The role of architecture in reality is something I am reminded of everyday here at school. For the ease of this blog we shall say that it is at its core; the protection, impression, organization of human activity in an efficient way. However in video games, that role is mimicked, faked or re-defined in ways that are either not sensible or physically plausible in reality, it is often referred to as "Level Design." Ernest Adams, a renowned lecturer of the cover magazine Gamasutra talked about this phenomena on one of his lectures in Austria in 2002. He categorized the roles of architecture in games into four categories: "constraint, concealment, obstacles or tests of skill, and exploration". He mentioned how buildings in games have a "cosmetic role" and do not usually provide their realistic function. He continued to say that they are dependent entirely on the player, and that they behave much like a movie set, yet they do act as a useful means "to organize human activity in games." I would beg to differ... We are now in 2011, and we can safely say that the role of architecture in games, has taken a much more significant toll, and that the gaming industry itself has by far outreached the budgets of Hollywood.
One game that is worth mentioning is "The Sims" released in 2000, latest release in 2011. whilst originally being influenced and inspired by the architect, Christopher Alexander. It was designed as a simulation device to review the characteristics of a building with the interaction of digital characters with an AI. It has since turned into a world famous game, in which players can build and design their own homes, limited by only money perhaps and watch their "Sims" interact with it. The game possesses a certain magical realism, such as very unlikely events and strange devices. This phenomena re-defined the way in which games in the 21st century could function, and proved that the architecture in games isn't simply "events" and that it doesn't necessarily have to revolve round the player as much as the player can revolve round the architecture. Yet the underlying role of architecture in games is to support the game play. It is strange, how the role of architecture in games is to deliver the ambiance the game needs and the drama whilst pertaining a convincing role and giving a sense of direction/ circulation that the developer enforces on the player.
As science fiction has often done, it has re-defined the way we think about spaces, and created a new type of language in an architectural arena that has never existed prior to the invention of video games. The phenomena that is worth mentioning is that with the introduction of new technologies and as the personal computer becomes parabolically stronger and stronger over the years; consequently the arena changes. For example when Ernest Adams, gave his lecture in 2002, games did not yet have the sophisticated physics engine that they do today, that allows for buildings to realistically be dismantled, destroyed and re-formed and behave like real-life materials, and that architecture has turned into a living thing rather than a simple facade.
As technology improves, and the genre of role playing games develops, the player is cast into an ever stranger and more realistic alien world, where the architecture maybe remincient of that of earth, yet possesses perhaps different purposes, uses, and the player has to learn and adapt from what he/she may recognize on Earth to re-learn the architectural and urban language of another world.
The possibilities of the architectural experience in the gaming industry is ever more complex and seemingly endless. This is why I shall want to explore the implications, pursuits and roles of architecture in the gaming industry.
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