Hey Everybody!
We hope you are having a great summer vacation as school is now out of session in most parts of the United States here.
What have been your favorite summer relaxation to visit or do with your family? Have you been having great warm or even hot weather where you enjoyed a splash in a pool or water park?
Well, we've got a nice 'summer treat' for you! Since its been slow over here at Themagical Team since we are enjoying our 'annual development breaks' in between simulation releases and developments.
I was happy to share with you guys the news with a close friend of Themagical Team to give us some insight on his latest projects and as well get to know who makes them.
We got John Burton (aka ImagineerJohn as most of you know of him as) who is the founder of 'Ride Sims' website and as well a user of our community at Themagical.
We are happy to give you this nice special interview with John for our readers and community to enjoy!
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(* Bold is our question, and not bold is John's answer.)
1.)
Tell us a little about yourself.
Well hello everyone I’m John and I am
the creator behind the newly created website www.ridesims.com
that recently opened on the 1st January 2012. I work alongside my
fellow team members at Theme Park Nerd Ltd. where I am often utilized as part
of the graphics design team for a large number of projects. Originally I
developed simulations for Theme Park Nerd’s initial site www.towersnerd.com,
which were all Alton Towers related. From here I offered up my skills at
producing a portfolio of simulations based on theme park attractions from all
around the globe, which we decided to input all our resources into developing
our main base site for simulation games www.ridesims.com!
2.) Have you seen our site and what
brought you to our site?
Themagical has been around a lot longer than www.ridesims.com
and to me, this was the main site to go to, to get that ride simulation fix! It
was inspiring to see the rides and attractions in a new way and get a feel for
daily operations of such classic Disney attractions. In some ways Themagical.nl
led the way to a new generation of inspired coders and simulation designers who
often questioned the Themagical team HOW?
3.) What type of interests that you
would like to do in the future and what are you doing currently in the present?
As an enthusiast for the tourism
industry, I hope to pursue a career along those lines, with a design aspect in
mind. Currently I am studying Architecture which I hope will allow me to
develop my design skills further and move into conceptual and real life blue
sky thinking. Whilst studying I am constantly adding to my portfolio
conceptualizing rides and attractions through modern techniques some of which
can be seen here: www.facebook.com/johnburtoncreative.
I am also
employed at present by the Merlin Entertainments company where I am gaining a
daily hands on experience with guests that I hope will only enforce my future
potential to developing rides, attractions, events and spaces for the general
public’s future entertainment.
4.) Tell me about your liking to simulations and why make
them to share online?
Simulations are not only about hitting a
few buttons or keys to make a picture move, to me a simulation is all about
bringing the magic home and feeling even more a part of the experience that you
have witnessed. Taking control of a multi-million pound attraction can take
weeks of training and a rigorous interview process which very few get the
chance to do however with developing a free online simulation utilized as many
true to life features the attraction holds gives anyone of any age the freedom
to give it a try and experience it all from the comfort of their own home!
5.) What is "Ride Sims" website and what made you to consider launching
online?
Ride
Sims is pretty much all in the name! It is an online gaming web site with a
portfolio of Ride and attraction simulations ranging from roller coasters, to
flat rides and water rides that a user can login and become ride operator in
their spare time! We launched online so that we could ensure we enhance our web
site with new features including achievements and competition between users
playing our simulations.
6.) What is there to expect when it comes to create ride simulations? What
gives you the inspiration of making these simulations?
We
are always open to suggestions at Ride Sims Facebook page or email, and we
always listen to what our users like or want in future simulations. Personally
I choose which I complete as my “next simulation(s)” from the choices I have in
front of me. I choose a simulation often down to the complexity of developing
it. The more complex the more of a challenge it is for me to complete… Which I
love! Secondly I decide on how much enjoyment a user will get from an attraction.
A simulation with more controls, options and interactive elements will be far
more enjoyable than a carousel with a stop and start button.
7.) Since there's an only limited site out there that creates these types of
simulations, what are the purpose of the site and the vision of "Ride
Sims"?
Ride
Sims began purely as a portfolio of my work. I wanted others to try out what I
had developed as well as experience the magic from the parks right at home! As
a team we have lots of plans for the future of Ride Sims and since the 1st
of January we already have a growing simulation collection of 22! A few
elements we hope to move forward with are the achievements and user interaction
with our simulations which we hope will bring enjoyment to all our users.
8.) Is there you want to share our community about your projects and any advice
for them?
We get asked
quite regularly how to make simulations. There is no simple answer to this
question. You will need time to learn software’s in which you can code a simulation
such as flash. However it is not only about the coding but the graphics. You
must ensure you grab your users with something that is iconic to them and they
can relate to easily. For me it has taken years of practice from a very young
age for 3D visual modeling and graphic design yet I never studied art at
school. So never give up on trying. If you want to pursue something, never stop
trying and push yourself with self determination.
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We want to say "Thank You" to John Burton for taking his time getting back to us with this small interview for our readers to enjoy.
We'll be sharing more details soon about our upcoming 'Beta Testing' for our new FIRST- Of It's Kinda HMTL 5 simulation "Soarin".
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