Exploring the archaeology in (and of) video games.
Over the past few months I have written a series of posts about the archaeology of the code of Colossal Cave Adventure, arguably the most influential text-based interactive computer game ever, […]
Heaven’s Vault is a new, archaeological digital game (available Spring 2019 from inkle Studios) that breaks many boundaries in how archaeology and archaeologists have been portrayed. In the game, players: …uncover […]
I have divided my conclusions into two parts. The first part interprets the data gathered on Colossal Cave Adventure and takes the long view on what makes this digital built […]
Introduction So far this case study has introduced the concept of code archaeology using the game Colossal Cave Adventure as its Gilgamesh. The code itself has undergone both stylometric and […]
People unfamiliar with my case for code-archaeology should start with this post, and then read Part 1 about my tools and methods used to achieve the results below. Introduction At […]
We did this to ourselves. Humanity’s core set of needs include: food, water, protection from the environment (i.e., clothing and/or shelter), survival of the species. A fifth core need must […]
Introduction Several dozen versions of the Ur-game of interactive fiction Colossal Cave Adventure (CCA) exist, created over the past 40 years by enthusiasts for the game. It served to reason that these […]
Introduction Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey continues the franchise’s deep dive into Antiquity, featuring over 60 hours (so far, for me) of deep play in the Greek world of the 5th century […]
Over the past few days (thanks to Peter Campbell) I have read about hyperobjects (Timothy Morton), manufactured/intentional landscapes (Edward Burtynsky), and archaeological drift (Þóra Pétursdóttir, Bjørnar Olsen), which have become […]
I was asked by an archaeology undergraduate student recently if a video game is from the past, present, or future when it is being investigated archaeologically. Archaeology does like to […]
Introduction In 2007, Dr. Dennis G. Jerz, Associate Professor of English (New Media Journalism) at Seton Hill University, recovered the original source code of Colossal Cave Adventure, the Ur-text of […]
SPECIAL GUEST POST! Nick Pearce is the Creative Director and founder of Modern Storyteller, which is deep in development of The Forgotten City. It’s both rare and welcome to hear from […]
I conducted the Legacy Hub Archaeological Project in between the release of No Man’s Sky v1.3 (Atlas Rises) and v1.5 (NEXT), documenting the abandoned player settlements and communication stations of […]
Thanks to a thought-provoking email from my friend and colleague Florence Smith Nicholls, I wanted to explore the ideas of mapping and colonialism in No Man’s Sky, something I had […]
Introduction The diverse archaeogaming community of practice shares one grand challenge that stands out over all others: publication. This brief post breaks the challenge down into three major points: 1) […]
Introduction Archaeology and archaeological missions are now part of No Man’s Sky in the version 1.5 “NEXT” update. Much like the Archaeology skill and mechanic in World of Warcraft’s “Cataclysm” […]
