Hi! As I said in my previous post, I’m going to focus my research on one specific game and its mountains. I understand that this is such a “nothing to say” sentence, so I will try to explain what I want to convey with this research and what I want to prove.
The game I focused on is called Red Dead Redemption and there are two episodes of it. The first episode, which had been published in 2010, was interesting in itself, as nature, flora, and fauna were brilliantly elaborated. The second installment of 2018, however, took it up a few levels. The initial intention will therefore be to compare the environment of the mountains from these two games. Whether on the technical, since the games are 8 years apart, so on the visual side, since the map from the first game was taken over and greatly expanded in the second game.
Without confusing how the games connect, I’ll put it in simplistic terms. In the first part, I will focus on the map and mountains from the second game, which takes place between 1898 and 1907. In the second part, I will focus on the same but through the first game, which takes place between 1911 and 1914. I am interested in how the mountain locations have changed, either in technical or narrative terms. What I also want to prove is that the mountains make a very real impression in these games and that they leave something in every person who encountered it, even if it is only a virtual world.
I will intersperse all of my, let’s say, narrative with photos from the mountain locations of these games, the animals that live in these mountains, and I will also try to outline what the player can experience here. I’m not promising anything yet, but I plan to try for a video presentation as well. I will also use a virtual 3D map to show you the geography of the locations so that you have the best idea of what I am talking about.
Last but not least, I would like to point out how the video game world is perceived, to rebut some grievances. I would also like to mention a literary work that is often compared to a given video game, as this was also part of one of my schoolwork. Personally, I wonder how I will manage to achieve these chaotic plans, but without challenges, life would be boring.
Also, here are some pictures I’m planning to use…
SOURCES:
WELSH, TIMOTHY J. Mixed Realism: Videogames and the Violence of Fiction. University of Minnesota Press, 2016. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5749/j.ctt1j68mcs.
Humphreys, Sara. Manifest Destiny 2.0: Genre Trouble in Game Worlds. University of Nebraska Press, 2021. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv19vbgqf.
Humphreys, Sara. “Rejuvenating ‘Eternal Inequality’ on the Digital Frontiers of ‘Red Dead Redemption.’” Western American Literature 47, no. 2 (2012): 200–215. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43023003.
Red Dead Redemption. Windsor: Take-Two interactive, 2011.
Rockstar Games (Firm). 2018. Red Dead Redemption II.
Red Dead Redemption 2 – The Complete Official Guide. Piggyback, 2018.
Red Dead Redemption 2 3D Map by “v7x”
“Arthur Morgan’s Journal” – https://arthurmorganjournal.tumblr.com/tagged/arthur%20morgan%20journal
“Red Dead Wiki” – https://reddead.fandom.com/wiki/Red_Dead_Wiki
Rockstar Games (Firm),; Sony Interactive Entertainment America LLC. Publisher: New York, NY : Rockstar Games
One response to “The Redemption Mountains (Red Dead Journey, PART II)”
Good that seems like an achievable goal. The comparative analysis might prove to be telling a lot and even focusing on the narrative quality (on “how”) the mountains are narrated in the two games might reveal some hidden tendencies.
Among the sources, I would like to see more papers concerning space/narrative space in computer games or the notion of mapping and gaming but I think you are on the right track.