The Middle Ages in Modern Games – Conference Programme 2024

We’re excited to welcome everyone to the fifth Middle Ages in Modern Games Asynchronous Conference on 4-7 June. This event consists of four days of written papers and videos addressing any aspects of the Middle Ages or medievalism in games of all sorts. All of these papers will be released from our website at the times listed in the programme below (all times UTC+1). We hope you can join us!

The Middle Ages in Modern Games

Asynchronous Conference: Cooperation and Conflict

https://middleagesinmoderngames.net/

Tuesday 4 June – Friday 7 June 2024

Conference Programme – all times UTC+1

Tuesday 4 June

16:00: Field of Glory Day 2024

Claire Kennan and Robert Houghton discuss the Historical Context of Field of Glory: Kingdoms

Alberto Casulini and Neil McKenna showcase gameplay strategies and highlight features

Wednesday 5 June

Opening Address – 9:00

•9:00: Markus Mindrebø (University of Stavanger)

First Keynote – 12:00

•12:00: Medieval Borders in the Context of Video Games – Juan Francisco Jiménez Alcázar (Universidad de Murcia)

Sponsored Session: Field of Glory: Kingdoms – 15:00

•15:00: More than a Wargame: Introducing Field of Glory: Kingdoms

•15:15: The Art of Field of Glory: Kingdoms

•15:30: Making Friends and Enemies: Interpersonal and International Relations in Field of Glory: Kingdoms

•15:45: Alliances, Schemes and Betrayals: Multiplayer Cooperation and Conflict in Field of Glory: Kingdoms

Empathy and Roleplay– 18:00

•18:00: Binary Dynamics in A Plague Tale: Innocence – Jéssica Iolanda Costa Bispo(Nova University of Lisbon)

•18:15: Modeling Medieval Mentalities – Some Promising Trends in Historical Games – Adam Bierstedt (Ludohistory)

•18:30: A Collaborative Crime Against Humanity: Creating the Siege and Sack of Constantinople in The Remaking of the Medieval World, 1204 – John Giebfried (University of Vienna)

•18:45: How Information Moves: Character Networks in Role-playing Games – James Baillie (Austrian Academy of Sciences)

Warfare and Violence – 21:00

•21:00: Warriors of the Virtual Past: Unravelling Historical Conflicts in Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla – Enrique Torres-Hergueta (University of Seville)

•21:15: The Iberian struggle as a structuralist representation of the Reconquista in Crusader Kings III – Arthur Antônio Soares de Oliveira (Federal University of Espírito Santo)

•21:30: From History to Fantasy: Exploring the Dynamics of Medieval Warfare in Gaming – Johansen Quijano (Tarrant County College)

Thursday 6 June

Culture, Chronology and Fantasy – 9:00

•9:00: For the Divines, the Emperor, and the Tribunal: East-West Cultural Cooperation and Conflict in The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind – Pratama Wirya Atmaja* Andreas Nugroho Sihananto, and M. Afdal Susilo Aji (University of Pembangunan Nasional “Veteran” Jawa Timur)

•9:15: Palimpsestic Fantoms in Assassin’s Creed: Revelation — A Reading on cooperation and conflict through encounters between Early Modernity and Medievalism – Yujia (Flavia) Jin (University of Glasgow)

•9:30: Analyzing the Grimdark Neomedieval Chronotope in The Witcher Game Series – Homeira Baghbanmoshiri (Kobe University)

Game Development – 12:00

•12:00: Fall of Gelgel Empire: Root of Bali’s Warring Era in Fall of Bali – Muhammad Abdul Karim (Sengkala Dev)

•12:15: Legal Disputes as a Game Mechanism in The Knight & the Maiden – Andreas Kjeldsen (Stark Raving Sane Games)

•12:30: Virtù, Humours, and the psychology of the renaissance soldier: Modelling decision-making in skirmishes through Force of Virtue – Samuel Gassman (Masterstroke Games)

Aesthetics – 15:00

•15:00: Fables of Friendship and Fury: How Tails of Iron and Inkulinati Explore Cooperation and Conflict Through Medievalist Aesthetics – Baykar Demir (Istanbul University)

•15:15: Cognitive-Visual Reasoning of Medieval Space in Modern Video Games – Emilija Vuković (University of Belgrade)

•15:30: The Sword as Symbol of Chivalry in The Witcher 3 – Katie Vernon (University of York)

•15:45: Cooperation, conflict, and more-than-human agencies in medieval games – Vinicius Marino Carvalho (State University of Campinas)

Interplayer Conflict and Cooperation – 18:00

•18:00: The Group Over the Self or Vice-Versa: How Hunting Monsters Reflects the Spirit of Cooperation and Conflict from the Middle Ages – Johansen Quijano (Tarrant County College)

•18:15: Survival Strategies in LARPs: Conflict or Cooperation? – Anastasija Ropa (Latvian Academy of Sport Education) and Edgar Rops (Independent Scholar)

•18:30: Feudalism and Intercommunity Feuds: A look at the rivalry between the Overwatch and Valorant Community – Shashvat Singh (Uppsala University)

Art History and Historiography – 21:00

•21:00: Renaissance Magic Against a Medieval World: An Art-Historical Reading of Elden Ring’s Raya Lucaria Academy – Mikael D. Sebag (University of California, Irvine)

•21:15: History is Written by the House Leader: Perspectivism in Fire Emblem: Three Houses – Quinn Bouabsa-Marriott (University of St Andrews)

•21:30: Nobunaga’s Ambition and contemporary Japan: History of medieval historiography, medievalism, and historical subcultures – Hirohito Tsuji (University of East Anglia)

Friday 7 June

Il Medioevo nei Giochi Moderni – Italian Perspectives – 9:00

•9:00: World of Warcraft, l’evoluzione di un MOORPG dal sapore medievale – Luigi D’Anto’

•9:15: Conflitto e Cooperazione negli Imperi Romani, Occidentale e Orientale, in Attila: Total War – Simone Divincenzo (University of Genoa)

•9:30: Alleanze e intrighi: la diplomazia in Age of Empires II – Simone Vitolo (University of Turin)

•9:45: Beyond the Battlefield: medieval war and RTS games – Simone Fleres

Rebellion, Networks and Law – 12:00

•12:00: Beyond Feudalism: how modern games can handle internecine conflicts in early medieval polities – Arturo Mariano Iannace (IMT School for Advanced Studies, Lucca)

•12:15: Relationships in crisis: Visualising and analysing the breakdown of medieval aristocratic networks with Crusader Kings – Markus Mindrebø (University of Stavanger)

•12:30: Law as Violence: Langobard Laws & Tabletop Roleplay Games – Thom Gobbitt (Austrian Academy of Sciences)

Inclusivity, Exclusion and Dehumanisation – 15:00

•15:00: Returning to an Imagined Past: How Game Mods Reinforce Anachronistic Medieval Fantasy – Blair Apgar (Elon University)

•15:15: The ‘Playersexuality’ Debate: Love, Romance, Identity, and Player Perceptions of Baldur’s Gate 3 and the Dragon Age Series – Christine Tomlinson (University of California, Irvine & University of Southern Denmark)

•15:30: Bandits and thieves in RPGs : dehumanization and heroification of the criminal – Albert Leparc (Paris-Sorbonne University)

•15:45: Who is the Real Enemy? The Races of Elves and Giants in God of War (2018) – Renata Leśniakiewicz-Drzymała(Jagiellonian University, Kraków)

Second Keynote – 18:00

•18:00: The Sonic Environments of Medieval(ist) Games – Karen Cook (University of Hartford)

Closing Remarks: Five Years of the Middle Ages in Modern Games – 21:00

•Robert Houghton (University of Winchester)