Architecture and Urbanism Research Academy Istanbul (AURA Istanbul) is established to concentrate on applying new insights to urban and architectural practices at an international level.
Games have always had a place in our lives. Whether we realize it or not. When we think of games, we limit them to an activity played by people, especially for children, but in fact, play has a broader and universal concept. The fact that animals play among themselves, use nature as a playground is not something that can be restricted to humans only. It becomes a whole in nature. The playing animal is also aware of nature and knows its environment. So what is our nature?
This research is aimed at regaining the perception of the city, human context, and awareness of the city that we lost in Istanbul due to the discovery of metabolic, intense and active life in the city of Istanbul and in this consumption-oriented life. Metabolism is a chemical reaction that takes place for a living being to survive and for energy intake. But isn’t the city a living entity? A city remains active as long as there is human activity, but in the current state of Istanbul, a living person does not recognize the city, its people, or even the memory of the city, forgets it. Then there is a state of disappearance of this metabolism.
The aim of this research is to start with a discussion on games first. Then, by taking certain items and targets, how the city can be remembered again. The final plan is to present the game design and try to simulate it to the reader.
What is Game?
“The game, as a phenomenon observable by everyone, covers both the animal kingdom and the human kingdom at the same time. Consequently, it cannot be based on any rational relationship; because its rationalization would limit it to the human realm. The existence of the game does not depend on any level of civilization, on any form of understanding the universe.” (Homoludens, Johan Huizinga)
The game has a universal integrity that the absolute game is not actually a simple concept. There are not only human beings, but also animals, nature, and maybe even living things that we have not encountered. Because the game is universal. It exists not only in living things, but also in ideas. When the cultures started, the game actually started. Making masks of fictional creatures and imitating them in order to perform certain rituals is actually a role-playing game. When we consider the basic, primitive games, we can see that a universal game remains universal when we look at how the chase game continues over the years.
Game and Culture
“Culture is born in the form of play, culture is something that is played from the beginning. Even activities aimed directly at the satisfaction of vital needs, such as hunting, easily take the form of play in the archaic community.” (Homoludens, Johan Huizinga, 1936) We can deduce that the game has always been inside us, that a game has taken place since the beginning of culture and that our cultural activities were built around a game. These are things we do in our culture right now, but things we don’t think of as games. For example, the classic Santa Claus story, the father secretly tries to leave the presents on Christmas night, and if he is caught, the game is broken.
“The community expresses its way of interpreting life and the world in these plays. That is, it is necessary to understand that the game does not turn into culture, but on the contrary, from the very first stages of culture, a game carries its lines and develops under game forms and in the game environment.” (Homoludens, Johan Huizinga, 1936)One reason for mentioning this is that we call culture, although each one is different from the other, the only common point of all of them is that it is a game. That is, they have a universal language.
Urban Interactive Game
The game is designed according to the result obtained from the items in the diagram. The absolute aim is to explore the city and society by using the mechanics of a D&D (Dungeons and Dragons) game in the city and speeding up time perceptually while walking. The game consists of three steps.Listen, Tell and Mission. When you select anywhere on your phone, a list will appear. There will be story lists in the list and it is stated on which route these stories are told. If it intersects with the route you are going to walk, orIf you want to explore, you can choose that route and listen. So what will you listen to? There will be stories obtained from the Tell Stories section.
Narration and Customization
The narration part is completely left to the actors, it is up to how they want to read the city based on their perspectives on the city. Of course, with these readings and perspectives, players will be able to customize their maps and show them what kind of place Istanbul is for you.
Encounter
Of course, not only listening, but also “encounter”, one of the sine qua non of D&D, will also take place. While the player is listening, they will have to look at the phone with a warning in the middle of the story, and the scenario they encountered will be shown and their choices on these scenarios and the results of these choices will be included. For example, if you witness the movement of a bush and throw a stone at the bush, the next character you encounter will encounter an aggressive attitude, and if you kill the character, you can earn gold, but you will lose the level and you will not meet that character again.
Quests and Rewards, Personal Character Development
Experience gains will only be included in missions. When we level up in games, our character develops, but since we are the character here, our own character should develop. In order to achieve this, it is designed to remind the forgotten cultures and memories. Reminder of the forgotten identity of the city.
There are two types of rewards in the game. Diamonds and gold. You can earn diamonds by reaching your step goals, and it is planned to be used as a ticket on public transport. After all, if we’re going to encourage walking, we should also provide an opportunity to rest. Golds are planned to be earned by doing quests or listening to stories. The gold won is the purchase of coffee and food from the IBB’s buffets, and the purchase of books from the library. In other words, it is planned to increase the options that the character can improve as the character level up. While these were being planned, they were based on the awards given in the “Yürü Be Istanbul” project that IBB had previously made and the awards mentioned during the project process.
One of the main reasons the reward system is planned this way is to allow the player to feel and experience “character development”. Of course, not only that, but the players will be able to trade gold and diamonds among themselves if they wish. It is planned not only to stay in this fictional game, but also to interact with anyone in the outside world in the game.
Interview and Conclusion of the Storytelling Experiment
In the process, it cannot be learned until you try whether the theoretical part of this game, namely the storytelling part, works. Therefore, a storytelling audio recording was taken while walking the Dolmabahçe street between Kabataş and Beşiktaş. The story told was told both in a fictional language and from an architectural point of view. The story of the environment was depicted through the eyes of the narrator, as was the baroque architecture, the material of the floor. The listener, on the other hand, was chosen as a non-professional person and began to listen to that path by walking. As a result, a ten-minute interview was conducted and published. In the interview, the user stated that he did not understand how the time passed in the first fifteen, twenty minutes and it was as if the place was talking to himself while walking. For example, while talking about a relic in the story, he said that he was there when he talked about it, and that he saw it when he looked up. Not only that, he also told that he wanted to tell a story, even in a more fictional language in the example he gave. As a result, I think a promsing result has been reached.
