Thanks to six, second year video game design students in Britain; you can now take a short flight through London before the Great Fire of 1666. The British Library, GameCity, and famous software company Crytek, brought a challenge to video game design students, asking them to recreate either the Pyramids at Giza, the Tower of London, or Stonehenge in Crytek’s newest software program, CryEngine.
These six students used maps from the British Library and diary’s from before 1666 to understand the architecture, design, and layout of the city of London, including the most famous London Tower.
The video below takes you on a virtual flight through the streets of London in the 1600?s, soring over the city, and through the streets. If you look close enough, you can see inside of the houses, etchings on the doorways, and even signs hung over Inns and Restaurants. Tom Harper of the British Library’s map department, commenting on the quality of the video, says:
Some of these vistas would not at all look out of place as special effects in a Hollywood studio production.
With exemplified artist quality, and a perspective showing light and angle, these six, second year students claimed first place in the competition, and brought London’s streets back to life.
