Is kcd EDUCATIONAL?

[Charlie]

I've been playing kcd for a while now, and I've been thinking recently. Is this a good source for learning about the middle ages? I know some things are off, but can you actually learn what it was like? Im not really talking about the in game encyclopedia, can you learn something just by playing the game?

[MacSuibhne]

Well the devs did an immense amount of research into combat, clothing, castles, villages, daily life, and so forth. Most of the main characters are based on real historical figures.

But it is a game... it's not a reenactment.

[DargonBlak]

Sir Radzig, Rattay, the Silver Mines, and the basis of the conflict (the King Stuff), are based on real people, real places and real events.

So, i suppose it could be considered a "Historical Fiction", like a movie made for entertainment. Realism of clothing, housing, combat, etc., is not required, but helps.

[Judeo-communism]

It's not 100% historical, but loosely accurate. Radzig historically was not such a decent dude IRL, and Hans Capon's poor relationship with Hanush was actually far more extenuated as well. It's fun to read up on them, and the in-game library does a decent job at explaining the differences between the game and the factual people.

[redsidhe]

How you play determines how educational. If you read all the books, texts, and read all the notes about things you can learn a lot. If you just cancel or speed through it all and don't read the glossary info then you will not learn much.

[Humpenstilzchen]

I would say yes. It is the closest and most accurate view into a medievil world we ever had the pleasure of experiencing.
It is especially interesting for Czech and us German people because they even use all kinds of words of this time and age ranging from locations, titles, language of the poor and the nobles, cursewords ect, which is realistic because Czech and Germans lived side by side there. Unfortunately this can´t be fully translated into english.

One example: Yesterday I was just passing through the upper area of Rattay where the tournaments are being held and the guy who announces the fights announced a guy and said he is from Frankfurt, a real city here in Germany that already existed in this age which is located only 70km next to where I come from.

The amount of effort that went into little details is astonishing.

[Azor]

You should always be cautious to call a game educational. Compromises must always be made to balance fun and historical accuracy, regardless of game, by how much depending on the culture of the dev team. it's detailed and based on real historical references but that much can be said about any historical games.

And how pissed you get depends on your beliefs plus the extent your knowledge of real history lmao

[wjpower2003]

Originally posted by azor:

You should always be cautious to call a game educational. Compromises must always be made to balance fun and historical accuracy, regardless of game, by how much depending on the culture of the dev team. it's detailed and based on real historical references but that much can be said about any historical games.

And how pissed you get depends on your beliefs plus the extent your knowledge of real history lmao

This does seem to ring true. I've read online critiques of KCD by people knowledgeable in Czech history who claim that the historical slant of the game seems to be based on the particular modern, cultural and political preferences of the devs.

These criticisms however seem to be levied more at the inaccurate depictions of certain characters such as Radzig, but some artistic license had to be made in order to tell a story, which, as so many critics on this forum have stated, is why this game is more of an interactive story rather than an historical RPG.

[Humpenstilzchen]

Yea, I wouldn´t expect 100% accuracy and realism in everything, but it is still the closest you can get in a game.

[Al1X1RO]

Historical fiction. The larger history is correct, including the sack of Skalitz and the existence of the main characters in the story. If you read the entries you get a really nice history lesson.

Henry is fictional. The quest stories are fictional. Many of the detailed actions of the historical characters are fictional.

[MF]

If you want to see how good and easy we have it in 2022, then yes this game is very educational.

[Charlie]

Originally posted by MF:

If you want to see how good and easy we have it in 2022, then yes this game is very educational.

It's 2023 though