Why apply HEMA to games?

Why create realistic historical combat in games?

For those with a love of history it is obvious why any creator of a representation of historical combat within video games should make an effort to at least investigate the real thing. Spreading false facts and notions have plagued historians and so easy seep into our culture, replacing discussions of the truth with easily referenced false information.

Yet even without a love of history, or for whom representing history is not enough reason to warrant investing resources, there is still so much more to gain. My hope in this research is to prove that not only is it better for historical accuracy and teaching players but also innately makes for more interesting animations that read better and clearer. I'm hoping to prove that actual historical military tactics combine to make diverse gameplay, that history has done the act of balancing unit types and tactics for us. That historical accuracy can speed up development and provide answers rather then slow it down and provide problems.

This research will be put into a form to make it easy customizable and augmentable to enable it to be used with a variety of different games and genres. Examples will be shown and tested where necessary and research will be summed up into colonised points that are easy to take in, with a more detailed explanation following them. Though large amounts of this format and strategy may change depending on what comes to light during initial research.

My research is starting with existing games that have used history as a basses for their gameplay systems rather then just their subject matter. Looking at where they decided to deviate from this and why to ensure I can provide more then just tips on doing what has already been done and also to see why they choose to take a historically accurate route. It will be scenery to look at a fair few examples and different approaches to this, from large scale RTS games to one on one fighting games.