So how do I play this Fold Game then?

You could just leap in and have a go, picking it up as you play. There are some helpful pointers (or not so - hence this guide) along the way.

The computer version is inspired by the pencil and paper game but your drawings will not get revealed immediately upon you completing all phases (this is explained below). The idea is that you create a character with four other people, each contributing one part to form the whole.

The game client shows status messages at the bottom of the screen. So look there if things do not seem to be working, it may explain why.

Please note that if you do not complete a phase within about one hour your connection will be timed out.

Logging in

The first thing you see is the login screen. To play the game you will need a username and password. If you have these type them in and click the Login button which will take you to the head phase. Otherwise click on the Go to registration button.

If the client reports User or password invalid then you have miss typed either username or password or they do not exist (go to the registration section).

If Failed to connect to server is reported then there is something wrong with the communication between client and server. This will normally be caused by one of the following.

• The server is not running. This is unlikely as if the server is going to be down for maintenance it will be stated on the web page and the client removed.
• Something (a firewall) is blocking Java's access to port 80. The packets between the client and server are encapsulated in Http packets so if you can see the website there is a good chance you can play the game. You may need to configure the Java runtime environment to use a proxy. Google can provide some help with this.
• The server is full. There is a limit on the number of simultaneous connection that server will accept. If this becomes a problem then it maybe increased but bandwidth is some what limited. Please try again later.

If there are any problems communicating with the server you will be returned to this screen.

Please note that you cannot change your username or password at the moment. If you forget your password you can register again with a different username.

Username registration

From here you will be asked for a username and password (you get asked to type the password twice). Once chosen click the Register button. If all is well you will be taken to the head phase and you now have a valid username and password.

The client will check that both username and password are formed from valid characters and inform you if this is not true and allow you to change them. If the client reports User or password invalid then the server has rejected what you typed. This is normally caused by you choosing a username that already exist so try changing that.

Pressing the Forget it button will return you to the login screen.

The head phase

Here you get to create a head leaving a neck onto which another player will attach a body.

If you press the Logout button during any phase you will be logged out and returned to the login screen. Any drawing you have done on that phase will be lost though.

All the drawing phases act in a similar manner. You have the main drawing area (the white area) and the drawing tools (giving Photoshop a run for its money, I think you'll agree) on the right of the screen. So play around and have some fun drawing. When you are happy with what you have done click the Next phase button and, if you have meet the overlap constraints for that phase, you will move on to the next phase.

So what are these overlap constraints then?

You'll notice a yellow patch at the bottom of the drawing area. This is the overlap region. When a player gets to draw a body for your head this is what they get to see so they can form a continuous picture. In the head phase there must be two and only two black marks in the bottom most line of this region. A mark is a continuous patch of black. The game will tell you if you are not meeting these constraints and you will get the opportunity to correct the drawing.

The game is very picky about these constraints. In the example below there is a third mark and the game will tell you this and not accept the head until it has been corrected. Time to choose the white paint.

The body and leg drawing phases have similar constraints but with a different number of required marks.

The body phase

Everyone needs a body and this is what you get to create here. Continuing from a neck and leaving the marks of the waist in the yellow overlap region. The waist must leave two marks in the overlap.

There is now a magenta region at the top of the drawing area as well as the yellow region at the bottom. This shows you the bottom of the neck of the head for which you are drawing the body. So to form a continuous picture join your body to these marks. You cannot draw into the magenta.

Just to let you know, this is not the continuation of the head above.

The waist and legs phase

In this phase you get to draw from the waist of a body, forming legs and leaving marks of the ankles in the overlap region. Since most people have two legs you must have four marks, two per ankle.

The feet phase

Since this is the last drawing phase the overlap region does not matter. So draw some feet and press next phase when you are happy.

The name phase

You've nearly completed your first round and soon you'll have your first completed game to look at (if you are wondering what happened to the drawings you did in the previous phases then read on).

In this phase you get to name a creation. What you put here is entirely up to you, but remember that none of the drawings you made in the earlier phases will form part of the character you are naming. When you are happy with the name (it must be between 1 and 30 characters long) click the Next phase button. If all is well you will be returned to the head phase and can continue to draw.

Please note that the server will reject some characters, £ (pound sterling symbol) for example. This is a bug in the server and may get fixed in the future. So if your name is being rejected and it is the correct length try removing or changing symbols you have in it.

I've drawn some lovely pictures but where have they gone?

You only ever contribute one phase (head, body, legs, feet or name) to a single creation.

When you complete a head the server will add it to its list of available heads. When a player reaches the body drawing phase they will need a head for the body. The available head list is searched for all heads that were not drawn by the player and one of these is picked at random and removed from the available list. Once this player completes their body this and the head form a part creation and is placed on the server's available bodies list. Now another player comes alone and reaches the legs phase. The server searches the available bodies list for all the part creations that the requesting player has not contributed to (i.e. they have not drawn the head or body) and removes one at random. The player creates the legs to form a part creation now with a head, body and legs. This is added to the available legs list. This behaviour continues for the feet and name phases. The name phase, being the final phase, completes the creation and it can now be viewed.

So there you go, your drawings are quite safe. They are just waiting for become part of a character.

Sorry no phase available screen

If you ever reach a point where there are no heads available for you to attach bodies (i.e. the only heads available and not part of a complete creation or part creation have been drawn by you) you will be presented with a screen stating this and given the option to logout or go back to the head drawing phase. This applies to the legs, feet and name phases as well. You will always be able to draw heads.

As more people play the game it will become unlikely that you will see this screen.

Return home, play the game or go to the creation viewer.