What's Hidden Behind the Toilets in Dragon Age / ITech content

Contents:

• Toilets as a reflection of the dark world of Thedas

Pre-orders for the book "The Architecture of Video Game Worlds" started on July 8th. In this edition, authors Maria Vazhenich, Artemy Kozlov, and Ieronim K. provide a detailed analysis of virtual worlds like Thedas from Dragon Age. The book explores the influence of architecture and design on the perception of these worlds, including unexpected aspects like toilets. This edition will be of interest not only to video game fans but also to those interested in architecture and design in the digital environment.

With the consent of the authors, we present an excerpt from the book devoted to the analysis of toilets in the Dragon Age universe. This text explores the features and significance of restrooms in the context of the game, as well as their impact on the players' perception of the world.

Toilets as a reflection of the dark world of Thedas

The developers of Dragon Age: Origins at Bioware faced a serious challenge. Unlike their previous fantasy games, based on the tabletop role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, which was already familiar to many players by the early 2000s, Dragon Age required the creation of a new, unique world. Baldur’s Gate and Neverwinter Nights were popular due to their connection to an established rules system, whereas Dragon Age was supposed to introduce players to an entirely new universe. The developers strove to create a game that would provide a complete understanding of the world and its features, allowing players to deeply immerse themselves in a fascinating story and rich mythology.

The world of Thedas (short for The Dragon Age Setting) was created with inspiration from the late Middle Ages. It is a dark fantasy in which magic coexists with injustice and danger lurking at every turn. The wizards' circles resemble medieval monasteries both visually and structurally. The Templars, a military order with vibrant symbolism, control the mages and prevent them from becoming out of control. The game highlights various forms of segregation and oppression, allowing players to experience them firsthand. For example, one of the starting scenarios challenges the player to escape from an elven ghetto (elvenage) by playing as an elf. This creates a unique atmosphere and immerses you in the complex social issues within the Dragon Age world.

The fantasy setting of Dragon Age departs from traditional myths and legends, offering a more grounded approach to magic. Here, magic becomes a part of reality, embodied in the characters' destinies. In battle, heroes are covered in blood, which emphasizes the realism and brutality of their struggle. Dragon Age: Origins emphasizes that heroes must face unpleasant and unheroic duties, such as washing away the blood of their enemies, making their characters more human and grounded in real life.

Blood is often romanticized in culture and mythology, as in the case of the Germanic hero Siegfried, who became invulnerable by bathing in dragon blood. However, other bodily fluids rarely evoke such associations. In the world of Dragon Age, such fluids are present more metaphorically, but the game's creators strive to emphasize their significance. If you're wondering how elves relieve themselves, the game offers plenty of visual examples to illustrate the point.

Pits and toilets are found in various locations in Dragon Age: Origins, such as dungeons and prison cells. Their placement and context reveal the lifestyle of the local inhabitants. Elvenkind, for example, are forced to dedicate corners of their humble homes to their ablutions, or, in the worst case, wash themselves outside. Under constant surveillance by mages, toilets and toilets are not separated from public spaces, forcing people to relieve themselves in full view of others. This element of the game emphasizes that only high-ranking nobles in Thedas can afford complete privacy and comfort. The use of toilets and toilets in Dragon Age: Origins serves as an important symbol of social inequality and cultural differences in the game's world.

Given the meticulous hygiene practices of Thedas, the absence of toilets in Dragon Age II may seem surprising. This game draws attention to aspects of the characters' lives but ignores important details that could have added realism. This raises questions about the developers' attention to detail, which shapes the overall experience of the world.

In video games where toilets don't play a key role in gameplay, such as the life simulator The Sims, they become an expression of the developers' creativity. Developers add toilets simply because they can. For example, in Dragon Age: Origins, there was no need to tie every bed to a toilet, but the developers took this aspect into account anyway. Their goal was to create a rich and realistic game world, which became the basis for future projects. As a result, such details not only enrich the atmosphere but also demonstrate the developers' attention to detail, which enhances the player's immersion in the virtual reality.

Dragon Age II no longer exhibits the creative exuberance of the first game. The developers at BioWare were given only 14 months to create the sequel—an extremely limited timeframe in the modern gaming industry, especially considering that the development of Dragon Age: Origins took seven years. Lead writer David Gaider and other project members consider the game's release a true miracle. To meet such a tight deadline, the developers applied the art of editing, significantly reducing details typical of Dragon Age: Origins that weren't critical to the plot of Dragon Age II.

The events of the sequel unfold in the unique city of Kirkwall and its outskirts. Like a theatrical stage, this city communicates with the player through minimalist means. Instead of small details that add nuance, grandiose architectural features dominate: massive city walls, mournful statues lining the squares, and the imposing Steward's Residence looming over the townspeople. Kirkwall represents an era when power was based on slave labor, and everything about this place is more reminiscent of its dark past than of everyday reality.

Modern townspeople's homes are often not central to games, but when they do appear, they serve a strictly functional purpose—demonstrating that the character doesn't live on the streets. A change in residence can highlight changes in a character's status from act to act. For example, one of the primary goals of Hawke, the protagonist of Dragon Age II, who escaped the horrors of Dragon Age: Origins to Kirkwall, is to earn money and establish herself in a new city. Her efforts bear fruit: in the game's second act, Hawke and her family move from her uncle's modest home to a luxurious mansion, symbolizing her progress and change in social status.

In Dragon Age II, the intimate aspects of life remain hidden from players. The mansion is full of closed doors, concealing private spaces that Hawke refers to as his mother's chambers, best left undiscovered. This highlights an interesting point: given the game's budget constraints, it demonstrates a more respectful attitude toward characters' privacy. Unlike other games, Dragon Age II takes place more often in public spaces—city streets, churches, barracks, and reception rooms. Characters' private spaces are largely hidden off-screen or appear directly in the work environment, creating a unique atmosphere and emphasizing the importance of social interactions.

The issue of loss of privacy is becoming increasingly relevant, especially in the context of the third installment of the Dragon Age series, Inquisition. While this game clearly displays a creative excess, the developers decided to focus their efforts in a different direction. This change in approach to content creation highlights the importance of privacy and its impact on game mechanics and storytelling. In Dragon Age Inquisition, the developers were able to create deeper and more layered interactions, making exploration of this theme especially meaningful for players.

Dragon Age: Origins focuses on the subtle nuances that fill the game world. Toilets play an unexpected but important role: they serve as places where members of different social groups wash and relieve themselves, vividly reflecting social differences. These elements can be easily overlooked, but with just a little attention, the attention to the variety of bathtubs and toilets becomes inescapable. Every detail in the game adds depth and realism, highlighting the richness of the world of Dragon Age: Origins.

Dragon Age II places emphasis on a single, specific story, which distinguishes it from previous games in the series. Due to limited resources, the developers were forced to exclude many elements unrelated to the main events, including even details like toilets. This decision allowed the focus to be on the depth of the plot and character development, which made the game more rich and engaging for players.

It remains to consider Dragon Age Inquisition. One of the main complaints about Dragon Age II was its excessive intimacy: while players could explore the vast expanses of Skyrim in The Elder Scrolls V, Dragon Age II offered them only a single city with narrow streets and dungeons with a monotonous layout. Whether this is fair is a separate question. However, Dragon Age Inquisition went in the opposite direction, giving players the opportunity to explore vast spaces that had not previously been available in the series. In Dragon Age Inquisition, the emphasis shifted to exploration, significantly enriching the gameplay and allowing players to immerse themselves in unique locations full of adventure and mystery. Dragon Age Inquisition immerses us in the everyday life of Southern Thedas, demonstrating how it is transformed by the civil war in Orlais, the aftermath of the Blight in Ferelden, the confrontation between mages and templars, and the player's actions as the head of the Inquisition. From the very first minutes of the game, we encounter various aspects of everyday life: we hear conversations about famine, the approaching cold, destroyed villages and refugees, and the need to find resources to support the troops. The heroes partake in feasts, explore dying settlements, frequently consume alcohol and have intimate relationships, communicate in extinct languages, and joke about various topics. While bedrooms and inns are present in some locations, restrooms are not present in the game, highlighting the developers' attention to detail and creating the unique atmosphere of the Dragon Age Inquisition world.

In DAI, players spend significant time exploring buildings and man-made spaces that range from stately to dilapidated. The game has increased the variety of building types, including residential spaces such as abandoned huts in Crestwood, noble manors in the Emerald Graves, and the imperial Winter Palace. Temples, watchtowers, dungeons for various races (excluding the Qunari), and strongholds from various eras are also available. All of these building types share one important aspect: each is inhabited by people, whether locals, refugees, or marauders. However, all of these spaces lack restrooms and amenities, highlighting the unique atmosphere and character of the DAI world.

A significant spatial dissonance arises when the player reaches the first significant plot point and enters Skyhold. Dragon Age Inquisition offers the player a large fortress that can not only be explored but also reconstructed, adapting it to their own story preferences. This ability changes the perception of the game world and deepens interaction with the environment, allowing each player to create a unique space that reflects their individual style and gameplay preferences. Skyhold becomes not just a place, but a living element of the game, which affects the development of the plot and interactions with other characters.

The player's ability to thoroughly explore and customize Skyhold creates an important spatial conflict. The player can choose the decor for their Inquisitor, but they can't see into their bathroom or even guess where its door is. This aspect emphasizes the balance between character personalization and maintaining the integrity of the game world, making the experience more engaging and intriguing.

DAI demonstrates a unique approach to the development of interior spaces and residential buildings. On the one hand, the game offers a variety of images and spatial typologies, on the other, it completely ignores physiological details. To better understand the reasons for this approach, it is worth conducting a comparative analysis of Dragon Age Inquisition with previous games in the series. This analysis will help identify changes in design and architectural solutions and understand how they affect the perception of the game world.

The main enemies in this world are not darkspawn infected with liquid corruption or people blinded by rage, but spirits and demons from other dimensions. The protagonist's initiation occurs not through the life-threatening consumption of a substance, but through contact with a supernatural force. This contact leaves a unique mark on the hero's hand, which allows him to close the gaps between worlds.

The shift in tone in the game's visual solutions is noticeable at every stage. The logos of the first two games featured a blood-inspired design, while the Dragon Age Inquisition logo features a more metallic and lighter design, creating a sense of power and grandeur. The interface replaces detailed 3D companion portraits with iconic images that reflect the characters' spiritual essence more than their physical appearance. Furthermore, the iconic blood stains that appeared on heroes after battles are present this time, but their intensity is significantly reduced, creating a more restrained visual experience.

The problem of the underrepresentation of toilets in Dragon Age Inquisition could have been addressed by using a single toilet in the Inquisitor's quarters, as was done in another iconic BioWare series. However, the developers chose not to take this step in DAI, highlighting their lesser interest in physical aspects compared to themes of politics, mythology, and philosophy. However, in the Tresspasser expansion, the Inquisitor is forced to pay attention to his body when a marked hand threatens his life and is ultimately severed. This development suggests that the next Dragon Age game may explore bodily aspects, including toilets, which play a significant role in the characters' social lives. This could become a significant theme for the future development of the story and the game world.

While the toilets from Dragon Age: Origins did not appear in subsequent games, they still left a significant mark on the series' history. Many players continue to perceive the universe of Thedas through the prism of the first game, which introduced unique elements to fantasy worlds. Although the toilets are physically absent, their presence is felt on the level of memories and emotions left in the hearts of fans.

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