tom pain breakout

click on picture for a more detailed view



Tom plays break-out. Tom is very good at break-out. Look at the score he got (532760, top right hand corner of the break-out screen), and compare that to the score to beat (31780).
Tom is never disheartened by the fact that once all the bricks are gone they just get replaced. He sees his role as removing the obstacles put in place by the machine god - "you put up walls over there, i'll keep knocking them down"-, until he finally admits to defeat, not through his dogged determination to overcome obstacle in his way, but through tiny unseen glitches in the computer system, the system he needs for life. His task is made impossible by the rules of his engagement, rather than any fault of his own, never seeing that both the system and the task he is assigned are inexplicably linked. If only he could change the system - the same system which allows him to perform his task.

As Tom hits a ball notes from the the internationale are played, reminding Tom of his task. As the game develops more balls are introduced and the song becomes more frenectic and rousing, as balls are dropped the song becomes sparser , reminiscent of the constant flow and ebb, highs and lows of the workers struggle . A permanent revolution .
Another meditation on tom pain could be seen as a time killer, hopelessly addicted to finishing the last screen before he can carry on with the days tasks. Something that maybe be expanded upon when investigating biological programs.

Here is a video of tom doing his thing



Heres the Lyrics to the Internationalie , the ones i remember


The Internationale  [variant words in square brackets]

Arise ye workers [starvelings] from your slumbers
Arise ye prisoners of want
For reason in revolt now thunders
And at last ends the age of cant.
Away with all your superstitions
Servile masses arise, arise
We'll change henceforth [forthwith] the old tradition [conditions]
And spurn the dust to win the prize.

So comrades, come rally
And the last fight let us face
The Internationale unites the human race.
So comrades, come rally
And the last fight let us face
The Internationale unites the human race.

No more deluded by reaction
On tyrants only we'll make war
The soldiers too will take strike action
They'll break ranks and fight no more
And if those cannibals keep trying
To sacrifice us to their pride
They soon shall hear the bullets flying
We'll shoot the generals on our own side.

No saviour from on high delivers
No faith have we in prince or peer
Our own right hand the chains must shiver
Chains of hatred, greed and fear
E'er the thieves will out with their booty [give up their booty]
And give to all a happier lot.
Each [those] at the forge must do their duty
And we'll strike while the iron is hot.


wiki's got a literal translation of the lyrics on it




French lyricsLiteral English translation
First stanza
Debout, les damnés de la terre
Debout, les forçats de la faim
La raison tonne en son cratère
C'est l'éruption de la fin
Du passé faisons table rase
Foule esclave, debout, debout
Le monde va changer de base
Nous ne sommes rien, soyons tout
 |: C'est la lutte finale
  Groupons-nous, et demain
  L'Internationale
  Sera le genre humain :|
Stand up, damned of the Earth
Stand up, prisoners of hunger
Reason thunders in its volcano
This is the eruption of the end
Of the past let us make a clean slate
Enslaved masses, stand up, stand up
The world is about to change its foundation
We are nothing, let us be all
 |: This is the final struggle
  Let us group together, and tomorrow
  The Internationale
  Will be human race :|
Second stanza
Il n'est pas de sauveurs suprêmes
Ni Dieu, ni César, ni tribun
Producteurs, sauvons-nous nous-mêmes
Décrétons le salut commun
Pour que le voleur rende gorge
Pour tirer l'esprit du cachot
Soufflons nous-mêmes notre forge
Battons le fer quand il est chaud
 |: C'est la lutte finale
  Groupons-nous, et demain
  L'Internationale
  Sera le genre humain :|
There are no supreme saviours
Neither God, nor Caesar, nor tribune.
Producers, let us save ourselves
Decree the common salvation
So that the thief expires,
So that the spirit be pulled from its prison,
Let us fan the forge ourselves
Strike the iron while it is hot
 |: This is the final struggle
  Let us group together, and tomorrow
  The Internationale
  Will be the human race :|
Third stanza
L'État comprime et la loi triche
L'impôt saigne le malheureux
Nul devoir ne s'impose au riche
Le droit du pauvre est un mot creux
C'est assez, languir en tutelle
L'égalité veut d'autres lois
Pas de droits sans devoirs dit-elle
Égaux, pas de devoirs sans droits
 |: C'est la lutte finale
  Groupons-nous, et demain
  L'Internationale
  Sera le genre humain :|
The State oppresses and the law cheats
Tax bleeds the unfortunate
No duty is imposed on the rich
The rights of the poor is an empty phrase
Enough languishing in custody
Equality wants other laws:
No rights without duties, she says,
Equally, no duties without rights
 |: This is the final struggle
  Let us group together, and tomorrow
  The Internationale
  Will be the human race :|
Fourth stanza
Hideux dans leur apothéose
Les rois de la mine et du rail
Ont-ils jamais fait autre chose
Que dévaliser le travail ?
Dans les coffres-forts de la bande
Ce qu'il a créé s'est fondu
En décrétant qu'on le lui rende
Le peuple ne veut que son dû.
 |: C'est la lutte finale
  Groupons-nous, et demain
  L'Internationale
  Sera le genre humain :|
Hideous in their apotheosis
The kings of the mine and of the rail
Have they ever done anything other
Than steal work?
Inside the safeboxes of the gang,
What work had created melted.
By ordering that they give it back
The people want only their due.
 |: This is the final struggle
  Let us group together, and tomorrow
  The Internationale
  Will be the human race :|
Fifth stanza
Les rois nous saoulaient de fumées
Paix entre nous, guerre aux tyrans
Appliquons la grève aux armées
Crosse en l'air, et rompons les rangs
S'ils s'obstinent, ces cannibales
À faire de nous des héros
Ils sauront bientôt que nos balles
Sont pour nos propres généraux
 |: C'est la lutte finale
  Groupons-nous, et demain
  L'Internationale
  Sera le genre humain :|
The kings made us drunk with fumes,
Peace among us, war to the tyrants!
Let the armies go on strike,
Stocks in the air, and break ranks
If they insist, these cannibals
On making heroes of us,
They will know soon that our bullets
Are for our own generals
 |: This is the final struggle
  Let us group together, and tomorrow
  The Internationale
  Will be the human race :|
Sixth stanza
Ouvriers, paysans, nous sommes
Le grand parti des travailleurs
La terre n'appartient qu'aux hommes
L'oisif ira loger ailleurs
Combien de nos chairs se repaissent
Mais si les corbeaux, les vautours
Un de ces matins disparaissent
Le soleil brillera toujours.
 |: C'est la lutte finale
  Groupons-nous, et demain
  L'Internationale
  Sera le genre humain :|
Workers, peasants, we are
The great party of labourers
The earth belongs only to men
The idle will go to reside elsewhere
How much of our flesh have they consumed,
But if these ravens, these vultures
Disappeared one of these days
The sun will shine forever
 |: This is the final struggle
  Let us group together, and tomorrow
  The International
  Will be the mankind :|



Tom might end up singing these.......



How Tom works

Tom pain break-out uses a max/msp jitter patch, in conjunction with the aka plugins ,safari and apple script to run.

The patch launches safari to go to an online version of break-out, then uses apple script to position the screen correctly so that the patch can use screen recognition to "watch" where the ball is falling. Then using the aka mouse plugin, it positions the paddle directly under the ball, and other tasks such as starting the game.
The pictured game is a single game that took place over 8 hours, tom manage to keep the ball up for that long.
On a techie note the system could be adapted (tho we are talking a lot of time here ) to play most video games, the program uses the same techniques as us to move the paddle, i.e it looks where the ball is and makes calculations to where its going to fall. As long as video games require us to use our eyes to position something else (e.g a gun, a character jumping over something. a space ship dodging a meteorite).