Swarmation
August 31, 2010 4:36 AM Subscribe
Swarmation is a collaborative game (a bit like Everybody Edits) in which each player controls a pixel. The goal is to create formations with other players before the time expires.
It didn't work for me. Couldn't see my pixel, couldn't move any pixels. Got points, but I couldn't see how
posted by YAMWAK at 4:55 AM on August 31, 2010
posted by YAMWAK at 4:55 AM on August 31, 2010
That's strange, it works fine for me. Your pixel is the blue one and you move it with your arrow keys.
posted by sveskemus at 4:56 AM on August 31, 2010
posted by sveskemus at 4:56 AM on August 31, 2010
Oh is THAT what's supposed to happen? I tried this yesterday and I was the only pixel. Probably one o' them MetaFore thingies.
And I guess the point of the game is that collaboration without communication is impossible and design without iteration is literally a dead end.
posted by DU at 5:00 AM on August 31, 2010 [1 favorite]
And I guess the point of the game is that collaboration without communication is impossible and design without iteration is literally a dead end.
posted by DU at 5:00 AM on August 31, 2010 [1 favorite]
Seems to be broken much of the time. I play for about 10 seconds, then my pixel disappears and everyone else's stops moving.
This.
posted by Fizz at 5:11 AM on August 31, 2010
This.
posted by Fizz at 5:11 AM on August 31, 2010
My pixel was blue until it turned yellow then disappeared (FireFox), doesn't render a playfield in IE.
posted by plinth at 5:12 AM on August 31, 2010
posted by plinth at 5:12 AM on August 31, 2010
When I tried it, I was also the only pixel on the board.
Maybe the point is that everyone's really very Alone.
posted by WalterMitty at 5:19 AM on August 31, 2010
Maybe the point is that everyone's really very Alone.
posted by WalterMitty at 5:19 AM on August 31, 2010
This is how I play MetaFilter, only on the comment level.
posted by pracowity at 5:37 AM on August 31, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by pracowity at 5:37 AM on August 31, 2010 [2 favorites]
It's fun-ish, but there only seem to be 2 formations, snake and clover. Kinda boring after a while.
posted by bluefly at 6:13 AM on August 31, 2010
posted by bluefly at 6:13 AM on August 31, 2010
It's fun-ish, but there only seem to be 2 formations, snake and clover. Kinda boring after a while.
For the 90 seconds that this game worked for me (seemed pretty fun till it broke), there were a bunch of other formations, so maybe it just got stuck on those or new ones have been added now.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 6:27 AM on August 31, 2010
For the 90 seconds that this game worked for me (seemed pretty fun till it broke), there were a bunch of other formations, so maybe it just got stuck on those or new ones have been added now.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 6:27 AM on August 31, 2010
Let's organize this, people. How about if we have a MeFi game every 6:00PM Eastern time?
posted by curuinor at 6:28 AM on August 31, 2010
posted by curuinor at 6:28 AM on August 31, 2010
Worked fine for me. Scoring seemed a bit wrong, and I don't th
Fun when you imagine yourself getting with a group of intelligent pixels, and no one's doing moronic things like running around when the desired formation hasn't changed or splitting off for no reason right before scoring. (Well, those things still amusing but in an aggravating way.) Trying to establish/assert a pattern early and sticking to it seems to work a lot better than hanging back hoping others form a pattern and you can jump in. As one might expect.
posted by fleacircus at 7:00 AM on August 31, 2010
Fun when you imagine yourself getting with a group of intelligent pixels, and no one's doing moronic things like running around when the desired formation hasn't changed or splitting off for no reason right before scoring. (Well, those things still amusing but in an aggravating way.) Trying to establish/assert a pattern early and sticking to it seems to work a lot better than hanging back hoping others form a pattern and you can jump in. As one might expect.
posted by fleacircus at 7:00 AM on August 31, 2010
I seem to be accumulating points just by sitting in the corner doing nothing.
Metaphor?
posted by jonesor at 7:02 AM on August 31, 2010
Metaphor?
posted by jonesor at 7:02 AM on August 31, 2010
Oops, first sentence was supposed to go on: "I don't think it's actually working properly."
And, I wish the dots had some distinguishing features of some kind. E.g. having them get more progressively blue the more times you successfully form a pattern with them.
posted by fleacircus at 7:03 AM on August 31, 2010
And, I wish the dots had some distinguishing features of some kind. E.g. having them get more progressively blue the more times you successfully form a pattern with them.
posted by fleacircus at 7:03 AM on August 31, 2010
Hey guys, I'm one of the developers who worked on Swarmation for the Node Knockout competition, a 48 hour programming competition.
My team knows there are some annoying bugs with the game but we can't fix them on the live site until voting for the competition is over in 3 days.
Meanwhile, try using Chrome instead of Firefox because Chrome has native support for websockets and that makes it easier for us to work with. In 3 days, however, we'll be doing our absolute best to make sure the game works in Firefox too.
Any feedback or feature requests? We're already working on a leaderboard and some more formations.
You can check out some of the other awesome projects that were created for node knockout here: http://nodeknockout.com/teams
And if you want to you can vote for my team here: http://nodeknockout.com/teams/saber-tooth-moose-lion
thanks!
P.S. I'm @ollerac on twitter.
posted by psiph at 7:04 AM on August 31, 2010 [13 favorites]
My team knows there are some annoying bugs with the game but we can't fix them on the live site until voting for the competition is over in 3 days.
Meanwhile, try using Chrome instead of Firefox because Chrome has native support for websockets and that makes it easier for us to work with. In 3 days, however, we'll be doing our absolute best to make sure the game works in Firefox too.
Any feedback or feature requests? We're already working on a leaderboard and some more formations.
You can check out some of the other awesome projects that were created for node knockout here: http://nodeknockout.com/teams
And if you want to you can vote for my team here: http://nodeknockout.com/teams/saber-tooth-moose-lion
thanks!
P.S. I'm @ollerac on twitter.
posted by psiph at 7:04 AM on August 31, 2010 [13 favorites]
I played this for 20 minutes or so last night (worked great in Chrome), there were enough players in the game that we split into two teams with constant, low-volume crossover. We never got the 'lobster' pattern to match, despite having the right arrangement (plus a bunch of other pixels, but that doesn't seem to be a problem with other patterns.
I found the best way to help your team hit the right pattern is to stay stationary - it creates a base for the other players to work off of. Once I realized this the game lost a lot of its appeal, it's too hard to collectively decide on a pattern's location without any way to communicate unless some players are sedentary.
posted by tylermoody at 7:45 AM on August 31, 2010 [1 favorite]
I found the best way to help your team hit the right pattern is to stay stationary - it creates a base for the other players to work off of. Once I realized this the game lost a lot of its appeal, it's too hard to collectively decide on a pattern's location without any way to communicate unless some players are sedentary.
posted by tylermoody at 7:45 AM on August 31, 2010 [1 favorite]
I assume we've got a few MetaFilter folk on at the moment. When you get enough people playing properly this is totally awesome, like being part of a group mind.
posted by lucidium at 7:50 AM on August 31, 2010
posted by lucidium at 7:50 AM on August 31, 2010
No one wanted to form a breakaway group with my little pixel, no matter how it wavered and wandered just outside the periphery of the mass conglomeration. It felt like high school.
posted by itstheclamsname at 9:21 AM on August 31, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by itstheclamsname at 9:21 AM on August 31, 2010 [2 favorites]
This so requires a chat mode so everyone can hear me scream "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOOOOOINNNNNGGGGG?!?!?! STOP FUCKING UP THE FORMAAAATION!"
posted by Ogre Lawless at 1:04 PM on August 31, 2010
posted by Ogre Lawless at 1:04 PM on August 31, 2010
Had the same problems as tylermoody - the lobster pattern seems to be broken. It is very frustrating where everybody tries to move to help, even when they're already part of the pattern. When it comes together it's great.
posted by YAMWAK at 1:17 PM on August 31, 2010
posted by YAMWAK at 1:17 PM on August 31, 2010
Whenever something doesn't work in firefox, I try it in chrome and it'll usually work OK.
But the people playing right now don't seem to work together very well.
posted by delmoi at 1:43 PM on August 31, 2010
But the people playing right now don't seem to work together very well.
posted by delmoi at 1:43 PM on August 31, 2010
If you just leave it open without doing anything, it makes a nice sort of aquarium.
posted by signal at 3:00 PM on August 31, 2010
posted by signal at 3:00 PM on August 31, 2010
I like this a lot. When things work out it's really heart-warming. A fun game with an emotional and intellectual effect, and there aren't many of those. I saw Listening Post at the Science Museum over the summer. This reminds me of that somehow, but fuzzier.
posted by howfar at 7:02 PM on August 31, 2010
posted by howfar at 7:02 PM on August 31, 2010
Come on people!!! Look at the pretty picture. Make your dots look like the little picture, come on, you know you can.
Aw crap, where are sheeple when you need them??
posted by Sportbilly at 7:38 PM on August 31, 2010
Aw crap, where are sheeple when you need them??
posted by Sportbilly at 7:38 PM on August 31, 2010
Worked great on Chrome and had me laughing out loud once I got it. There is a problem with it that it sometimes fails to score shapes we clearly achieved.
posted by chairface at 9:54 PM on September 1, 2010
posted by chairface at 9:54 PM on September 1, 2010
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posted by le morte de bea arthur at 4:46 AM on August 31, 2010