The colors are then reduced to the minimum possible, and the image is saved as a gif file.įor VR creation, Pascal uses Home Space Builder, Virtus Walkthrough Pro, Pioneer Pro, Infini-D, and hand coding.
CYBERTOWN TEXTURES PC
He then extracts a Netscape palette from a PC screen shot and applies it using DeBabelizer (on the Mac) to avoid unwanted dithering when the image is viewed on a 256-color monitor. If the image has some wide areas of flat color, such as a black or blue background or consists of very few colors, he usually saves the image as a gif. Pascal then rescales the image and saves it as a JPEG with medium quality. The next stage is to scan the sketch, import it into Photoshop and add colors and details. Pascal first spends several hours hand sketching concepts of a new section of town that he wants to create. The graphics in CyberTown are created mostly with Photoshop. We found that different people liked different navigational metaphors, so we included them all." Says Tony, "We also use navigational buttons on every page. A Teleporter Pod and a Spaceport Pod also help you get around town, as well as 2D and 3D freeways and a Search page that gives instant access to most parts of town. Tony uses Mapedit, and the city maps with buildings on them let you go anywhere in the city.
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Java is used minimally right now one example is the timer that counts down in Odo's Security Office while residents and visitors try to decode a mutating-virus game.ĬyberTown is full of graphic images, and that means a lot of image maps. Tony believes frames are most useful when the viewer can benefit by seeing two or more different screens at once. Frames can be found in such areas as the Jukebox, Odo's Security Office, and one of the chat rooms. Tony is quite fond of Hotdog Pro, which sped up production by 60 percent over hand coding in a text editor. Programmingīehind all this lurks the programming. He concluded that within a given set of pages, the background should be integrated, the illustration style should be similar (although difficult when working with freelancers), and the icons should remain the same. To create an integrated look in both in graphics and programming, Pascal spent several weeks studying cities their composition, their administration, and the relationship of spaces within them. With close to 700 pages, if the design were not integrated, the whole site would be a mess. Pascal points out that it's crucial to keep the site integrated.
Tony checks the site regularly, because there are so many areas to monitor: Chat rooms must be checked and reinitialized, Perl scripts need to be checked, new apartment residents must be added or updated, and so on. Site control these days is done using InContext's WebAnalyzer, and residents report link changes through the CyberTown Security Report page.
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Making It WorkĬyberTown was originally put together using a souped-up 486/66, a Pentium 100 and a Mac Quadra 800, but is being moved to a dedicated server so that the number of hits won't slow it down. "We believe communities, especially 3D VR communities, are the future of the Net," says Tony. Each colony has numerous buildings full of residents. There is also going to be a Cyberhood Colony. What makes CyberTown shine is the communities, five areas where the residents (users) can take their own apartment (space): Main Town, Old Town, Beyond CyberTown, The Campus Colony (for teachers and students), and Downtown (for businesses). With experience as an art director, freelance graphic artist, and illustrator, Pascal brings art direction and design to his role as Creative Director.
These unique skills allow him to serve as CyberTown's conceptual designer, producer, and programmer.
CYBERTOWN TEXTURES MOVIE
Tony's progressed from a stint as a record producer to a career in multimedia that included movie making, computer consulting, programming, marketing, and promotional design. Launched in June of 1995, CyberTown is a family-oriented town where everyone is welcome to express themselves. Conceived, fueled, and driven by Tony Rockliff and Pascal Baudar, CyberTown merges technology and design to create a coherent view of the Internet as a community. CyberTown's 51 awards provide further evidence of its success, but the success has as much to do with the concept behind it as the visuals in the forefront. CD Home < Web Techniques < 1997 < JanuaryĬyberTown has attained a position on the Internet that many sites long for: It contains entertaining things to see and do doesn't get bogged down in technologies and keeps users coming back.
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