Why Assassin’s Creed Unity can’t rebuild Notre Dame cathedral

[@polygon]

So...how do you think they should restore Notre Dame's spire?

[@tomato3456]

A brutalist concrete rectangle with advertisements for McDonalds on the sides sounds good to me.

[@theturts9626]

Make it a waluigi statue

[@Giga-lemesh]

Put a jesus statue on top like an angel on top of a christmas tree

[@BrentBlueAllen]

Half and half -- split down the middle so you can choose which time period to look at

[@nassiemartinez4399]

Don’t

[@sourwitch2340]

I love the fact that they INTENTIONALLY made the Cathedral historically inaccurate in-game so that people would actually have the experience they'd want to have.

[@suna3000]

Its still beautiful though. They did it greatly.

[@billvolk4236]

Fun fact: Notre Dame was a ruin for centuries, of no interest to the Catholic Church or any of the various French governments to come and go, until the Victor Hugo novel made it a tourist destination and basically a theme park. Its value in the modern era is quite literally measured in tourist Euros.

[@rattyeely]

And he wrote the novel specifically because he wanted it to be preserved

[@austin.luther]

Yeah, the novel was intended to raise awareness of the importance of the cathedral. That's why almost everyone dies. Hugo's point was that the cathedral was more important than their petty human squabbles.

[@billvolk4236]

@@austin.luther Which is funny, because that novel is responsible more than anything else for turning the cathedral into something it never was before, both culturally and physically, profaning the space and making it into a kitschy counterfeit of itself.

[@nahometesfay1112]

@@billvolk4236 On the other hand, you just said it was a ruin for centuries, so it would have probably been demolished after further degradation and especially after it caught fire. Can you save the building, keep it open to the public, AND keep it from getting kitschy?

[@AlanisonYT]

@@nahometesfay1112 I think cultural preservation is important. But to play the devils advocate here for a moment, maybe we should also consider whether we should preserve the building at all if it is simply a tourist attraction. If something of more economic value could replace it, would that be a better alternative?

[@ZMike38]

AC:U's Notre Dame was overall pretty accurate. I just wish it had been depicted with feathers, as shown in the fossil record, rather than the outdated scaly, lizard-like Notre Dames we see in Hollywood movies

[@polygon]

thank you for saying this

[@lamenamethefirst]

This is one of the best comments I've ever read.

[@AsteroidWrangler]

Ah, Polygon, the video game channel that is secretly just an architecture channel, and I am here for it.

[@polygon]

Chuckling as I add yet another video to the "Architecture and Urbanism" playlist - Simone

[@peytonwarren1936]

@@polygon hey you should make a video about how much better walkable communities are in video games than real life (or at least in the good ol us of a), I think your audience would be receptive to it

[@nahometesfay1112]

@@peytonwarren1936 it's a dystopia on the verge of apocalypse, but look at that mixed use space! You can commute on foot which is very convenient when the aliens destroy all native electronics with an EMP

[@JacobGeller]

Shoutout to cross dude and book dude, holding it down

[@LordfizzwigitIII]

It makes me so happy seeing you places, Jacob. Thank you for existing.

[@travisgatlin536]

Assassin's Creed Unity's graphics really did age extremely well, wow.

[@polygon]

IT LOOKS SO GOOD. I captured this footage on PS5 and it's just stellar. I could stare at the stained glass and the marble forever. - Simone

[@travisgatlin536]

@@polygon The refraction from the stained glass blew my mind a little bit, ngl

[@PunchKickBlog]

It only falls apart in the details and framerate in its current state. Played through for the first time just this past month. With the patches its actually plable. Not bug free mind you, but playable. And the scenery is just gorgeous

[@vegterble]

@@PunchKickBlog I played through it in ~2019 or so (before the fire, mind you, yes I'm a psychic) and I was surprised just how well it played Might play it again, who knows?

[@pseudophori6541]

i seem to remember it having atrocious LODs tho, at least on pc

[@a52productions]

Unity's Notre Dame isnt a one-to-one recreation -- but neither is Notre Dame itself.

[@HunterJE]

This discussion reminds me of a story about the rebuilding of Warsaw's old town, the historical buildings there were badly damaged in WWII, and afterwards one of the sources they used (among others) in rebuilding the damaged and destroyed buildings were the works of an 18th century urban landscape painter named Bellotto. But if you look at Bellotto's paintings of other surviving buildings in Warsaw and elsewhere you find he took a good deal of artistic license, adding or changing details to suit the painting often with an eye to "improving" what he actually saw. So the reconstructed buildings are this mix of what was actually there and this artist's idealized vision of what was there, a complicated layering of simulacrum on simulacrum...

[@timelyenigma]

Restoration of buildings is so interesting to me. By necessity, any restoration of one will be anachronistic to the original design. New safety and accessibility features will have to be implemented whenever they're updated. It's a balancing act of "This stays true to the original vision" and "We need smoke detectors! We need ramps for wheelchair bound people!" A few schools in my hometown got renovated this past year, and it is apparent that a great deal of care was put into matching the new buildings being added to originals, which cannot be said for what had been done to them in the 60's. The new structures for sure aren't what could have been made when the original buildings were constructed, but they probably are what the original designers would had access to modern building techniques. Great video!

[@ArkhBaegor]

I don't think accessibility is a factor here though, most people aren't supposed to have access to the places that burned down anyway

[@TheGrinningViking]

I have mobility problems and I always think of the ripped guy with no legs who went everywhere on a skateboard at my college. I kinda felt sorry for him BUT thats because he was a philosophy major. Ooof, that was a bad life choice. I hope he made it work because that degree definitely held him back more than any physical thing. I think wheelchairs make mobility easier, but they limit actual mobility for anyone with working arms. If my other leg gives out I'm getting a cart. If I can't take the stairs in it, it's not actually helping.

[@mattallurgical]

Each of you wonderful people from the Polygon team manages to uniquely capture a completely different aspect of my interests in video games and the world in general. This video didn't even really have to do with video games, but the digitalization of architecture, weird quirks of copyright law, and historical restoration and reproduction, and manages to talk about all of that in a fun, interesting, and easily digestible way. You are all awesome!

[@polygon]

Thank you so much!

[@Elvalley]

Polygon has managed to capture the rarest of Pokepeoples and put them to work in the most genuine, most earnest (earnestest?) content they could muster. A tip of the hat is the barest minimum they deserve.

[@janevim11]

as the daughter of an art restorator (specifically paint on paintings, sculptures and walls), it was SO fascinating to hear someone not in the field talk about this subject. the whole time through I was thinking that originally, most churches were painted in vibrant colors (especially the main portals). my inner historical accuracy nerd was getting angry at the white walls after white walls, but the moment you said it was kept anachronistic on purpose it clicked! I agree, unless there would be a very specific purpose to keep a monument period accurate to a T, it's far more immersive for a normie to look at it and immediately recognize it even though the form is contemporary. also congrats, as much as I try every art history lesson I just cannot care about architecture, yet this video kept me super interested!

[@rinothename5563]

6de

[@polygon]

So, Assassin's Creed Unity is kind of underrated, right? - Simone

[@crunchi6383]

Co-op Assassin's Creed? 100% underrated.

[@TylerJMacDonald]

Give me Unity's freerunning and AC: Brotherhoods multiplayer, throw in any good setting (*cough* Edo period Japan *cough*) and I'll be happy

[@dorkish5623]

I mean it's one of the weakest stories in the series in my opinion, and the excessive amount of jank and bugs didn't help it either Plus the main feature, the co-op, didn't work well so it was just overall a huge let down for me

[@trentonnewman9683]

First Assassin’s creed I ever played. I had a great time honestly. It’s not as good as some other games in the series, but still, it’s pretty good.

[@legendofFranktheTank]

I honestly think if it weren't for the buggyness it would go down as one of the more fondley remembered ones

[@Radiodragonofdoom]

Ubisoft is a horrible company whose leadership covered up terrible abuses, but the people who put in the work to create these historical environments are brilliant and they deserve so much respect.

[@runthejudes]

Agreed. i cant support them anymore, at least until they prove they completely changed and fired everyone responsible, but i hope someday those passionate people make the decisions so i can support them again

[@valpro4604]

Eh

[@Merrygate_]

You just described most companies

[@ankhtahr1401]

"But maybe with more sprinklers please?" combined with the zoom at 10:19 caught me entirely off-guard, I'm still trying to catch my breath from laughing!

[@sianvaladian8574]

My man st dennis being called a warhammer figurine is the funniest thing that's gonna happen this week

[@kieran.grant_]

I love how often Polygon publishes videos that merely use videogames as a hook to get views on cool videos about architecture, books, hair/hair rendering techniques, the list goes on. It's like educational clickbait, and I am *here for it!*

[@intraum]

FINALLY someone in games journalism isn't scared to talk about ribbed vaulting

[@mory6572]

Oh wowie this is all of Simone's interest: France, Assassin's Creed and architecture, she finally found a way to put them all in a video!! And as always it's very interesting!!! :D

[@medievalsim]

every simone architectural video makes me legit more interested in architecture. got me into brutalism and i've been touching buildings. thanks a whole bundle, simone (edit) also if you stop by this comment, have yoursmellf a good day, you probably need it.

[@polygon]

Hopefully someday we can touch Notre Dame again! - Simone

[@Oh_Lionheart]

I am been fairly distant from Polygon since BDG's departure, but I know a video about architecture by Simone when I see one

[@BrandNeutral]

If you like touching buildings, I highly recommend reading “The Eyes of the Skin - Architecture and the Senses” by the architect Juhani Pallasmaa. It’s good stuff!

[@Nicoternet]

If you like brutalism, you probably want to play control, it's an architectural masterpiece

[@DupeFortGaming]

"Assassin's Creed Unity video about the Notre-Dame, can't be nobody but Simone."

[@sarahmaryja9762]

I've literally never seen a Simone deep dive that I wasn't immediately obsessed with!!!

[@austinmephistopheles734]

Have to say, this doesn't exactly make me like copyright any more than I do, even on the international level. Jesus this stuff was made far before anyone can actually remember, and recreation is so harshly gated. Debate all you want about commercial works, but if ubisoft actually recreated the pipe organ, what do we lose? Only gain. I don't disagree with the point of the video, a perfect recreation isn't exactly the point, but restricting it seems shortsighted in terms of, like, creative development in general. (Oh god, I hope this is intelligible, its 4am)

[@arcanelore3791]

Quite intelligible, and I thoroughly agree.

[@stevethepocket]

I think those statues that are just a texture _were_ modeled, though; they just ran it through a program to convert the geometry into a bumpmap before importing them into the game. For something that complex, especially if it's going to be copypasted a bunch, it's easier to just go ahead and model it than try to "paint" the 3D by hand.

[@roxas_rucksack1042]

The video title had simone written all over it YAY MORE ARCHITECTURE

[@polygon]

YEHHHHHHHH MY SPECIAL INTERESTS - Simone

[@rachelwahlig8756]

Channeling Abbot Suger there at 2:42.

[@Ruben1te]

The Pope is a definitely a true warhammer player with that massive collection of unpainted minis

[@The_Jovian]

Y'know, knowing now what kind of modifications were made to the building over the centuries, I wouldn't be opposed to the restoration taking some liberties in design. We can stay true to the older iterations while adding some modern flair

[@polygon]

It made me question my feelings about it too!! I feel like maybe a Louvre-esque glass pyramid is uh, a bit too far for me but... I don't know! Reading up on Viollet-Le Duc's views on restoration was really interesting, too. - Simone

[@The_Jovian]

@@polygon yeah a glass pyramid might be a bit outside of the design philosophy 😅, but I'm sure there's talented architects who could blend modern and Gothic styles in a tasteful way

[@benjaminbollens8153]

@@The_Jovian actually one of the modern project submit was a glass arrow... a bit like the louvre :D

[@ArkhBaegor]

Not a glass pyramid but a glass spire sounds kinda rad. Although that may be a different kind of fire hazard

[@blarg2429]

@@ArkhBaegor A vengeful Notre Dame that sets other buildings on fire via concentrated rays of sunlight sounds hilarious, but maybe a little impractical.

[@Michael_Lindell]

It can't? Notre-Damn...

[@FanOfMostEverything]

This is fascinating and heartfelt, but are we all just going to gloss over "the doors are flanked by some of the Pope's most prized Warhammer figures"?

[@itssrhii]

simone back on her assassin’s creed bullshit, we love to see it

[@polygon]

Whenever I get the opportunity to do Assassin's Creed BS on this channel... it is a good day. - Simone

[@BestgirlJordanfish]

Oh my god this game aged kinda beautifully. Even if imperfect, the love and detail to this single building is incredible. I know this is a punching bag, but it amazes me how a modern Pokemon game just doesn't hold a candle to this meticulous effort despite the potential budget and returns

[@Densuii]

I love these videos about architecture, I'd love to see more stuff like that. I really liked the one about Midgar, too.

[@polygon]

Thank you for watching!!

[@thekosmickollector7748]

Such a cool video! Always neat to see how video games adapt real-world locations and the tradeoff between gameplay and accuracy (and copyright in this case). Kinda want to buy a copy of Unity now just to scuttle around Paris, *damn* that game holds up

[@kieran.grant_]

I visited some of the locations in Italy that are featured in the games, it was a *very* weird feeling having a semi-decent idea of how to navigate the area on the first time seeing it all irl.

[@NotAnEldritchHorror]

Fun Fact: For reasons similar reasons to the copyright on Notre Dame preventing completely accurate reproduction, the Eiffel Tower is still technically under copyright; but only with the lights on, as they were installed at a later date.

[@jmal]

That explains why _C&C: Red Alert 2_ had modified versions of several of Paris' landmarks, including the Eiffel Tower.

[@locklanh]

it is kind of astounding that, given that it is both imperfect and that i have never played the game, the model of notre dame is still so accurate i almost felt like i was kid again standing in the cathedral just looking at this footage

[@larsthedude1984]

As an art history enthusiast and game design fanatic, this is such a badass video.

[@ArcticMonkeyXO]

I just knew this was a Simone video before clicking

[@nathaniellindner313]

I was trying to think of who would be hosting this video when I clicked on it, thinking maybe somebody we hadn't seen recently, and then as it started my brain flashed "French stuff! Boy am I dumb".

[@davidfalterman8713]

What I love about Polygon is that I have never played video games regularly in my life, but every video has such a unique and interesting story to tell about games, art, and life that I am always compelled anyway. Love y’all!

[@Great.Milenko]

there's one major flaw with this entire video, Noone claimed they would use the ingame assets to help the reconstruction, these are obviously heavily edited as mentioned in the ill informed video... the implication was that they would provide the terabytes of point cloud data they gathered from scans performed over several months that accurately represent the cathedral to the nearest millimetre. As you mentioned the cathedral has been scanned already, and ubisoft did their own scans which have been offered to help fill any gaps or missing data since scanning techniques differ.

[@polygon]

There's no evidence to suggest Ubisoft did their own point cloud scans. It would have been completely unnecessary for what they needed to do, and a huge cost of time and money. Academics have enough trouble stitching these huge models together and getting them to run smoothly - how would they interface with game development software? Miousse says in multiple interviews she worked off of photos, blueprints, books, and from speaking to people who had been there. Even if Ubisoft had done a point cloud scan of the cathedral, that data would be 7+ years old at this point. So no, this argument doesn't hold water. You can read more about the development of Unity's Notre Dame in my article if you'd like to learn more! www.polygon.com/features/22790314/assassins-creed-unity-notre-dame-restoration-accuracy -Simone

[@pedrobettt]

This is some hot bullshit. At no point was Ubisoft offering just the in-game model. They offered the photogrammetry data, which was basically the same as Andrew Tallon's data.

[@EthanNZ]

I was thinking the exact same thing... Seems like it missed the original idea. Cool video though!

[@ShadowsFallOnWings]

That's true, and I think Simone could have organized her argument to prevent misleading/inaccurate statements, but I don't think talking about point clouds was her main objective here. Instead, I think she might have been aiming to show us that we already accepted inaccurate art and architecture and mixed styles in our understanding of the spirit of Notre Dame, and that it might not be as difficult to accept whatever changes in the design ultimately come to fruition. This is a gaming journalism channel so the video title & content need to reflect that and AC is known for their exceptional attention to detail in the locations the games are set. I don't think the video would have framed the modeling situation the same way if she were producing independently of Polygon.

[@Silver-gu8zd]

“The pope’s most prized Warhammer figurines.” Not a sentence I thought I’d hear.

[@polygon]

that's a Pat Original - Simone

[@Silver-gu8zd]

Just wanted to add a thank you for this wonderful video. Interesting and entertaining content like this and others is why I feel that the Polygon video team and all of its iterations have always been standout.

[@polygon]

Thank you so much! That's really nice to hear :D - Simone

[@zychtf]

As an architect and video game lover you guys nailed this video. Thanks for producing such amazing and meaningful work.

[@TacticusPrime]

If you are interested in the philosophy behind restoration, consider the Ise Jingu. It's the holiest Shinto shrine in Japan. The shrine, actually a series of related shrines, has been there for over a thousand years at least. But... they knock it down and rebuild it every 20 years. As a symbol of the cycle of death and birth, they tear down and rebuild several of the main shrines in generational increments. As far as we know, they've been using the same plans each time but it's been a thousand years. It's easy to imagine that things have evolved over time. The main two shrines were recently rebuilt in 2013. So... are they modern or ancient?

[@yarahelal9412]

i really really love it when you guys make videos about architecture and its relationship with games. that's like, my favorite genre of video game content.

[@CinemaLounge1]

Unity is still one of my favorites in the series. That multiplayer was so fun. It’s a shame the buggy release soured it

[@maartengoutier2085]

Those copyrights are really intrekking. Also That was a wel made history road you went there with the architecture. Great video in all!

[@usagiu]

Its so fun watching a video basically on my major field, but making it so delightful to watch, even after hours in class already talking about it! Thanks once again for an archictecture video lol

[@guytorie]

Hearing someone refer to Notre Dame as "the damn thing" seems so sacrilegious but so funny

[@AgentSAMa]

Great video! Reminded me a little of the restoration work they completed on Notre Dame de Chartres a few years back, which was not without its controversies.

[@rmdcade1717]

Let Simone do feature-length documentaries please

[@technojunkie123]

Even though Unity's Notre Dame is not a 100% accurate recreation, when I saw it for the first time in game it took my breath away. I was pretty late to the Unity train and only started playing it in quarantine a year ago, and it was such a joy to visit Notre Dame again in game after seeing the real thing during a trip to Paris the year before. I'm so glad that they added the 18th century spire because being able to run around and see it again after it had burnt down & the cathedral was closed off to visitors for the next few years made it all the more special. It really brought back such wonderful memories I had of my time in the cathedral 🥰

[@austin.luther]

I visited the Notre Dame cathedral in 2008. HOLY SHIT. It is literally awesome. And because I had a college ID I was allowed to visit the rooms where a lot of the relics are kept. My favorite was an old set of sheet music that I couldn't read at all. And I've been playing the piano since I was four.

[@benjaminbollens8153]

the good point is most damages on the building are on the roof, selling, glass, orgua and a few fourniture.. it’s one of the most documented building from this era, thanks to Violet Leduc, rebuilding it is not the most challenging, but the roof was in lead and the carpentry need a lot of oak ( the first is poluting and the second one require a forest..) the actual challenge is in stabilizing everything left in order to rebuild, adding this to the covid crisis and the debate about if it should be done in a modern or a traditional way.. this is going to take a while before it’s finish

[@schmoo...]

Great video! Love the architectural history. Also slick set of skis - Simone's ready to tear up that pow.

[@sylghouls]

THIS IS SUCH A COOL VIDEO PREMISE :0

[@cinnamon_shakes]

'The pope's most prized warhammer figurines' was said so casually that it took me a second lmao

[@mineturtle1000]

For the love of GG, can polygon make "Simone explains architecture and art through gaming" a series?

[@kylerclarke2689]

This is some of my favourite KZbin content. I could listen to Simone gush about videogame architecture all day

[@imsmolandangery4274]

In secondary school art we learned about Notre Dame de Charte (the French love Mary so she has loads of churches), a cathedral built after a fire destroyed most of the old building. The towers don't match because one was hit by lightning and rebuilt with more drama. It was understood that if something was broken it was god requesting an upgrade

[@maxbrooks5468]

This is a super interesting video! Lots of research went into it, great job!

[@FFigueira]

its crazy how information travels bc i thought that the laser scans were FOR assasins creed and thats why they were going to help

[@polygon]

It's wild! I remember when we were brainstorming pitches for videos last year on the topic of video games influencing real life disciplines, I brought up Notre Dame because I, too, had seen the headlines about the restoration. And then I read more and saw oh, Ubisoft never actually said they would, people just assumed that it would/could. That's what inspired me to dig into it because I totally bought the hype. - Simone

[@NikELbErGErBergel]

they let simone talk architecture again hell yeah

[@polygon]

every day i am fighting for the right to talk about architecture - Simone

[@ninjahacker2]

Wow this is one of the coolest videos I've watch about Notredame with some slight videogame trivia on the background

[@colesons]

Don't be shocked if you found a haystack inside the notre dame later

[@polygon]

Replace the spire with a haystack

[@octaviopartida2001]

LOVED this video! I love architecture and the intersection with video games is always the best! Great work on such a great video.

[@emparael6860]

Love the tone of this video. Great work on this one!

[@bigbumpusboi4560]

One of my favorite Polygon videos in a while.

[@dragonfire381]

I always learn so much from Simone's videos! And this kind of makes me want to replay Unity...

[@vasil3ubr33]

It's always so neat to have an answer to a question you didn't even think to ask! Great video! Never thought about historical buildings being a subject of copyright. I wonder how this "no commercial use" rule apply to paintings of the building, that are being sold. But then i guess on a painting, such level of detail, that could potentially infringe, would be almost impossible to achieve.

[@ctimerun3693]

Ahhh... Memories from a simpler time, when bugs seemed like the only reason to be mad at Ubisoft. They sure changed that, didn't they?

[@Saturn-gs6wl]

Watching this video at 2 am because I was saving it for a good moment and BOY was i not disappointed. It's always amazing to get to hear Simone talk about architecture, and I always love how EXCITED she is about it because yeah!!! that is super interesting!!!! Highlights include every time Simone's voice went up or she said things with a laugh. I love videos like this because the JOY is so evident and it never fails to make me go :D.

[@Saturn-gs6wl]

Also this title was just une petite peu simonecore. I mean, architecture and France? sure. architecture and assassins creed? go for it. France and assassins creed? i mean, now you're pushing it. but all three? I mean, dead giveaway titlewise that this is going to be an incredible viddy-o.

[@Saturn-gs6wl]

time to rewatch this ig sjhgkgfigdhjdg

[@ArkhBaegor]

@@Saturn-gs6wl un petit peu*

[@benschuh6203]

This video leaves out such a major point in why the AC unity model can't be used to restore the cathedral. All the stuff in this video about the missing red door, altered glass and statues, etc. make for an interesting video on architecture, copyright and game design but are entirely irrelevant to the restoration of the real life cathedral because those aren't the bits being restored. A big reason why the Unity model isn't particularly helpful for the real world restoration is because of the fact that the wooden inner structure of the roof, the rebuilding of which makes up such a huge part of the restoration, isn't an accessible area in the game and wasn't modeled in Unity in the first place. Kinda weird that it wasn't mentioned at all in the video

[@ListerTunes]

As a game designer who majored in architecture for nearly an entire semester, these videos are extremely my jam. Thanks so much.

[@polygon]

Yay!! Love the eternal overlap between game designers and architects.

[@ArkhBaegor]

@@polygon you should check out Morphologis's "an architect reviews..." videos, he looks at spaceship designs in star citizens through the lens of an architect, even if you don't care about Star Citizen it's really cool

[@polygon]

Thanks for the rec!

[@madsstokes]

Always a treat to see Simone!!!!

[@SpoopySquid]

The most accurate Notre Dame was the friends we made along the way

[@animanya394]

Damn, i still can’t believe that people are not allowed to recreate reality because of copyright…

[@caligulacorday]

architecture AND france? i have never been more sure who produced a polygon video

[@polygon]

my niche - simone

[@matthewgilson9834]

me and my art history degree and francophile self think this may be the single best polygon video of all time

[@VeryUnemployed]

Buildings are meant to be living and changing to the needs of the residents. The moment it starts to be "preserved" is the moment it dies. Update the building, add more pages to its history book. But thats just the opinion of someone that went to architecture school and practices architecture

[@benjaminbollens8153]

and everyone who did a Compagnins du devoir school would says preserving a building like this with no needs for resident should stay as close as it was before, minors updates could be done but most of the traditionnal knowlege should be preserved..

[@VeryUnemployed]

@@benjaminbollens8153 preservation is a curse in architecture. Look at the iconic colosseum or leaning tower. They look even better after letting humans and nature have at them. If it's a museum, let it muse, but if its a burnt down church, rebuild it with the modern needs addressed. That'd be pretty cool too right?

[@benjaminbollens8153]

@@VeryUnemployed preservation is more a curse for architects.. the leaning tower start to lean during the time it was built and plans had to be modified during the process to compensate. The colosseum had been left unmaintend for a long time and had no use in the modern era but being a relic of the past and act as a museum. we could do the same about pyramids in gizah, if architects didn't take stones to build the modern cairo, there would be an outside cassing on those. why a cathedral in use couldn't be rebuilt as it was when we still have the knowledge to do it? (beside the lead used for the roof) About France, there were a few other church or cathedral who burnt since ww2 and the parts were rebuilt in concreat with no aesthetic benefices and was done this way to save money. plus you can't put a cathedral in a museum.. the other point about changing the way it's build is how would it age, the answer is sadly not really well. a lots of old building here are protected and can't be modified.. it's a way to have an outside and living museum. I personaly live in a housse where the oldest part is over 500 years old; but love new buildings too when they are well done, age well and have a good integration in the surrounding area.

[@marvelfannumber1]

Well then all I have to say is, thank god they don't put architects in charge of conservation. Your sentiments here are probably exactly the main reason they don't. People don't want additions to stuff like this, especially when they are hideous 90% of the time. It would be like giving the Mona Lisa a mustache or giving Michelangelo's David pants, it's in poor taste.

[@VeryUnemployed]

@@marvelfannumber1 lol

[@whylal]

Simone's videos on architecture have done so much more for my interest in the topic than most tourist guides have done while at supposedly architecturally interesting buildings in person.

[@cheereebus]

This is a great tech insight but I feel it skips out on a huge point. They wouldn’t use the models from the game, they would use the enormous amount of source material, the same sort of stuff the scans mentioned later in the video.

[@armandsoulliard3296]

Getting a video where Simone gets to talk architecture and design is always a treat!

[@BaronHumbertvonGikkingen]

oh you just KNOW it's a good day when a new architecture video from Simone drops

[@arcanelore3791]

I am glad of this video. Not just because Simone got to talk about her interests and not just because it was extremely educational and fun, but because I’d been out here under the full impression that Ubisoft’s models WERE, in fact, being used to help guide restoration. I very much appreciate being set right on this matter.

[@polygon]

I had this same journey!! Part of the reason I made this is because when I was making my architecture video last fall, I considered centering it on Notre Dame's restoration... only to find out that it wasn't related to Unity all. It's really stuck in my mind since then. - Simone

[@williamhowland9977]

I straight up did not realize there was a spire until it burned down. It's kinda tucked back there.

[@calstein6701]

Another Simone banger vid - excellent work!

[@TheeCatfreaky]

Polygon. My favorite architecture channel!

[@nickbeutler]

Of all the videos, this one was the easiest for the "guess which member of the video team made this based on the title and thumbnail" game. By a long shot.

[@nathancarter8239]

This video gave me chills. Thanks for making it!

[@callme_Sweetpea]

You would think that Ubisoft would have enough money to license everything inside Notre Dame, but as Mr. Krabs would say, "MONEY".

[@polygon]

I think it's super interesting because they really don't need to! I'm not sure what value it would add to the game, and as Miousse said in her interviews - it was a creative challenge for her. And video game tech meant that changes would need to happen anyway, so why go for complete photorealism? - Simone

[@GoneFishingAmalgam]

Ubisoft is too busy making a hostile work environment for their employees to care about some French cathedral

[@kilo3989]

This was awesome, thanks for the info and insight!

[@TheOldBlackShuckyDog]

Tbf, Unity is very underrated and has somewhat made a comeback. People realising it’s really no where near as bad as it was (but more importantly than it was perceived to be) all those years ago.

[@Omicron716]

God I REALLY wish you hadn't said Unity came out 7 years ago, because that means it's the mid-point in the series with OG Assassin's Creed coming out 14 years ago. I don't want to acknowledge the passage of time.

[@VoxyGon]

This video is a little misleading. The in-game model wouldn't be used as a reference. But, Ubisoft collected a lot of reference material to create the in-game model, which is what they offered to provide. France already had it covered, though, with the laser scans as noted in the video, making the Ubisoft data unnecessary. Otherwise, great video, love these kind of pieces.

[@canoestir]

Thank you Jennifer!!

[@natalie5947]

I learned a lot more from this video than I expected to.

[@weir9996]

Jardening with Jesus on the roof of Notre Dame

[@polygon]

this is really sending me

[@Inogat]

I love those videos, so very french! Also it makes me wanna play assassin's creed unity, and I don't know if that's a good thing but it's a thing.

[@Tayturs]

Super fascinating video. Loved it!