History and games - research work

History and games

     For this project, we were again split in groups, and I was part of the same group of 5 ( Tom Donachie, Matt Fenn, Zoe Rice and James Dyer). We had to chose an aspect of the games that interests us and discuss it in detail. We have chosen the historical element of games and we tried to research how it is presented and used, how much the creators stay true to the real facts and how they intertwine them with fiction for a better gameplay and to create more drama.

In “Privileging Form Over Content: Analyzing Historical Videogames,” Adam Chapman argues that in order to understand historical video games, scholars must go beyond analyzing only the surface-level content. Chapman compares games to historical films, in order to demonstrate how different epistemological approaches can be applied to different mediums. Historical video games, he concludes, requires analysis that privileges form over content.

(http://journalofdigitalhumanities.org/1-2/games-and-historical-narratives-by-jeremy-antley/)

  History always seemed to provide a massive source of inspiration to game developers, whether it's World War II, the Civil War in Japan, the American Wild West, Ancient Greece, or the Roman Empire.
However, some games manage to preserve really well the historical facts, while others are so far from reality that they manage to create a completely distorted vision of events.

  I know games are not meant to teach anyone history, so, from this point of view, I totally agree with the ones who only depict certain elements from the period they are being set in. As with the historical films, it is really difficult to follow through in all aspects ( events, characters, costumes, dialogue, etc) and create an enjoyable experience as well, so of course, some events are being distorted for added drama, some artefacts are being introduced to improve the stage visually, even if they don't belong in that time period.  -  Does it really matter that Gothic architecture is featured in Assassins Creed when it has no place in that time period?  (http://www.criticalgamer.co.uk/2009/10/21/history-in-video-games-a-closer-look/)

Games can be platforms for building, and not simply consuming, knowledge. 
(http://journalofdigitalhumanities.org/1-2/games-and-historical-narratives-by-jeremy-antley/)

  I, personally, am fascinated by the Japanese culture, so I had a closer look at games that depict this subject. I found quite a few that touch this subject, even if, some of them are not totally dedicated to Japan ( I.e. Paradox Interactive, Total War series, Civilisation, The Way of the Samurai, Samurai Warriors, Sengoku Basara, Kessen, Nobunaga's Ambition)

  Most of these games refer to one of the defining events in Japanese history -  the end of the civil war and the unification of the country. The most important figure in this "process", was Tokugawa Ieyasu. Following the battle of Sekigahara, during which all his remaining opposition was crushed,  Ieyasu was invested as Shogun by the Emperor  and he established a Dynasty that would rule Japan for 250 years. 

  The same Tokugawa Ieyasu and the battle of Sekigahara were featured in the novel Shogun  by James Clavell in 1975 (even though, the names were slightly changed - in the novel Ieyasu  is called Toranaga). There has also been a TV adaptation of the book in 1980, so this historical period, clearly presents a lot of interest to the public. 

  So it's only fair for games to try and portray these events and allow the player to feel part of them. With games, however, the player has a lot more control over events in comparison to a novel or a movie. In Paradox Interactive, the developers have tried to keep the narrative as close as possible to history, while allowing the player, at the same time, to take a few different avenues. So if a history lover plays the game, the decisions taken regarding strategy, will probably be quite true to the historical facts/events, however, if the game is played by someone who would like to explore the avenue of "what would happen if...", we could have a totally unusual story developing. This is where the pleasure and fascination lays with video games.

In the same way, real life historical characters are being portrayed in quite different ways, even when it comes to the artist's job. The same character mentioned above, Togukawa Ieyasu has got quite a few different interpretations in various games.


 While the real person looked something like this:

Image of Tokugawa Ieyasu on a Katana Tsuba (guard at the end of the grip of a bladed Katana Sword)

Drawing of Takugawa Ieyatsu in history books

Monument of Takugawa Ieyatsu

...in games, it was portrayed like this:

This is Takugawa in Sengoku Basara

Kung Fu Clean

Kung Fu Clean  - a game based on scrolling along 2 axes

The theme of this project was to research and come up with an idea for a game based on scrolling along 2 axes.  I was part of a team of 5, alongside Zoe Rice, Matthew Fenn, Tom Donachie and James Dyer.

We had a couple of meetings where we have discussed the classics in this type of game and decided that the ones that influenced us all, were the ones mentioned in the first slide listed below.

 Dariusz Jacob Boron, in his essay: "A short history of digital gamespace", talks about the games that allow the player to scroll along to axes and describes very well how this has improved gameplay and what this game space a is actually all about. He says that : "Gauntlet (1985) and SimCity (1989) permitted  scrolling  along  both the x and y axis on a two-dimensional  plane; players moved through puzzle  world with free rein over the flat plane of the perpendicularly  positioned  viewing screen.  Later versions of SimCity, rather  than giving the player a bird's-eye  view, evolved to provide an

isometric viewing  angle. The  combination of two axes  of movement  and a drawn

perspective  allowed  players in side-viewing  games such as Blades of Steel (1987)  and

its football  equivalents  to move from left to right, but also allowed  up and down

play. The  simple eight-button controller  sufficed  for these games  and many  of the

games to follow.  Chiefly,  the lelt hand controlled movement  while the right hand

controlled the action buttons to shoot,  jump, kick, etc."

As a group, we have chosen totally different examples of games using this particular game space, such as Sonic, Mario, Metroid and Metal slug. These are the games we have played and have influenced our future view on games in general

Just a few visual examples of some of the games based on scrolling along 2 axes

Just wanted to mention a few restrictions and opportunities that this type of game have encountered / produced.

Our game - very simple game mechanics: you need to get from A to B and score points. Because of the type of game space, where you can only move left - right ( or forward - backward) and jump or climb, it is pretty much self explanatory in regards to the game play. We have introduced however, on the y axis, drains to climb down into ( and collect extra bonus points - similar to Mario) and also trees, to climb up on ( that's where you need to jump from and break the drain cover in order to gain access to the drain itself and the bonus points). So we have used the y axis in all its expanse. :). The x axis was used in a normal way, starting the game from the left side of the screen (or starting point A) and moving along till you get to finishing point ( B), while trying to collect as many points as possible (points represented by pieces of litter collected, as this is a street cleaning game) and at the same time fighting off the litter creating "enemies" (pigeons, hobos). At the end of each level the player will have to fight the Big Boss which is a hobo with a shopping trolley. Weapons used by player will vary from broom, to squeegee, or trash picker).

This slide explains exactly the where and when, the action takes place, what its purpose is and who the characters are (and by this, I mean the enemies as well). The first level is set up in the day time in a park. Player will be able to chose one of four characters to play as, and depending on character chosen, the "weapons" will adapt. Also, the moves used when fighting will be specific for each character, as the names invoke famous martial artists. 

This is basic sample of the level concept. This was designed by James Dyer, and it shows the basic elements we wanted to include: we have litter, in the form of banana peels, we have a checkpoint in the form of the sidewalk lamp (which turns on once you have passed the checkpoint), we have a tree to climb, and an underground level to jump into, in order to collect extra bonus points/litter).

These are our characters ( designed by Tom Donachie). First one is Chuck, second is Jackie, third is called Jean Claude and the fourth one is Bruce. They all have different / specific kicks and punches in their arsenal, and at the beginning of the game, the player can chose which character to play as. Because the characters are based on martial artists, they will, of course, perform the trademark punches or kicks that define each one of them. :)

Not much more left to say about this slide. We have chosen simple, arcade style controls, as the game itself makes reference and intends to take us back to the arcade era of gaming.