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ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Play and History: Authenticity and experience in virtual reconstructions and video gaming

Dogramacilar, Gozde
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1276998914

Abstract Details

2010, MS ARCH, University of Cincinnati, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning : Architecture.
Many academic virtual reconstructions of historical and archaeological sites in the present day exclude any portrayal of social context due in part to a concern regarding accuracy and authenticity and the possibility of misleading audiences in the simulation process. On the other hand, video games have adapted history as game settings for nearly twenty-eight years now, and have integrated social and cultural aspects. It is this attention to the socio-cultural details that helps make video games engaging and therefore popular. In this thesis, I will explore the issues in integrating cultural heritage with this popular new entertainment medium, in order to evaluate prospects for delivering historical knowledge about architecture and its social context to a broader audience. I will discuss the issue of authenticity versus experience of space and time in video games with historical settings, and explore their fundamental element of flow, through the analysis of Assassin’s Creed. The counterfactual feature of the game environment induced by the game engine allows multiple outcomes for the same scenario. Although these may all be different from the so-called actual history, they all provide the audience with the insights about the social context of the era. Architectural reconstructions appearing as verisimilitude will also enable the audience to explore the spatial and experiential qualities of historic places. In conclusion, I will prompt architectural historians to consider virtual reconstructions as a means to convey history and architecture along with dynamic aspects such as the cultural, economic, and social experience of historic places.
John Eliot Hancock, MARCH (Committee Chair)
Elizabeth Riorden, MARCH (Committee Member)
Benjamin Meyer (Committee Member)
103 p.
Architecture
play; history; historic visualization; virtual reconstruction; Assassin's Creed; video game

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Dogramacilar, G. (2010). Play and History: Authenticity and experience in virtual reconstructions and video gaming [Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1276998914

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Dogramacilar, Gozde. Play and History: Authenticity and experience in virtual reconstructions and video gaming. 2010. University of Cincinnati, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1276998914.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Dogramacilar, Gozde. "Play and History: Authenticity and experience in virtual reconstructions and video gaming." Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati, 2010. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1276998914

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin1276998914
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This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.