Wireframe 2019

Advice

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How cities are subject to change, and how we can

give our video game cities the same sense of history

CityCraft: Urban shifts

and civic history

The Evolution of Kamurocho
Experiencing the change of cities over the span of a series of games is a rare pleasure, and one
that both the original Mass Effect trilogy and the Yakuza saga offered. The latter in particular
focused on recognisably contemporary, important details that allowed a sense of place to
permeate the series’ narrative, and shape its open world. The plot of Yakuza 0 revolved around a
small, seemingly insignificant empty lot in Kamurocho, which, by the time of Yakuza 1, had been
replaced by the imposing Millennium Tower.

The remnants of ancient, medieval,

Renaissance, and modern Rome are all visible

next to each other today, as the city keeps on

changing, both emphatically and subtly. Urban

history and dynamism are interlocked, and in a

constant dialogue with each other. It’s this very

dialogue that makes cities so fascinating, and

something that can be simulated to create more

enthralling cities in our games.

SHORT-TERM CHANGES

There’s no reason why a game city can’t have

a sense of history, even if players only get to

explore them for a few hours or even minutes.

The evidence of changes small and large, old and

recent, can all imply a city’s historical progress.

Besides, not all change has to be seismic; even

on a daily basis, countless small things in the

average city change, and simply picking a few apt

ones will help tell your location’s story.

A neighbour may move, a mall could change

ownership, or a factory might shut down. Power

outages will darken whole districts, maintenance

work will hinder traffic, and the police might

choose to block off several roads. Depending on

your game’s genre (and budget), such changes

can be shown, talked about by NPCs, or relayed

via updated descriptions. More dramatically,

whole blocks could be demolished or a new

landmark constructed, thus fundamentally

changing the cityscape.

Built environment aside, the dynamism of a

city can also be supported by the movement of

crowds and vehicles within it; by the operation

of its networks, and by day and night cycles that

not only change how an environment looks but

AUTHOR

KONSTANTINOS DIMOPOULOS

Konstantinos Dimopoulos is a game urbanist and designer, combining a PhD

in urban planning with video games. He is the author of the forthcoming Virtual

Cities atlas, designs game cities, and consults on their creation. game-cities.com

hroughout history, cities have been

the focal points of human activity.

The proximity of people to each

other, the sheer density of ideas,

and the unending, shifting needs

of cities mean they never stand still. They have

to keep on evolving, rebuilding, and reshaping

themselves as they continuously expand. Only a

major catastrophe ever stops this process, and

even then, cities often manage to cling to life.

The cataclysmic, world-changing fall of Rome

was thus temporary; the old imperial capital

quickly evolved into the powerful Papal city, and

eventually the capital of the modern Italian state.

T

 Take a break from

all the shooting in

Kane & Lynch 2, and

you’ll notice that

the city of Shanghai

is rapidly changing

around you.

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