NonA Weekly: VIDEO GAME DESIGN 🎨
Dear readers and friends,
In video games 🎮, architecture 🏛️ plays a much bigger role than just being a backdrop of a virtual city or an authentic render 🖼️ of an existing one, it is, in fact, a fundamental component of transcending gamers into a virtual world 🌐 that feels just as authentic as the real world 🌍 does, but with extra adrenaline.
From a definitive standpoint, games are more or less architectural, since they are “built environments” 🏙️. Similar to any architecture project, games are “constructed” 🏗️ and treated with material 🧱 and textures. The added value, however, is not how accurate the city is or the HD quality of the graphics – although to be fair, they do elevate the gaming experience in phenomenal ways – it is in fact the story-telling 📝: the journey and experience of going from point A to point B and interacting with the environment built by the designers. It is building momentum through one’s engagement with the gamified urban composition.
1. PARAMETRIC ARCHITECTURE IN VIDEO GAME DESIGN ✍️ FOR CREATING NEW REALMS
This art of merging the virtual with the motifs from the physical realms of architecture has created a dynamic space for explorations at its highest potential. Architecture may now be fully narrative, incredibly meaningful, provoke a compelling user experience, and establish a strong link to the game storyline and GAMER’S perspective 👓.
2. HOW THE GAME INDUSTRY IS CHARGING INTO THE METAVERSE 🌐
Back when the metaverse was a philosophical plaything in fiction books 👽, the virtual world was often used as a dystopian warning about the future 🔮. Today, the METAVERSE game worlds act as social experiences.
3. THE ARCHITECTURE 🏛️ OF THE METAVERSE (SO FAR)
Today, architects and designers are increasingly aware of the responsibility they have in leading this construction 🏗️ of the virtual environment. But what is the ARCHITECTURE of the Metaverse, how is it designed, how is it built? 🤔
4. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VIDEO GAMES 🕹️ AND ARCHITECTURE
A presentation 🎥 by Sanchez – an assistant professor of ARCHITECTURE at the University of Southern California and a video game developer – who founded the Plethora Project, a study of the relationship between architecture 🏛️, video games 🎮 and generative design and a means to increase the public’s computational design literacy.
5. CARTOGRAPHY 🗺️ IN THE METAVERSE: THE POWER OF MAPPING IN VIDEO GAMES
The cartographic and planimetric language of ARCHITECTURE is also common to the world of video games. Many video games base much of their experience on interaction with one or more maps, through which users orient themselves 🧭 to find out where they are 📍 and where they are supposed to be.
6. THE AWESOME POTENTIAL OF MANY METAVERSES 🌐🌐🌐
In the multitude of metaverses that exist there are infinite possibilities 🤯 for inclusivity and creativity. Inviting us to craft our own digital universes, Minecraft’s game director Agnes Larsson shares how the experience of building and sharing metaverses can foster dialogue, friendship 🧑🤝🧑, and trust – pointing to the meaningful impact virtual WORLDS can have on the real world.
7. THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER 💪 OF VIDEO GAMES
A full third of the world’s population – 2.6 billion people – play video games, plugging 🔌 into massive networks of interaction that have opened up opportunities well beyond entertainment. In a TEDTALK 🎤 about the future of the medium, entrepreneur Herman Narula makes the case for a new understanding of gaming – one that includes the power to create new worlds, connect people and shape the economy.
Stay creative and see you all next week! 👋
Daniela
