BUFFALO STATE ASYLUM: A RECONSTRUCTION
A research based recreation of a historically accurate 19th century Kirkbride Plan insane asylum (based on the Buffalo State Asylum in New York) as a real-time, navigable 3D environment built in Unreal Engine 4. In defiance of typical horror genre asylum entertainment, the project aims to paint a more sincere portrait of what it might be like to be insane. The end goal is to create a first-person, narrative exploration style game that serves as a form of digital preservation of asylums from the moral treatment reform era.
Thomas Kirkbride’s plan led this era of reform and was used to construct and populate asylums across the country, introducing new standards and philosophies for treatment of the insane. In this belief, architecture was viewed as a curative means of treating mental illness. There are very few of these structures remaining as they were, and a surprising lack of images from this time period as well. One of the best existing examples of this architectural style today is the Buffalo State Asylum.
I’m a 3D artist on the small, student-based team that is working on this project. We’re creating this in Unreal Development Kit and hope to eventually further the project into an interactive game with a narrative that separates itself from other asylum games that fall into the horror genre. Our project is heavily research based and we hope it will serve as a digital preservation that truly gives a sense of these buildings and the time period better than text, pictures, or videos can provide. As a team of almost entirely 3D artists, our focus is achieving a high level of quality in terms of graphics. Additionally, we hope to make strides in unique gameplay mechanisms and interactive, visual effects. The game will be based around the non-linear storytelling of patient case studies as you freely explore different areas of the asylum.
To find out more about the project and the rest of the team, visit www.buffaloasylum3d.weebly.com.
Thomas Kirkbride’s plan led this era of reform and was used to construct and populate asylums across the country, introducing new standards and philosophies for treatment of the insane. In this belief, architecture was viewed as a curative means of treating mental illness. There are very few of these structures remaining as they were, and a surprising lack of images from this time period as well. One of the best existing examples of this architectural style today is the Buffalo State Asylum.
I’m a 3D artist on the small, student-based team that is working on this project. We’re creating this in Unreal Development Kit and hope to eventually further the project into an interactive game with a narrative that separates itself from other asylum games that fall into the horror genre. Our project is heavily research based and we hope it will serve as a digital preservation that truly gives a sense of these buildings and the time period better than text, pictures, or videos can provide. As a team of almost entirely 3D artists, our focus is achieving a high level of quality in terms of graphics. Additionally, we hope to make strides in unique gameplay mechanisms and interactive, visual effects. The game will be based around the non-linear storytelling of patient case studies as you freely explore different areas of the asylum.
To find out more about the project and the rest of the team, visit www.buffaloasylum3d.weebly.com.
An early opening title sequence I made for the project. Credits for the team in this trailer are from summer 2013.
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