Video game architecture is full of secrets
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 14 июл 2024
- Architects and game designers have the same job, basically!? In video games like Control, Portal, and Dark Souls, architecture tells you everything that you need to know. Architecture in games - and in real life - can control the way that you move, and the way that you feel. So Simone asked some architects about their favorite uses of architecture in games, to find out how clever design can make games more immersive.
0:00 Architecture and video games
1:24 Space controls your mind
3:53 Construction is environmental storytelling
5:55 Material sensations
8:32 Light ties it all together
10:36 How real architects use games
Subscribe to our RUclips channel! goo.gl/D8prdf
Like Polygon on Facebook: bit.ly/PolygonFB
Follow us on Twitter: bit.ly/PolygonTwitter
Follow us on Instagram: bit.ly/PolygonInsta
And for more gaming and entertainment coverage, visit www.polygon.com
#control #darksouls #architecture 
Игры
Woah... architecture AGAIN? Check out our last video all about BRUTALISM in Control and get some more Stuart Macdonald in your sweet ears! ruclips.net/video/7n7ylXPueYE/видео.html
was surprised you made it through the whole video without discussing these concepts in terms of Visual Rhetoric...
I feel like the only person that's been asking for this
keep👏 making 👏 these 👏👏👏👏👏
As a former architecture student:
Don’t stop! I live for the feeling of recognition I experience when I hear the language of design.
@@mikeyjofalviton5046 and as a person who did technical design for my freshman year I can agree with this (okay lookI HAVE BEEN ASKING FOR TECHNICAL DESIGN 2 FOR TWO YEARS NOW WHERE IS MY CLASS)
This is what I love about polygon, it's creator's don't analyze games in a vacuum and always find a way to make me consider a different profession... like architecture this time lol
dude same
@@polygon same dude
reject youtube, become architect
they always have interesting concepts that many other creators don’t explore at all in games which is awesome😊
Def check out Jacob Geller
man i really love polygon's pivot towards videos about game development & design philosophy in the last couple of years, it's really obvious you guys love games as a medium and not just as a form of entertainment
^ You just put my appreciation for recent Polygon into words way better than I could!
Yes, I agree completely! Their recent videos have been so incredibly thoughtful!
I mean, I know that Polygon is mostly niche video essays anyway, but PLEASE let Simone keep giving me extremely niche video essays about buildings and interior design and so on.
Yoshi's Flesh Fiefdom
oh...
@@polygon I don't like it any more than you.
I was thinking Meat Monarchy but this is much worse
Yoshi's Organ Oligarchy?
Yoshi's Carne Kingdom
Damn, Simone hyped up my profession better than I could.
As a civil engineer, I have a high appreciation for architects, but we also constantly make fun of them. It’s really cool to see architecture in a virtual space where they aren’t constricted by annoying things like “needing second floor supports”
(Professional ribbing, meant in jest. Y’all are a talented bunch! Plus if you ask any Contractor they’ll give us CE’s an equal amount of crap)
My favorite thing about fictional architecture is that there are really two architects. Let's take Anor Londo. From Software needs to think about what they want to impart to the player and how they want the level to work. They need to design the playable space in a way that makes it intuitive and easy to remember in a game with no map. Gwyn's head architect needs to think about what Gwyn wants his capital to convey and what the practical uses of it are going to be. From needs to think about what technology and materials Gwyn's architect could have precured. Gwyn's architect knows what those things are, and those are their main limitations. From Software needs to think about the culture that Gwyn's architect is from. Gwyn's architect probably doesn't even think about how their culture is influencing their design choices. From Software has to design everything intentionally, Gwyn's architect can't control what wear and tear Anor Londo will show, nor will they have control over later additions if Anor Londo ends up developing dynamically over time.
Wait, what? Hang on... What? Okay, I understand what you're saying now. But, why don't you rephrase it for all the other people who don't get it.
@@chucklebutt4470 Basically, they have to design a space both 'out of character' as someone designing a playable and enjoyable area in the game, and 'in character' as the people that actually would've made this physical space in the first place.
@@chucklebutt4470 in other words, they have to think about it from the perspective of the in-game/in-world architect who would have built it if that world was real, and also as a game designer outside of that world. So there’s sort of a meta level to it.
@@chucklebutt4470 You have no idea how much better your comment makes me feel. As someone who hasn't played dark souls (because they couldn't get past the first miniboss) and a forgetful person, I didn't know what Anor Londo was even after watching the video. And even then, once the terms made sense, it took me a few rereads to fully understand: "wait- they mean the game designer and the fictional architect!!! ohhhh!!!!" and then I felt both smart and dumb.
I think you rarely have a medium where you have to think as much about how your creation will cause a person to react than video games. The interactivity means that every possible interaction has to be considered, but that's quickly impossible. So then you have to use psychology (and common sense) to determine what players will _more likely_ do and ideally you still consider edge cases where players behave erratically because you know someone's gonna do that. To factor immersion into that and make game design match a story is a challenge but boy is it worth it.
and people say video games aren't art
6:47 Or Yoshi's Latex Land, Yoshi's Terracotta Terrain, Yoshi's Bone Biome, Yoshi's Platinum Planet, Yoshi's Meat March, or Yoshi's Jearth (Jean Earth)
Yoshi's Wood Woods
wait
Tbh I’d play Yoshi’s Dirt Duchy
Yoshi has no right to own a political entity when he won't even pay his taxes to support it
@@nathaniellindner313 Yoshi's Latex Libertarian Paradise
The realness-o-meter cranked to 11 when Simone dropped the words "Hostile Architecture"
I'm a Senior Environment Artist and it makes me so happy to see this video! We DO exist!
This is exactly what I want to become! I've been an architecture student for 5 years now and this year I'm jumping to the game design world to design this marvelous environments for people to enjoy. Any tip for a beginner like me, Josh?
I appreciate the crap out of you!
@@SimonedeRochefort
@@nestormolina4415 Oh hell yeah! There's so much to say here so I'll try and keep it brief. Architecture is a huge advantage in the industry, but can easily become a crutch if you lose focus on the true purpose of why you are building environments; gameplay. Remember that a fun game can be ugly, but a terrible game can be pretty. So use your skill to make something look believable while bending and breaking the rules of real world design and engineering around gameplay and level design.
Feel free to message me on ArtStation and I'll try to answer any other questions you might have.
@@neurosin woah Im an Environment Artist too! a little sad she didn't mention us (our job titles) by name tho
Thank you! As an architect, it is so nice to hear you talk about the parallels. And even more importantly, thank you for using the phrase "people who are unhoused" when referencing hostile architecture. Its distinctions like those that are vital and so frequently overlooked!
simones obsession with video game architecture is powerful and i am proud of her
AAHHH i'm in this!! thanks Simone for letting me gush about portal! i'll see what i can do about getting you a stamp but no promises
As an Architect who spends a lot of time wishing I was making video games instead, I feel like this is the first and only video made just for me. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Same
This is a remarkably nuanced understanding of architecture coming from a games journalist. Nicely done!
Edit: Hey! Touching buildings is a normal thing to do! Normal!
My friends laugh at me too when I touch walls and stuff.
Background: I'm a climber/boulderer LOL
@@violetnhz I've always done it, it's just relevant to my job now!
I can't fully express how much I adore and appreciate Polygon videos like this-- the beautiful enthusiasm that still makes a very specific topic very accessible to "laymen" like me, the depth of research, the PUNS, everything! :D :D :D
Personally I liked the code joke simone
(can you explain the joke, I'm not sure I got it right ? Is she talking about the architects code?)
She's talking about building codes, that regulate how you can design buildings
@@mymoomin0952 ooooh
building code I get it
good one simone
I gently throw a tomato at the stage
@@mymoomin0952 (thank you btw)
@@lephoquebleu8302 npnp
Let's get Simone a stamp!
A Simone Stamp should have been put onto the end card
As the son of an architect, I unfortunately never witnessed my mom touching a the wall of a building, though maybe that's what she was doing when she lagged behind. That said, she gave me a great appreciation for the way building design influences individual choices inside a space. Also, light = health, and Frank Lloyd Wright = a lot.
Before watching the video I was like "oh cool, a Simone's follow up video on control and it's weird ass architecture"
Then I saw the tag "Dark souls" and immediately thought "Wait, is this a Pat video?"
'From Radiotopia and PRX, this is 99% Invisible. I'm... Simone de Rochefort?'
The crossover I didnt know I needed until now...
"So, environmental storytelling is the grafitti on the wall - it's also where the wall is, and who the wall is protecting, and it's what the wall is made of" this is a brilliant sentence, and it's the cherry on top that solidified this as one of my new favorite video essays.
As an architect in California, I can confirm that we, in fact, do everything... kinda. In CA (I know its different / worse in other states), we need MEP engineers to help with Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing fixtures (although we decided where they go), wiring, and piping. But other than that, yes, we do everything, and it is stressful, and I LOVE it!
We are able to get away with doing MEP for single family homes. Well, EP anyway, mechanical is a little too much to try to amateur in. Fire sprinklers guys live on a separate planet that we occasionally email AutoCad files to.
@@nathaniellindner313 MechE, here! Boy, did my eyebrows just go on a whole journey lol
@@brodyjohnstancliff4822 I know enough about electrical networks to build a sensible lighting/receptacle layout for a home and enough thermodynamics to build a forced air system that drops half the tonnage in the kitchen on accident. Just tell me where you want the registers and you can have it.
@@nathaniellindner313 ... and their journey continues! I haven't really worked much in single-family stuff, but I gotta admit that an architect claiming to be able to size HVAC equipment and design NEC-compliant circuiting leaves me feeling pretty skeptical. Maybe I'm just bitter about being asked one too many times if I could cut the number of diffusers and registers in half AND to make them all half the size in order to cut down on the "wall acne."
(The most efficacious response to a request like that that I've found, btw, is "Sure, I can do that. In fact, I already did some preliminary calculations, and, if we choke them down enough and force enough air through them, I think I can make them harmonize to a subtle, 30 decible B-flat altered chord in the summertime. Would that complement the interior appearance we're going for?")
@@brodyjohnstancliff4822 I feel like I might be miscommunicating here; what I'm trying to say is that I know enough mechanical to do a really bad job that gets me fired if anyone actually tries to build it. Not that clients haven't tried to get us to do so to "save money". If I really hated working with them and foresaw my own death later that week maybe I'd even indulge them, otherwise we ignore the client and send it to the pros to get an actual working system designed.
We're really in Polygon's golden era. Just great video after great video now.
@simone if you like those stamps, you'll love the Iron Rings that are ceremonially presented to Canadian engineers as a reminder of their ethical obligations. The first batch are rumored to have been forged from iron taken from the Quebec Bridge, which was rushed for political reasons, and collapsed while under construction due to a design flaw, killing 75 workers. The ring has sharp faces, and is worn on the pinky of your dominant hand where it will constantly get in the way, reminding you of the countless people who don't even realize that they are putting their lives in your hands.
There's a strange irony in me watching this as a way to procrastinate from working on my architecture master's thesis. Or maybe I can just call it "research"!
I felt this too hard.
Three of my favorite things! Architecture, Videogames, and Simone DeRochefort!
as someone who has recently realized i *definitely* have a Special Interest in architecture and will probably take several college classes about it (ive already been reading architectural papers for fun), i am so hype whenever theres a polygon video about architecture, because im also really interested in the worldbuilding of videogames!
its a sacred art that constructs the spaces we explore the same way randomized physics have constructed *this* world, and its amazing that we can just Do That, and that theres so many genres, and everyone has their own way of starting the process of building or exploring a world. we all make worlds a different way because we all experience different facets of them, and its just super cool to me that we can come from a procedurally-generated place and have this like, intrinsic understanding of chance and chaos theory so that we can use it for these things.
What is a video game architecture? A miserable little pile of secrets!
Back at it again w the Wednesday Adams fit. Thank u queen Simone for ur fashion blessings
ugh when did simone become an architecture dork and when can we have more
Mmmmm walls and columns, my favorite.
that title is..... weirdly ominous......
i thought it had more of a "Dey did a sneaky beaky like and hid a wittow secwet" vibe
@@reptilerabbit8651 never say those words again
@@Sam-on5jf ok I'm sorry.
@@Madhattersinjeans denied
you know what else is weirdly obvious
I just want to bounce between videos from Simone, Jenna, Pat, and Clayton like a perpetual Pong pixel for the rest of time.
Control is such a beautiful game! The lighting is so artful and you can really see how much love and time they put into designing every room! Design isn't everything in a story-driven game but I feel like this game proves if you do it good, people will play it just for that!
With all the tv shows out there for doctors, agents, office employees, etc, it's really cool to have a less entertainment-covered profession like architecture or engineering getting recognized for their creativity in so many applications. This was really well done, lots of love for this. 🙌🏼
Can Simone just talk to me about architecture for forever, kthanks?
Super interesting, funny, and well-researched video as usual, Simone!
You rock girl!
you just don't get content like this anywhere else on gametube. thank you guys for always delivering high quality insightful stuff. I love learning about both game design and the world around us through these videos.
This video is excellent! Like a short, punchy intro to 99% invisible. It hit a sweet spot between informational & fun, with the examples making me re-examine how I've reacted to games (I especially liked the Gone Home example). Also, the transitions between the main topics were just, *chef's kiss*
I love when I guess the video presenter correctly. I clicked on this saying “oh, DEFINITELY Simone”, and I was right!
The thing I love about Polygon vids is that y'all make me think about games in a different way. It's so nice to see people be enthusiastic and engaged and funny and clever. Also, Simone should have a stamp!
Thank you, Simone, for talking about architecture in game design. As a Environment Art student, it was eye-opening to take an Architecture Design class for entertainment art. We mostly think in terms of appealing shapes first, and then take into-consideration player navigation needs and finally, details. You talking about this stuff is a lot of fun to watch.
6:50 sequel: Bowser's Brutalist Building
Architect here (interestingly, I'm also a lab designer like the one guy interviewed). I loved game design growing up. I used to make levels in Descent in middle school, and always played more creative games like Roller Coaster Tycoon and Sim City in high school. I remember in college doing walkthroughs of 3D rendered models in the Wolfenstein game engine. The video did a great job explaining the major considerations in architecture and how they're addressed in video games. There's definitely overlap and the best design influences the user without their awareness.
Something else we architects use is color. A lot of games don't do this super well, but a lot of Indie games do this very, VERY well. Some games use color to show where you should go (not a way point, but something like red being used only on the path to the next part of the story). One game uses red flowers to direct the player. The architecture firm I work for just completed a project where we used different colored LVT (luxury vinyl tile) and carpet to differentiate different departments in a large office building.
That's so cool! :D This is one of the very few exceptions where I love reading YT comments-- so much cool stuff shared here, like this!
You can feel how excited Simone is to do this video and somehow made me care about constructing buildings?? Like Jenna made me care about sound design?? I have so many layers of appreciation for so many elements in a game. It's awesome.
Jenna made me care deeply about the HUD in video games... I had never heard of the term before, but goshDANG if I didn't find her well-researched passion infectious! And exact same with Simone here!
"I want a stamp!" - dreaming big in 2020.
Simone, this was the coolest video ever! I've always been fascinated by architecture in both real life and in game design, but never thought about it more than just surface-level "huh, this looks neat!". Thank you for going a bit deeper and giving me some things to think about the next time I play games like this. Also, would not mind if you made ten more videos about this, lol! Hope you're having a great day and thanks for making my day greater!
fun fact! at my college i was encouraged to take architectural history courses!
i took two, one on modern architecture and another on the history of skyscrapers. very neat stuff
As an architecture student im surprised of how well games and arch. design connects together.
Looking forward for more videos about this golden connection.
I truly appreciate Simone's continued interest in architecture and, as an architecture student, love to watch her videos studying the relation between architecture and video games! 11/10
My favorite “video game architecture style” is probably the first mirror’s edge
1:50, the moment when we all simultaneously smashed that closed captions button
I love how excited Simone is about architecture. Hearing about these aspects of game design that are usually brushed off is *so interesting* to me!!
Really appreciate y'all making this video.
Architects don't get much appreciation here where I'm from, and to be talked about from a different route (somewhat outside the field, but at the same time - you could connect Architecture to literally ANYTHING if you're broad minded) goes to show that we still need it in our lives to make our experience in spaces interesting and meaningful.
Well, in video games at least.
- from a future Architect :3
Can Simone geeking out about Control be all of my youtube recommendations now please?
I’m an architect and this made me so happy, thank you Simone!! I’ve thought about designing and modeling buildings for video games. Honestly sounds like a dream job!
Oh ya I’m a big building-toucher
These architecture vids are super interesting!! I love seeing how places in creative media are built and why! All the little things out into these visuals!
oh, the statement early on here made me pause and think about it - about buildings and games both being systems designed to produce a particular experience (or set of experiences) when navigated. it's put so succinctly that it just made the idea unfold in my head (like an expanding corridor...). I'm so glad of all the architecture-in-games videos Control has prompted!
I'm in entertainment design right now and this reminds me so much about what we're learning in class. The focius on the user's experience whether in a space, with a product, etc. is paramount
Simone is so smart and cool and well-spoken, but this lighting is a crime against her and should be softened (maybe with those light umbrellas?) I know the direct heat that kind of lighting puts its subject under can also be kinda uncomfortable to stand under for too long. The light placement is really good, so kudos on that! But just softening it would do a lot of good.
Anyway! A+ smart and cool content, as always!!
I'm guessing that right now, for CERTAIN REASONS, members of the Polygon team aren't in completely controlled filming and lighting environments.
i think a lot of them are recording at home? so it might be harder to get the lighting right
@@EinDose Well, yeah. And as someone who has to work with their own lighting and knows how tricky it can be to figure out when filming/photographing at home, I figured it wouldn't hurt to pass my findings along. Especially since creators tend towards perfectionism, and may appreciate the tips+tricks to help achieve it.
More Simone thinkpieces!
I have all my life saying that I would be and architect, but suddenly I out of nowhere wanted to be a game designer, and now i'm on my 2° year at game dev. This kind of content makes me so happy, that I can combine 2 of my passions!
Simone!! So happy to watch your stuff again.
Me: knowing there is paid promotion and trying to interact with this video as much as possible to make sure that the polygon team gets paid 🥳
Yes!! Another architecture video!! Ngl, these are so fascinating to me, I love learning this stuff.
This is exactly what I want to do as an architect! Thanks to Simone for explaining it so well so more people understand and fully appreciate the game environments
simone!! this video was so good!! thank you for making it and putting so much effort into it!!
I love this kind of videos, very interesting and well put together! A real threat, keep them coming!
polygon pls never stop talking about architecture i love it so much 😭😭
another polygon video (from simone) about architecture!!! we are truly blessed
Thoroughly enjoying the shift to game meta and game design analysis that's happened over the years. Thanks for another great video fam
more architecture in video games !! i love videos like these!!
This is my first time seeing a video with Simone and she's so cool! A really great speaker and the perfect mix of funny and informative :D As a game dev I'm super appreciative of videos like this
I love these videos, it's a whole new way to look at games within the framework of the physical world.
Ooh I love architecture, fascinating subject matter, thank you for another great video, Polygon!
Your research and analysis is always astounding!! Build on
I would listen to simone video essays forever. ❤
Polygon, you have a great lineup of staff. I can safely say this is my favorite youtube channel, and I look forward to your notifications!
A video about architecture?? Video game architecture?? From Simone?! The universe knew exactly what I needed today
This was absolutely fascinating. Simone is a treasure, the Polygon video crew are amazing, and now I really wanna play Control, hah.
This is the kind of wholesome and educational loveliness that we need right now
I want a stamp too, Simone, I want a stamp too
This is so spectacularly fascinating. And has so many uses - as a filmmaker it makes me think about space and light in the exact same way, in spite of the completely differing art form.
What a great video. Thanks for shining a light on the concepts and work put into these spaces :-)
This was a great video. It may have been super obvious to some people, but I've never considered how architecture and game design are tied. I enjoyed this!
I am a wh0re for architecture, so Simone is giving me all that my aspec heart desires.
ah yes, polygon. Aka the aspecs who simp for simone and architecture club
@@dreamybluepiecupcake7072 that’s so specific, and yet there are at least 3 of us, which is enough for a club
@@dreamybluepiecupcake7072 Oh wow, that... actually helps puts some personal stuff into context for me (in a good way). :)
All Polygon subscribers know is watch video on video game instead of playing it, simp for Simone and Brian, poor time management, eat hot chip and lie.
@@djfrogtime9956 yes let's start a club! I need more aspec friends who simp for polygon!
Very cool! I'm actually an architect working in video game design, so, very excited to see people talking about this.
Yissss I love this subject. People who create levels in games are great, I love going through detailed games and seeing what the environment is trying to say ^^
Bought Control recently and almost finished. Very cool to see this video, and the insights. Thank you
Excellent and informative work. Thanks, Simone. Such a great counterpoint and complement to Brian’s stuff.
learning abt architecture like this is so fun!! i owe most of my architectural knowledge to you, simone
I'm a mechanical engineer; I design HVAC and plumbing systems for buildings for a living. I often work alongside electrical engineers; they're usually responsible for (among other things) designing lighting systems that, together with natural lighting, provide indoor lighting levels above a certain minimum required level. I also often work alongside structural engineers; they design the load-bearing skeleton of the building so that it will safely support the weight of an entire building and its occupants. I occasionally work alongside an interior designer; they make decisions about the appearances of basically everything you see as you move through a building: doors, cabinets, moulding, wall paint, built-in furniture, flooring, and more. We all work alongside the architect, who works with the client to decide where the rooms should be, how big they should be, what they're for, how they're laid out, what the outside of the building will look like, and who should get credit for having designed every exacting detail of such a beautiful, functional building.
I've noticed a pattern in how architects seem to think about that last subject, and it makes me think that Polygon got their information about what architects do from from an architect lol
Your previous architecture video on brutalism really sparked my interest, both in the brutalism style and in architecture in video games. This feels incredibly niche, but i greatly enjoyed it!
What a fun and insightful video! Thanks, Simone
What an AWESOME vídeo! I'll enjoy playing my games a lot more, since now I NEED to notice the details of the architecture
When I first played through Portal as a freshman in high school, the psychology of the design astounded me. I thought for sure you'd talk about it in the compression section, with the moment where your perceived freedom and in the back end, and the power fantasy that comes with navigating the BIG turret room, all screeches to a halt and you're faced with one long hallway with GLaDOS waiting for you in a large chamber at the end. I remember being so intimidated by it I had to shut my computer and come back to the game the next day. That shit is straight up CHILLING.
Simone's deep dive into architecture never fail to make me excited about the world!