Architecture in game

Retro-socialist realism stuck in objects – architecture in The Invincible

Have you ever watched “Gendarme and Aliens”? There a “flying saucer” is shown. Now imagine that all the game elements look the same, with a slight tinge of socialist realism. Do you see this? So welcome to The Invincible!

Is comparing the design of The Invincible to the set design from the 1979 film “The Military Policeman and the Aliens” some form of insult? In no case! But this comparison quite accurately illustrates what The Invincible looks like. Everything we see is simply beautiful and so multidimensional that you want to keep playing to see “what else the creators have put in here.”

This is not cosmos, but space!

When I talked or wrote about Cyberpunk 2077, I often emphasized one element. Everything you see on screen in that game is inspired by the 80s. But not that they look like they did back then, but the game looks like the designers of that time imagined the future. This is a significant difference.

Welcome to the 1960s / own materials

You could say it’s inspired by imagination. And why am I talking about this? Because it’s very similar with The Invicivble . Here, the creators take us to the distant future of space travel, but are inspired by what happened in the 1960s and 1970s. the future was imagined .

The creators skillfully combined colors and color palettes. Regis III here / own materials

At that time, no one imagined touch screens or organic walls. But cigar-shaped rockets or objects with lots of analog switches do!

The mysterious structures that we find on Regis III resemble the first sculptural works of contemporary avant-garde artists / own materials

The Invicible is based in its visual layer on all the memories and delights with the future that were present in Lem’s prose. But from the perspective of his times, let me remind you, Invincible was written in 1964!

Compare the screenshot a paragraph above and these works by Polish sculptors from the 1960s. Do you see the similarities? / Museum of Contemporary Sculpture, October 1993

Looking at the screenshots, many of you will certainly notice elements in common with, for example, the googie movement known on the other side of the Atlantic from a similar era as Lem’s work. But these wonderful details make us have no doubt from the very beginning that we are in the vision of people from this side of the Iron Curtain. So hello space, not cosmos .

Googie from the Warsaw Pact

Absolutely the entire visual layer is subordinated to the 1960s and from the perspective seen from the Iron Curtain. Of course, many “our” objects from this period are inspired by the achievements of our colleagues from the West, but even then. Products from the “Warsaw Pact countries” had their own specific finish, which was often due to material shortages or technological limitations.

The image is snowing and the screen is monochrome? Beauty of the 60s! / own materials

And all this was wonderfully presented in The Invicible. I don’t know if that was the intention and I don’t judge the original vision, but that’s how I perceive it. I wouldn’t be surprised if I went too far in my search for inspiration… then it means what a good job the creators did! They just felt what Invincible should be!

Regis III is beautiful… solitude (not emptiness)

The main character of the game is astrobiologist Dr. Yasna, who wakes up with short-term amnesia on the surface of the planet Regis III. This one resembles Mars and, of course, hides a secret. As you probably guessed, while discovering history we will visit a lot of uninteresting sand.

And yes! The game has moments when it is simply ugly (e.g. when the sand textures in the cave through which we pass are almost flat, repetitive images), but the vast majority of the time we can feel like a real astronaut! There is no shortage of open spaces, beautiful shots and this cosmic feeling… loneliness.

I haven’t felt such a sense of loneliness (not emptiness) in any space game for a long time. Astrogator Novik in orbit, and hundreds of kilometers below you – Dr. Yasna. Amazing feeling / own materials

Look at the screenshot above. While I was making it, nostalgic music interrupted by silence played in my ears, and I felt almost like a character from the book The Martian. It’s amazing that so much space was squeezed out in this relatively limited production!

The colors are kept in one palette, but their shades differ from each other and range from intense red to dark blue / own materials

Is Regis III empty? It’s small, but you don’t feel it at all. We travel through it as smoothly as if someone was telling us a fairy tale. We only stop every now and then to look at the amazing views. And Dr. herself Yasna, as an astrobiologist, talks about it loudly – praising landscapes. And that’s no surprise.

Variety of Regis III / own materials

Contrary to appearances, Regis III has very different colors. Landscapes and why, it all looks the way it looks, commented and explained even by Dr. Yasna. It pays attention to the content of the atmosphere and the types of elements in the ground. And how does all this affect the way Regis III looks? I had a great time listening to her talk about the planet with the astrogator.

I feel a strong sense of retro-PRL here

I wrote earlier that The Invicible could be considered a close cousin of Fallouts, which are based on the googie style, to an untrained eye. Well, maybe not a cousin, more like a distant relative from across the ocean. All the interior elements we see are definitely inspired by what the 1960s looked like and how the future was imagined back then. What was then considered modern, not to mention futuristic.

These colors and shapes that cannot be imitated with absolutely any other decade of the 20th century / own materials

Take a look at the screenshot above. These chairs are beautiful, aren’t they? This is an obvious reference to one of the most famous pieces of furniture in history, the so-called Ball Chair by Finnish designer Eero Aarnio.

Ball Chair by Eero Aarnio from 1963 / wikipedia

The original design of the armchair dates back to 1963. The furniture visible in the game has the same identification and colors.

I’m not at all surprised that the creators took inspiration from this classic. Previously, we could see this armchair in the films “Men in Black”, “Mars Attacks” or on the cover of the Spy x Family anime. And these are just examples.

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The interiors visible on the screens reflect the spirit of the futurists of that time. All those tape reels and rounded shapes of furniture that seem completely out of place from today’s perspective of space travel. This certainly required the creators to “understand” those times. It’s a difficult task and I think they came out unscathed.

And we get behind the wheel

I don’t know anything about cars (I’m a man, I have a driving license and I love driving, but that’s where my automotive knowledge ends), but it’s impossible not to smile when you see the space vehicle that accompanies us during a large part of the exploration of Regis III.

What a great vehicle/own materials

Contrary to appearances, it probably stands the test of time best of all the elements brought by people. It is not too large, has a high suspension, adequate lighting, communication system and cargo space. The perfect planetary rover! But that’s not what I wanted. Take a look inside!

The interior of the space rover is amazing / own materials

A steering wheel inspired (I think) by a Syrena car (production: 1957-72 by FSO), analog switches, rounded indicators and a simple but rounded line. Working with this vehicle gave me visual pleasure, especially when the windows fogged up!

Equipment? Fairy tale (robots)!

At the end of my story about the visual side of The Invicible, I left myself a real gem! That’s what Dr. uses. Yasna during her journey. Whatever she holds in her hands, it looks simply amazing! Each of these items looks ridiculous and funny from today’s perspective, but they create such an atmosphere that you can’t take your eyes off them!

The monochrome display is one of the gems of this game. It’s only for detection, but it’s how it does it that arouses my deepest admiration. I would like to use this! / own materials

Dr. Yasna uses several items during her journey, which, unfortunately, are used only sporadically. But I loved these moments precisely because of how these items worked and how (importantly!) they looked!

Absolute number one! Detector! He’s just crazy. They should add it to the collector along with clips for things that are often lost / own materials

I was absolutely sold by this little red beauty visible in the screenshot at the top. It’s a detector. As you can see, it is quite massive and resembles old PRL flashlights. It has a large antenna, two analog knobs and an incredibly cute… I don’t know. Display? Screen? Depending on where and at what distance the detected object is located, it illuminates the lamp with a characteristic sound! Just a beautiful thing!

A map and photos are not a smartphone

The photos taken by Dr. are equally beautiful. Yasna finds it every now and then. Like it’s nothing? Well, no! It’s one thing that they resemble a drawn drawing, but another thing is that the photograph looks like a transparency.

Photos taken by multiple devices instead of video recordings. This is visual poetry for the eyes / own materials

Like old film that’s a little transparent. And while viewing these slides, you can move the camera and see the world from behind the drawing. It looks beautiful in motion!

Map and notebook. It looks quite nice, but it is not very intuitive to use / own materials

Unfortunately, the map looks the worst. First of all, it is not easy to navigate. Opening subsequent pages using the knobs on PS5 requires some practice and, in my opinion, is simply difficult to read at the beginning. Once more information is written on it, it is much better. But among the elements that are used most often, it looks the weakest.

The Worthy One, the Invincible One

What more can I write? This game is a must-see in motion! Walk around with all these sensors, listen to Dr. panting. Yasny as he climbs in silence and looks at the emptiness of Regis III from the windows of the space rover.

The Invincible_20231117210547

For me , The Invicible shows what a great medium for presenting history computer games are. Even those book stories. A beautiful adventure, an incredibly created world. If I had to complain about something, it would be that I don’t play enough with used toys. Apart from that? Very nice walking sim.

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