New art from: Graffiti now in closed beta

[Markus W]

Yay! Graffiti is here - the first of a whole range of new art forms to become available at TheBroth.

This is a closed beta - which means the public cannot access it yet. To gain access please message Zaphod B.

Read the whole story including details (why, what, how...) in the developer blog: http://www.thebroth.com/blog/211/new-art-form-graffiti

So what is your opinion on this? We *need* your feedback!

[Olesniczanin]

At this point I will always belong to conservative party. I consider TheBroth as the mosaics gallery and not the PaintShopPro works gallery. Yes, I think graffiti will make the effort of making mosaics depreciate.
But, as history has already shown, the liberals always win .

[PanterA]

Ive thought a lot about this and im thinking.. this is not thebroth.
make a new website for this.

[misschatterbox]

I agree with PanterA. Make a new website for this. This is not what THeBroth.com is all about.

[Olesniczanin]

I have similar feelings to PanterA and MissChaterBox.
As the motto says: TheBroth - The Global Mosaic.

[GO GO]

well i dont mind having noodles(strokes,lines etc) in my broth

but yes it should be separate ,separate gallery separate forums etc

[anna610]

i think it looks cool but its just not for the broth

[MorningStar]

Thank you everyone for your comments. Have you all read the developer blog entry about this though? Maybe I'll just copy it all here, just in case some people didn't actually read it

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TheBroth as a platform for collaborative art will soon see whole range of new art forms. One of the coolest art forms, graffiti, will soon enter open beta.

NOTE: If you like to test the new graffiti mode, please message Zaphod B to gain access.

So what does that mean - does it mean the end of mosaics? No! Of course not. Mosaics will stay. Art of different types will coexist. The point is - at TheBroth, you can collaborate. You can load and continue and alter others’ works.

All the amazing TheBroth features that we’ve been able to introduce since we moved the tile rendering from Ajax to Flash will still be there. Dragging, rotation, multi-move, slide-under… you name it! Just don’t expect it in the early beta!

This new mode - some call it sketching, drawing, freehand, painting, or graffiti - and the whole bunch of new modes we’ve got in the pipeline, they’ll have all the features that make TheBroth what it is: You can work together, you can watch others, you can work alone, you can import, change, view the replay… and use all those nifty tricks in terms of moving, dragging, rotating.

== Limitations ==

And you’ll be somehow limited too - not unlike the mosaic, there’ll be a limit to how many strokes you can do. This is just how TheBroth works: imagine we had a public graffiti room and people would just add more and more and more layers of virtual paint. Before you know it, it would take FOREVER to load all the data that make up that painting.

So - there will be a limit of strokes. We call them paths. When you begin to draw a line, you’re basically adding lots of points, and when you release the mouse, the path is complete and stored with your name. This way everyone can still see who’s moving what and what the individual contributions are once the artwork is saved.

We’ll be limiting the amount of points that can be used in each room. When all the points are used up, but people continue to paint, then old points will be recycled so that there’s never more than a certain number of points used. We’ll choose a number that is high enough to allow for detailed artworks but low enough so that each room or artwork can load quickly.

A (welcome) side effect of this limitation of available points is yet again a leveling of the playing field. You can’t just add layer after layer of paint - you have to be economical. This is not Photoshop or Paintshop Pro or Coreldraw or whatever your favorite drawing application is. This is collaborative art on the internet, free, in your web browser!

== A new beginning… ==

Let this serve as the official announcement that TheBroth as a collaborative art platform has sufficiently matured. We’re now ready to add a lot of cool new art forms to … ermm… the broth. I can’t even spell that any other than TheBroth anymore..

This new mode we’re calling graffiti for now because that’s where the inspiration came from. When we showed TheBroth to new users, they often felt that making art with tiles just takes too long. Well, one thing is certainly true, good mosaic artworks take a least an hour. We just have to accept, advanced mosaicing is not for everyone!

Now, everyone is familiar with paint programs, and in this new mode, you’ll be able to create something quite acceptable in 30 seconds flat. I am certain that once we have all the advanced features, people will again begin tinkering and create art that’s so outstanding, you could NOT create it 30 seconds. But the difference is - in the mosaic, you can’t do much in 5-10 minutes. In the graffiti mode, you can.

I believe that good mosaics are so outstanding and amazing because they are mosaics. They will always look a tad different than graffiti art - and certainly different from these other (top secret, hush hush) art forms that we’re going to implement soon.

[MorningStar]

[PanterA]

I agree with everything Morning Star,
The thing i need is a different kind of place for the mosaics.
And other arts as well.
Maybe not a whole different website but atleast another gallery.
I asked Zaphod B why there wouldnt be another gallery and he said something about 'more work to do.'
Is that the reason?
Im sure it isnt though.
Maybe just a joke..

The thing about thebroth that makes it different from drawball and alot of other art websites, is that you have a profile.
people know you.
If thebroth didnt i would probably still be on artpad, because you can draw like in thebroth now.
But i chose thebroth because you had profiles, it was collaborative and more fun for people that isnt so artsy.
That way i could meet people who are just playing around and people who are serious in their mosaics.
So my point is. I liked drawing better but on thebroth i had profile, and a community.
I like drawing better than mosaics.
After a while i leveled up in thebroth.
i got a lot better.
It was not a talent it was simply,
Too much spare time.
I got really really used to this artform and could almost do mosaics in my sleep.
Its all about training and making mosaics.
So people with a lot of spare time will be better in mosaics.

When i think about it I actually still feel like drawing rather than mosaicing.
So ive got nothing against freehand.
I just don't wanna have it ruin the mosaic.
Hope you understood some if this..

PanterA

[GO GO]

to be dead honest i m really bad at making strokes(mouse) but yes it is true that tile dragging takes a lot of time... so what we have here is a choice and both of them are distinct enough to be kept imo.Personally i cant wait for new features it will make things more "arty" here .

and yeah i have a suggestion for new feature. It wud be good to have a message when some user runs out of his points (ink) like "used up all ink if u continue drawing it will erase previous lines ...blah blah blah"
just like we have on "clear" button... i know its beta but i thought i just say it

[Olesniczanin]

Graffiti is a good idea and it is funny. I'm sure I will try, use and enjoy it. I was just worried about the mosaics.

[anna610]

well if you do it i think more users will come to the broth but if you do it i think ppl will stop useing mosaics and that will be bad

[Brrr-FrostNZ]

[MorningStar]

I believe the current setting is 25,000 points. That's in average about 2,500 strokes!! A whole lot compared to mosaics. Should be enough to create some serious competition to Monet, Picasso, Van Gogh and the likes.

Just watch that little gray bar on top of the canvas. Right now I feel we're way too generous and we can limit it a lot more - the benefit would be that artists are more economical with their strokes, and thus it loads a lot faster for anyone looking at their art. That's always important!

So - Pantera, Oles, Walrus, Gogo, Brrr... let us know what you think is a good number of strokes that you would think feels like a real constraint but not so that you can't do amazing artworks with it.