Wplace: Just a load of pixels (but what pixels)

[Nick R]

You may have seen the hot new internet thing Wplace.

For those who remember Reddit’s r/place April Fools events, which gave users a big collaborative (or combative) pixel canvas to draw on: Wplace is like that, except this canvas is a couple of trillion pixels.

I haven’t found much Red Dwarf stuff on there. (Although I was pleased to see that someone had added it to the big “Things That Are Better Than Harry Potter” section that’s been put near JK Rowling’s castle.)

But I found that people have added some Red Dwarf themed things to a place called Red Wharf Bay in Anglesey.

(Plus, reflecting this forum’s other favourite discussion topic, the area in the screenshot features a bonus Sonic character from one of the games I didn’t play. I also like the supportive message from someone who misunderstood the theme song lyrics.)

https://wplace.live/?lat=53.30372842435206&lng=-4.193174159472667&zoom=12.995056508068306

I’m sure we can come up with something to add to that area! Something more interesting than just a quote. Maybe the G&T logo? A Seb Patrick tribute? An incomprehensible forum in-joke?

Anyone want to try and draw some pixel art versions of the characters? 

To create the more elaborate images, people have been using a Tampermonkey script tool called Blue Marble to add overlays to the canvas, but so far I haven’t tried that out.

Topic

[Ian Symes]

I demand a cloche with G&T inscribed on it.

[Nick R]

Work in progress: 

[Ian Symes]

I feel so powerful right now.

[Unrumble]

I feel so powerful right now.

[Nick R]

I had a go at doing some pixel art versions of the crew. The colours I used here probably won’t quite match the ones that are available on Wplace, so they’ll look a bit different when I put them on there:

Pleased with how Cat came out!

I think the series 1/2 Rimmer looks better than the 6/7 version, who looks a bit too close to Spock.

It was hard to put any distinguishing features on Lister’s coat. His hat looks a bit like a saucepan.

I drew a Wilma too:

[Unrumble]

 I drew a Wilma too:

Presumably after thinking about her distracted you from drawing a Betty.

[Dave]

I’m midway through The Inquisitor zapping someone to death for being unworthy.

[Ian Symes]

Just gone to find my house, and it’s completely covered with a picture of Solid Snake’s codec avatar.

I can’t complain.

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

That Solid Snake is incredible 

[Moonlight]

Quickly, everybody find that address and let’s mail Ian hundreds of Beat the Geeks.

[Ian Symes]

There are several hundred, possibly even thousands, of houses in the Solid Snake area, so you might be better off posting one Beat The Geek to each of them.

[Flap Jack]

I thought I’d found Ian’s house, but there was no-one there. Just a cardboard box.

[Moonlight]

There are several hundred, possibly even thousands, of houses in the Solid Snake area, so you might be better off posting one Beat The Geek to each of them.

It’s not fun unless there’s a giant pile of them at the end of the process.

[Nick R]

It’s not fun unless there’s a giant pile of them at the end of the process.

“Beat the Geek DVD” to the tune of this:

[Warbodog]

Whatever this thing is, it’s taking a shit on my house, so please make it stop.

[Ben Saunders]

DVD games were such a strange, short-lived phenomenon. They were shit, and we knew it at the time, but for some reason you’d still have them. I have two Top Gear ones and Beat The Geek. I also remember the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets had a horrendous minigame where you could “drive” the flying blue car through the forbidden forest. All I remember is it being slow and clunky and being able to hear the DVD player struggle to find the right crap to show me. Why did they bother?

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

DVD games were such a strange, short-lived phenomenon. They were shit, and we knew it at the time, but for some reason you’d still have them. I have two Top Gear ones and Beat The Geek. I also remember the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets had a horrendous minigame where you could “drive” the flying blue car through the forbidden forest. All I remember is it being slow and clunky and being able to hear the DVD player struggle to find the right crap to show me. Why did they bother?

If you think that’s bad, realise that what preceded DVD games was VHS games, and you’d have to fast forward and reward the tape yourself to find the right section. 

[Warbodog]

If you think that’s bad, realise that what preceded DVD games was VHS games, and you’d have to fast forward and reward the tape yourself to find the right section. 

The only one I remember having was a Star Trek Trivial Pursuit video, which came with a book of questions and answers related to the clips shown. We didn’t have an actual Trivial Pursuit game, so it was just trivia questions for their own sake, though I didn’t bother getting very far into it, much like the Red Dwarf quiz books.

[Flap Jack]

Why did they bother?

Because at least for a time, there were a lot of DVD player owners who didn’t have a way to play video games. And even amongst those who did, DVD games were cheaper. Browser-based Flash games were an alternative when it came to the simple gameplay offered by DVD games, but TV/living room based games have more of a family appeal, and web browsers couldn’t reliably offer that sweet 480p video content. I believe YouTube didn’t even support 360p until 2008. So as janky and limited as DVD games were, they did fill a niche. Admittedly though, the better ones didn’t bite off more than they could chew and just stuck to quizzes.

I always thought the “Scene It” range was a pretty good application of the tech. We had a Doctor Who one that only covered Series 1-3 and I was impossible to beat. We also had a Friends one that covered all 10 seasons and I was extremely easy to beat.

[Dave]

The Inquisitor has met his match.

[Dave]

Also, this is what’s over my local area and I couldn’t be more pleased.

[Nick R]

The finished Wilma, with thoughtful message: 

Someone’s added Kochanski, with a Popeye forearm and two big bites out of her torso! Was it anyone here?

[Dave]

Not me.

[clem]

[Dave]

[Technopeasant]

He did. In bed.

Which admittedly would kinda be karma for what he did in Ouroboros.

[Danny Stephenson]

This could get addictive…

[Ben Saunders]

Someone drew a Dalek near my house so I started to draw a Cyberman but ran out of credits after doing the eyes

[Moonlight]

[Dave]

[Technopeasant]

Finally the Inquisitor gets the buttkicking he deserves.

[Nick R]

I just noticed the text on the side of Blue Midget.

[Warbodog]

I just noticed the text on the side of Blue Midget.

Good spot. Maybe the artist was sneaking it past the censors, so hopefully no one will draw attention to it.

[Dave]

Ha, I wondered if anyone would get that. It started off as random pixels but a message somehow emerged.

[Unrumble]

[Moonlight]

It took me ages to work out what the hell that said. For a while I was operating under the theory it was “(something) tit”.

[Author]

Replies