Plov’s creations are the stuff of legends - like theater sets, full of intricate details. You wander into them, and they tell a story. And they cover quite a range. There are inquisitive-looking extraterrestrials peering back at you on ocean-covered planets, off-world cityscapes set against fiery red canyons, dreamlike cyborg figures unfolding arrays of arms like some Hindu deity. Some creations become abstract etudes of color and form - and some to more fanciful territory, as a cute robot tends to a storybook water mill and bakery.
Watch a complete sizzle reel of his recent work for a preview:
Fittingly for a person whose best-known PatchWorld creation is the entry lobby, plov is evangelical about bringing more people to Patch making. “The most important thing is collaborations,” plov says. That’s a chance to put together what you’re best at with the best skills from other folks. “Programmers, musicians, visual designers, get together!”
plov is quick to list his own inspirations, starting with our own Gad. “I’ve never seen a developer so passionate about their project. I can post a video where I have something that does not work, or I am trying to achieve my goal in some difficult way, and he appears – the Great Creator – and creates something, especially for me. It gives me wings better than Red Bull.”
He also credits community members, like Todd Fadel: “he’s such a cool dude that he alone is worthy of an entire game. This is the person I hang out with the most. He’s a very cool singer, and we’re very, very much alike,” plov says. “Next is Frank, the best voice and best tutorials of PatchWorld – but they are like the tip of the iceberg.” That’s because there’s just such depth to PatchWorld, he says - and don’t worry, plov, we’re working on ways to help you understand that depth, with some major contributions from Gad. (You can check our past profiles of both Todd and Frank.)
But for plov, working immersively in VR is finally a way to experience futuristic computing. “Computers in the last 30 years have evolved in every way and have changed our lives,” he says. Well, almost everything has evolved, “except the mouse and keyboard. I’m tired of them for the last 30 years; I need the impact of understanding all the worlds of a patch and the ability to move around it in 3D.” The fully immersive experience of PatchWorld brings together emotional impact and the ability to see the mechanisms of how musical structures work, he says, “so that everyone from a child to an expert musician can go their own way.”
Plov recalls a previous gig at a children’s theater, where he ran video clips from a MIDI keyboard for interactive projections. “But everything we made up was limited,” he says. “Is this the time when there are no limits?”
He has ideas for where Patch could go, too—in addition to bringing in new people, he dreams of being able to use virtual 3D brushes and create art in-engine. He also wants new ways to synchronize lighting and soundtrack. (That sounds like it could be an example project.)
Plov’s visual inspirations have been myriad—“school, fine arts and then graphic design. I also did tattoos and a little bit of filming.” Drawing on his graphic design and fine art backgrounds, plov even got into a Minecraft addiction for a while. “I built cool stuff, from cities to massive thermonuclear reactor complexes,” he says. But he says it’s really using all of his creations that gives him the most pleasure.
But while PatchWorld may seem like a music tool to most, Plov is yet another example of an artist who took it as an open-ended playground – a blank slate. His own musical background is relatively limited in comparison to his art and graphic inclinations, though he’s quick to remind us that he makes music as the duo plov & faverman. And what does he like best about PatchWorld? “Interacting with other players, pooling our knowledge, to create a superuser who can do everything like the Great Creator,” he answers. “I want to progress in both visuals and music in PatchWorld. I’ve even ordered myself a new PC for rendering.”
“My biggest passion is science fiction,” plov says. If you get me started, we’ll talk all day.” But here, in PatchWorld, we can get lost in sci-fi scenes as vivid as those we imagine while reading—a futuristic fantasy now within reach.
View more of plov’s incredible worlds:
