How to Cite

Zimmermann, Felix et al. (Eds.): Game | World | Architectonics: Transdisciplinary Approaches on Structures and Mechanics, Levels and Spaces, Aesthetics and Perception, Heidelberg: Heidelberg University Publishing, 2021. https://doi.org/10.17885/heiup.752

License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Identifiers

https://doi.org/10.17885/heiup.752
ISBN 978-3-96822-047-5 (Hardcover)
ISBN 978-3-96822-048-2 (PDF)
ISBN 978-3-96822-114-4 (Softcover)

Published

04/29/2021

Downloads

Download book (PDF/9MB)
Statistic

Authors

Marc Bonner (Ed.)

Game | World | Architectonics: Transdisciplinary Approaches on Structures and Mechanics, Levels and Spaces, Aesthetics and Perception

In its current digital, pictorial and viral ubiquity, architecture no longer has to be bodily present, but has a mediating role. As a medial hinge it folds different disciplines of media and art onto the realm of the everyday. Here, the idea of architectonics can be understood as the architectural implications of computer games in a broader sense to address the matter of architecture in game worlds as well as the architecture of computer games themselves.

This anthology bundles transdisciplinary approaches around the topics of space, architecture, perception of and worldbuilding in computer games and their media-specific properties. The aim is to show how and under which aspects digital game worlds are constituted. The contributions depart from the beaten tracks of media and game studies, focusing on spatial, architectural and world-shaped phenomena within current digital media culture.

Dr. Marc Bonner is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Media Culture and Theatre at University of Cologne. He graduated in art history, history of the modern age and information science and currently leads the five-year research project “Open World Structures: Architecture, City- and Natural Landscape as well as Eco-Critical Implications in Computer Games” funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). His research interests include history and theory of architecture of the 19th, 20th and 21st century as well as spatiotemporal depiction and use of architecture, cityscapes and natural landscapes in computer games and the very architectonics of the game space itself. In addition, he has also done substantial work on filmic space and architecture in and of films, especially science fiction films. Thus, he broaches the issue of transdisciplinary correlations between architecture, film and computer games by including disciplines like spatial theory, philosophy and cultural geography, among others.

Chapters

Table of Contents
Pages
PDF
Front Matter
Table of Contents
Marc Bonner
Introduction
Prospect onto the Architectonics of Computer Games and their World Properties
1. Authenticity, Historicity, and Cultural Practices
Experience "in" and "of" Game Worlds
Felix Zimmermann
Historical Digital Games as Experiences
How Atmospheres of the Past Satisfy Needs of Authenticity
Derek Price
Agricultural Spaces and Places
Studying User-Created Maps for "Farming Simulator 15" at Scale
Vladimir Rizov
PlayStation Photography
Towards an Understanding of Video Game Photography
2. Topoi, Topographies, and Topologies
Spatial Structures of Game Worlds
Marc Bonner
The World-Shaped Hall
On the Architectonics of the Open World Skybox and the Ideological Implications of the "Open World Chronotope"
Krista Bonello Rutter Giappone, Daniel Vella
Square, Marketplace, Tavern
Contested Spaces in Single-Player Neomedieval Role-Playing Game Cities
Cornelia J. Schnaars
Taking a "Breath of the Wild"
The Concept of Airness in Nintendo’s take on Open World Games
Rolf F. Nohr
The Labyrinth
Digital Games as Media of Decision-Making
3. Identity, Reflection, and Spatial Challenges
Navigating Self-Reflexive Game Worlds
Hans-Joachim Backe
The Aesthetics of Non-Euclidean Game Spaces
Multistability and Object Permanence in "Antichamber" and "P.T."
Benjamin Beil
“I love how you can see the bottom of the universe from this room.”
The Real-Virtual Architecture of Davey Wreden’s "The Beginner’s Guide"
Theresa Krampe
The World Machine
Self-Reflexive Worldbuilding in "OneShot"
4. Sound, Haptics, and Artistic Research
Approaches Beyond the Brinks of Game Space
Marcus Erbe
Borderless Sound
Carolin Höfler
Image Contact
Haptic Actions in Virtual Spaces
Thomas Hawranke
Dreaming in the Witch House
An Esoteric Approach to Computer Games Research
On the Contributors