JACKSON ROSE BLOG
J ROSE BLOG
Blog 1
In this unit, our class focused on Sid Meier’s Civilization VI. This game falls under the strategic category, and may be confusing if you are not used to playing games of this genre. Personally, I have not had much experience with these sorts of games, so it took me a little while to understand what the point of the game was along with how to actually play it. When I first downloaded the game, I tried to start a game immediately. Shortly after, I realized that it was going to be difficult to make it anywhere without a tutorial. I then went through the tutorial and took my time so I could try and understand how to make progress within the game instead of just jumping right in and getting nowhere. After the tutorial, I was still struggling, but I was beginning to understand it a bit better through a few failures and a few restarts.
The goal of this game is to become a world power that can sustain itself as well as continue to grow. To get to this point, there are a number of different ways to actually win the game as opposed to some video games where there is generally one method. Some of the focuses include cultures, developing technologies, and developing your military. In order to become a world power, you must develop your civilization through all of the components and options they give you.
Historically, this game is very relevant. There are many features that seem to be historically accurate. The first example is when it comes to negotiations with the leaders of different civilizations. You may be confronted by Teddy Roosevelt of America, Montezuma from the Aztec civilization, or even Gandhi from India. Each civilization also specializes in a certain industry or ability. Teddy Roosevelt and America, for instance, can offer a studio. Laurier and his country of Canada can offer an ice hockey rink. Another way that Civilization VI is historically accurate is the fact that you must unlock certain resources by finding an accurate way to create them. For example, wheat can be produced after you first decide to develop a farm. Gems can be discovered after you decide to mine. Additionally, if you become too trusting, the leader of a country may end your game by taking advantage of you and taking over everything you worked for. On the flip side, you can make strategic moves like leaders may have done in the past and over take other civilizations. I believe that Sid Meier’s Civilization IV is historically accurate in that sense.
Here at St. Bonaventure, I am a management major. After playing this game and acting as if I were leading a civilization, I noticed how management related to Sid Meier’s Civilization VI in a number of different ways. To begin, the manager of a company must analyze the external market and environment. This means they must understand how to enter certain areas of business and what may be required for their company to be successful. In parallel, the leader of a Civilization must analyze their location as well as the areas surrounding them. They must decide what areas and developments they want to pursue. `The manager of a company must lead and manage their employees efficiently and effectively. If the manager takes an approach that is too aggressive, it may not end well for the company. In Civilization VI, if you don’t lead the people and workers of your civilization correctly, it could result in the civilization collapsing. Finally, if a manager fails to negotiate properly or merge with other companies in the wrong way, it could lead to failure. In management, it is imperative that people in a management position think carefully about future objectives and goals for the company while being realistic. In Civilization VI, you, the leader of the civilization must carefully make decisions in order to do what's best for the people of your civilization. Sometimes, you may confront or be confronted by the leaders of other civilizations. You will have to make a decision depending on what can come out of the situation. If the leader of one civilization asks you to trust them and to have open borders, you must be smart about it because in many cases, you may be deceived and that civilization will overtake yours which will end your game.
All in all, this unit is a great starting point when it comes to history through gaming. Although this game is much different than any other game I have played, I learned a lot of new things and it made me think about the history involved in the game. With that being said, I am very excited about our future units and I am eager to apply the things I have learned into future games.
Blog 2: Assassin's Creed Odyssey
In our second unit this semester, we played Assassin’s Creed. Given the freedom to play any Assassin’s Creed, I chose Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. At the beginning of the game, the player is asked to select a character that they want to play with. Ultimately, you work your way up to becoming a spartan, and missions throughout the game occur in many different locations in Greece. The game gave the player options throughout which I found very interesting because certain choices may lead to different outcomes which made me really think about my decisions within the game.
Overall, I really enjoyed playing this game. As I have mentioned before, my video game experience is not very expansive, so I had never played any of the Assassin’s Creeds before this unit. I was very impressed with the game and experience and I would definitely recommend this to anyone who appreciates video games. Due to the fact that this was my first Assassin’s Creed, it took me a while to figure out who I chose to battle and how to actually beat them. I became frustrated at first, but after slowing down and focusing on certain strategies, I was able to start winning battles and progressing within the game. I was not aware of the amount of traveling that happens within the game so I became a bit impatient at times, but being able to ride the horse definitely made things much more manageable. I found it interesting how almost everything I did that NPC’s in town or around me saw, the word got out fast. For example, if I injured someone or killed the wrong person in a game, there were bounty hunters that were constantly looking for me. It made me think about my actions and added an element of fear that I haven’t had in many other games and I really enjoyed that aspect of the game.
When it comes to the historical accuracy of the game, I think some aspects are much more realistic than others. To begin, the map was extremely detailed. Many of the cities were depicted accurately which allowed me to sort of see what certain cities and towns looked like. Athens, for example, looked realistic to me, and it was an awesome experience traveling through it and getting an idea of what it used to look like back in that day. Additionally, non playable characters, also known as NPC’s, seemed to be accurate as well. Generally, when I came across an NPC in the game, they were working jobs or acting as if they would’ve in that time period and I thought that was very cool. After researching previous games in the AC franchise, other games focused on historical accuracy much more than this game. In this game, it involved Ancient Greek myths that many people nowadays believe to be fictional. With that being said, the makers of Assassin’s Creed focused on those myths more than things that may be scientifically proven, but it still allowed me to enjoy the game and learn more about many different things involved with Ancient Greece.
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Assassin’s Creed relates to management in many ways. To begin, I personally think the dialogue in this game could be similar to a manager making decisions in the business world. In many cases, when you and another character are having a conversation, you are forced to make a decision on what to say. In many cases, your choice of words can lead to different outcomes. As a manager, you must be able to communicate efficiently and effectively. If a manager lacks communication skills and is not sociable, it can be detrimental to their success. In parallel, within the game, if you don’t say the right things, it can put you in uncomfortable positions that could have easily been avoided. Another way that Assassin’s Creed relates to management can be managing certain battles. For example, you must be strategic in who you fight and how you fight them. If you decide to fight a max level, it will be extremely difficult and if you aren’t experienced enough, it will be very challenging to win that fight. Similarly, in management, it is imperative that managers are strategic with what obstacles or challenges they handle, because if they decide to tackle an issue that is too difficult with lack of experience, it can be costly in the end.
Overall, I really enjoyed playing Assassin’s Creed. While it was a video game that I was not familiar with, I thoroughly enjoyed it and I will most definitely play other AC games in the future. While Odyssey lacked historical accuracy, it offered many other things that improved the games value, and I definitely recommend this game to other people.
Blog 3
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In this unit, we played another turn-based, strategical game called Empire: Total War. The Total War series is fairly expansive, and this game is the 5th different installment. The developer of this game is Creative Assembly, and the publisher is SEGA. Empire: Total War is the first game of the series that includes participation in maritime or naval battles. When it comes to this series and the Civilization series, I found this one to be much more interesting and easier to understand.
To begin, the setting of the game is during the 18th century. In this game, the player uses strategic methods in order to become a dominant nation or region. The player can explore, go into battle, deal with politics, handle religion, and much more. There are 11 options when it comes to which country or region you want to be. When it comes to certain battles like real-time land and naval battles, you can play them, or you can simulate them which allows the player to finish the game faster, or take their time and implement any strategies that they may want to try. I enjoyed playing this game much more than Civilization VI due to the fact that I played my turns how I wanted, then I actually got to participate in the battles. I could make the decision whether to surrender or follow through with the battle. The game is also realistic in the sense that if you become overconfident and start battling another nation or nations without waiting for allies of your own, or waiting until you have enough resources to move forward, it will generally end in defeat and it could be detrimental to any progress that you have made since the beginning.
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While playing the game in-class, I was playing as France, and Spain was my ally. It came to a point where we were confronted and challenged by the Ottoman Empire to a maritime battle. I hadn’t participated in a battle yet, so it was quite difficult but I eventually got the hang of it. I made a big mistake at the beginning unfortunately. I did not wait for the Spanish ships to show up and help me, so ultimately it was a one versus three. I did significant damage to the other ships, but they had much more power than me and I ultimately ended up losing the battle. I quickly learned that I must be smart, and that the game is very realistic in the sense that lack of preparation makes it extremely difficult to succeed.
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When it comes to historical accuracy, I believe that this game is a much more realistic turn-based game, and I also believe that it has much more to offer than many other games we have played so far. A very important reason that I believe this is because it is hands-on and gives players the opportunity to win or lose all based on their tactics and strategies. In Civilization VI, I feel like I could get away with guessing at times, but in Empire, the battles ensure that players must play smart or the game will make you pay. Similar to real life, if you go into battle unprepared, the outcome will generally be in favor of the opposition.
Empire: Total War can relate to management in many ways. Similar to turn-based video games we have already played, as the leader of an alliance or even country, decisions must be thoroughly planned and prepared for because if they aren’t, it will be very hard to make any progress towards success. In the managerial world, leaders and managers must make educated decisions involving realistic strategies. If managers make a decision that they don’t know enough about, or if they pursue a strategy that is unrealistic, more often than not, it will end in a loss of something. Managers must know the strengths and weaknesses of their employees. In Empire: Total War, if you aren’t aware of what your country is capable of, certain decisions can put you at a disadvantage and may ultimately ruin your game.
In conclusion, we played another turn-based, strategical game called Empire: Total War. The Total War series is fairly expansive, and this game is the 5th different installment. The developer of this game is Creative Assembly, and the publisher is SEGA. Empire: Total War is the first game of the series that includes maritime or naval battles. When it comes to this series and the Civilization series, I found this one to be much more interesting and easier to understand. I would highly recommend this game to people that I know because it allows you to learn a lot while also playing a game and giving the player a sort of inclusive experience.
Blog 4: Tropico 6
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In this portion of class, we were required to play either Tropico 5 or Tropico 6. I ended up selecting Tropico 6 and I am happy with that decision. Honestly, I found the previous games we played like Civilization VI and Empire Total War to be quite difficult, but I believe that they made me appreciate this game much more. I found this game to be much more user friendly, with more descriptive buttons at the bottom that allowed me to better understand what I was actually doing.
To begin, I started off with the tutorial because I had no previous experience and wanted to play the game correctly. The tutorial was very informative and simple. I don’t know what was so difficult with the previous games we played, but I felt much more comfortable in this game which made it much more enjoyable. When I started the game, I was slow at first, but I ended up getting the hang of it fairly quickly. I will not take you through every move I made in the game because that would take too long, but I will mention some of the key situations that I ended up being presented with. I selected the map that was called Ballgame. It is a relatively flat, green and medium sized map, so I figured it would suit my playing ability the best. I started off by constructing a ranch, a fisherman’s wharf, a Teamster’s building, and a grocery store. This allowed me to start making money when I was waiting for my town to grow. The crown was pleased overall as I kept completing trade routes and adding new licenses. Eventually, more people started moving in and migrating, so I built additional bunk houses and built entertainment sites so there were places for all of them to work. I got nervous when I saw that there were pirates approaching, so I built two forts that protected all of my buildings and resources. The pirates ended up destroying my rum distillery, but that was it. After figuring out the correct settings for my forts, the pirates were no longer a huge threat to my town. Overall, I think I did okay for being a new player and this game was much easier for me to understand.
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When it comes to management, this game, similar to the other games we played in class, can relate to management in a number of different ways. To begin, running a town is no simple task, and the president must make the correct decisions that allow for growth and happiness. Being a manager is similar in many ways because they must take every choice and consider every outcome to ensure that people are able to be successful while still setting themselves up for growth and maximizing their potential. Tropico also presented many challenges that the player had to analyze and make the right decision on. These decisions could be detrimental, or they could make some people upset, but it may have been the best decision for the town. Managers are faced with difficult situations quite frequently, and although it may be difficult, they need to make decisions that will be best for their company in the long run. There is almost never full agreement and a full community of people that are in favor of one political party, but the president of a country must make the best effort to make their citizens happy. Similar to employees and how they may view their managers, the manager must treat everyone equally whether people support them or not, and they must make decisions based on what is best for the company and employees. Overall, many managerial factors are evident in Tropico and it was intriguing the compare the two things.
In this portion of class, we were required to play either Tropico 5 or Tropico 6. In the end, I selected Tropico 6 and I am happy with that decision. Honestly, I found the previous games we played like Civilization VI and Empire Total War to be quite difficult, but I believe that they made me appreciate this game much more. I found this game to be much more user friendly, with more descriptive buttons at the bottom that allowed me to better understand what I was actually doing. This was my favorite game that we played this semester by far, and I am happy that we got the chance to play it.
Final Blog
Throughout the semester, we played a variety of different games, studied them and their historical accuracy, researched a game of our choice, and also “created” a video game idea of our own that could relate to any historical topic. This course helped me appreciate video games as well as taught me so much more about history and its relation to games that I grew up playing. Our individual presentations included choosing a game that had a historical background, and ultimately seeing if it was accurate. I never knew that so many different video games were based on true events and important parts of history.
To begin, we studied and played four different games throughout the semester. Those games were Sid Meyer’s Civilization 6, Assassins Creed, Empire Total War and Tropico 6. I was not experienced in the turn-based video game genre, but I actually really enjoyed them. I enjoyed the pace of play as well as the fact that there were so many different ways to win the games. When it came to the turn-based games, they were relatively historically accurate in the sense that certain decisions you made could take down a number of different paths, and many of the actions in the games were things that could’ve actually happened in real life. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey was an open world game which is much different than the other games that we had played. The game was set in Greece and presented different missions to complete that ultimately led you to beat the game. This was my favorite game that I played throughout the semester because I have experience with games like this and I felt much more comfortable playing it because I felt like I had a better idea of what I was trying to accomplish. In addition to those games, we also had a class where we all brought our own individual consoles and played Call of Duty WWII zombies. In the zombies game mode, players try to survive as long as possible. Zombies come in waves and as new waves come, the zombies become stronger and there are more of them. You can play alone, online, or even local split screen. That was easily my favorite class period of the semester because it was simply trying to last as long as possible without having to worry about beating the game.
For our individual research project, we were provided with a list of games to play and research. I selected Call of Duty WWII. The project asked us to figure out what the game was based off of, who developed the game, the franchise, and whether it could be used for educational purposes. I have grown up playing games in the Call of Duty franchise and given the fact that I hadn’t played this game yet, selecting this game was a no brainer. Overall, I really enjoyed the game, and it was actually very historically accurate. I decided that it probably wouldn’t be the best game for the classroom due to the violence and gore, but it could be a game that people could learn a lot from.
Our group video game project was a very cool experience. Our group’s video game idea was about lacrosse and the roots of the game. We titled it “The Creator’s Game” because that is what the Native Americans who invented the sport called it. In the Native American culture, lacrosse is taken very seriously and we wanted our classmates to learn about how it started and what it means in addition to why it is so important to us. The game consists of a character who is preparing for his state championship lacrosse game. He is very nervous and how dad gives him a book that takes him back in time throughout different eras of lacrosse. The first era will teach the player fundamental controls that will help the player familiarize themselves with the main aspect of the game. As the player progresses through different eras, the player will be able to learn new moves and new ways to play. The last era will be modern day and you will play as the main character in the state championship game. If you win the game, then the game will be considered beaten. Our group also thought about different multiplayer modes like online games and local games. Recently, our group was notified that through a vote, our classmates decided that they would like to play our game, and it was exciting to see that people may want to learn more about lacrosse and how important it truly is.
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This class was unlike any class I have ever taken, but I am fortunate for the opportunity to take it. I feel that I actually learned more about history in this class than the standard history class. I was able to sort of “live through” the history in a way. It was awesome being able to see Greece in Assassin’s Creed and fight different battles in WWII. I know that playing games will not give me the full experience, but I think I was able to absorb more information playing the game, then reading from a powerpoint or a book. I will most definitely recommend this course to future students, and I hope that people are able to experience learning about history through video games. Many people play video games, but not many take the history of the video game into consideration.
In conclusion, throughout the semester, we played a variety of different games, studied them and their historical accuracy, researched a game of our choice, and also “created” a video game idea of our own that could relate to any historical topic. This course helped me appreciate video games as well as taught me so much more about history and its relation to games that I grew up playing. Our individual presentations included choosing a game that had a historical background, and ultimately seeing if it was accurate. I never knew that so many different video games were based on true events and important parts of history.
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