games with Christian symbols

[Mclaneinc]

Let's tread carefully here, it's gone from religious shapes in games into just talking religion, a subject that is a known no no.

 

Just saying, be careful.. It's an emotive subject..

[Irgendwer]

6 hours ago, _The Doctor__ said:

by themselves or itself  a candle may just be a candle,

Candle? Yes, @candle!

So all software running on his hardware (e.g. U1MB) is praised!

No wonder the heretic @xxl started this thread!

 

???

[xxl]

1 hour ago, Mclaneinc said:

Let's tread carefully here, it's gone from religious shapes in games into just talking religion, a subject that is a known no no.

 

Just saying, be careful.. It's an emotive subject..

 

 

there is a great idea of using elements and in the last post even an idea of a game based on such an element (I just don't know if the range of this symbolism isn't too small - maybe it is completely unrecognizable in another part of the world so building a game on it would be a mistake because it will be incomprehensible).

 

If this outrages you then just follow your own advice from post 11

 

 

Furthermore... perhaps an inventory of special weapons could be created - why not?

 

 

32 minutes ago, Irgendwer said:

Candle? Yes, @candle!

 

In pop culture we know silver bullets or a wooden stake (made of aspen) to fight werewolves, in Christian culture we also have appropriate artifacts to fight the elements of nature, for example a "gromnica" (such a candle is only much thicker;) to ward off wolves - we know it from the feast of the "Presentation of the Lord".

 

 

 

 

Edited January 8, 2022 by xxl

[_The Doctor__]

1 hour ago, Irgendwer said:

Candle? Yes, @candle!

So all software running on his hardware (e.g. U1MB) is praised!

No wonder the heretic @xxl started this thread!

 

???

ah but he's not a heretic, he can be quite brilliant, thoughtful, and is on a journey as we share all manner of information and games, who knows what comes of such exchanges. Only good I would think.

[Mclaneinc]

2 hours ago, xxl said:

 

there is a great idea of using elements and in the last post even an idea of a game based on such an element (I just don't know if the range of this symbolism isn't too small - maybe it is completely unrecognizable in another part of the world so building a game on it would be a mistake because it will be incomprehensible).

 

If this outrages you then just follow your own advice from post 11

 

 

No outrage here, just looking to see if it leads to any creativity Atari wise, hence I drop in and out of the thread. As for making a game about it being a mistake, I don't agree, other people have made games about it, it's down to the dev to realise the depth of the subject and to be careful. There are taboo subjects, but this does not have to be one.

[ivop]

4 hours ago, xxl said:

I just don't know if the range of this symbolism isn't too small - maybe it is completely unrecognizable in another part of the world so building a game on it would be a mistake because it will be incomprehensible

So what? I don't understand M.U.L.E.

 

 

Edit: or turn it into building a Christmas tree and call it Y.U.L.E.

Edited January 8, 2022 by ivop

[carlsson]

Before Christmas, I toyed with the idea to construct a board game about the nativity scene. Apparently there are a few trivial ones, but none that seems to add much complexity to the game.

 

I might as well design it as a computer strategy game, just need to figure out the mechanics and which roles the player should take and which characters should be NPCs. We have Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, the Magi/Kings (which may be 3 or more), all the animals and so on.

 

Scientifically, there was a comet passing Earth in 5 BC that may have been the "star of Bethlehem" so another interesting idea is to control the comet when it should appear, at what speed and direction it should move to guide the Magi to the right place.

 

I suppose the biggest challenge would how to make a such game without making it appear too religious...

[xxl]

very good observation with the star of Bethlehem - I wonder if there are games with that element.

 

Whereas there are stories more and less suitable for a foundation for a game.... seems to me a very good one is the story of the journey through the circles of Hell (Divina Commedia - on PS3 there is a game based on it) - Here I see a single screen adventure like TheGoonies....

[flashjazzcat]

On 1/8/2022 at 1:30 PM, Irgendwer said:

So all software running on his hardware (e.g. U1MB) is praised!

So it bloody well should be, since it is divine and miraculous. I looked at it, and I saw that it was good.

[Mclaneinc]

Lol..

 

As for making a game, of course if its subject matter is religion then you don't need to shy away from it being too religious, just make sure it's not attacking a player whose views may differ, ie make sure it's fun...

 

You can't really remove religion from a game, I mean, if you remove churches then where are you going to save your game in the average RPG

 

Faith in general is the main ingredient in many games, it may be a different type of faith, but the message is the same, having a firm belief in something. Nothing wrong with that, it's how you apply it that can cause issues..

[ivop]

2 hours ago, Mclaneinc said:

I mean, if you remove churches then where are you going to save your game in the average RPG

LOL Good point.

 

There have been controversial games. Like Carmageddon, some WWII strategy games or FPS where you could play the Germans (and win), COD:MW (I believe) had a mission where you played of group a terrorists and had to kill as many people as possible on an airport, and more and more.

 

 

Edit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_controversial_video_games

Edited January 9, 2022 by ivop

[Mclaneinc]

Yes, I've played that very mission at the Airport in COD, it felt really odd at the time and these days I doubt it would be the sort of thing to include in a game. The wish to make games more 'real life' has its good and bad points, I've been witness to some 'real life' horrendous events, extreme act's of violence supposedly in the name of religion, but the truth was that it was about power and territory (the joys of coming from Belfast at the height of the troubles). These are not things for use in games, seeing someone knee capped from 3ft away and seeing it in a game are very different but either way NOT good viewing for anyone.

[MrTrust]

Not sure about the Atari version's graphics, but at least some versions of Saracen have the Apostles' Cross.  Given the context of the Crusades in which it is set, the symbolism may have actually been intentional.

 

I'm also curious about the purpose of looking for the symbols.  I think it's interesting, but ultimately, they aren't in any context that will give them meaning.

[xxl]

10 hours ago, Mclaneinc said:

just make sure it's not attacking a player whose views may differ, ie make sure it's fun...

I get the feeling you don't read what I write. I'm not interested that someone might feel appalled by decorating an "Easter palm" or participating in a journey through the "circles of hell" described in a book from the 13th century (I think it was the 13th). I'm hoping that some more interesting game themes will emerge as the thread progresses.

 

6 hours ago, Mclaneinc said:

Yes, I've played that very mission at the Airport in COD, it felt really odd at the time and these days

I am amused by the comparison to games with terrorists, if a game on Atari was to be based on such a theme in modern times, you must know that the symbolism can vary, sometimes surprisingly. In some places it seems that a crayon can be considered a weapon, there are known cases of cultures in which for acts of terror men take out crayons and draw on asphalt roads. 

 

4 hours ago, MrTrust said:

I'm also curious about the purpose of looking for the symbols.

I am interested in how deeply such symbolism has penetrated pop culture

[MrTrust]

14 minutes ago, xxl said:

I am interested in how deeply such symbolism has penetrated pop culture

 

Interesting.  Of course, as others have brought up, the trouble with identifying that is all the retconning of symbols.

 

Perfect example would be the Petrine (upside-down) Cross.  If you're Catholic, it's a symbol of profound reverence.  If you're an edgy metal band (or a certain kind of Protestant), it's an anti-Christian symbol.  Then again, at least in America, your average Catholic sitting in the pew on Christmas and Easter probably isn't aware of or interested in the symbol or the tradition behind it anyway, so in what sense can it be said to recognizably Christian?

 

You'll notice that nearly 100% of the examples here are crosses, and almost always used as a grave marker.  Again, just speaking from an American perspective, it's actually enshrined in Supreme Court case law that this is not a religious symbol, but a generic symbol of death, just because if its ubiquity. Which, sure, that's the symbol penetrating popular culture.  You'd expect that from systems where all the games were made in countries that were, at least at the time, nearly unanimously Christian in some sense, and definitely unanimously mortal.

 

I'd actually expect you'd find more explicitly religious symbolism in more modern games, as Western societies become less Christian, things like the Chi Rho become more "exotic" and "cool" to put in your historical game to show how "authentic" it is.  Almost all explicitly Christian video games of the era you're talking about were based on Old Testament stories, which of course don't contain any Christian particulars.

 

What I find interesting is all the Japanese games from the 80s and 90s that had Bibles and Rosaries in them as usable items.  Often, these were censored when the games were localized in Western countries.  Chalk it up to the Japanese not understanding their significance and the localizers knowing how many Christians will be rubbed the wrong way by certain Christian symbols, andn certain contexts.  If expect those are the kind of places you'll find more of what you're looking for.

[xxl]

5 hours ago, MrTrust said:

Interesting...

I'm not interested in interpreting the symbolism, just qualifying the symbolism. If such inverted cross is identified with widely understood Christianity then ok.
And you are right about recognizability of the symbolism - it can be completely incomprehensible, that's why I look for the one that has been established by pop culture because it reaches almost everyone...

Today, it seems to me that the shape of the Star of Bethlehem is unambiguously identified (I'm still looking for a game with this symbol) but, for example, a fight in the arena with a bull is not, and what if such a fight takes place in the arena with a bull to which we tie a woman? Do we then have Christian associations? Those who have read QuoVadis have, but it is still not enough. The reach of QuoVadis is too small.

 

Yes, it is very easy to find such symbolism in modern games - I cited "Dante's Inferno" (consoles), but also "Indiana Jones and last crusade" (16 bit), arcade games also have a lot of examples, especially those about "knights", but I'm only talking about examples of Atari 8bit games.

[xxl]

- the cross as the ultimate weapon in Ghost'n Goblins, but only in the Japanese version (?) in the "Western" version replaced by a shield.

 

- the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch in Worms: D

 

[xxl]

a Christian-themed game on the Atari 2600?

 

http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-2600-vcs-red-sea-crossing_20276.html

[_The Doctor__]

nice one!