Max Pittman has always looked at buildings with a discerning eye, examining how they were created and how many blocks of material they might contain
And for the past nine years or so, the Corner Brook teen has been recreating what he’s seen and photographed ...in Minecraft.
“I’d take buildings from real life and build it in the game,” he said, adding his favourite creations have always been castles.
"When players go onto the online server, they get to see all the streets of Corner Brook, all the topography, the greenspaces, and they get to build all the buildings and structures" — Reg Kachonoski
Now he’s getting the chance to put those skills to use in what he calls the best job ever.
Pittman is moderator of Virtual Corner Brook, an online creative Minecraft server in the Minecraft Java Edition.
It’s a program recently launched by Graham Academy, along with Gros Morne Summer Music, and involves creating a virtual representation of Corner Brook and is available for free for kindergarten to Level 3 students from Corner Brook and the surrounding area.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Pittman had been easing away from video gaming, focusing more on his education.
However, ever since the pandemic began, he found himself going back to that set-aside passion.
“I’m definitely getting a lot better at games,” he said with a laugh.
“At the beginning, it was a way to connect, and it still is a way to connect with friends.”
Quick to adapt
Reg Kachanoski, Gros Morne Summer Music’s company manager, said the program represents a change for Graham Academy and its musical theatre program.
“We’re seeing that we have to adapt really quickly with this new paradigm that we find ourselves in,” said Kachanoski, who was asked to build a curriculum that involved video games.
“In terms of production and just trying to extend performance, the digital means to do that is really the way to go,” he added. “That just really made sense, to have an online space where kids could get together and still be in Corner Brook and have fun.
“And I think giving kids more technical capacity to be able to engage with digital art will allow them to continue on with performance.”
He created the platform using digital elevation data and street maps of the city, then imposed that data onto the game world.
"When players go onto the online server, they get to see all the streets of Corner Brook, all the topography, the greenspaces, and they get to build all the buildings and structures,” said Kachanoski.
“Minecraft is a great platform to teach kids about computer science (and) digital art, and it’s really customizable. To be able to create Corner Brook virtually that quickly in an environment that kids already know and they’re already familiar with, makes Minecraft a really great platform for that.”
First choice
When choosing buildings to reconstruct, Pittman looks for detail, depth and texture. It’s no surprise his first project was Graham Academy, otherwise known as the Convent.
“It makes sense being a Graham Academy project as well as Graham Academy is such a great building. It has great architecture and it has history. Everything about it is just perfect,” said Pittman.
Some of the kids who will take part in Virtual Corner Brook are members of Graham Academy.
“It will, hopefully, make them feel like they’re at home again," he said.
To get involved, students fill out a Google form on Graham Academy’s Facebook page. Once submitted, they’ll be sent the necessary information to join the server.
Graham Academy is also doing summer camps and evening masterclasses that combine gaming, digital art and a little coding. The first day-camp started Monday.
The masterclasses, for older students, cover a different aspect of digital art, including audio, the visual aspects of game design and coding.
Twitter: WS_DianeCrocker
