JBII Downloadable

A few of you have asked, so I'm trying it out.  JBII is now downloadable as an EXE (warning, it is 221mb).  You can download the ZIP file by clicking here.  This is the same as the version that runs online, but I have not thoroughly bug tested it and don't know how or if it will function on various OS's.  Let me know if you have trouble.

This is an experiment.  If it has too many issues, I might discontinue this version.  We'll see what happens.  In the meantime, enjoy!

 

Version 6.4: Dreams and Monsters

Version 6.4 is up and running.  It's not a huge change, but there are 2 new sections in the ride.  I've added the Dreamport paint machine (I have no idea what it is really called) and the Dungeon / Monster scene in Literature.  The Dungeon is a bit dark but I'll fix that in the next round.


As always, feel free to let me know what I messed up.  Thanks.


I've been away from the project a lot lately.  The reason is that I suddenly have a lot of personal projects for myself and friends, work and play that have been keeping me busy.  I'm trying to find a good balance and hope to get updates out a little more often now.  They will probably be smaller than the ones in the past though.


That's it for now.

JII Version 6.3: Ride Tweaks and Magic

Version 6.3 is up and running!  This update is not as organized as previous ones, but I think there are some good changes here.  Since this one updated pretty much just the ride, here is a short list of what happened:


- The Magic / Genie Dreamfinder scene is in.  I still need to add Figment in his magnifying glass and fix a bunch of texture things.  This scene also includes the blacklight direction signs just before it and the filmstrips after it that lead into the Star Tunnel.


- I added a couple of animals to the Arts Scene carousel.  The other 3 are coming soon.


- Textures and lighting have been added to the Finale (Figment films) scene.


- The Dreamfinder photo is in after the Finale.  I am aware that the scaling and position are a bit off but I'm having trouble figuring it out from the videos.  I'll get it there eventually though.  The photo on the filmstrip is actually me and my family from an old WDW vacation video.  I'm the formerly skinny kid in the backseat holding the video camera.

- I have tweaked the lighting everywhere in the ride.  I think it is starting to look atmospherically correct.  Again, hard to guess at from old videos and flash photos.  I'm making some judgement calls there.


- The ride vehicle is no longer jet black.


- I tried to fix a lot of the culling settings so you won't see as many missing scene elements, especially when walking around.  There are still a few though.  By the way, if you get stuck walking around in the ride, remember that you can jump.  I filled some of the potholes, but I know there are more to be found.


- Throughout the entire model, I have attempted to correct the music glitches and shorten the transition times.  Let me know if it works right for you.


That's it for this round.  Thanks!


  

JII Version 6.2: Moving Parts

As I tend to do when I have nobody instructing me otherwise, I changed my mind about what I was going to work on for this next version.  But I added a bunch of stuff so I hope it's all good.  Version 6.2 is now up and running.  Here's what is new:


Outside
- There is a pop-up map if you get lost.  It also shows you the "portals" to other scenes.  Just press "M".  (Thank you, Martin).
- Jumping fountains!!!  The timing is not really there yet but I'll tweak that at some point.  For now, just watch your head or you might get wet.
- The pop-jet fountains and rotating Figment bush are working too.  Yes, I know Fig looks a bit like a duck.  I'll put more effort into him later when I start doing animatronics.
- The ride lobby doors closest to the theater are now windows (as is more time period appropriate.  However, you can still walk through them for convenience.
- I put a little bit of cloud reflection in the glass surfaces for an extra layer of realism.
- Finally, the employee exit gate is in with some extra landscaping and a surprise inside.  (Thank you, Ron).


Ride
- I skipped the 2nd half of Dreamport and did 3 other scenes instead.  There are now more elements in the Arts, Literature and Finale scenes.
- The Arts / White Room has a few elements in it including a spinning turntable.  I think it might be moving backwards but I'll work that out when the animals are on board.
- An updated Organ and the Cat / Bat blocks are in Literature.
- The Star Tunnel now leads you into the Finale.
- The ambient light has been turned off in here in order to better control what you see and don't see.  As a result, your vehicle will appear completely black at least for now.  The floor is still a charcoal color for navigation while testing.  Eventually, it will also be black so the full effect is correct.


Theater
- I didn't do anything really.  I only fixed it so you can't fall through the movie screen anymore.  (Thank you, Bob).


Image Works
- This scene also has a pop-up map since it is easy to get lost in here.  Just press "M".  (Thank you, April).
- I didn't add any sound to Stepping Tones yet.  Anyone have any info on which sounds were where?
- The missing passages are now behind the Digital Wall.  One leads into Lumia and the other into Stepping Tones.
- Lumia has special FX now!
- I put in placeholders for the Vibrating Mirrors room.  Since there is nothing to actually reflect, I added some nostalgic images to check out.


I'm not going to predict my next moves yet.  Clearly, I didn't fully follow them this time anyway.  I'll let you know as I figure out what is next.  Thanks for visiting.


  

My Real Job

For those of you who were introduced to this blog in the past 6 months, I should tell you that I occasionally write posts that are not related to Journey Into Imagination but are at least a little bit related to the theme park industry.  I haven't really done that recently until now.


For the benefit of friends, family, and some complete strangers who've asked, "what do you do anyway?"...  Let me explain:


As you may be aware, I am a big time theme park nerd or a "foamer" as we are called by those in the industry.  Since I was 10 years old, I've wanted nothing more than to design theme parks for a living, and last Sept, I started working at a company in Burbank, CA called Thinkwell that does just that.  Since I've started, I've said almost nothing publicly about what I actually do despite this being a HUGE deal for me.  After almost 8 months there, I think I've had enough time to fully understand what I'm doing and what I am able to talk about.

Thinkwell is a themed experience company that produces creative designs for theme parks, attractions, museums, tours, special events, corporate branding, and just about anything else that could use a unique creative eye.  We are working for several clients right now on a diverse array of projects, only a handful of which are public knowledge yet.  You can see our currently announced projects on our website here and our latest cool thing, The Making of Harry Potter Tour here.  We'll get to my project in a moment.

I am a Technical Manager by title but the work I do is better known in theatrical circles as a Tech Director.  My job is to figure out to make the creative designs work in the real world with available technology, adhering to a set budget, and functioning safely and reliably.  As part of a team, I help create the technical designs and specifications for various things including lighting, audio, video, control systems, interactives, special effects of all sorts, networking, ride systems, facilities and utilities, and even some top-secret prototypical coolness that you'll get to see in attractions that will open a couple of years from now.

The majority of my time is spent on a theme park called Monkey Kingdom, opening in China in 2014.  This park and the project as a whole is huge.  It keeps me very busy on a wide variety of disciplines.  I am what is called a "project-based" employee.  This is very typical in the industry and it basically means that my employment is attached to the Monkey Kingdom project, theoretically through the completion of the park.  The reality is that I am not entirely tied to Monkey and have helped out in various ways on a dozen other projects - sometimes for a couple of days, sometimes for about 5 minutes.  Everyone at Thinkwell has specialties that are often additions to their core job descriptions.  I usually get to help out with projects that might involve large-scale special effects and theatrical automation, puppets, and show control systems.  Every experience I've ever had in my career has been pulled out of mothballs for use in something these past 8 months.

A typical week for me is 9am to 6pm with an hour lunch, Monday through Friday.  This is the first time in my life that I've had a full-time schedule like this.  Having weekends and holidays off is crazy!  I finally get why people like it.  Right now, Monkey Kingdom is still in the design phases.  As it starts to move into actual construction over the next couple of years, there will likely be longer and stranger hours with travel.  Right now, I feel like I'm on vacation all the time.

Most of the offices, including mine, are all open and located in one large room.  In this photo, my desk is to the left of the Hello Kitty desk and you're looking at less than a third of the whole space.  The environment is really cool.  Few or no walls, open dialogue, pretty much no politics at all (seriously), very casual and easy-going.  It is not uncommon to have strange costume days, food-related events, crazy desk decorating, or a random marching band here in the offices.  There's no class system here either.  I usually have lunch at the picnic tables outside where I might be eating with any co-workers including the company Owners and VPs.

During a typical day, I'm back and forth between my desk and various meetings or presentations around our building.  I get to meet all sorts of interesting people including clients, consultants, vendors, specialists ad service providers.  I do a lot of technical writing and AutoCAD plus a little bit of Sketchup, VBA programming, and testing of all sorts of different programs.  And they've let me try my hand at some creative work as well.  So far, I've written or co-written of a couple of show treatments that are part of Monkey Kingdom.  They are very encouraging when it comes to trying new things and expanding your skills here. Awesome.

Everything else I want to tell you... I really can't yet.  :-)  I'll post news as things are announced though.  So, that's it.  That's what I've been doing lately.

JII Version 6.1: Journey Back to 1986

Version 6.1 of the simulation is up and running.  This version has new content but also has a bunch of small adjustments in order to align it better with the target time period of 1986.  Here's what is new:

Overall

- The simulation window is a little taller now.  Better view, I think.

- You are no longer 4 feet tall.  Congratulations on the growth.

Outside

- The bushes have been removed from the perimeter of the ride building.  They were added with JIYI in 1999.

- I'm sticking with the later fountain sculpture but I added the colored panels that briefly lived inside it.

- I've made some minor architectural updates.  The area between the theater exit and Kodak Store is slightly different now and the walls around the restrooms are correct now.

- Temporary signage on the Kodak Store.  I can't find a clear shot of what those signs look like exactly.

- Accessories in the upper lobby.

Ride

- New scenic elements in Teapot / Houses and 1st Half of Dreamport scenes.

- Slightly better lighting in these scenes and some added special FX.

- I've added some invisible force fields so you won't feel stuck down in the track pit when walking around anymore.  You may still experience random vanishing walls though.  Explore at your own risk.

Theater

- The last remaining elements of HISTA are out.  This is as close to original EO as I can currently get.  Thanks again to Martin Smith for some reference assistance.

- "True Colors" is out and "Makin' Memories" music is in.  Rumor has it that "Makin' Memories" was briefly featured early in Captain EO's run.  Even if that isn't true (research is ongoing), I still have no usable "Capture a Smile" material.  I'm also seeking a screenshot of "Makin' Memories" for the pre-show screen if anyone has that.

- The automatic door passages are better fleshed out now.  "Doors open automatically" (even though they actually don't here).

- Blue seats!

Image Works

- Light Writer is more detailed now and Lumia is roughed in.  Does anyone have a decent picture of that?  Right now, it looks like a mini-Spaceship Earth in a dark room.

- General fixes to the ceiling and walls.  Lots of little tweaks.

Known Issues

- There is still a great deal of weirdness with the music transitions, especially when loading new scenes.  I'm working on it.

- This.  I can't consistently recreate it yet but it is on my list.  I think it's kind of funny though.

What's Next in 6.2

- I'm going to take a crack at the jumping fountains, pop jets, and Figment bush outside.  Fingers crossed.  I'll also change the West glass doors of the lobby into windows, like it was early on.

- Adding the 2nd half of Dreamport in the ride.

- In the Image Works, I want to add some sounds to Stepping Tones and get some placeholders in the Vibrating Mirrors room.

- The Theater needs some straightening up with regard to the seats.  I have some more accurate plans of that now so I should be able to make that nicer.

A Matter of Time

Lately, I've been asked a few times about some of my choices for this project, specifically regarding the time periods I'm representing (especially about EO in the theater).  I've been meaning to talk about this for a while and now seems like a good time.

I guess I should start by admitting I have no real master plan.  When I started this back in Feb 2011, I was just trying to see if I could do it at all and honestly expected to get bored with it and stop at some point.  Somehow, that never happened and the project just kept expanding with no real direction. 

Once I thought about it, I realized that I was re-creating memories from my childhood.  These memories were fuzzy and grossly inaccurate as it turns out.  And the gaps were filled in with whatever photos I could find on the net, regardless of the year they were taken.   In fact, in the beginning, I modeled using the current building for reference (hence the colors in the photo above).  When I finally started doing real research, I understood that I had created a pavilion that never actually existed.  Let me 'splain...

This attraction has been around for nearly 30 years and has included 3 different rides, 4 different 3D movies, multiple movie pre-shows, countless Image Works configurations, and a hundred landscape / paint / decorating changes.  And to make this more complicated, I can't find a good timeline of when many of these things changed.  To get around this problem, I've been dividing the entire model up and picking different time periods for each section.  Some of these are roughly on track and some need more research.

In case I've given the wrong impression, this project was never intended to represent opening day.

OUTSIDE

The landscaping and decorating outside is roughly set in the same time period as Captain EO's first run (1986 - 1994).  I haven't nailed down a specific year yet, but it is probably after the original fountain sculpture changed.  I'm still trying to figure out when the bushes around the ride entrance were added.  Those may be part of the JIYI update.  Right now, I kind of have both versions covered since the bushes AND the trees in pots are both there.  At any rate, this time period accommodates the various EO graphics and structures in the area.

I should say that I would love to have that cool, original fountain sculpture in the model.  However, it is really hard to work out that complex geometry from the photos I can find.  It was hard enough figuring out the simpler replacement sculpture.

THE RIDE

The ride is meant to represent its overall form during its 15 year run.  I don't think there were a lot of changes but any subtle differences aren't documented enough for me to do anything about it.  I can only really say that this is set after the exit speed belt was removed.

THE THEATER

I get asked about this the most.  I usually say that I picked EO over Magic Journeys because it was my favorite and I consider that period to be the Golden Age of that pavilion.  There are some practical considerations as well though.  I have almost no Magic Journeys reference material to work with anyway, but I think the best reason is that EO was a lot more interesting to look at.  It had big graphic elements, bright colors, cool logos and signage.  It is a lot easier and more fun for me to recreate, but I think it is a lot more interesting to explore since there is no actual movie playing in there.  I can at least provide the static images and music.

But what about the pre-show?  I'm still trying to work this out.  My research indicates that "Makin' Memories" and ''Capture a Smile" ran during EO.  I'm currently running "True Colors", but I guess I should change that.  I can't find a good copy of the music from "Capture a Smile" so I may choose "Makin' Memories", which would put my time period around 1986.

Just to make all of this irrelevant, my current interior of the theater is modeled after HISTA (the weird frame around the screen).  That's because I can't find any decent images of the theater interior when EO originally ran (let alone Magic Journeys).  Still working on that.

THE IMAGE WORKS

Image Works is the huge exception to the "not opening day" thing.  My Image Works is currently set in the opening day configuration.  Why?  I have pretty good documentation of that version and most of those interactives are much easier to model.  I considered trying to time-align this area with the EO time period, but IW has gone through so many different configuration changes and I don't know the exact layouts by year.  The only thing I really know for sure is what it was when it started and what it was when it died.  "When it started" seemed like a better choice.

This part of the model is the most modular in construction.  Since I did it after I had made all my mistakes in the other sections, I had a pretty good idea of how to set it up right.  That makes it easier to update later.  Maybe one day, I'll change its year.  Maybe.

That's it.  If you were wondering about the time periods and plans, there you have it.  There isn't much of one.  I'm still open to opinions and feedback so feel free if you have some.  And as always, please send any reference that might help me be more accurate.  I appreciate it.

And now back to work on it...