Ushio Tokura, who goes by the name Dr Bond online, is renowned for making magnificent works of art. His latest project, however, isn’t a surrealist aquatic mindscape or a stunning love letter to Japanese Yokai. Instead, Tokura has partnered with Nvidia to build the world’s largest Winter Wonderland for charity – all in Minecraft.
Tokura has been experimenting with Minecraft builds for almost ten years, meaning he’s been involved in the community since around the time it originally launched in earnest. He’s been the subject of widespread attention for his forum-famous sculptures, work with the wildly ambitious Cyclone Designs team, and showcase pieces for major expos like Tokyo Game Show. His latest project is something totally new though, which is likely why he had no hesitation in jumping at the opportunity to work on it.
“With a team of three people over a span of two weeks, collectively the project took over 500 hours to complete,” Tokura tells FTW. “The process is best explained like layers in a cake – the foundations or the sponge base being the builds from which all other things are then built on top of, with the mechanics, models, and storyline creating meaning and direction, connecting everything together as the supportive cake filling.
“The RTX, which adds godrays and emissive light properties to the map, seems like just a cherry on top, but is actually a very necessary component to the whole experience with its enhancement to atmosphere and immersion. It was a big undertaking within the time constraints, however I am extremely happy with how it turned out.”
Obviously 500 hours is an enormous amount of time – in terms of a standard eight-hour shift, it’s equivalent to 62.5 work days or 12 and a half business weeks. The amount of effort that goes into Minecraft builds of this scale is extraordinary, especially when you consider that the people working on them are abnormally expeditious thanks to their knowledge of the game.
What’s more, this particular build comprises over 30 million individual blocks spanning approximately 38 acres, making it four times the size of the world’s largest Christmas market in Austria. While the real deal will always be special in its own right, Tokura believes that Minecraft is perfect for housing alternative virtual worlds in this way.
“One of the best things Minecraft does is its ability to enhance the user’s vision as a tool to create experiences,” Tokura says. “From building to modding, it is a great sandbox; it allows the creator to completely trust its system of design and focus on the ideas that really matter such as the story you want to tell. With an amazing community behind it, Minecraft has created its own self-sustaining ecosystem of creators who help each other with tools and resources that enable so much more content through collaboration than just a couple people or a group could achieve.”
These thoughts come from a place of personal experience given that Tokura has previously worked on various Minecraft projects as part of the aforementioned and widely lauded Cyclone Designs initiative. As stated above, even the Winter Wonderland world was made as part of a team of three, with Tokura logging approximately 300 of the total 500 hours needed to create it.
This collaboration, while key to the Winter Wonderland’s construction, is also key to its mission. Designed as a means of raising money for Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity to help bring Christmas to kids who can’t visit Santa’s Grotto or festive markets this year, the Minecraft Winter Wonderland is deeply imbued with sentiments of kindness and community.
[mm-video type=video id=01fny0xyn0f9j5fer2ry playlist_id=none player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01fny0xyn0f9j5fer2ry/01fny0xyn0f9j5fer2ry-460ad43025526197fb4b1d0d985304cc.jpg]
“I feel the Holiday spirit brings such a special warmth, and I wanted that to be conveyed directly to the player when playing this map,” Tokura says. “I focused on bringing out some of the best parts of Christmas – which for me is the food – so one of the player’s tasks of course had to revolve around preparing a large meal for Santa’s guests. Before playing, I would tell the players to get yourself some food, a nice mug of a preferred drink and really enjoy the map as if it were just another Christmas activity, because it will draw you in like one.”
Tokura isn’t exaggerating here. Among other things, the Winter Wonderland includes roller coasters, ice skating rinks on frozen lakes, a Christmas village, a penguin postal service, and even a petting zoo. There are also various quests you can embark on aside from cooking Santa his turkey and ham, meaning this is a world that has been designed with real care and attention to detail.
On top of all the festivities, you’ll also be able to visit an in-game version of the Great Ormond Street Hospital where you can donate to the GOSH Charity. The aim of this whole initiative is to raise money for children who are seriously ill and can’t make it home for the holidays – this includes funding state-of-the-art medical technology and providing patient and family support services, among other things – while also enabling them to participate in Christmas activities virtually via Minecraft.
“A huge part of this project was to emphasize the aspect of Christmas kindness of giving through charity,” Tokura says. “Teaming up with GOSH Children’s Charity, this map was created with the purpose to bring Christmas to the children so that wherever they are in the world they can still experience meeting Santa or going out shopping in the Christmas markets. I would love to add and expand onto this idea for other interactive experiences in the future.
“Minecraft for me is special because it is so inclusive of everything it touches. Whether it is the age of a person, the community they come from, their talents or skills – all of these combined really make the community in Minecraft special. I feel that this reflects so closely with the Holiday spirit and Christmas, and this positive spirit of giving and sharing very much reminds me of all of the kindness and joy that Minecraft has brought onto us.
“This has been such a great experience for myself and the team, and there were many funny moments shared fueled by sleepless nights. While making this project, I was often teleported back in time and I felt as though I had stepped into the shoes of my younger self. I added things to this project I believe my younger self would have wanted to see, and it made me realize that so much of my creativity comes from my early memories. To anyone playing this map, I hope this also inspires the creative spirit inside you like it did for me.”
You can install the Nvidia Winter Wonderland world for Minecraft here and donate to the GOSH Charity here.
Written by Cian Maher on behalf of GLHF.
[listicle id=1329989]