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AtmoWire Builder Interview: Martin Judd
Just a week before the upcoming Star Wars event, AtmoWire was able to talk Martin Judd, builder of the project's
home world as well as many other Atmosphere favorites, into taking a break from building to answer
a few of our questions.
AtmoWire:
Looking over your list of Atmosphere environments, I see quite a
variety of
different themes. Where do you get your ideas for different worlds?
Martin: I get ideas from the silliest things, maybe I'll see a bit of
javascript that I'd like to experiment with and from that experiment a
world develops, sometimes I just open the builder and play with a few
primitives until something takes shape, other times I'll be out
walking or the like and an idea will just come out of the blue and I
can't wait to get back and get started on it, (that's how the idea
that became the Star Wars Homeworld happened, walking on holiday in
the Lake District of England).
AtmoWire: How long have you been building with Atmosphere? Did you use any 3D
programs before then?
Martin: I started with Atmosphere on build 41 if my memory serves me
correctly. I don't remember how long ago that was exactly, but it was
certainly a good while back.
Atmosphere was actually the first 3D program I'd ever used, and I'd
never used javascript before that either, but I love to learn, and
Atmosphere has been a wonderful tool for me, I find it so user
friendly, even with all the early bugs we had to work around.
AtmoWire: Many of your worlds are games, or have other interactive features as
central
elements, such as the ski lift and sleigh ride in Winterworld. When
you
start to work on a new project do you plan a world around showcasing
certain
interactive features, or are they usually added in later as the world
progresses?
Martin: The javascript is generally the last bit I do to a world, (unless it
has developed from a js experiment).
It is one of Atmospheres greatest strengths that you can add that sort
of extra dimension to a world.
There are some beautifully crafted worlds out there, but without some
sort of interactivity, they run the risk of becoming "one visit
worlds" which is a great pity.
In the world you mentioned, "Winterworld", I put it online and was
fortunate enough to find it developing as a meeting place, LadyBunny
asked for a jukebox if I remember correctly, so I added one, then
people just kept suggesting things and me being the glutton for
punishment that I am, kept adding them. That was also I believe the
first world to feature realtime day and night, so it reflects the time
that you enter the world.
"I think that the one thing I'd like to get across to other new builders,
is that NOTHING is impossible with Atmosphere."
AtmoWire: You've been doing a lot of work on the upcoming Star Wars event. Can
you give us any hints about what you've been building?
Martin: Weeeell - I run the risk of being savagely beaten by an irate Demoness
called Lace if I say too much, but what I can say, is that I think
you'll find the start of the event "interesting" to say the least :o)
Lace cornered me in a world one night and asked me if I'd do a little
bit for the project. Finding myself with no escape route I agreed, and
then she casually mentioned that the "little world" she had in mind
for me was "The Deathstar" of all things!
Well, I got carried away as usual and the intro to the Deathstar
became the Homeworld.
I've been lucky enough to see a lot of the other contributors work and
I can only say, "Make sure you are free on the weekend of the 4th of
July!!!"
AtmoWire: Of all the worlds you have built so far, do you have a favorite?
Martin: My personal favourite is "Sanctuary". I used to love the sort of game
that you could get into, but could also leave over night, perhaps
working over a puzzle in your mind, and then come back to the next day
with a triumphant feeling of satisfaction at having cracked the
problem. Sanctuary contains a lot of those sort of brainteasers, I don't think
anyone has cracked it unaided to date.
There's another more sneaky reason for liking that particular world,
it was I believe, one of the first worlds to be "cut out" of a big
block, I don't know whether you've ever tried placing yourself outside
the world but inside the block in that sort of inverse world, it gives
you a stunning panorama of the whole world, this means that I could
sit in the centre of the world and watch all the users running around,
a fascinating sight!
AtmoWire: Do you have a "Dream Project" that you've been wanting to build, but
haven't yet due to product, time or download limitations?
Martin: I do have a project that is half built, I had to leave it at the time
because one of the features it required wasn't actually implemented in
the player, (the ability to "remove" models as well as add them).
Now that it has been implemented I need to find the time to get it
rolling again.
Some of my "worldlets" are actually from that project, The Train, The
Plane, The Underground etc, which will perhaps give you an idea of the
scale of it - it is BIG :o)
AtmoWire: Do you have any advice for other builders that you would like to
share?
Martin: I think that the one thing I'd like to get across to other new
builders, is that NOTHING is impossible with Atmosphere. Things don't
have to be what they appear to be - illusion is your best friend.
It may be that your first idea doesn't work, but tackle the problem
from a different direction.
I can give you a couple of examples of this.
The Train world is a good example of that sort of illusion. it appears
that the train is travelling through the world when in fact it is the
surroundings that are moving, the train itself is perfectly still.
Another example: I was working on an elevator, but for the life of me
I couldn't stop the player falling through the floor as the lift rose.
The answer was remarkably simple, move the player up with the lift
using javascript and let him go when it's arrived at it's
destination - illusion again.
Your imagination is your only limitation in Atmosphere!
I'd like to thank all the overworked Adobe development team for
creating such a wonderfully enjoyable tool, it has given me countless
hours of pleasure, and will hopefully be a source of income in the
future.
Martin Judd's website can be found at http://www.a1media.co.uk.
To view a list of his world in our Directory, Click Here.
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