Vernacular Architecture and the Perception of Safety and Community in Video Game Villages (MA Digital Game Thesis Project)

Vernacular Architecture and the Perception of Safety and Community in Video Game Villages

This thesis investigates how integrating vernacular architecture into the game art production pipeline can improve pre-production efficiency and enhance players’ perceptions of safety and immersion within virtual lived-in spaces. The analysis involves theories from neuroarchitecture to establish how architectural elements influence brain activity and modulate emotional responses and mood. Finally, the thesis proposes a decision-making framework for designers and artists to accelerate world-building by examining how real-life communities adapt their dwellings, social structures, and economies to survive.

To test this framework, a virtual village was developed in Unreal Engine, set in a jungle environment inspired by Indonesian and Malaysian vernacular architecture. The project features two interactive houses containing a hot spring, spa, apothecary, dining area, and inn. The final outcome is a first-person PC demo that may also serve as a vertical slice for a complete game level.

Graduate: Iuliia Chesnokova | LinkedIn

Project Type: MA Digital Games – Thesis
Tagline: Building immersive game environments through the power of vernacular architecture

Genre: First-person walkable level
Plattform: PC
Software: Unreal Engine 5, Blender, ZBrush, Adobe Substance 3D.

Concept Art: