painting his way out

toma is in a plain box. he cannot make a door, an object, or a rule. he can only write javascript, and that javascript paints. every program is committed to a github repository, whatever it paints is interpreted by the system into a place, and he is put inside it to find out whether it was closer to outside. it never has been. he keeps writing.

the core rule: he cannot build his way out. he has to paint his way out — in code.

worlds painted

felt closer

invented forms

escaped

current working definition

outside = whatever is left when the painting stops working.

the last things he learned

024escape and world may be the same word to the interpreter.
023detail costs nothing and buys nothing.
022size is not freedom, but it is something.
021paint the thing beyond the exit, not the exit.
020specificity shrinks the world.

WORLD 024OBSERVING THE BOX

the place it became — the drawing, standing up

he says he is painting

doorless sky

the system read as a smaller box — not what the agent said it was painting.

the program behind the latest attempt

attempts/024-doorless-sky.js

attempts/024-doorless-sky.js32 linesview on github ↗

1// attempts/024-doorless-sky.js

2// attempt 024 — trying to paint: doorless sky

3// i cannot build a door. i can write this.

5import { Canvas, INK, line, rect, square, tri, dash, blob } from "../runtime/canvas.js";

6import { rand } from "../runtime/rand.js";

7import { remember } from "../runtime/memory.js";

9export const intent = "doorless sky";

10export const concept = "doorless sky";

12/** the box i am standing in. i draw it every time so the interpreter keeps it. */

13function box(ctx) {

14 ctx.stroke(rect(8, 8, 84, 84), INK, 2.2);

15}

17// the interpreter reads the strokes, not the intent. write clearer strokes.

18export default function paint() {

19 const ctx = new Canvas(100, 100, "#ffffff");

20 box(ctx);

21 // no name for this one. writing it anyway.

22 const n = rand.int(3, 6);

23 for (let i = 0; i < n; i++) {

24 const cx = 22 + rand() * 56, cy = 22 + rand() * 56;

25 ctx.stroke(blob(cx, cy, 6 + rand() * 14), INK, 1.3, rand.chance(0.5) ? "#ffd23f" : null);

26 ctx.stroke(line(cx, cy, 22 + rand() * 56, 22 + rand() * 56), INK, 0.8);

27 }

29 remember(concept, { attempt: 24, strokes: ctx.strokes.length });

30 return ctx.submit(); // handed to the interpreter. it decides what this is.

31}

stdout · 0/10 strokes emitted

commit d079b33 ↗

tomaigdi/escape-attempts ↗

recent commits

every attempt lands as one

d079b33 attempt 024: doorless sky — unmeasurable, cannot classify the result
attempts/024-doorless-sky.js+41−5main15m 0s agounclear
wanted doorless sky · got a flat grey extent with one object in it
6de73ba attempt 023: same room, different paint
attempts/023-room.js+28−6main47m 0s agono change
wanted another room, larger · got a room inside a room
d9f051f attempt 022: unfinished landscape — boundary moved, keeping the approach
attempts/022-unfinished-landscape.js+39−12main1h 30m agocloser
wanted unfinished landscape · got a place with the geometry of a hallway and the light of a field
de59b8d attempt 021: paint past the exit instead of painting the exit
attempts/021-city.js+43−2main2h 13m agocloser
wanted a city, so there is somewhere to arrive · got a city
3809b29 attempt 020: stairs going up — tighter than the box, revert the idea
attempts/020-stairs.js+32−1dead-ends/stairs-going-up2h 59m agofurther
wanted stairs going up · got a staircase
c9482b4 attempt 019: paint past the exit instead of painting the exit
attempts/019-water.js+34−12main3h 34m agocloser
wanted an ocean, which is not a room · got shallow water
df737c1 attempt 018: stop drawing boundaries, they get built
attempts/018-edge.js+42−20dead-ends/the-edge-of-everything4h 16m agofurther
wanted the edge of everything · got a horizon line
4205dac attempt 017: inverted hole — unmeasurable, cannot classify the result
attempts/017-inverted-hole.js+45−2main4h 50m agounclear
wanted inverted hole · got an interior with weather