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[jeffreyheart]

hi everyone, I recently finished this

  http://andrawgynonymous.couldyoujustholdmeandnotsayanything.com/ 

it is a drawing game where it finds you an anonymous partner who is also playing and then you can draw with them

once you find a partner, hold [c] to read the instructions

i am just putting it online today and seeing how the server runs and everything, hope you guys have fun!

[dkanaga]

Sounds really cool-- I love the idea of multi-user/player drawing apps. Unfortunately, I've tried it a few times, and so far, I've been the only person connected to the server. I'll try to get a friend to play with soon

[jeffreyheart]

yeah, i don't really know how to get more people to use it unless it's posted somewhere or it slowly builds up

[John Nesky]

Haven't had the opportunity to try it out yet, but I love the idea and the name is perfect!

[John Nesky]

Okay I tried it briefly, and then my partner quit.

Can you select your color? My pen was black, but I saw people drawing in green and red. I did figure out how to select the size and opacity though.

[jeffreyheart]

yeah once you find a partner, hold [c] to read the instructions

[agj]

This sounds neat, but it says '0 partners'.

[kyn]

Yep, can't find a partner either.

You should be able to start drawing even if you haven't found a partner yet, otherwise people will probably not stick around waiting for someone to connect.

[dkanaga]

Hey Jeffrey,

Good to draw with you yesterday I like the heart the program very much! I do think, however, that there are a few little changes that could be made to make it great:

- like kYn said, it would be good to let people draw without a partner. This would give the players time to practice the key commands, too, so that once they're playing socially, they're more likely to know what they're doing...
- it would be very helpful to have the instructions always visible. Perhaps if the app didn't pop up in a new window (this would be nice anyway!--having the app stay in a normal browser window), some of the window space could be reserved for instructions at all times. I found myself switching between drawing and looking at the instructions way more that I think should be necessary...
- I think the screen dimensions are a little large: I have to scroll to see the chat stuff on my MacBook, which is likely a popular computer for people that might like to do this sort of thing...

I'll let you know if I think of anything else in future play-sessions. Multi-user drawing is a terrific kind of play, and I think this could become a really special program!

- David

[jeffreyheart]

i have made some changes according to you guys and added the instructions in, hopefully things work better now and you can try it out

i'll keep fixing things this week and making alterations. For now the instructions are just below the thing so it's easier for people to test, but I think eventually not using the instructions is what I want from people, and by making them harder to access at first, it forces them to remember the controls more quickly.

also, the one thing i won't do is make a solo drawing option. I think once a steady amount of people use this there will be no problem and there will always be someone to draw with..

HOWEVER, for now, if you'd like, you are allowed to have a few windows connected at once so if nobody is online you can draw with yourself by just opening the page again in a new tab or whatever...

let me know what you think please, as I really want to improve this so it can begin to foster a community.

[dkanaga]

I like the changes quite a bit. I've played around some more (this time, wasn't able to find anyone online--had to do the 2 window thing), and have some new thoughts.

- I still haven't gotten used to moving using the keys without looking at the instructions. It feels to me like a bit of a random assortment of keys to be using, and I think that makes it harder to learn. What if you used one consistent row of keys, e.g. 'z'-'m', or something like that? Also, I think that making the controls harder to access at first is more likely to discourage people from playing than it is to speed up their learning process. I think it would be nice to be able to see the instructions at all times (or maybe initially visible, and the player can hide them with a key press?)

- The mouse-scrubbing technique for adjusting stroke weight and opacity is really brilliant! It took me some time to get used to, though. For a while, I didn't understand that if I let go of 'q', then pressed it again, it would switch between growing and shrinking. This is a great mechanic, but I think a little unintuitive at first...

- I agree that once there are enough people playing this, a solo option doesn't make any sense. That said, it might turn some potential players away who would otherwise wait around, to not be able to wait and draw at the same time (and who haven't been told about the two-window trick )...

I admire your hard-core ambitions of having people play the game w/o looking @ instructions, mastering the controls like an FPS, but I honestly think that a lot of the people who would be most interested in this sort of free play are not at all interested in mastering a tool before having fun with it. I think that by getting people to have fun, to play, as quickly as possible, they'll be more likely to want to go on and master the controls...

Best of luck trying to get a community growing around this! I've definitely told some friends, and I'll keep passing it on to anyone I think might enjoy it