Console narratives: how games incorporate architectural storytelling

2016-03-16T12:58:00-04:00

Dark Souls and Bloodborne both put the player in decaying worlds and invite them to peel back layers of history. From the ruins of Firelink Shrine and its relationship to the Undead Church above it, to the various connections between Bloodborne’s Central Yharnam, Old Yharnam and Cathedral Ward, Hidetaka Miyazaki and his team of environment designers imply much of the game’s narrative through the clash between one architectural style and another; between one layer of history and the next.

Perhaps you're ready to take a break from diving and dodging through problematic MEP in Rhino to enjoy the scripted unfurling of these (non-deadline driven) complex spatial narratives, some of which are inspired by the work of real-world firms like Herzog & de Meuron.

What's new in architecturally-related game design? This, for starters:

Architecture shapes hyperreal photographic narratives in art collection "Schude"

2015-08-28T00:20:00-04:00

Photographer Ryan Schude's narrative panoramas are as informed by the artist's humor as they are by the structures in which they often take place. Consider "The Saturn," a typical Southern California dingbat that is transformed into a tableau of subjects wondering where they went wrong. There's the man whose belongings are being unceremoniously tossed out of a window by an enraged lover to the woman staring out of her kitchen window to the mildly distressed dingbat itself. At least, that's one reading. Look closer: other stories begin to emerge.

Beginning as an editorial portraitist for a magazine, Schude "wanted to figure out how to do more than just show a documentary aspect of [a subject's] personality. I wanted to tell a story that would be more interesting than the person themselves, and take that concept and apply it to a much bigger scene with actual actors and create another story, depending on the location." The narrative within "The Saturn" evolved as he sought a location....

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Console narratives: how games incorporate architectural storytelling

Architecture shapes hyperreal photographic narratives in art collection "Schude"