓ ▒██▒ ▓█ ▓██▒▒██████▒▒ ▒██▒ ░ ░▒████▒░██▓ ▒██▒
░ ▒▓ ░▒▓░ ▒▒ ▓▒█░▒ ▒▓▒ ▒ ░ ▒ ░░ ░░ ▒░ ░░ ▒▓ ░▒▓░
░▒ ░ ▒░ ▒ ▒▒ ░░ ░▒ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░▒ ░ ▒░
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```
*Screens no longer only frame and display virtual spacetime. Connected together and surrounding us on all sides, their framings and displays have also opened, activated, and added another spatiotemporal dimension to the four in which all of us live.*
—Vivian Sobchack, *From Screen-Scape to Screen-Sphere: A Meditation in Medias Res*
An exploration of a technical concept I call "pixel overpainting."
Rasterized procedural brush strokes with low transparency slowly layer themselves over each other in a rhythmic loop until they achieve colorful equilibrium. They continue to overpaint themselves endlessly. The resulting color mixtures are then quantized and dithered to separate them into patches of pixels that recall the discrete materiality of the screen: a strictly digital variation on color field painting. The resulting texture is not a skeuomorphic grain but an overt reference to the universe of screens that surround us every day. Electric light arranged in a grid, fluttering and flickering everywhere all the time.
Please allow a few minutes for the colors to reach equilibrium.
For best results use Chrome browser with enabled webGL and hardware acceleration. Though it is encouraged to explore the subtleties in viewing the same pixels on different hardware and software to reflect on the subjectivity of contemporary computer graphics and the materiality of CPUs, GPUs, resolutions, pixel densities, browser APIs, and other medium-specific entropy.
Press '1', '2', '4', '8' to change pixel sizes.
Press 'p' or click canvas to pause/resume.
Press 's' to grab a still frame.
Press 'r' to re-paint.
Collectors will be eligible to receive a signed giclée print of a still frame of their mint as well as high-resolution looping media in GIF or lossless video format.
```
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```
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██▀███ ▄▄▄ ██████ ▄▄▄█████▓▓█████ ██▀███
▓██ ▒ ██▒▒████▄ ▒██ ▒ ▓ ██▒ ▓▒▓█ ▀ ▓██ ▒ ██▒
▓██ ░▄█ ▒▒██ ▀█▄ ░ ▓██▄ ▒ ▓██░ ▒░▒███ ▓██ ░▄█ ▒
▒██▀▀█▄ ░██▄▄▄▄██ ▒ ██▒░ ▓██▓ ░ ▒▓█ ▄ ▒██▀▀█▄
░██▓ ▒██▒ ▓█ ▓██▒▒██████▒▒ ▒██▒ ░ ░▒████▒░██▓ ▒██▒
░ ▒▓ ░▒▓░ ▒▒ ▓▒█░▒ ▒▓▒ ▒ ░ ▒ ░░ ░░ ▒░ ░░ ▒▓ ░▒▓░
░▒ ░ ▒░ ▒ ▒▒ ░░ ░▒ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░▒ ░ ▒░
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```
*Screens no longer only frame and display virtual spacetime. Connected together and surrounding us on all sides, their framings and displays have also opened, activated, and added another spatiotemporal dimension to the four in which all of us live.*
—Vivian Sobchack, *From Screen-Scape to Screen-Sphere: A Meditation in Medias Res*
An exploration of a technical concept I call "pixel overpainting."
Rasterized procedural brush strokes with low transparency slowly layer themselves over each other in a rhythmic loop until they achieve colorful equilibrium. They continue to overpaint themselves endlessly. The resulting color mixtures are then quantized and dithered to separate them into patches of pixels that recall the discrete materiality of the screen: a strictly digital variation on color field painting. The resulting texture is not a skeuomorphic grain but an overt reference to the universe of screens that surround us every day. Electric light arranged in a grid, fluttering and flickering everywhere all the time.
Please allow a few minutes for the colors to reach equilibrium.
For best results use Chrome browser with enabled webGL and hardware acceleration. Though it is encouraged to explore the differences in viewing the same pixels on different hardware and software to reflect on the subjectivity of contemporary computer graphics and the materiality of CPUs, GPUs, resolutions, pixel densities, browser APIs, and other medium-specific entropy.
Press '1', '2', '4', '8' to change pixel sizes.
Press 'p' or click canvas to pause/resume.
Press 's' to grab a still frame.
Press 'r' to re-paint.
Collectors will be eligible to receive a signed giclée print of a still frame of their mint as well as high-resolution looping media in GIF or lossless video format.
```
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```