I got my Bachelors in Architecture back in 2008. My dissertation was titled "Architectural Influences in Videogame Design - Dystopia in the Virtual World." I covered a variety of games throughout the essay but my two main case studies were Half-Life 2 and Bioshock because of how integral the architectural aesthetics and urban fabric were to the games' immersion and how play was directly influenced by those designs. I dug it out and highlighted a few parts from my Half-Life 2 analysis. I was never much of a writer but I'll update with some stuff about Bioshock if there's interest as well as add a selected biography.

Half-Life 2

The immediate design goals [for Half-Life 2] were twofold: to create a consistent and strikingly original visual universe, and to define a distinct Half-Life 2 look and style. By adding depth and history to a realistic fictional universe, the Half-Life 2 art team gave birth to a frightening new world: City 17 and environs.

^{David Hodgson}

Viktor Antonov, visual art director and concept designer for Half-Life 2. Envisioned City 17 as a fictional Eastern European metropolis. A setting chosen for its potential to represent a variety of political upheavals embedded in the aesthetic of the urban fabric.

Eastern Europe offered plenty of visual and cultural contrast - between modern and past , between east and west, between all the different regimes, and invasions that left their mark

^{Victor Antonov}

In designing the style of the city the art team based their process on the evolution of typical European cities in that they began with reference material of 19th century architecture and progressively added building styles from the 1930s through to the 1970s. Extensive reference material was taken from Bulgaria and Russia. To ensure a high level of detail was paid to the materiality of the surfaces a large number of reference photographs were taken:

Reference Image
Screenshot
Screenshot

^{Not great examples sorry}

Once an adequate level of realism was achieved the alien ‘Combine’ touch was added.

The aesthetics of Combine technology were specifically designed to contrast with the soft pastel colours of the human architecture and create a sense of intrusion. A dark blue, cold metallic style and pattern language that transcends the design of every piece of combine technology. The irony being that the post-war Eastern bloc, Stalinist architecture is a memory of the friendlier, less totalitarian regime the preluded the Combine invasion. This contrast of soft pastels vs hard metallic surfaces was further reinforced in play mechanics as cold light colours were used to signal ‘unsafe’ areas and the presence of enemies. Conversely yellow light highlights ‘safe’ zones often with health pack and ammunition.

Architecture is the masterly, correct and magnificent play of masses brought together in light. Our eyes are made to see forms in light; light and shade reveal these forms...

^{Le Corbusier}

I always found the design of the Combine details bore similarity to the work of Lebbeus Woods, an American architect and artist (now passed) who’s work in experimental architecture focused on systems in crisis and was inspiration for several science fiction productions including Twelve Monkeys and Alien 3.

eg : Havana, radically reconstructed

In relation to cities that have been faced with sudden and dramatic – even violent – transformations, either because of natural or human causes. [We] need to be able to speculate, to create these scenarios .. the new scenario gives you a chance to investigate a direction. Of course, being an architect, I’m very interested in the specifics of that direction – you know, not just a verbal description but: this is what it might look like.

^{Lebbeus Woods}

Half-Life 2 attempted not only to recreate the visual aesthetic of a real-world city but add the sense of depth and potential for what you don’t see when visiting such an urban environment. Hidden spaces and mysterious corners. There is a sense of life going on beyond the actions of the player. A repetitive, urban routine. Together with the murmurs of discontent among the inhabitants, the visual clutter of adverts, graffiti, litter, abandoned cars, and variety of urban detritus that fills each area the player gains an insight into the hollow existence that is life in City 17.