Picture Pilgrimage - A collaborative Scribble journey

In this game, players do not draw simultaneously; instead there will be a list of participants and each of them will draw in order, when it is their turn.

Like this.

First Player Turn
The first player in sequence draws a picture, using a 1200 x 600 pixel canvas:


They then send this picture to me. This concludes their turn.

Subsequent Player Turns
Once the first player's turn ends, the next player in the list will have their turn. Upon begin of their turn, they will receive this:


This is a template containing 25% of the previous player's picture. The current player's task is to continue this picture from there. They won't know the full context of the picture that came before, only what is visible here. Will their continuation be harmonious, or throw the sequence into a wildly new direction? Who knows.

Once this player has drawn a 1200 x 600 pixel picture this way, their turn ends as well.

Continuing the Game
At the start of the next turn, the process repeats: The next player will receive 25% of the last player's picture and has to come up with a continuation of their own. This will repeat until the end of the list is reached. Each artist will only draw once throughout the entire game.


The goal at the end is for all the submissions to combine into one single, continuous, veeery long mural-type picture.

The Final Turn
To save time and prevent this game from running too long, Players will be sorted into two tracks that run simultaneously. Track 1 will start from the left end and draw towards the right, and Track 2 will start from the right end and draw towards the left. Once both tracks have reached their end, one final artist will draw the capstone piece, i.e. a picture that links both sides together.


Once the capstone is submitted, it will complete the image and conclude the game. The final image will then be presented shortly after.

How big of a commitment am I making if I sign up for this? I may not have a lot of free time.

The game may run for about a month, but each player will generally only be expected to draw once. That means most of your time in this game will be spent passively waiting for your turn, and once you had it, you can lean back and wait for the final image. Once your turn comes around, you will have 3 days to complete your picture. You can work on your submission and take breaks freely throughout all of those days; there is no 4 hour time limit like in regular Scribble.


How do I know when my turn is?

The two track lists will be publicly visible and you can see your position on the lists to get an idea when you will be asked to draw. The lists will be updated every time the turn advances. You will also get a notification when your turn starts.


Something happened on short notice and I won't have any free time once my turn comes around. Will I be disqualified now?

If something happens that interferes with your upcoming turn, let me know and I will attempt to skip over you and shuffle you back into the list at a later spot. Please try to be proactive about this though; If I don't hear anything from you until your deadline has already passed, I'm going to have to drop you.


The Scribble tournaments have a specific rule set, right? What are the requirements for submissions here?

Standard Scribble rules apply for the most part. Those are:

• Scribbles are static images of a fixed size (1200x600 px in this case), with a limited color palette (more on that later).
• It is encouraged to keep your approach simple. Use line and shape tools in moderation. Complex tools like shaders, aftereffects, noise fields, or highly-automated processes are strictly prohibited. Text is allowed but must be hand-written.
• To keep submissions compatible with each other, please use a hard edge pixel brush when you draw.

How do color palettes work in this?

When your turn comes, you will have access to four colors to compose your image. These are:

• Black (#000000)
• White (#FFFFFF)
• Your personal color that you sign up with
• The color of the player before you

The fourth is to make it easier for you to transition between the previous player's image and your contribution. You can use this extra color for other elements in your picture too, but please keep it out of the segment that will be passed on to the next player.



Am I allowed to alter/draw over the part of the previous player?

It is expected that you will not make sweeping alterations to the part you inherit from the previous player's image. It must remain intact and recognizable as a part of the previous image. You may make some parts of your image strategically overlap, but be cautious that you don't overdo it.


When in doubt, err on the side of leaving it undisturbed.


Am I allowed to show off my submission once I have sent it in?

I would prefer if submissions are kept under wraps until the final big image is revealed at the end of the game. You are allowed to show off your work to friends in private, as long as it isn't presented to half the entire community. Please take care not to reveal your picture to the player next in queue however, as them not knowing the full context of your image is part of the game.


Are there prompts, like in standard Scribble?

Nope. Nothing written anyway. The only "prompt" you will receive is whatever the player before you gives you with their submission. This also means if you opt into being first in the sequence, you have complete freedom in what you want to start the chain with. It's a big responsibility. Don't crumple under the immense pressure.


Is there a 4 hour (or less) time limit, like in standard Scribble? Do I have to join Discord and get instructions from a bot?

There is no bot you need to talk to, nor do you need to reserve a four hour block in your schedule. You will get the snippet that you need at the beginning of your turn, without needing to do anything. From there you have the entire three days to work on your picture. You can spend 2 hours on it, or 5, or 60; it doesn't matter for how long you draw and how you break up your time within those three days. All that matters is that you send me your submission before the end of your turn.


Do I really get 3 full days to draw my picture?

Well, it might be a bit closer to 2 days and 22 hours, due to some technical issues. But yeah, it should be roughly 3 days.


I am interested in this, but I don't draw digitally. Can I sign up as a traditional artist?

Yes, but I have to attach a large, pulsing asterisk to that statement.

Due to the need for images to link together in the end, this game is unfortunately heavily skewed towards digital art by its very nature. However, I would like this to be as inclusive as possible, and thus attempt to offer a solution: If you send in a piece of traditional art, I will attempt to convert it into a compatible format.


Here is an example of what this may look like. It might not be ideal, but I promise that, if you entrust me with your image, I will do what I can to preserve its original shape to the best of my abilities. Unfortunately, this is the only workaround I can offer. The image dimensions for a physical submission would be 20 x 10 cm.


I am interested in this, but I don't have a lot of experience and can't draw very well. What if I ruin the final picture?

This is a collaborative effort and all skill levels are welcome, beginners included. We are here to celebrate art in all its forms, not tear people down. If you give it an honest effort and do the best you can, you will not "ruin the picture" or anything like that. If anyone accuses you of this after giving it your all, that really says more about their character than your effort. So don't worry.

The only way to potentially "ruin" the picture is to do something deliberately destructive, like submitting a blank picture or drawing intentionally disruptive or offensive things. So just don't do that and you're in the clear.


Can you post some links to the old tournaments and helpful guidelines and stuff?

Here you go:

• Scribble Deathmatch 2021
• Scribble Showdown 2022
• Scribble Scrabble 2023
• Scribble Labs - 2024 Spin-off
• The Spirit of Scribble - Documentation

Please summarize everything neatly so I don't have to re-read this 20 times every time I have a question.

• We all come together to collaboratively draw a big sideways picture.
• Players get sorted into two Tracks, one starts from the left, the other from the right. Then a guy in the middle links both sides together; this is the capstone.
• We go through the track list in order until every player had their turn.
  
  • Once it's a player's turn they have 3 days to submit an image.
  • Submission follow standard scribble rules, with some alterations (bigger canvas, one extra color).
  • This single image is the extent of each player's contribution. Once they submit, they're done.
• Players receive a snippet of the previous player's image and have to draw their image next to it.
  
  • You can add stuff to the snippet a little, but don't overdo it. Less is more.
• You can use four colors: Black, white, your color, and the previous player's color.
  
  • The previous player's color is a transitionary tool; Don't use it in the part that will be given to the next player.
  • If you're the first player of your track, you don't have a previous player, therefore you will only have three colors at your disposal. This is a trade-off for having more free canvas space, as you won't have to worry about any snippets you need to preserve.
  • If you're the capstone artist, you will have extra colors from two players at your disposal that you can use freely (totaling 5 colors). This is a trade-off for having less free canvas space, as you will be boxed in by snippets from both sides.
• Don't publish your submission until the big final picture is revealed.
• Please give me advance notice if you will be busy during your turn, so I can swap in the player after you.
• This is not a competition, so you cannot win. Consequently, the only way to lose is to not play.