One day I was sitting at work, wishing I could be a part of something grand, when an idea struck me. Why not put a giant pixel art project together!?
I made a thread on the Something Awful forums with a single template and building I had made, and in a very brief period I had the submissions rolling in.
no3rdw.com helped me implement the google maps API. The problem was it was a GPU hog when huge amounts of traffic would come in. I’ve since implemented Microsofts Deep zoom with silverlight.
I plan on updating the city for a long time to come, so check Gooncity.com frequently for all the latest awesomeness.
Places that have mentioned gooncity
Jhonen Vasquez loved gooncity. You know, from Invader Zim fame. Mindspill is his blog.
Kotaku
b3ta newsletter
Ehrensenf.de
chauffeurdebuzz.com
Pixfans
Hornoxe
Vidaextra
poil.ca
taringa.net
reddit
digg
notcot.org
Here is a list of the SomethingAwful users who have contributed artwork:
Abgekshum
Aciid c0d3r
Adahn1986
Agent019
AlanNegative
Amarie
Angelwolf
apsouthern
mikewozere
Arkanomen
Athanatos
Atican
awkward saw
Aztejang
Bacon55555
Barbershop
Battle Bot
Beachcomber
beato
benneburg
Big Ink
Bison Wings
BiznatchMcFiznach
Bombajio
Bradzor
BrandNewHero
Budtard
CancerCakes
Canis Ex Machina
CatholicsoulTrain
Cheap Shot
check one two
CHICKENDINOSAUR
Christo
Classicist
Clayren
Clintonmc
Coeus
concerned mom
Crocomire in Acid
Crunchy Taco
Da Gaspodin
Daktar
Dark Gray Fox
Daughter of Mammon
Detroit dogg
dlnorton
DoggPickle
Doktor Per
Dr. Arbitrary
DrakoDWyvrex
Drum
drunkill
emot
Erluk
EvilDeathBee
evilreaver
ExplodingSquid
Fearian
fivefingers
fluue
FlyinOverTrout
Fors Yard
foundationofnuness
Fourecks
Freelancepolice
frijole
furypants
Gambl0r
Gazhole
gbut
General Ripper
Ghstman
Giganerd
GloriousRobotSatan
GreatJob
gross
HalfPricePimpSuit
harperska
Heroic Yoshimitsu
Ho0Ly
Hobo Mgoo
Hobonomicon
House
Hungry Bit
Hungry Black Mage
Hungry Hippo
Hunkty Krunkty
I7esperado
iamgezuzkryst
IceLicker
ilpadre
Im That One Guy
ImPureAwesome
in circles
InediblePenguin
inksquid
ISavedLatin
jadias
Jarf
Jazu
jercoxthealmighty
jimcunningham
jpduffman
jrr
Kara Thrace
Kifisonfire
killer ninjas
Kite Ryagara
Kolgate
Konstapel
Kotaru
Krastinov
Krng
Larch
le chat
Lee Bow
Little Egypt
LividCoffee
Lord of Sword
Lsnewton
Maide
Mahnarch
Mambolicious
Martial Fur
McKilligan
mean2u
Mello Clello
mikewozere
Miljenko
MissEchelon
Mullitt
MustelaFuro
Muun
myself
neogeo0823
Neon Monster
nny_ix
NotJust4Breakfast
Nuclear Pogostick
nuclear_spy
oberhouse
ohnorobot
Omena
Ookware
Orange lime
orbitize
Pagan
PDMChubby
peanut
pgarage
Phony Username
pissingintowind
plaguedoctor
Polarize
popandlock
prengekp
Provost Zakharov
pseudosavior
rage2kk2
Rattus Amicus
Raws
RenderedToast
Rikkmeister
Roblo
Rocketpig
Rockybar
Roflex
ronin686
Rose
Rutherford b hayes
Ryla
Saalkin
Safety Hammer
sc0ttk0lasinski
Senor Tron
Sepist
Shakespearean Beef
shelltron
shyguy
SideburnHero
signalZSX
Silenceofthehams
Sneaky Monkey
Sodaqui
Sole sushi
sourpuss
sov68n
Space Detective
Squirrel007
Stealth Box
stevey666
Stiggs
syst3m
TaffMaster
Tanag
Tears in a vial
TerrorisBob
The Groper
The NPR Store
TheFatController
thesus
Thriftwood
TigerMoJo
Toddy
Tommy Calamari
tonkafloss
TonTon
TorpedoBeetle
torsloke
Transatlantic Gulp
UnquietDream
vanilla wafer
Vibrating Top Hat
Vletrmx
Wallet
Wet Bandit
winnels
Wittle goony Gurl
ytisomauq
Zodberg
Zombie Quail
Good job dude! Some of the stuff in there is pretty hilarious.
Hey don;t know if you knew but your bandwith spiked the other day because you were featured on Plime.com … btw GOONCITY is AWESOME
heyy!!
awesome!
hou can i be a part of this project??
im very good at pixel art :)
please answer me ;)
[...] | Pixfans Sitio oficial | Goon City Web del proyecto | Ryan Allen trackback ¿Recomendarías este post? Más noticias sobre: Cultura Tags: goon [...]
[...] ciudad funciona bajo tecnología Google Maps y es un proyecto creado por Ryan Allen junto a un grupo de usuarios de los foros de Something Awful. La ciudad siempre estará en continuo [...]
I made a katamari
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f273/ossianbg/katamari.gif
@jie That black bar is where coordinates and the link shows up, I didn’t make it to intentionally cover the google logo, it’s there to generate links and coordinates.
[...] couldn’t find much information about this website, read about it here, it’s extremely interesting – a city made in pixel art (looks beautiful) featuring a HUGE [...]
this is so awesome. i just posted what i hope will be my contribution in the thread, i’m stoked to see it keep expanding!
[...] what a great project ! gooncity is an open pixel art city ! ryan allen, the creator, explains all here. it’s very influenced by tv and movies pop culture and it’s a [...]
[...] City ist ein von Ryan Allen initiiertes Pixel Art-Projekt. Dabei geht es um eine stetig wachsende Pixel Art-Stadt, die man in [...]
I need help.
I want take part in the city, however, I don’t have account in the awful forums because the register It´s not free.
there are another ways to post my png with the pixel work for take part in it?
Hi ya’all,
just posted a (small) review on Funkiblog.nl about this pixel art website. More (Dutch) visitors are coming! :)
awesome! I could look at it all day!
I wonder if you could ever create some sort of wiki version, people forever adding and expanding the city… what a wonderful city it would be!
Why don’t make it an opensource project? Let everyone help building the city. Eventually, you can even make money with .
[...] Check it out, not everything submitted is that creative but there are a lot of funny bits in there. Looks like the only way you can submit something is through the SA forums, that’s a bit of a shame as I’m sure [...]
[...] a Pixel Art ProjectPosted by Dmitry | September 18, 2008 Awesome, awesome, awesome!!! Project by Ryan Allen. Not rated yet.Rate this! [...]
[...] Impresionante proyecto de pixel art, creado por el señor Ryan Allen. [...]
[...] muitas visitas e o servidor não estava aguentando. Agora com a doação de um servidor exclusivo, Ryan Allen pode colocar novamente seu projeto na [...]
[...] Related Link: More INFO Here [...]
Hi, i love your gooncity man!! How did you do it? i mean what graphic software u used? just photoshop, illustrator? drop me a message. thanks!!
[...] City es un proyecto colectivo de Pixel Art ideado por Ryan Allen…que usa el codigo de Google Maps para crear una ciudad hecha en pixeles donde podemos [...]
http://comicsforserious.blogspot.com/2008/09/goon-city-pixel-art-project.html
Hey, haha cute. I sepnt hours loooking at stuff. Any way i can get a block to build on? XD
I made some things for the city
Mr Bean:
http://meeped.mirror.waffleimages.com/files/20/20caacf845a58d9a3eaccb47dc80f4131275b022.png
Blues Brothers:
http://meeped.mirror.waffleimages.com/files/ea/ea21696a76074a4d4f9ae67cc73419fb8d16d498.png
Ferris Bueller:
http://meeped.mirror.waffleimages.com/files/59/59ba36a34e527fa6ebc2292bfb2eb86ac6b96330.png
p.s.
I can’t join the something awuful forums cause I don’t have a credit card.
[...] to Goon City Un Giant Pixel Art City di RyanAllen.com e SomethingAwful pieno di riferimenti a videogames e [...]
[...] s’y déplace à la manière de Google map. L’idée vient d’un américain, Ryan Allen et il a été aidé par une communauté de personne sur un forum qui propose des thèmes, des [...]
[...] the blog of the guy who got the ball rolling here for more information. You can view the project in a Google-maps style interface at gooncity.com. [...]
This is a really rad project!
Is there a way to participate without a forum account?
Dude, I never met you, but I am close friends with your friend Alex Garner. He showed me this when I was tripping and I was in awe. Absolutely amazing, and I hope you keep adding to it. I am showing all my friends because its something everyone should see.
Hey Ryan, haven’t had much time to do anything new anything that I’ve done can be found here there’s a few things that were missed from the thread but i think you got most of it already uploaded in the city http://beato.co.uk/uploads/sa/
[...] It has nearly everything from Star Wars references to famous internet meme Rick Astley. Artist Ryan Allen along with the help of the users over at SomethingAwful are the masterminds behind this pixelated [...]
Your goon city dont work.. :( i can see just a text “Goon City is always expanding!”
Ok well I don’t know if we can upload stuff for Goon City here but whatever. Anyways I made a Breakout board, very basic but will probably bring a lot of, “I remember that!” moments.
Is it possible I only make a character, and submit it through the comments?
Yeah go for it. Just make sure it’s saved as a .png or .gif, not .jpg.
http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/1560/phelpsnp1.th.bmp
This is just a person to add in Goon City somewhere.
I’ll make sure to make much more better things as my drawing skills improve since I’m very used to 3D and not Pixel Art (which makes me feel young!)
Awesome job!! You should add Top Gear Test Track and the Stig driving on it!!
ok, i wasn’t able to see everything in the city, but is family guy in there somewhere?? if so and i just overlooked please inform me where!!
Hey guys – great work !!
i spent an hour or more looking around, and was happy to see at least 3-4 references to HalfLife2 .. and the Doom building.. and Mario hole :D
anyhoo – i guess someone forgot to make som Diablo, Starcraft and Warcraft stuff ;-)
puhaps also some stuff from Titan AE
again, Great work !
[...] 6. Goon City – A pixel art project (explicação e história do projecto de Ryan Allen) [...]
Please stop using Silverlight and return to the old FREE javascript version:
http://nocturn.vsbnet.be/node/146
http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20080528133529454
Thanks
@ Keul
The Google Maps version (javascript) destroyed my server and used over 1000 CPU cycles a month. The silverlight version takes less bandwidth, is way easier on the server and loads faster.
Wahhh…I submitted an image for gooncity but it isn’t there. Why, Ryan, WHY?!? Did I do something wrong?
Hey i like where the city has gone but you left me off the city credits, i made the comedy gas chamber that looks like a cigarette :)
[...] Goon City was a collaborative pixel art project Ryan started and organized on the SomethingAwful forums. It has received over 2 million views since it went live in December of 2008. You can view everyone who contributed on the project post here, on Ryan’s site. [...]