Games do not burn

Can Assassin's Creed save Notre Dame?

In 2014, the Ubisoft Montreal game studio has released the next part of the Assassin's Creed blockbuster series with the Unity subtitle. The series telling about the struggle of the Templars and the Order of the Assassin in different historical periods, this time showed the head of the conflict in the scenery of revolutionary France of the 18th century. This is not to say that the release of the game went smoothly: then it was reproached for poor technical implementation or in a boring plot. But many reviews noted the visual side of the game-this was one of the most spectacular implementations of the architectural power of Paris in the history of video games and generally pop culture.

The Assassin's Creed series tells the alternative history of the world, but at the same time has always been very scrupulous about the image of historical monuments. One of the features of the series is the Parsucu system - the hero can climb onto any building and inspect it. The degree of study of architectural details is associated with this.

The players naturally remembered the quality of the game version of the Cathedral of the Paris Mother of God almost immediately after the fire in Paris on April 15. Ubisoft social networks sent many requests to provide information from the company to structures that will restore the cultural monument. Immediately remembered the replica of Carolina Mass, one of the designers of Assassin's Creed Unity levels, for the Verge portal, in which she said that she worked on a nototrem model for two years. Neither Ubisoft nor French institutions commented on the situation.

Important clarification:

The Notre Dame model in the game is not a copy of the building that existed until 2019.

The game takes place at the end of the 18th century, which affects the features of the interior and exterior, which have been modified over the past few centuries. In addition, many of the objects inside the building, like the body, are protected by copyright. Moreover, the game model contains many changes associated with the technical implementation of highly polygonal models within the framework of the existing generation of consoles. In other words, even despite the unconditional graphic superiority, the developers deliberately reduce the quality of the display of some objects so that the game can be launched on popular devices. Therefore, attempts to a full-fledged 3D scan of the building or numerous studies and work dedicated to the Gothic Council will be more relevant for restorers. It is important to stipulate this, because from the gaming media raised by many gaming media, you might think that Notre Dame in Assassin's Creed Unity is the only good 3D model of the building. No, this is not so. But this does not make this model unimportant.

As already mentioned, the Assassin's Creed series has always freely treated history. Historical personalities like Robespierre turn out to be members of the Templar Order, and the history of various countries of the world in the game is moving conflicts between secret societies. In this regard, the simulator of the judge of the French revolutionary tribunal We. The Revolution is a more interesting historical statement than Assassin's Creed Unity. At the same time, Assassin's Creed tries to maintain players' interest in the past: there was always an encyclopedia in it in which one could read about historical personalities, monuments and events. In the game Assassin's Creed Origins, the actions of which occur in Hellenistic Egypt, there was even a special regime without enemies, allowing the monuments of culture and the features of the life of the Egyptians - a kind of interactive museum.

At the same time, the game is part of a large pop cultural context that justifies such attention to Assassin's Creed Unity after a fire in Paris.

The Notre Dame model in the game is currently the only convenient way to see the cathedral from different sides, bypass it and understand the value of the architectural loss.

Video games are convenient for perception of this type of objects: an advanced system of movement allows you to do what could not be done in real life and climb into the same spire, the fall of which the whole world watched on April 15.

In other words, Notre Dame in Assassin's Creed Unity is the only existing nototer for millions of people around the world who could never be in Paris. Existing in the context of a holistic impression from the game city and the experience of interacting with it. The recontextualization of the cathedral in the game occurred because it is important as a key symbol of historical Paris, but now, thanks to the fire, it has gained a new meaning.

PS

On April 17, Ubisoft announced that it intends to sacrifice 500 thousand euros to the French government to restore the Notre Dame Cathedral. In addition, Assassin's Creed Unity began in Uplay.