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History in computer games: case study on "Valiant Hearts: The Great War"
Šindelář, Jakub ; Matějka, Ondřej (advisor) ; Kozák, Kryštof (referee)
This thesis is a case study analysis of the visualization of history in computer games. The analyzed game, Valiant Hearts: The Great War, was published by the French company Ubisoft in 2014. The game is set in The First World War and was developed in cooperation with The Centenary Parnership Proram. The main goals of the thesis are following: First, determine if the vision of history in the game reflects the current paradigms of French historiography of The First World War. Second, to identify and to interpret particularities and deformations in the way the game recreates history. The first, theoretical chapter presents the phenomenon of The First World War in the French context, the study of computer games and the methodology of the analysis. For the analysis I have created my own methodology which combines various approaches used elsewhere. Chapter 2 contains the analysis, which is further structured into the analysis of the story from the perspective of the main characters and locations (2.1), analysis of the object inventory and the in game miniencyclopedia (2.2), and the analysis of game's style and form -the graphic and audio style, along with the issue of player freedom (2.3). For greater clarity, the parts of the game are referred to through it's subchapters. The results of the analysis...
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Deployments of World War I History in the Medium of Video Games
Šindelář, Jakub ; Matějka, Ondřej (advisor) ; Kasáková, Zuzana (referee)
The thesis is a comparative case study, that applies the typology of deployments of history of S. A. Metzger and R. J. Paxton on the World War I video games Battlefield 1 and Valiant Hearts. The objective of the thesis is to compare the studied games and to evaluate the usefulness and limitations of the applied typology as an analytical tool. A. Chapman's analytical framework for the formal analysis of historical video games is used as a methodological guideline. The "texts" of the video games serve as the main data source, complemented by the use of Let's Play videos, that allow a deeper level of analysis in certain areas and offer a glimpse of how historical representations and narratives are being consumed. Results show that both games present a rich and critical view of the World War I history and that they offer space for representation of marginalized groups. The game Valiant Hearts, unlike the game Battlefield 1, has a strong anti-war message and tells its story from a transnational perspective, emphasizing the Franco-German reconciliation. The game Battlefield 1 celebrates the combat heroism of the soldiers of individual nations and avoids completely the portrayal of civilians and the impact of the war on their lives. The World War I in this game is likened to the Second World War and it...
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History in computer games: case study on "Valiant Hearts: The Great War"
Šindelář, Jakub ; Matějka, Ondřej (advisor) ; Kozák, Kryštof (referee)
This thesis is a case study analysis of the visualization of history in computer games. The analyzed game, Valiant Hearts: The Great War, was published by the French company Ubisoft in 2014. The game is set in The First World War and was developed in cooperation with The Centenary Parnership Proram. The main goals of the thesis are following: First, determine if the vision of history in the game reflects the current paradigms of French historiography of The First World War. Second, to identify and to interpret particularities and deformations in the way the game recreates history. The first, theoretical chapter presents the phenomenon of The First World War in the French context, the study of computer games and the methodology of the analysis. For the analysis I have created my own methodology which combines various approaches used elsewhere. Chapter 2 contains the analysis, which is further structured into the analysis of the story from the perspective of the main characters and locations (2.1), analysis of the object inventory and the in game miniencyclopedia (2.2), and the analysis of game's style and form -the graphic and audio style, along with the issue of player freedom (2.3). For greater clarity, the parts of the game are referred to through it's subchapters. The results of the analysis...
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