Soda Constructor
Soda Constructor is the Java based physics engine, central to Soda Creative's collaborative learning environment Sodaplay.com. It was created by Ed Burton, Soda's Research and development Director, in April 2000[1] and won an Interactive Arts BAFTA Award in 2001.[2]
Overview
Sodaplay.com users use constructor to create and share "models". These models are made of "masses" and "springs" and follow strict physical laws. By turning springs into "muscles", models can be animated and made very lifelike.[3]
History
Officially, sodaconstructor was released in April 2000. However, its history goes back much further. Apparently, Ed Burton created a sodaconstructor-like program about ten years earlier, programmed in BASIC. This version didn't have muscles, but did have springs and masses, and was titled "Constructor."
In May of 1998, Ed Burton joined Soda, and it was around this time that he wrote the first Java version of the Constructor, mostly as a fun way to teach himself Java. The Soda team made the original 12 models. Ed Burton might have created daintywalker. This version of the program existed quietly on the soda website, as well as being hosted at another site. At this point, the applet was largely unknown, except to the few who had discovered it already. This small project eventually began to evolve into the "sodaconstructor", and it was widely spread by e-mail. Ed began to realize the sodaconstructor applet was becoming very popular, so he added a save feature so the constructors could document their creations. He also created the Sodazoo.
Around late August of 2007, Ed Burton and the soda team released Sodaconstructor II. Many users complain that they like the old sodaconstructor due to its simplicity and flexability. Along with the release of Sodaconstructor II came new XML into models created. This became a problem for some models as they would not function correctly if they were made in sodaconstructor I and played in Sodaconstructor II. Another notable change in Sodaconstructor II is the interface. Many people complained it was too annoying or complicated. Some users got over it, some still wouldn't mind having the other back.
Features
Recently even more features have been added, expanding the sodaplay universe: sodarace[4] and SC Local[5]. Sodarace is a program where constructors can pit their models against other constructors' models on varying terrains, to see whose is faster. There is a sodarace league forum on the sodarace website, intended for challenging others to a race or showing off your model's prowess in previously created races.
Along with sodarace came Sodaconstructor Local, which is an offline form of sodaconstructor. With it you can import and export models from and to your computer. Models on your computer are stored in an XML format, allowing you to edit your model in a text editor and import it back into sodaconstructor. Obviously not everyone would be interested in doing this, but it certainly gives constructors an edge in racing or the artistic aspects of their models.
In Sodaconstructor Beta, the most recent online release of sodaconstructor, you can load a user's public models from within the applet. Click "Load username+modelname" and you can type in a user's name to load all of their public models. You can find other user's names by putting your cursor on their models in the sodazoo.
As sodaconstructor has developed, constructors have become more and more clever at using the software to create exceedingly complex models, some of which even contain "motors" (self-contained structures that can power an entire model). Sodaconstructor continues to evolve and expand, with no sign of stopping.
There is also an open-source Sodaconstructor in development, being created by Gizmo, an intermediate constructor and programmer in Java. Soda Constructor II is out, but it has not been made open source yet, despite Ed Burton's tentative plan to make it open-source sometime in 2007.
References
External links
Constructor Applets
- Soda Constructor I
- Soda Constructor II
- Springs World 3D (A 3D construction applet inspired by Sodaplay)