Chapter 5: Playing the Early Renaissance City

Urban scholars employ numerous sources to study early cities, including primary sources such as historical maps, literary accounts, tax records, and the like to help visualize cities in various periods. In recent years, a variety of artificial intelligence programs have been employed to not only create visual images of earlier cities, but also to allow audiences to negotiate city streets and enter buildings within the city. The Assassin's Creed series of video games created by Ubisoft place the game player in historical settings where the assassin (representing peace and free will) will battle against groups of foes (representing order and control). Assassin's Creed II is set in Florence at the end of the fifteenth century and has been praised for the visual reconstruction of the city. But how well can a computer game represent the Early Renaissance City?