Document:Q10015

Trace II is an interactive drawing. It is a playful game of indirect creativity originating somewhere between the actions of the user, the program and the artist. The user must navigate a simple set of rules to generate drawings by means of a group of semi-autonomous units moving around on the screen.
Trace II is created for full screen display on touch screen, but you can try an online version at the project website www.crossover.dk/trace2
The rules are simple. The user must click and keep the mouse in motion. This attracts the nearby units and makes them circle around the mouse pointer leaving drawings in their trail. The old drawings are continuously deleted by new ones.
The user can attract more units to the orbit by moving closer to them. When the user stops moving or the mouse button is released, the units move freely again and the drawings are left behind. They slide slowly out of the screen and disintegrate.
The units live off the activity of the user. The more actively the user draws, the more units are spawned. When this activity ceases, the units disappear one at a time until there are only two left.