In 1666, most of London burned to the ground. The old city as it once stood, from the buildings to the streetplan itself, are lost to history. Oh, unless you take a look at this video.
Built using old maps and drawings of the city which predate the fire, a team of students from De Montfort University in Leicester (in conjunction with the British Library, GameCity and Crytek) have rebuilt the British capital in the CryEngine, giving us the kind of look at the old London historians have previously only been able to dream of.
It’s not playable, but if somebody wants to get the map off them and turn it into some kind of Thief mod, that would be awesome.
Pudding Lane Productions, Crytek Off The Map [YouTube, via Gamasutra]
Comments
7 responses to “Video Games Bring Dead City Back To Life”
In 1666 less than 15% of London burnt to the ground, there’s a massive difference between the City of London, inside the city walls and the 85% of London that existed outside the walls.
In 1666, ‘London’ only referred to the City of London. The area outside was technically part of the City of Westminster until 1889.
That was amaaaaazing… Surely some studio could make a fantastic game with that!
That era is dying for a Assassin’s Creed title. Theatres, royalty, archery, prostitutes, plenty of buildings to climb – nothing too tall, seems like a perfect place to set it.
Dying;
http://mlkshk.com/r/6L00
This sorta thing is why I can’t wait for an Oculus Rift. Throw a highly-detailed world like this or Los Santos into one of those headsets and I’ll never leave. It’s not quite a holodeck (‘orgy room’ according to Vinny Caravella), but dayum the virtual tourism.
If you like the idea of this turning I to a video game, I highly recommend ‘The Shift’ by George Foy. Set in 19th century New York, a highly entertaining read.