After looking at each of the locations I have decided to look at the Pyramid's of Giza in more detail as I believe that this location has the potential to be something very special in the end and combined with the ideas already generated for the location it can be very action packed and exciting. Before going into the layout of the level and the character design I wanted to take a bit of time to look into detail about the Pyramids to find out a bit of history behind them and what kind of things where in the tombs so that they can be adapted for a game level and changed.
The initial design for the Pyramid's of Giza began back in 2686-2667 BC when the fourth-dynasty kind, Sneferu, began to build the first pyramid shape but this didn't exactly go to plan begin with. He went through a very trial and error phase with the structure and ended up first building one that eventually fell apart. This began as a step pyramid and was then modified to form the pyramid shape but it became unstable and eventually the walls fell apart, leaving behind only rubble. The next pyramid Sneferu tried to build was planned to be a true pyramid but the corners were build on unstable ground causing the insides to shift inwards creating what we know now as the 'bent' pyramid. This then lend to Sneferu beginning work on a third pyramid about a mile away which became known as the red pyramid due to the red limestone blocks that were used in its construction, making it the first successful true pyramid.
From left to right, Meidum (Sneferu's first Pyramid), The 'Bent' Pyramid and The Red Pyramid
This obviously set the bar for all pyramids to come after as he had found such a successful method, and the features like the above ground burial chambers where sought after. This led to Sneferu's son Khufu to go onto building the first and largest pyramid at Gize, a rocky plateau on the west bank of the Nile. This pyramid is the largest of the three now at Giza and is known as the Great Pyramid. It was build over a 20 year period and it was said that it was not slaves who worked on this masterpiece but about one hundred thousand people during the Nile's annual flood for about 3 months every year when it was impossible to farm the land. The total construction used around 2,300,000 limestone blocks and for centuries the Great Pyramid was covered in a smooth limestone, but this was removed during the build of Cairo.
The next Pyramid to be built on the site was constructed by Khufu's son Khafre. He pyramid appears taller than the original but this is merely due to the fact that it was built on slightly higher ground it is actually about 10 metres smaller. Khafre's pyramid is also the only one on site to retain some of it's original limestone at the top of the peak. At this time Khafre also build the Great Sphinx which sits in front of his pyramid and is about 20 metres tall and represents the sun god. Then the last pyramid to be built was by Khafre's son, Menkaura, which is less than half the height of the original Great Pyramid, and was built from red granite at the bottom and white limestone on the upper layers.
Altogether this information was fascinating to read and really offered a great insight to how they were actually built and the what the meaning behind each pyramid actually meant and who built each one. There's some really interesting history to be seen here and I will definitely be looking at more documentaries throughout the next week to gain even more information them so that stories can be adapted and turned into a working game level.
No comments:
Post a Comment