Hexquisite Corpse Suggestion Thread

[ptoing]

Seeing as the Hexquisite Corpse Collab is almost over and considering that it seemed to have been very well recieved I plan to run HCCs indefinitly as long as people seem to enjoy them and as long as I have some time to organise the. Luckily they do not require as much maintenance as the Isocollab

So this is where you guys and gals come in.

I want you to suggest themes and palettes for future HCCs.

The palettes should be either 16 or 32 colours, the themes can be anything really.

[robotriot]

Random theme suggestions: steampunk, sideview run & gun game, nature, battlefield

[Arachne]

More themes: outer space, underwater, nightmare creatures, anthropomorphized inert objects, flight, anachronism.

[Stratto]

Random theme suggestions: steampunk, sideview run & gun game, nature, battlefield

I think nature theme could end up with some great results.
althouhg I dont see how a sideview run and gun game could work 

[Overkill]

I'd like to see if Arne's 8-color palette could be done. It'd be more challenging to mix colors, but I'd suspect it'd be way easier to make transitions between adjacent tiles since there is a more limited palette. This could make fairly some funky art as a result.

[Rosse]

Animated Hexquisite Corpse! All rules stays the same (palette, borders), but with 2 (or 4 frames). Maybe make the collab template a bit smaller (edit: I don't mean the actual tile size, but the total amount of tiles) for the regular, theme based activities?

[ptoing]

I have chatted with Rawsushi (monsoon2d) about animated ones some days ago. 2 frames would be silly. I think i would go for something like 6 frames.

Also, I already made templates for corpses with 61 and 37 tiles

[Conzeit]

EDIT: I realized my post was more fitting to the Activity suggestion thread 

THEMES YOU SAY?

how about......satelite views....like a wacky Google Maps 

or, say  a rampage.....the chaos that would ensue if doomsday was announced    (some say 2012 will be it....with all the hype SOMETHINGs bound to happen now)

[Zenobia]

I second that steampunk would be cool. Or (Greek/Norse/etc.) mythology.
I think themes like 'nature' or 'technology' would be too broad. It needs to be more specific to keep it interesting, if you want to run these indefinitely.

[robotriot]

Or what about something like a picture zoomer/the Zoomquilt: http://www.zoomquilt.org/

[#36005A]

some theme suggestions:
- City life
- Monster mash
- Dream house

[big brother]

Roads, rivers, and rails?

[Argyle]

Could be fun to incorporate a set perspective too as well?  Might be a bit too much moderation of submissions though.

[tomic]

classic suggestion would be outer space, but i guess the transitions aren't too challenging then (see actual hexquisite).. could mount into everybody pixeling his planet/spaceship/whatever surrounded by deep space black and some stray pixels as stars

i'd go for pirates.. think of the whole monkey island / pirates of the caribean feel.. skulls, ghostships.. parrots! =P

another thing that i had in mind is a developing palette.. like starting tiles have a given 4 color-palette, the bunch of tiles surrounding the start tile have one additional color and so on. might be a bit costly in terms of moderation though.

what also would be nice is a field separated into different areas (top 3 rows are sky etc.) or even into totally different themes.. the "theme transition tiles" would be quite interesting; think of the map of "lemmings - the tribes" (http://www.abandonia.com/files/games/272/Lemmings%202%20-%20The%20Tribes_3.png), just with better transitions

[Don risotto]

%^&* yeah monkey island collab.

[Argyle]

omg it just hit me


Where's Waldo

[peculiarapparat]

Argyle, what, a waldo on every tile?

Steampunk.

That being said, steampunk steampunk steampunk steampunk.

[Argyle]

Argyle, what, a waldo on every tile?

Steampunk.

That being said, steampunk steampunk steampunk steampunk.

No, there can maybe be a designated tile where waldo is put or something and the rest is the chaotic scene of claustrophobic hell that waldo scenes are famous for.

Here's a scene of the old Waldo NES game



I'm damn sure Pixelation could do some hilarious things in a higher quality.

[philipptr]

Argyle, what, a waldo on every tile?

Steampunk.

That being said, steampunk steampunk steampunk steampunk.

No, there can maybe be a designated tile where waldo is put or something and the rest is the chaotic scene of claustrophobic hell that waldo scenes are famous for.

Or everyone would do a tile with and without waldo and pixelation would have a php randomly displaying one of the waldo-tiles inbetween the rest 

[peculiarapparat]

Or everyone would do a tile with and without waldo and pixelation would have a php randomly displaying one of the waldo-tiles inbetween the rest 

In such case the drawing area given to each maker should be pretty large; i imagine finding waldo on some 100*100 would be way too easy, unless you stuff it completely, nothing else visible behind them, with waldo lookalikes, which wouldnt be that fun?

[Shrike]

I dislike having a set theme.  I liked it when the idea was to do whatever the hell you want, but getting inspiration from neighboring tile borders.  However, Animation would be good, though it would make things take longer.  New palettes would be excellent.  I think Ptoing should make us one, though a black, white and (insert favorite color here) would be cool.  Like, give a option of 3rd colors and people could pick one, but still have to make it seam with the other tile.  Or something.   

[Zccc]

That sounds very nice, I like that ideia.

[philipptr]

Or everyone would do a tile with and without waldo and pixelation would have a php randomly displaying one of the waldo-tiles inbetween the rest 

In such case the drawing area given to each maker should be pretty large; i imagine finding waldo on some 100*100 would be way too easy, unless you stuff it completely, nothing else visible behind them, with waldo lookalikes, which wouldnt be that fun?

I guess I didn't explain it properly. You would have for example 6*6 tiles. Everyone makes a tile without waldo and then edits a waldo in at one spot. Then the phpscript would put all the tiles without waldo together but at a randomly chosen tile pick the one with waldo in it. So you wouldn't have to search on 100*100 pixels for waldo but (in case of a 6*6 collab and 100*100 tiles) on 600*600.

[peculiarapparat]

I see, my bad, that sounds nice actually.

As of palettes, im rather new to this, what is it with taking some pointless über-limiting palette (such as the mentioned black/white/1customcolor) anyway? Only nostalgia? I mean, limiting to some 16 specified colors can look really cool, but 3 (esp drastically different) colors will always look crappy, what is the point?

[tomic]

for the record: i'd vote against the waldo crackpot idea, also 6x6 tiles aren't that challenging.

pirates are 

[Argyle]

Yeah, to be honest it was just something that sounded like a great idea at the time after just seeing a retardedly over-cluttered collage of characters that looked like a Waldo page.

Something like your theme transition tiles idea sounded interesting, or at least having a set of tiles flagged as 'sky', 'ground level' or 'horizon', and 'foreground' or 'underground'

[philipptr]

for the record: i'd vote against the waldo crackpot idea, also 6x6 tiles aren't that challenging.

pirates are 

  I didn't mean 6px*6px tiles but 36 tiles of 100px*100px tiles. Still I would agree, there are more intresting ideas vor collabs.

[Mathias]

why am I so obivlious; didn't see this

. . .

another thing that i had in mind is a developing palette.. like starting tiles have a given 4 color-palette, the bunch of tiles surrounding the start tile have one additional color and so on. might be a bit costly in terms of moderation though.

what also would be nice is a field separated into different areas (top 3 rows are sky etc.) or even into totally different themes.. the "theme transition tiles" would be quite interesting; think of the map of "lemmings - the tribes" (http://www.abandonia.com/files/games/272/Lemmings%202%20-%20The%20Tribes_3.png), just with better transitions

Tomic, the same concept occurred to me, just in a slightly different idea - about the shifting palette I mean. I would love that. Think of the end result.

And the different sections idea is great! Haveing a shifting palette would complement the entire thing being divided into sections.

We should wait to see how the current HCC turns out and draw conclusions as to what needs better controlled for a more optimal end-result. I get the feeling our current HCC is going to be overly chaotic. Which isn't horrible, but I'd like to try a more calculated approach, such as designating themes, sections, shifting palettes, etc.

BUT, I fear there's an inherent flaw in the shifting palette idea: what happens when you make 2 artists design tiles adjacent to eachother but that have different palettes? Each pixeller is going to use colors on his edges the other may not have, therefore killing the opportunity for them to be seamless. Right?

[Gil]

I LOVE the zoomquilt idea. I was thinking about how to pull it off though and here's what I came up with:

Everyone creates a 100x100 image with 4 pixels designated as the HOLE. The image then zooms (2x, 3x, etc) revealing the next 100x100 image eventually with another 2x2 hole in it to the next one.

Another idea is to have one of those 2D racers like mario kart, but in one big straight road. Everyone creates a tileset consisting of X tiles and creates a flat map with a road running through it. Only the top two tile rows are revealed for the next pixeler, who creates the next piece of road. The end result is pasted in a simple flash app that runs the whole thing. A simple race sprite going through environment after environment.

[Mathias]

Forgot about that crazy zooming thing. I found it years ago on ebaums world. I never knew where he'd stolen it from. Don't miss the second one. I love how it starts with a billboard.

They use multiple resolutions of the same images stacked on top of eachother that all scale up as one, as you "zoom". Probably a lot of opacity-fading going on. Notice the jumpy edges of some. I have a lot of experience in Flash animation, so doing a "zoomquit" seems technically feasible, but hello, we're talking about pixel art. I don't understand how a zoomquilt is even a consideration. Plus, I'd rather be able to sit back and survey a huge finished peice of pixel art "landscape", rather than a tiny zooming window, because you know the chosen dimensions for each peice will have to be very small so it's realistic for people to actually finish their contribution.

So, while the zoomquilt idea itself rocks, I don't think it's right for this. The effect will surely majorly suffer if it's reduced to big increments of zoom and the user isn't free to fluidly control it.


When pondering what we can do I lean more towards big crazy detailed busy landscapes, like the 'Where's Waldo?' thought, but not quite. More like some Hieronymus Bosch scene. Something fun to look at and that forces us to improvise creatively.


And Gil, as for the racer idea, are you talking about repeating tiles, like a game has? And will it scroll, or zoom or something?



--How about tiles that aren't tiles but rather concentric circles, and as the rings get too big, they're broken up into individual peices, which can be claimed by participants individually? Or why not tiles without uniform shapes, like a real 250 peice puzzle's peices, which encroach into eachother in random ways. You could still mask all but the outer 8px like we're doing now, or ptoing is I should say.

So, it looks like we have two distinct topics here - the theme and the way it all meshes together.




So, here's my vote on both topics:

MEDIEVAL ERA
Make it a matrix of variously shaped tiles, curvalinear even. Deviate from square bound shapes, too. Make it diverse. We dont want anything too difficult for people to follow.


EDIT*  wait a minute, aren't we supposed to stay within the confines of a hexagonal tiling thing? Hence this thread's name "Hexquisite Corpse Suggestion Thread". It seems we're all going off on random tangents that have nothing to do with the hexquisite concept. I think our options as far as tiling are amount of and size of tiles and the arrangement of them, ie right now they're arranged in an overall hexagonal shape.

[tomic]

important rule suggestion for the next collab

"last three tiles have to be done within 24 hours, not 72, cause waiting 3days+ for unveiling sucks"

[Argyle]

important rule suggestion for the next collab

"last three tiles have to be done within 24 hours, not 72, cause waiting 3days+ for unveiling sucks"

Haha, yes.  I think we should add this to the Constitution of the US as well.

[tomic]

or maybe the center should be a start-tile too..
would avoid the traffic jam at the end

(i think ilkke would unselfishly offer his help there =)

[ptoing]

Yeh, center being a startpoint would probably not be a bad idea.

[Mathias]

Someone should probably compile all these ideas, if any are useful, into 3 or 4 distinct options we can just choose from via a poll or something. We'll never settle as long more and more ideas keep getting spewed out.

My most desired idea is to somehow designate sections within the collab so that there's defined "sectors" when it's all done. The currect HCC kinda played out that way, but I think it would enhance the end result if there was at least some method to the madness. Can I get an amen?

[Scribblette]

I agree on compilation being needed, helps redundancy in suggestions. And there's probably no real need for it to be hexagons only every single time - hexquisite having hex indicates there's something about it with a 6 involved, not that it MUST be hexagons. So - 6 curves! 6 legs! 6... well, nevermind the 6.

As may be suggested here already,  it might be better to have somewhat more general themes suggested, as being too specific may lessen the enthusiasm that saw the last one churned out so very quickly. Then throw in a couple qualifiers.

i.e. Theme, Perspective, Palette, Section shape.

My picks, feel free to interpret:
Deep Aquatic + Fishbowl view + Red, Yellow and Neon Green ONLY
Toxic Mutations + Mandatory Tutu in each section + no pinks or greens allowed
Stained Glass + black and white ONLY
Freedom vs Tyranny vs Carebears + Pick one for your section only

Notice how I was careful not to be too specific.

[32]

I was thinking, with the sectors and mock-up ideas, we could take one of ptoings grids (a smaller one, maybe more than one going at a time, "screens" from the same game). Come up with a VERY basic theme and gametype, then on the grid, colour each hex a different colour, one colour for ground "tiles", background, hud, enemies, character etc. so we have a level design, then the rest works the same as the last collab. Less like trying to make a playable game and more like just a balls out awesome mockup, it wont make sense and priority would be thrown out the window, but it could be awesome.

[Perciv@l]

How about make something similar to this collaborative infographic?
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a86/Venceslau/Links/infographic_collab-1.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a86/Venceslau/Links/infographic_collab-2.jpg

First draw a base lineart, then separate into tiles.
Maybe even hide the entire tiles from others! The contrast between the different approaches to represent the same thing give an interesting effect.

[Don risotto]

Here's an idea: how about making the grid wrap?

y'know, asteroids style.

[Peach]

I was going to suggest something like Perciv@l said.
Draw a human shape inside the mega-hexagon and let the lines be guides. the rest is the same as before: no theme restriction or whatever, apart from the lines.
Only thing to change is the palette (apart from the fact I did like the last one)

[Atnas]

A side scroller Collab would be great! An entire game level divided into parts where the only rule would be to continue a way in and out of your tile for the character to pass through.

Then maybe someone would write up a demo or something and we'd be able to play through our creation.

[pgil]

A sidescroller level would be really cool. Would it be a straight left-ro right mario style thing, or something  more freeform?

[Atnas]

If a square grid was used, there would be four possible openings. If a hexagonal grid was used, six. It would probably devolve into a mess if everyone used every side as a way out. I think if we just use our best judgement, a more freeform level would emerge, without a mess. Of course, a few people could create open areas consisting of more than one tile, not just corridors.

Seeing as to how doing animations for big boss baddies is out of the question in a static image, the gameplay would probably be something akin to "get all the coins without dying". I think the members here at pixelation could come up with some pretty fantastic obstacles. Building off of that, maybe each person gets a certain number of coins to put in their tile. Upgrades to player abilities would be cool but they would require more planning and wouldn't really fit into an exquisite corpse type setting. Static enemies in a tile would preferrably have 2 frame animations for their moving, like a walking goomba-type floor scrubber or a wing blur on an insect like enemy.

Things to be predetermined: Jump height, character height, number of "coins" per tile

A square grid lends better to a linear platformer, because there are less ways to branch out. But I don't think anyone wants to stray from the cute portmanteau "Hexquisite".

[Mathias]

Sounds like fun, Atnas. But personally I'd rather do another open-ended no-holds-barred image where perspective, scale etc aren't subject to constraints like that. I'd prefer the end-result to look less like a game and more a like an art print.

Would it be so bad to just do another one, the same way? Maybe alter the tile layout a little.

[LODYblokady]

Sounds like fun, Atnas. But personally I'd rather do another open-ended no-holds-barred image where perspective, scale etc aren't subject to constraints like that. I'd prefer the end-result to look less like a game and more a like an art print.

Would it be so bad to just do another one, the same way? Maybe alter the tile layout a little.

An interesting concept could be to do a 3d rotating ball of hexagons

you'd need a flash script to make it work but end results would be amazing.

[Atnas]

Sure, Mathias. I'm just throwing an idea out there, I'm for any kind of exquisite corpse. As long as I'm doing pixel art, I'm happy!

LODY, this is a hugely impractical and outlandish feature creep, but HOLY SHIT WHAT IF on the 3d ball made of hexagons were basic lowpoly structures coming up, textured with pixel art? @u@

[LODYblokady]

Sure, Mathias. I'm just throwing an idea out there, I'm for any kind of exquisite corpse. As long as I'm doing pixel art, I'm happy!

LODY, this is a hugely impractical and outlandish feature creep, but HOLY SHIT WHAT IF on the 3d ball made of hexagons were basic lowpoly structures coming up, textured with pixel art? @u@

:}

[Zenobia]

I'd absolutely love a sidescroller collab.

However, this is the Hexquisite collab topic =P And out of all the new suggestions, I think I personally prefer the one we started out with; just with different colours, a different theme, and maybe a set perspective to keep it together...

[Atnas]

Well, the sidescroller collab would be made of hexagons and have a set perspective. :3

I want another like the last one, though, it was just madness.

As far as palettes go, I'm with Overkill on Arne's 8 color palette.

Edit:

The palettes should be either 16 or 32 colours

well then

[ptoing]

could be 8 colours as well I guess, but less than that would not be that good an idea for a collab like this.

[LODYblokady]

You could do a similar one but have a 'gradient' theme.
e.g. left = sad and right = happy

I think that it would make a nice transition.

[Mathias]

Where do we stand on this? ptoing, are you ready for another one?

An interesting concept could be to do a 3d rotating ball of hexagons

you'd need a flash script to make it work but end results would be amazing.

Hehe, a dynamic thought there but just too gimmicky. The art should speak for itself, not be a wrapper for a concept like that. Don't get me wrong, it's an impressive idea, just inappropriate (to each his own).

could be 8 colours as well I guess, but less than that would not be that good an idea for a collab like this.

I'd love a higher color count this time. I vote 32.

[zanaril]

Would it be possible to use that idea as a scroller, so you can scroll in six different directions and get back to where you started, or would that have to have the images stretching?

[big brother]

Oooh, what if it was tile-able?

[TrevoriuS]

Tileable sounds like a fantastic idea! I still need to retouch the walls in my new room and wouldn't mind having a wall filled with pixels!

[Dr D]

Tileable sounds like a fantastic idea! I still need to retouch the walls in my new room and wouldn't mind having a wall filled with pixels!

Heheh, seriously? That could be kind of cool, depending on how the next one turns out of course.

[ptoing]

I thought of a tiling version mysely. Very easily doable. Sorry there is no new one up yet, kinda busy here.

[Chris2balls]

I really want to participate this time, and i quite fancy that pic-in-a-pic idea

[Dex]

Yes I'm eagerly awaiting another one!~

I wasn't able to get anything into the last one but I'm hoping I'll have the time this time!

I'm prepared at any time though. Whenever's best for ptoing =)

[Argyle]

With the new one posted up, I just got an idea!

Now, this would partially depend on each subsequent Hexquisite Corpse collaboration be the same canvas size format, and there would be a marrying of palettes going on so it could get REALLY bizarre.

The idea is that we do three hex collabs, all of 16 completely different color palettes, one at a time.  As we've already got one done, and another one that just started, we would just need to do one more that is of a unique 16 color palette.  Once those three were done, we would subsequently do 3 more collabs that had 32 color palettes that are offspring combinations of the two adjacent 16 color hexes.  The 32 color ones would start out with two edges already workable from the 16 color canvases that they are connecting to/stealing palettes from.  Once all 6 of these were done, there would be one more final hex corpse that would be a discombobulated ass baby of all 6 palettes, thusly becoming a 48 color monster of a project to manage that connects to all 6 hexquisite corpses that came before it.  The result would end up being a massive, massive completed image (which would probably take well over a year to come to fruition fully) the likes of which would never have been traversed as far as sheer scope as far as pixel art collaborations go.

There are kinks to the idea, sure.  16 colors is pretty perfect for a palette size for these collaborations, and adding more than that complicates how it will flow immensely.  But it would be pretty neat to build off old corpses!




Mathias would be able to do a poster print that could reupholster the Sistine Chapel ceiling.



edit: miscounted colors while blindly multiplying palette sizes!

[RadiationGloves.Drugs]

For HCC3 (and possibly 4, 5, 6, etc) you could have a field leading off from the borderedges of HCCs 1 and 2.

Now, I realize that the tiles on the border edges might just have a solid color leading off from it, so it might be difficult to get an idea from the adjacent tile (which is the whole point of the HCC) but I figure that we could give it a shot, and it might make a very interesting finished product.


just a thought.

[Mathias]

Holy crap, epic idea there Argyle! I actually kinda like it . . . hmmmm . . . would it work . . . is there enough support/interest to make it happen? I don't know. I will lend my support to it if it ever lifts off the ground.

For the resultant new printed vinyl wall-covering I'm going to charge that old corpse of a pope dearly for the job, more than Michelangelo ever dreamed!

____


Thinking more about your idea after coming back to this post. I have further thoughts to add/augment. But I first want to conduct a sort of "feasibility study". If it's results are negative there's no sense in wasting time pondering it further.

1) ptoing owns the whole concept, and he's also the one spearheading and responsible for the project so far. His consent is required.

2) Probably already determined, will there be enough support for it? Judging from the first two hex collabs, it's a definite yes, imo.

3) Details. All technicalities need to be well established beforehand. We can't enter such a project unprepared.


One of my foremost thoughts includes making not only the final interlocking 7 hex collabs (once all 7 are done) blend seamlessly, but also making the whole 7 large cluster tile with itself, seamlessly. If Hex3 is started before this aspect is worked out and it's not accounted for, it may be too late to make it work (haven't done a test yet but am pretty sure), since there will too many non-tiling sides.
Once the Hex1 collab was finished I made a seamless filing texture of it. ptoing created the hex grid perfectly, it fits into itself on all 6 sides. Of course, the seams were evident where opposite sides didn't blend. But if my idea works and it's used then this problem will be solved and we'll all have a seamlessly tiling texture of pixel art seven times large than just one hex collab. Think about that.

If there is real interest in this I want to create an explanatory animation outlining how it will work, probably in good ol' Flash.

Please post your thoughts. This is major.

[Argyle]

Just adding a thought I had on this concept before I go to bed while it is fresh on my mind.  I didn't consider that both of the corpses have colors in common already (black and white for sure, perhaps some other values are recycled but I'd have to go back and check) so the color count of the hybrid corpses would be even less drastic than originally accounted for.  

Great expansion on this Mathias!

[ptoing]

I like the idea, BUT, I would rather make it an own cycle and make new ones and not use the 1st and current running one for this. Mainly because the 1st is already revealed.

It would be a good project to do with smaller fields. i think the next under 91 tiles is 61, which seems a nice size for this.
I also agree with Mathias that it would be nice if stuff tiles around the outer edges with itself. Obviously this would not be straight html doable tiling, but it could be done with a flash applet in the end no problem.

I have an idea for a very small 3rd corpse after the current one and then I would be up for doing this project, next year

EDIT

how stuff would have to tile


EDIT Deux:
The problem here is that now every hexblock touches every other hexblock which would fuck with the palettes

EDIT Tres:
This would only be a problem if we had more than one 16 colour palette and more than one 32 colour one, if that is not the case it should work

[Conzeit]

The problem with that diagram ptoing is that there is no transition fields, you should have them arranged by rows and have one row be rainbow varied like you have, while the next just shares some colors between the row above and the row below. that make any sense? 

[ptoing]

no

[Conzeit]

thought so 

I think instead of having each field have a completely different color from those adjacent to it like in your picture, we should have some tiles between each field specifically for the purpose of bridging the pallete. how bout that?

[ptoing]

wat wat? I think you understand the pic I made wrong.

The different coloured blocks are seperate corpses, which then get combined. The numbers in the middle is amount of colours.

[Mathias]

Hmm, but an inherent and troublesome problem now is that there will 16, 32 and 48 color tiles next to eachother. The 16 color palette tile will look "gritty" compared to the smooth 48 color tile.
Like a website with a large sliced image and some of it's comprising images are highly jpg optimized while others are perfect quality - a stark image quality difference and therefore visible seams.

And I was wrong about the whole thing tiling like I thought it would. It is possible to create a square tiling section of what you've got there ptoing, but the tile would be ridiculously huge and unreasonalbe, at least that was my conclusion after some hasty tests I'm not satisfied with and will work on more sometime soon. Like you say, it's possible to create some scripted presentation of it that offsets each "chunk" correctly.

[Zoggles]

wat wat? I think you understand the pic I made wrong.

The different coloured blocks are seperate corpses, which then get combined. The numbers in the middle is amount of colours.

I think I understand what conceit was trying to say.. hopefully this diagram represents his comments.



The coloured hexagonal areas are individual collabs, each using a 16 colour palette. The grey tiles in between them form a 'bridge' and only those tiles utilise both (or all three) neighbouring palettes (as shown by the colour indicators in the middle of the grey hexes)

The grey 'bridge tiles' can be done as a separate challenge to link a couple of hex collabs. Perhaps where anyone can attempt them and the best tiles from that challenge are then used as the bridge tiles.

This way, any collab can use any palette and you don't have to worry about repeating a palette to keep the colour count in a more central collab down. In your diagram, although your central one has 48 colours, that would mean that several collabs around it need to a lot of the same colours. This is perhaps a little limiting from a design point of view, and perhaps less of a challenge than using a fresh unfamiliar palette.



-Z-

[pmprog]

Sounds awesome. When do we start? 

[EyeCraft]

What about instead of increasing the colour count of corpses, do something like genetics and take half the colours from one collab and half the colours from another? That way every corpse has 16 colours, so no grittiness?

[Mathias]

I don't think there's any realistic way to combine multiple hex corpse collabs so they tile. I just don't think it's feasible.

[Mathias]

Ahhh, this problem is still frustrating. I think it's holding ptoing back from launching another Hex collab. Can we get a concerted effort together and find a solution? Ptoing doesn't need to do all the work, all the time. I'm knee-deep in paint, getting my place (moved) all painted to perfection (I get to post new workstation photos, yay), but I'll think about it some more once I get freed up a little.

[Dr D]

Yes, I would really like to do another. I don't have any solutions, but I really wouldn't mind doing it via some of the previously mentioned methods.

Who cares if the transitions are noticeable? If we use multiple palettes, it seems unavoidable. I for one wouldn't mind seeing the blend of tilesets, and in fact believe it might enhance the look.

I think we're all being a bit nit-picky, let's just get this going.

[Mathias]

Hey Dr. D, whats up. Well, I don't really think we're being nit-picky, we're just trying to make it work, though I guess it is delaying the Hex III from taking off. We've already done two Hex collabs, and they are essentially identical, in format. It's time to take this whole hex collab idea to the next level. It's worth the wait, and worth the effort.

This post doesn't cover how to make the end-result tile with itself for the infinitely tiling masterpiece that we all want to make work. That comes next, if these "hex blocks" are approved.



I'm still not satisfied with our research, at all. I just moved and have got my office back in decently working order, so I sat down to think about it a little. My contribution today isn't stellar, it just kinda states the obvious - using chunks of hex tiles to create, not an overall hexagonal shape, but rather more of a block that will very easily tile with itself. The overall hexagon shape of the Hex Collabs I & II don't play nice when you try to tile them, though it's still possible if you just do it manually.


The below image, using ptoing's miniaturized hex-grid posted above me, shows you the shape of each individual Hex Collab, then in color how they fit together, demonstrating easy tiling. Top right is just for reference - the real hex tile's size. At the very bottom are two more options for non-hexagonal tiling hex-tile comprised blocks.





Yes, with this idea, we sacrifice the wonderful design factor of the overall Hex Collabs all being hexagonal themselves  -BUT-  when they're put together into the final endlessly tiling image they're destined for, you can't see the shape of each Hex Collab anyway - the edges get lost, they're all put together, so it does not matter what shape they are unless you plan to break them all out and display them separately, which may be the case a few times, but the real priority is making them work with eachother; seamlessly tile.
Therefore this funky lookin' "hex blocks" idea isn't that bad, it's just not as cool as having each individual Hex Collab, used to create the seamlessly-tiling image, be a hexagon itself.


-Put your brain to work, post thoughts/ideas, we're approaching a solution-

[ptoing]

Good food for thought Mathias I will be on holiday for the time of May but after that I really wanna try to get a new Hexcollab going. Keep up the good work of coming up with possible solutions, I really appreciate it

[Rawsushi]

I suggest doing something as simple as making the 'hexquisite corpse colabs' thematic. Simply define the theme as something like "love" or "steel"... or something that corresponds with a holiday or upcoming season.

[Mathias]

I'll keep at it. K, late May, early June, perhaps we can get another one goin'.

@ Sashimi - Though picking a theme might make sense, I have to vote no on it. It's the crazy juxtaposition of random elements that makes the these hex collabs what they are; complete freedom. Providing too much "direction" to artists starts to take away from that. Plus, establishing guidelines like a theme seems contrary to the spirit of exquisite corpse projects. Unless very ambiguous and open-ended, I would even be less attracted to participate, not that anybody in particular cares - but just my thoughts, FYI. The palette does well to unify everything without a theme.