Is this what we've come to?
Do we really want to teach our children WAR is a game?, With "no sound" as the bullet hits the enemy.
Posted on 07/02/2002 9:12:30 PM PDT by Willie Green
For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Attempting to woo computer-savvy young people, the Army will release on July 4 the first installment of an ambitious new computer game that will let players be all they can digitally be.
The game, which will be free on many gaming Web sites and www.americasarmy.com, lets a player assume the role of a new recruit on an Army team pitted in an online battle against terrorists.
While it is meant to be fun, the two-game set also was designed as a recruitment tool.
``With this game we hope to educate young Americans and present them with a realistic, engaging view of today's modern Army and its opportunities,'' said Lt. Col. Casey Wardynski, head of the Office of Economic & Manpower Analysis at West Point and the originator of the game.
The full project, called ``America's Army,'' will be available this fall. The July 4 release is a scaled-down version of the ``Operations'' half of the game, a tactical combat game that will be familiar to fans of popular titles like ``Quake'' and ``Half-Life.''
Players will be able to undergo basic training and fight in 10 multiplayer missions, including one to defend an Alaskan pipeline. More missions will be released until the full release of the game. Officials said they want a slow rollout to make sure their server computers can handle the traffic.
Army game developers visited 19 installations to interview soldiers and take photographs of everything from tanks to the texture of bricks on building walls.
The other half of the game, called ``Soldier,'' involves role playing similar to the popular game ``The Sims.'' Players pick one of about 20 Army careers and learn new skills in order to try to earn the rank of sergeant.
Players will learn military tactics, Army values and more about careers like military police, infantry, and even avionics repair — but don't expect to learn how to fix an Apache helicopter.
``The perspective here isn't to get into the final level of detail, like wiring up an engine,'' said Army spokesman Paul Boyce. ``It's to give you a feeling of the procedures of the Army.''
The game was developed over two years for about $6.3 million, Boyce said, similar to the cost of other professional games. It will be available for download as well as on CDs packaged with popular game magazines and in Army recruitment centers.
The developers struggled with several portions of the combat half of the game, particularly with how to depict game violence.
``We were very careful on the blood thing,'' Boyce said. ``The team even debated about whether or not to make a noise'' when bullets strike an enemy.
They ultimately decided to keep it silent and show a red blotch, similar to a paintball hit. The game is rated for teens.
Operations punishes the player by kicking them out of the game if they shoot a teammate or break the rules of engagement. If the player returns, they are confined to a tiny cell at Fort Leavenworth, complete with a harmonica playing ``Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.''
``Part of this is that we want to teach people that for any action there is a consequence,'' Boyce said. ``Violence in the military is a very carefully sanctioned and organized approach in at time of threat. You must use it as the last resort.''
Another hurdle for the game designers is how to organize the two teams, which can have up to 32 players per side. Since the game is a recruitment tool, the designers didn't want anyone to play as a terrorist. The enemy is always a team of terrorists, who are depicted as sinister figures in fatigues, according to Boyce.
A player on Team A will always fight as a U.S. Army soldier and fight players on Team B depicted as terrorists. But that opposing Team B ``terrorist'' will see themselves as Army and Team A as terrorists. While it sounds confusing, Boyce said it will be seamless to players.
``As far as you're concerned, when you see the enemy approaching you, they are the enemy,'' Boyce said. ``It's all a matter of perspective.''
``No one can opt to be the bad guy in America's Army,'' Boyce said.
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On the Net: America's Army: www.americasarmy.com
Is this what we've come to?
Do we really want to teach our children WAR is a game?, With "no sound" as the bullet hits the enemy.
Two words:
Ghost Recon. Beats any crap the army can dish out, and you DEFINITELY hear the "sound" of a bullet piercing your head.
Life imitates art.
Many years ago, Orson Scott Card wrote a science fiction story entitled "Ender's Game". The book premise, set way in the future, was the world military was searching for geniuses to devise winning strategies to defeat the aliens threating all human kind with slavery/extinction.
The world military in the story used 'kids' games to filter and select out the strategic geniuses, who were then trained by the military for real war games. Ender was such a genius and was found by his winning every game the military devised.
I won't tell you the ending, other than it is the single most all-time "twist" I ever read. Highly recommend it.
I think I'll go see if I can download it now.
I think I'd rather have a game where the advantage goes to someone who actually knows hot to hotwire an engine - or turn it into a firebomb.
It r0x0rs jer b0x0rs.
HF+|N Mad Bunny
Yeah, and a -really- cool sound when you let lose with a SAW. :)
Walt
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