Captain.Abrecan
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What I want to talk about is a demand for historically accurate swords in video games.
A lot of video games occur in a medieval-fantasy setting, and with that setting we get swords. Some swords have a practical design, for example the iron & steel swords in Morrowind. Diablo 2 also used historically accurate models for most of the swords.
Other designs are works of fantasy. The Master Sword from the Zelda game series is a beautiful fantasy sword, for instance. Swords in the Dragon Age series are unwieldy and impractical, in my opinion they are offensive in nature (in that they offend me). There should be a push for historically accurate swords, whose balance of mass mimics the Oakeshott Typology. Swords much like the ones sold by Albion would be preferable.
In Oakeshott’s ‘Records of The Medieval Sword’ (ISBN-13: 978-0851155661) we can see that Ewart spent most if his life carefully weighing and measuring many swords. The upper tolerable limit for the weight of a longsword is 4 pounds. The lower limit is 2.75. Hardly controversial, looking at dimensions of swords from private collections and museums reveals that the weights in Ewart’s book are conventional.
It seems then, that American reference for a sword has gone far off the beaten path.
I would like to see the weights of swords in upcoming games like Skyrim revised to match historically accurate blades. The Steel Longsword in Oblivion weighs 24 pounds (I think so, feather symbol?), which is complete tripe. Possibly the reason for this is the mutilation of sword forms through Hollywood and the Video Game Industry over the years. Many people might actually believe that 24 pounds makes sense for a longsword. These notions are horrifying to say the least, but people are entitled to their opinions.
There needs to be a return to the realistic, to the functional.
We can initially outline two of the largest problems with going in this direction. One is that it becomes harder to turn a sword into a artistic piece if it’s dimensions are constrained. The other is that without constraints, the swords mutate over time until they are completely fake in nature.
For an example of what I might want, YMMV, is seeing an Albion Regent or Albion Sempach equivalent in the next medieval-fantasy game. Actually, all of the swords should be modeled after Albion swords; but that is only my personal opinion.
What do you guys think? I really want to know, chances are most people haven’t noticed. But for me, this issue is pervasive; it gives me a nervous tick. I want to start a petition, or at least a formal letter of advisement to some developers.
A lot of video games occur in a medieval-fantasy setting, and with that setting we get swords. Some swords have a practical design, for example the iron & steel swords in Morrowind. Diablo 2 also used historically accurate models for most of the swords.
Other designs are works of fantasy. The Master Sword from the Zelda game series is a beautiful fantasy sword, for instance. Swords in the Dragon Age series are unwieldy and impractical, in my opinion they are offensive in nature (in that they offend me). There should be a push for historically accurate swords, whose balance of mass mimics the Oakeshott Typology. Swords much like the ones sold by Albion would be preferable.
In Oakeshott’s ‘Records of The Medieval Sword’ (ISBN-13: 978-0851155661) we can see that Ewart spent most if his life carefully weighing and measuring many swords. The upper tolerable limit for the weight of a longsword is 4 pounds. The lower limit is 2.75. Hardly controversial, looking at dimensions of swords from private collections and museums reveals that the weights in Ewart’s book are conventional.
It seems then, that American reference for a sword has gone far off the beaten path.
I would like to see the weights of swords in upcoming games like Skyrim revised to match historically accurate blades. The Steel Longsword in Oblivion weighs 24 pounds (I think so, feather symbol?), which is complete tripe. Possibly the reason for this is the mutilation of sword forms through Hollywood and the Video Game Industry over the years. Many people might actually believe that 24 pounds makes sense for a longsword. These notions are horrifying to say the least, but people are entitled to their opinions.
There needs to be a return to the realistic, to the functional.
We can initially outline two of the largest problems with going in this direction. One is that it becomes harder to turn a sword into a artistic piece if it’s dimensions are constrained. The other is that without constraints, the swords mutate over time until they are completely fake in nature.
For an example of what I might want, YMMV, is seeing an Albion Regent or Albion Sempach equivalent in the next medieval-fantasy game. Actually, all of the swords should be modeled after Albion swords; but that is only my personal opinion.
What do you guys think? I really want to know, chances are most people haven’t noticed. But for me, this issue is pervasive; it gives me a nervous tick. I want to start a petition, or at least a formal letter of advisement to some developers.