Here is a brief video of one of the battles at last week's Pennsic war. It was produced by students of the Entertainment Technology of Carnegie Mellon University. They used a "shield cam," a camera embedded in a shield, which meant the mechanism had a good POV and a certain amount of protection. Link.
Perhaps it's just me, but I think if you really want to simulate medieval combat, you need to get rid of the fake spears tipped with pink padding, and use computer simulations which can emulate the real thing using accurate physics - such as the program "Mount & Blade". This one started out as an educational project made by a teacher and his wife, but was finally released as a game - but a fairly realistic one. It's a first-person combat game which tracks every arrow, every sword blow, etc, with up to a thousand troops on the field simultaneously.
ReplyDeleteHere are some YouTube videos with uncut footage from the game (no, these aren't mine, but they are interesting):
Medium-sized cavalry battle from an earlier version of the game - oddly more dramatic than any Hollywood film - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehpNcnRahLY&NR=1
Large battle using a more recent version of the game (better graphics) showing the unit sizes that are possible -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDq_Eawpx_I&feature=related
Battle between two players, each with his own unit - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwGdcOthkL0&feature=related
Montage of various battles - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YptPl2q0RQQ&feature=related
Siege in which burning projectiles cause the collapse of buildings - real physics in action - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArJti7JJfcA&feature=related
Cavalry battle that shows the stroke-by-stroke fighting - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBMu5kFrBU0&feature=related
Large cavalry battle which shows unit deployment - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOFN2Aaf6L8&feature=related