{"id":2500,"date":"2016-11-18T03:25:35","date_gmt":"2016-11-17T19:25:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesis.arch.hku.hk\/2016\/?p=2500"},"modified":"2016-11-18T03:28:30","modified_gmt":"2016-11-17T19:28:30","slug":"lucid-architecture-the-space-of-video-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thesis.arch.hku.hk\/2016\/lucid-architecture-the-space-of-video-games\/","title":{"rendered":"Lucid Architecture – The space of video games"},"content":{"rendered":"

This thesis is a theoretical study towards ludic architecture, that is an analytical understanding of video games through the lens of architecture paradigms. The approach is not concerned with gaming coding or technologically-inclined topics. While many theorists have accurately described aspects of video games as a medium, this thesis seeks to study towards a holistic method of engagement with the experience<\/em> of playing video games. Therefore, I propose that video games are best conceptualised a navigable, spatial approach. <\/span><\/p>\n

I also regard video game space as paramount. Game designers ultimately create user experience through the articulation of a game\u2019s rules, the guidelines that constrict player movement within the world they created. This arises questions such as could game design be adopted as a supplement to the design of contemporary buildings to create more consistently dynamic architecture. <\/span><\/p>\n

SPACE in videogame<\/b><\/p>\n

Game designers don’t simply tell stories; they design worlds and sculpt spaces. <\/span><\/p>\n

While describing the experience of a video game to one single aspect, if I were forced to choose just one aspect, I propose it should be that of space. Game space represents a fundamental result between fiction and rules. \u201c<\/span>The level design of a game world can present a fictional world and determine what players can and cannot do at the same time<\/span><\/i>.\u201d Therefore, game space is a powerful tool for designers to apply many aspects of a game through a single means: fiction, narrative, ludic concepts, rules, solutions, emotions and even meaning.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this thesis, I wish to present video games as fundamentally spatial.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Once immersed in playing, we don’t really care whether we rescue Princess Peach (Super Mario Brothers) or not; all that matters is staying alive long enough to move \u00a0between levels, to see what spectacle awaits us on the next screen<\/span><\/i>.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

It is the desire for mastery of space, led by the gameplay framed by rules and fiction, that drives games and contribute to player\u2019s pleasures; from traveling from different towns in <\/span>Pokemon franchises<\/span><\/i>, first person shooter view gameplay of <\/span>Call of Duty<\/span><\/i>, to experiencing cities in a whole new way, such as climbing walls and walking on rooftops in Renaissance Italy in <\/span>Assassin’s Creed II<\/span><\/i> and bird eye\u2019s view gameplay of <\/span>Tropico 4<\/span><\/i>. With spatial experiences dominating the gameplay, I have chosen to engage primarily with the internal space of video games for analysis. In this experiential\u2010spatial medium, spatial strategies and tactics serve to illustrate the relationship between designer and player, as well as architects and the buildings they design.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Unova

Unova in Pok\u00e9mon Black and White<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Call

Call of Duty: Modern Welfare screenshot<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Assassin's

Assassin’s Creed ii gameplay<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Tropico

Tropico 4 Modern Times screenshot<\/p><\/div>\n

SPACE in architecture<\/b><\/p>\n

Human<\/span> behavior can be affected by space in architecture. In the earliest known work on architecture, <\/span>Vitruvius\u2019 ancient De Architectura<\/span><\/i>, there is the suggestion that a good building should satisfy the principle of venustatis; a combination of beauty and delight, derived from Venus, the Roman goddess. <\/span><\/p>\n

There are also architects, such as Peter Eisenman, who intentionally build hostile buildings, such as the holocaust memorial in Berlin, that makes users feel uncomfortable on site, to be <\/span>post-humanist<\/span><\/i>. While the decision is perfectly appropriate as a memorial to the holocaust that was very <\/span>post-humanist<\/span><\/i> and beyond the understanding of humanity. Narrative is important in architectural space as well. Narratives or other symbolic meanings allow buildings to have contexts that reach far beyond the physical spaces of the structure and site, and into the culture that surrounds the building.<\/span><\/p>\n

Problem Statements:<\/b><\/p>\n

    \n
      \n
    • What are the parameters of a conceptual space of video games, and how can we consider playing games as an architectural category? How is play architected? <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n

       <\/p>\n

        \n
      • Possible programs: <\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

         <\/p>\n

        \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Arcade centre\/kindergarten \/ theme park \/ campus \/ theatre \/ casino\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

          \n
        • How does it relate to \ufffc\ufffc\ufffc space, and how does it produce space? What are the parameters of a conceptual space of digital games \u2013 what can we gain from locative, representational, programmatic, dramaturgical, typological, perception, form-functional, technological?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          This thesis is a theoretical study towards ludic architecture, that is an analytical understanding of video games through the lens of architecture paradigms. The approach is not concerned with gaming coding or technologically-inclined topics. While many theorists have accurately described<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":137,"featured_media":2501,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[28],"tags":[386,495,496,497],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thesis.arch.hku.hk\/2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2500"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thesis.arch.hku.hk\/2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thesis.arch.hku.hk\/2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thesis.arch.hku.hk\/2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/137"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thesis.arch.hku.hk\/2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2500"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/thesis.arch.hku.hk\/2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2500\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2504,"href":"http:\/\/thesis.arch.hku.hk\/2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2500\/revisions\/2504"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thesis.arch.hku.hk\/2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thesis.arch.hku.hk\/2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thesis.arch.hku.hk\/2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thesis.arch.hku.hk\/2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}