Video game architecture is full of secrets

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

#control #darksouls #architecture

[PianoCatProductions]

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

[vinnm]

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.

[charliemarin]

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

[charmer]

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)

[incompetentotter]

Damn, Simone hyped up my profession better than I could.

[AbsolXGuardian]

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.

[neurosin]

I'm a Senior Environment Artist and it makes me so happy to see this video! We DO exist! <3

[vKevlar]

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!

[ArmyofOneandaHalf]

The realness-o-meter cranked to 11 when Simone dropped the words "Hostile Architecture"

[bengarbow]

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

[johnbradley]

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)

[senseisleepyhead]

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

[robertfcasas]

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.

[mothguy]

simones obsession with video game architecture is powerful and i am proud of her

[stephlrideout]

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!

[pumplesdorskiner]

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.

[laineygraham]

Personally I liked the code joke simone

[bbittercoffee]

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?"

[sylghouls]

"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.

[googleit]

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!