Architecture and VideoGames

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Architecture is not about building, building can be done by anyone with the proper instructions or technical knowledge, architecture is about design.

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As architect your job is to design the interaction between human and their surroundings, you need to find the proper measure, the right relationship between building, furniture’s and the human body.  Architecture is about understanding different behaviors and decompose them into physical interaction with our environment.  With a clear understanding of the human body measure and behavior, the architect creates a path inside buildings, path that, with the help of shapes, lights, texture and colors, will generate different Acts or Scenes where the protagonist is the inhabitant.

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Architecture will help the designers to get the right tone or mood for the game. Architecture can give meaning to specific areas of the game and it accomplish this creating the right atmosphere rather than using symbolism. Architecture can give the player perception of scale, shape and proportion. This will also help to reinforce the story telling, lore and tone for the game.

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Architecture is a very useful tool in videogames for level design. To understand the relationship between architecture and level design, you must understand the player = inhabitant, everything is for the player and there is not a single polygon in the level that is there just because, as in architecture, everything must be there for a reason. Level designers use architecture every time to create interesting levels, guide players, creating foreshadowing, etc.