What’s in a setting?

Posted on November 6, 2008 by Ellisthion
  • Share
  • Share

Whether we talk of gaming, movies, or literature, a single important choice is the setting. By this I mean the time period, level of technology, and the like. In particular, the time period is a very strong influence on a game or story. However, whilst all time is equal, some periods are not as equal as others.

If we look at games and literature, we can see a definite trend to favouring certain time periods. These time periods are chosen because they make for interesting stories and games. But what are they? Lets start at the beginning:

Ancient Rome: A strong choice for several types of game and story. Prime games included Caesar and Age of Empires I. These particular games thrive in this time period because they show off the dramatic architecture and techology of the era. Book series, such as Falco, also thrive on this age of enlightenment.

Medieval: We take a big skip forwards. Why? Because the dark ages are boring. But a good medieval setting is fantastic. A true medieval setting has little or no gunpowder, which maintains the relative elegance of combat, which is important for many stories and games. Games such as Age of Empires II hit this age perfectly, and there are many others. Stories of King Arthur, and knights in general, fall into this category: it is immensely popular for storytelling. The combination of dramatic battles and the perpetual struggle of a chivalrous knight make this setting perfect for almost every kind of game or story. The first modern novel, Don Quixote, falls into this category.

Medieval Fantasy: A side branch of medieval, it is also very popular, both now and historically. Elves, Dwarves, and magic are added to an already strong setting. Gunpowder is still generally limited; if gunpowder is present, we tend to end up with medieval fantasy steampunk (let everyone remember: Warhammer has steam tanks). D&D, Lord of the Rings, Warcraft… there are too many to list. The exact flavour of fantasy varies, but it works well.

Fantasy + Sci Fi: I honestly didn’t want to mention this, but it exists. Early Ultima games, Might and Magic, the Shannara books… they’re all fantasy with random bits of sci fi mixed in. I think it’s silly, but hey. Now, lets move on as quickly as possible.

Age of Gunpowder: Specifically muskets and cannon. Strictly no rifles; why? Because rifles break the delicate balance of dramatic, heroic combat, which is important in many stories and games. An example of a classic tale of this era is The Three Musketeers. Any stories or games involving pirates fall smack bang in the middle of this age. Sid Meier’s Pirates! is a perfect example of a game using this time period.

Renaissance: (Post-Rifles) No. No no no. Combat is boring, because everyone has rifles which can kill too easily, and social interaction has moved on from stories of heroic chivalry to silly romantic squabbles. Oh, sure, there are a few decent stories, but mostly you get stuff like Pride and Prejudice. *sigh* Unfortunately there are a lot of novels of this age, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find many games.

Steampunk: Gunpowder or Renaissance with steam powered everything. Or, alternatively, simply with pre-electicity technology that is far too advanced. It’s not big by comparison to other areas, but it’s there. Frankenstein could be considererd steampunk, but considering it was written in this era it’s more a Modified Present Day (see below). Medieval fantasy settings that go one step too far can end up here: Warcraft II has submarines, for example, and don’t get me started on Eberron. Anything with pre-modern airships is pushing into this category.

WWI: I’m mentioning this because I’m not mentioning this. Almost nothing is set in WWI. WWI is dull, and was historically a stupid slugfest with a lot of people dying in not very nice ways. Not fun for anyone involved. You’ll occassionally get movies dealing with WWI, but overall they deal with how horrible it was. WWI is a terrible setting for a game or story.

1920s-1930s: Once we get past WWI, things start becoming interesting again. Many games and stories of this period are focussed on organised crime in the USA. Games such as Mafia use this perfectly. There are other stories as well: HP Lovecraft’s stories are this time period, although they also fit into Modified Present Day (see below), and you’ll find a huge variety of other types of stories in this period.

WWII: A perfect modern setting. Combat is interesting because people got good at it again. Drama is interesting because of the occupation of France and the fact it was a total war. The force of evil is perfect because Nazis are the perfect enemy: everyone says they’re evil, they fought with a good mix of fairness and sneakyness, and they’ve already been defeated; no one is going to complain if you’re fighting Nazis. There are too many war books and movies to list. Great games include Battlefield 1942 and the like, plus Commandos, several strategy games, and a few tabletop miniature games. Indiana Jones movies fit into this category because he’s fighting Nazis.

Current Day: I skip Vietnam and such because many such things count as Current Day, having been written then, and now there’s nothing you can do with Vietnam that you can’t do with the Current Day or WWII. Anyway, the Current Day is a great setting simply because people are familiar with it. Drama is more interesting if someone can relate with the people in the story. For games, the Current Day has good combat mainly because of small squad-based operations, like counter-terrorist operations. Overall, it’s a pretty decent option.

Modified Current Day: Command and Conquer, I’m looking at you. The whole series is a prime offender. In books and movies, any time the writer suddenly thinks the story would be better with robots, vampires, or lasers, you get Modified Current Day. As commented above, many stories written some time ago, such as Frankenstein, fit in this category.

Futuristic: Science fiction has long been popular. Star Wars is arguably the best in this category, because it also feels like it’s set in WWII, making it a blend of two excellent settings. The overall technological level of the setting varies, but there’s often spaceflight, or advanced AI at the very least. This setting is strong because of the perpetual human desire to expand and discover what is beyond our horizons. When you have a setting that is literally the size of the galaxy, or bigger, the limit really is the imagination. Perfect game examples are Halo and Freelancer, whilst literary examples include Asimov’s books, and there are many movies as well, such as The Matrix. There are also piles of TV series, such as Stargate.

There we have it. Overall, the most popular of the settings for games seem to be Medieval Fantasy, WWII, Modified Current Day, and Futuristic, with literature branching out more. These settings are deep enough and interesting enough to provided oodles of entertainment, and keep people coming back for more. Besides, as Pokemon has taught us: if something’s selling, keep producing more of the same. I predict we’ll keep seeing more of these settings for many years to come.

If you think there’s more to anything above, or think I’ve missed something, join the discussion by clicking on the Comments link below.

Similar Posts:

About Ellisthion

Duncan played his first game of 1st Edition AD&D at the ripe age of 10. The fires kindled, he moved onto 3rd then 4th edition D&D, Warhammer and Warhammer 40k, whilst occasionally dabbling in other stuff, such as far too many computer games. He prefers games with complex rules to learn and master, and favours high fantasy settings. He is currently participating in the Grand Gaming Experiment where he has run Star Wars Saga Edition and GURPS.
This entry was posted in Computer Games, Game Design, History and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.
  • mardo

    Pretty concise list, I have been trying to think of other settings, I have got maybe one stoneage, and a few in Asia where they have different time periods but really can’t think of anything else.

  • mardo

    Pretty concise list, I have been trying to think of other settings, I have got maybe one stoneage, and a few in Asia where they have different time periods but really can’t think of anything else.

  • Ellisthion

    I considered stoneage, but whilst it is used, it’s not very common. I didn’t actually consider Asia when I was writing this, and I honestly know too little about Asian history to comment. At a glance, I’d say that various bits of Asian history fit fine as Medieval or Gunpowder, even if the exact years and technology differ from Europe.

  • Ellisthion

    I considered stoneage, but whilst it is used, it’s not very common. I didn’t actually consider Asia when I was writing this, and I honestly know too little about Asian history to comment. At a glance, I’d say that various bits of Asian history fit fine as Medieval or Gunpowder, even if the exact years and technology differ from Europe.

  • mardo

    I have seen stone age, I think twice, but usually only as a stage to go through to get to other eras.
    That is a fair call, e.g. ancient Japanese history goes until about 700 A.D.
    A lot of Asian made games (that we do not get translated) like China’s Three Kingdom games are also in
    Ancient or mythological Chinese history.
    How would you class mythical history, e.g. Greece Age of Heroes, India pre-hostory or Aboriginal dreamtime ( if someone ever turns that into a game).

  • mardo

    I have seen stone age, I think twice, but usually only as a stage to go through to get to other eras.
    That is a fair call, e.g. ancient Japanese history goes until about 700 A.D.
    A lot of Asian made games (that we do not get translated) like China’s Three Kingdom games are also in
    Ancient or mythological Chinese history.
    How would you class mythical history, e.g. Greece Age of Heroes, India pre-hostory or Aboriginal dreamtime ( if someone ever turns that into a game).

  • Cuchulain

    A good list. I think, however, 2 areas are misrepresented. Firstly, the Renaissance. What about all the wonderful Machiavellian machinations in political circles? A perfect time for a setting. Gaming isn’t just about whether it’s too easy or too hard to kill something, you know. Although the dating of the period is subjective, some people put its beginning as early as the Albigensian crusade (1209AD), well before the invention of rifling in 1498. The Renaissance proper ends at the close of the 16th century, a full 2 centuries before Pride and Prejudice is published.

    Secondly, the First World War. Yes, it was awful, and in many instances doesn’t make for a good game. However, I have witnessed some excellent games based in this time. For example, consider “Dig to Victory”, a Cthulhu game set on the Western front. A recording of this game in action is available here: http://slangdesign.com/rppr/2008/08/actual-play/actual-play-call-of-cthulhu-dig-to-victory/. In my opinion, there’s excellent potential here. Especially for the horror genre. I believe a couple of Lovecraft’s works (Herbert West, Reanimator comes to mind) also briefly use the setting.

    My 2 cents.

  • Cuchulain

    A good list. I think, however, 2 areas are misrepresented. Firstly, the Renaissance. What about all the wonderful Machiavellian machinations in political circles? A perfect time for a setting. Gaming isn’t just about whether it’s too easy or too hard to kill something, you know. Although the dating of the period is subjective, some people put its beginning as early as the Albigensian crusade (1209AD), well before the invention of rifling in 1498. The Renaissance proper ends at the close of the 16th century, a full 2 centuries before Pride and Prejudice is published.

    Secondly, the First World War. Yes, it was awful, and in many instances doesn’t make for a good game. However, I have witnessed some excellent games based in this time. For example, consider “Dig to Victory”, a Cthulhu game set on the Western front. A recording of this game in action is available here: http://slangdesign.com/rppr/2008/08/actual-play/actual-play-call-of-cthulhu-dig-to-victory/. In my opinion, there’s excellent potential here. Especially for the horror genre. I believe a couple of Lovecraft’s works (Herbert West, Reanimator comes to mind) also briefly use the setting.

    My 2 cents.

  • http://www.diceofdoom.com RupertG

    I have to agree with Cuchulain on several points – I think most D&D games have Renaissance culture with Medieval weaponry. Even if you did have Renaissance weaponry it doesn’t actually have to change much. Early gunpowder weapons were incredibly unreliable, inaccurate and stopping power was not particularly strong (head shots were still headshots though… I have a picture of a head shot from the 14th century – skull is inside out…). The moment you move to a society where there is any upward mobility and freedom to move around, where politics and intrigue are the name of the game, you are really introducing aspects of Renaissance culture.

    Also, in regards to WWI, there are plenty of opportunities for campaign settings. Big offensives were not as common as people think, and certainly towards the end, it was largely fought by night raids and skirmishes. You could play games set behind the lines. How about a mystery set to be solved by the military police involving gruesome murders and a race to find clues before the witnesses get sent over the top? (Thanks Ben Elton – it was an excellent read…). Or how about doing a bit of a Steam Punk thing – WWI and the race to create super weapons, or stop spies, etc…

    And also – didn’t D&D have a whole campaign setting set in the Stone Age? Dark Sun?

  • http://www.diceofdoom.com RupertG

    I have to agree with Cuchulain on several points – I think most D&D games have Renaissance culture with Medieval weaponry. Even if you did have Renaissance weaponry it doesn’t actually have to change much. Early gunpowder weapons were incredibly unreliable, inaccurate and stopping power was not particularly strong (head shots were still headshots though… I have a picture of a head shot from the 14th century – skull is inside out…). The moment you move to a society where there is any upward mobility and freedom to move around, where politics and intrigue are the name of the game, you are really introducing aspects of Renaissance culture.

    Also, in regards to WWI, there are plenty of opportunities for campaign settings. Big offensives were not as common as people think, and certainly towards the end, it was largely fought by night raids and skirmishes. You could play games set behind the lines. How about a mystery set to be solved by the military police involving gruesome murders and a race to find clues before the witnesses get sent over the top? (Thanks Ben Elton – it was an excellent read…). Or how about doing a bit of a Steam Punk thing – WWI and the race to create super weapons, or stop spies, etc…

    And also – didn’t D&D have a whole campaign setting set in the Stone Age? Dark Sun?

  • http://www.diceofdoom.com RupertG

    …and to be a complete history nerd… Isn’t the story of King Arthur traditionally considered a story set in the Dark Ages? Also when you skip past the Dark Ages, you are largely ignoring the Viking Era – and that’s an awesome setting…

  • http://www.diceofdoom.com RupertG

    …and to be a complete history nerd… Isn’t the story of King Arthur traditionally considered a story set in the Dark Ages? Also when you skip past the Dark Ages, you are largely ignoring the Viking Era – and that’s an awesome setting…

  • Ellisthion

    Whilst King Arthur is “set” in the dark ages, the actual setting, with knights in shining armour and all that, is definitely later. It was written later and they didn’t think about backdating the technology.

    I forgot about Vikings. Whoops. Ehh, they count as early medieval.

    I was not aware of any Cthulhu stuff set in WWI, I thought it was all after that. Apparently I learn a new thing every day. I can see how WWI would work for horror, though.

    I must admit, I don’t really know much about the renaissance and surrounding times, simply because I don’t find them interesting. I definitely didn’t know they were defined as starting so early.

    Hmm. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance says 14th-17th century, although there is another separate page for Renaissance of the 12th Century. Either way, my category in the article should probably be Age of Rifles.

    Anyway, I deem ease of killing important to just about any setting. For example, a story like Romeo and Juliet would suck if it was “bang, you’re dead”, instead of a dramatic swordfight.

    Besides, swords are cool.
    http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SwordFight
    http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CoolSword

  • Ellisthion

    Whilst King Arthur is “set” in the dark ages, the actual setting, with knights in shining armour and all that, is definitely later. It was written later and they didn’t think about backdating the technology.

    I forgot about Vikings. Whoops. Ehh, they count as early medieval.

    I was not aware of any Cthulhu stuff set in WWI, I thought it was all after that. Apparently I learn a new thing every day. I can see how WWI would work for horror, though.

    I must admit, I don’t really know much about the renaissance and surrounding times, simply because I don’t find them interesting. I definitely didn’t know they were defined as starting so early.

    Hmm. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance says 14th-17th century, although there is another separate page for Renaissance of the 12th Century. Either way, my category in the article should probably be Age of Rifles.

    Anyway, I deem ease of killing important to just about any setting. For example, a story like Romeo and Juliet would suck if it was “bang, you’re dead”, instead of a dramatic swordfight.

    Besides, swords are cool.
    http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SwordFight
    http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CoolSword

  • dwayne

    I kind of like the Gaslight era. The 19th century has a lot to offer; Victorian London, Sherlock Holmes, Jack the Ripper, the first railways but no cars, flight etc.

  • dwayne

    I kind of like the Gaslight era. The 19th century has a lot to offer; Victorian London, Sherlock Holmes, Jack the Ripper, the first railways but no cars, flight etc.

  • http://www.diceofdoom.com RupertG

    I LOVE the gaslight era too. (Re: flight – balloons and zeppelins? :) ). There is still a sense of mystery and magic in the world during that era, but its still nearly modern. A great setting…

  • http://www.diceofdoom.com RupertG

    I LOVE the gaslight era too. (Re: flight – balloons and zeppelins? :) ). There is still a sense of mystery and magic in the world during that era, but its still nearly modern. A great setting…

  • dwayne

    Yeah, I guess balloons and zeppelins count as flight :) I guess what I meant was FAST flight; no zipping between continents. That and it’s similar enough to modern that people are familiar with things and understand it without many of the problematic issues of running a modern day game.

  • dwayne

    Yeah, I guess balloons and zeppelins count as flight :) I guess what I meant was FAST flight; no zipping between continents. That and it’s similar enough to modern that people are familiar with things and understand it without many of the problematic issues of running a modern day game.

  • Ellisthion

    See, this is what happens when I go and write something like this without discussing it with anyone. I can’t believe I forgot about Sherlock Holmes era.

  • Ellisthion

    See, this is what happens when I go and write something like this without discussing it with anyone. I can’t believe I forgot about Sherlock Holmes era.