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October 7, 2018 10:08 AM

Video games and the change of autumn by Rob Dwiar [Eurogamer] “Some games have wondrous, gorgeous autumn landscape that present supreme autumnal palettes, narrative-mirroring landscape conditions and encapsulate the mysterious change that hangs in the air. Autumn's transitional nature enables it to offer different aesthetics and atmospheres - perfectly encapsulating our often-mixed feelings about the season. This flux occurs in games, too: storyline changes; mysterious plotlines, character and atmosphere intricacies; constant environmental transformations; and a powerful sense of mystery, story-foretelling and landscape-opening are all harnessed to be used as game-changing devices.”

• Video games and the power of winter [Eurogamer]

“However, no season is perhaps as striking, atmospheric and powerful as winter. The winter landscape of games can be so perfectly represented and impactful that they appeal to our real-world attachment to them - the crunching of snow, leaving tracks and patterns, the eerie quiet, and the different dynamic frost and ice bring to a landscape, for example. Through design, the use of aesthetics and symbolism, by appealing to our senses and by containing features that affect and change the land, distinct and brilliant winter landscapes come to life. Deliberate design and the careful inclusion of many often-underrated elements of the landscape results in powerful vista compositions, effective and realistic winter plantings, and deep use of the architecture and scale of the land, that goes beyond the aesthetic. And, while the other seasons are more colourful and verdant, winter displays the bones of the landscape, where spatial composition and layout is exposed, and underlying design and features are revealed. By merging these with robust world narratives and environments rich with magic and majesty, we are gifted magical, wintry vignettes and transported to spectacular and powerful places.”

• The power of spring in Horizon Zero Dawn, Everybody's Gone to the Rapture and The Last of Us [Eurogamer]

“When it comes to the warmer, lighter and more colourful seasons, some games blur the boundary between spring and summer. But, there are always elements of each that remain distinct - all it takes is a little detail and attention - and the results can be gorgeously vibrant virtual environments. Aesthetically we see an enormous range of plants on display, seizing their chance at another cycle of life and regenerating a whole landscape, combining to create a spring garden that symbolically contrasts a game's events, and the capacity of spring to enhance and mirror the events of a story or characters' trials. Following on from the deep dormancy of winter, these details, techniques and spring features invigorate landscapes. They imbue them with a sense of life, regeneration, and renewed positivity that the season of spring is known for, and, as our real-world spring arrives, we can enjoy the effect of the season on the land doubly, our virtual spring reinforcing our fondness of the real one. ”

• Video games and the life of summer [Eurogamer]

“The polar opposite of winter and a lush development on spring, summer covers landscapes in life, revealing the true role of plants, vegetation, designed spaces, and the vibrancy on offer in game environments. While at first glance summer lands can be seen as indistinguishable from spring ones, the light, plants and sheer abundance of foliage and takeover of life in the landscape sets it apart from its brother season. In its plant life and aesthetic design there are great opportunities, made the most of by these games, to demonstrate landscape fidelity and authenticity, while neatly cutting this with place-making, meaning and narrative-affecting or mirroring qualities. The designed spaces in games truly come to life, both literally and figuratively, in summer and their arrangement and composition come under scrutiny because the season makes their purpose clear and complete - putting meat on the bones winter showed, and spring sprouted from. The summer landscapes games provide make incredibly pleasant and joyful ones, providing lush virtual summer destinations and intensifying our enjoyment of the season, particularly on the real world's season's inevitably rainy days.”

posted by Fizz (12 comments total)

On the subject of seasons, my favourite game to play that really just captures a sense of the change of weather/climate is The Witness [YouTube]. The bright colours, the way the trees are painted, it all just pops.
posted by Fizz at 10:13 AM on October 7, 2018 [1 favorite]

Way back in the early days of Minecraft (2011) there was the Quandary Texture Pack, an add-on that had 12 palette swaps for all the graphics to match the months of the year. Also a custom launcher that'd rotate the palettes once a day for you. It was so lovely playing and watching the game's whole look slowly change from day to day. So many games do a great job of capturing the feeling of one season, as the links here talk about, but Quandary has the really nice idea of watching the seasons change while playing.
posted by Nelson at 11:25 AM on October 7, 2018 [2 favorites]

Everything is terrible- So I'm replaying Skyrim! And oh man does the scenery calm me down like nothing else.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 12:45 PM on October 7, 2018 [4 favorites]

Homo neanderthalensis I'm in exactly the same mindframe and picked exactly the same balm.
posted by saladin at 2:38 PM on October 7, 2018 [2 favorites]

I was trying to finally beat fallout 4 but it’s too... shooty. It’s too... plausible. I need the distance of fantasy. Also in skyrim you can kill fantasy hitler I mean Ulfric. Pretty cathartic!
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 3:04 PM on October 7, 2018

I was expecting more games than just The Last Of Us. The scenes in Life is Strange are nothing short of amazing digital art.
posted by numaner at 3:20 PM on October 7, 2018 [1 favorite]

Seasonal games have delighted me recently. Stardew Valley is the obvious example, but my balm of distraction lately has been a modded/easy mode Don’t Starve. The seasons change and you huddle by the fire and then you watch the snow melt and the vegetation shift and it’s glorious.
posted by fast ein Maedchen at 3:58 PM on October 7, 2018 [2 favorites]

One game I played that had really evocative natural environments that communicated seasonality was Lord of the Rings Online. The seasons don't necessarily change in Middle Earth, but the different zones really feel like different seasons. I never get time to just futz around in a game anymore, but I loved just futzing around in LotRO because of how the seasons were expressed in the zones.
posted by ob1quixote at 5:14 PM on October 7, 2018

I've played a lot of sci-fi games which let you travel to other planets, but I don't think any of them have tried to simulate seasons. I wonder what sort of seasonal transitions you'd see in a binary-star system.
posted by panic at 11:00 PM on October 7, 2018

I'm surprised that more games have not programmed a dynamic season system into their games, but I suspect this is based on money/time. But maybe we're finally getting to a place where this will be more common because it is something I appreciate in adding to the realism of an environment I'm occupying and playing inside of.
posted by Fizz at 5:54 AM on October 8, 2018

One of the things that tickles me most about Animal Crossing is the moon phase matching up to the real-life moon phase. I don't time travel, so the seasons are slightly off for me (Austin doesn't get cool until at least mid-November), but that can be a welcome escape when it's 90F in October.

I'm on my first year in Stardew Valley, and in that game like many others I absolutely love the fall. We don't get a great fall here, and it's my favorite season, so the more I get to experience the trees changing the better.
posted by fiercecupcake at 9:11 AM on October 8, 2018 [1 favorite]

Everything is terrible- So I'm replaying Skyrim! And oh man does the scenery calm me down like nothing else.

Me too. I've never actually finished the main quest or the DLCs, I just go there to hang out when I can't deal with reality anymore (which happens a lot these days) and then start over when I get too close to any of the endings.
posted by homunculus at 11:52 AM on October 13, 2018