Video Games and the Warfighter

MILITARY GAMES

About Me 20 Years Military

Service Combat in Iraq Peacekeeping in

Bosnia Airborne Infantry Military Intelligence Special Operations Senior Drill Sergeant

Panzer Elite America’s Army Twilight War Order of War Sturmtruppen Military Games Editor

at www.gamersinfo.net

MFA in Video Game Production and Design (pending thesis)

1 – Kriegspiel A brief history of wargames

2 – Modern Wargames Civilian wargame development

3 – Simulations The development of military

games 4 – Training Can Be Fun

The advent of game-training 5 – Future Force

Turning wargamers into warriors

CONTENTS

1 – Kriegspiel A Brief History of Wargames

Go (Wei-Hei) Chess

Based on the Indian game Chaturanga and used to teach royalty to think tactically and plan ahead

Koenigspiel A larger version of chess with more pieces and spaces

Kriegspiel Divided into two types, the original with clearly-

defined rules, and the later “Free Kreigspiel” which used a referee to arbitrate and interpret

Used to train German officers through the end of the 19th century and influenced Wells’ “Little Wars”

Historical Wargames

2 – Modern WargamesCivilian Wargame Development

Little Wars Written by H.G. Wells on the eve of World War I Started the concept of miniature soldiers for games

The First Nerds Hobby wargamers painted huge armies and used

them to play large battles from the 30’s onward Modern Miniatures Games

Interest in miniatures games was generally not affected by the introduction of the PC for wargaming

There are many more miniatures gamers in the US than board wargamers

Toy Soldiers

Tactics First board wargame by Charles Roberts in 1953 Avalon Hill created the board wargame industry

Simulations Publications Incorporated Turned wargame design into a system Churned out hundreds of games in the 1970’s

The End of an Era The introduction of the PC in 1980 killed the market Board wargames are now a niche market (~10,000) As a consequence, board wargames are now

generally larger, more graphically appealing, easier to learn and play, and much more expensive than before

Board Wargames

Gaming the World Wars Generally used the “Free Kriegspiel” model Numerous flaws and deficiencies when

modeling anything larger than a single battle Operational Research

First started in World War II to improve conduct of operational and strategic warfare

Initiated the analysis of historical battles to define modern tactics and constants of warfare

Mechanical Simulators Focus on operator simulations such as fighter

cockpits

Military Wargaming

Personal Computers First computer wargames are similar to board

games Computers also make flight simulations available

Types of Military Games Turn-Based Strategy Games Real-Time Strategy Games Warfare Simulations (Tanks, Planes and Shooters)

Multiplayer Games Hot Seat Wargames Multiplayer (head-to-head) Wargames Massively-Multiplayer Online Wargames

Computer Wargames

Popular Military Games First-Person Shooters

America’s Army Armed Assault Battlefield Call of Duty Counterstrike Delta Force Ghost Recon Medal of Honor Operation Flashpoint SOCOM

Strategy Games Axis & Allies Close Combat Combat Mission Command and

Conquer Company of Heroes Endwar Men of Valor Order of War Panzer General World in Conflict

3 – Simulations The Development of Military Games

Focus is on controls and engineering Pilots, astronauts, drivers, and equipment operators

Limited feedback You’re either doing it right or crashing and burning

Limited realism Controls are authentic but scenarios are not

Cost They must be custom-made at great expense

Specific to model Once your hardware changes, your sim is out of date

Physical Simulations

Simulate anything Convoys, tanks, drones, leadership, and

diplomacy Immediate feedback

Realistic results are provided through “soft” endings

Custom-tailored Scenarios can be designed to fit user needs

Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) Cheaper and faster to build and maintain

Upgradable Software can be updated for new equipment

Virtual Simulations

4 – Training Can Be FunThe Advent of Game-Training

Pioneered by the US Marine Corps America’s Army: Operations

Developed as a recruiting tool to get target audience interested in the Army. Its sister project, America’s Army: Soldiers, was designed as a roleplaying game to teach players about army life, ethics, and training.

Engine also used to develop training simulators for Javelin antitank launcher and bomb disposal drones.

Full Spectrum Warrior Originally designed for training squad leaders,

then used as the foundation of a popular videogame.

Modern Training Games

DARWARS Ambush! Convoy team trainer using PC with 3D graphics

and realistic scenarios with multiple vehicles managed by human observer-controllers.

Engagement Skills Trainer (EST) Shooting skills training using video scenarios

and air-powered weapons with focused light emitters (FATS)

Virtual Convoy Operations Trainer (VCOT) Realistic crew stations with authentic vehicle

controls and weapons and video panels for displaying the combat environment; designed for small teams

Modern Training Games (cont.)

Tactical Iraqi Uses the Unreal Engine (same as America’s

Army) to teach Iraqi Arabic to soldiers deploying to theater by evaluating their speech in conversation with “locals”

UrbanSim Simulates an urban environment and simulates

major events such as terrorist attacks, elections, and civil unrest, forcing the players to make decisions that will impact the groups involved

Modern Training Games (cont.)

Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training, and Instrumentation

Maintain over 100 applications in which soldiers can drive vehicles, fire weapons, and pilot unmanned aerial vehicles in battle spaces as large as 10,000 km2

Responsible for deploying 70 systems of 52 computers each in locations in the United States, Germany, Italy and South Korea (yes, over 3,500 Army gaming PCs!).

Among their projects is a virtual reality simulator that allows trainees to walk around in a closed environment with a training weapon and goggles as interface devices

PEO-STRI

5 – Future ForceTurning Wargamers into Warriors

Still recruiting gamers America’s Army expanded to consoles and still going

Treating soldiers with PTSD Using training tools to stimulate responses to events

Training tools becoming real tools Console controllers adapted to operate drones

Massively-Multiplayer Online Training The Army is working on an interactive training world

Combat texting Blue Force Tracker uses a game-like map and icons

along with the capability of texting other units

What’s Next?

Game development is not a glamorous profession

Developing games doesn’t mean playing games

You must be a hardcore gamer to develop them

Educate yourself – classes and outside reading Stay current on new trends and technologies Join the IGDA and other game-centric

organizations Network – conferences (GDC), LinkedIn, SIGs,

etc. Leverage your outside skills and experiences Military training simulations are an expanding

field

So You Want To Make Games?

Useful Websites PEO-STRI

peostri.army.mil DARWARS

darwars.org Game Production

Svcs gameprodsvcs.com

Raydon raydon.com

America’s Army americasarmy.com

Gamasutra Gamasutra.com

Creative Heads Creativeheads.net

GameDev gamedev.net

Game Career Guide Gamecareerguide.co

m Tom Sloper

sloperama.com/advice

Chris Keelingchris@chriskeeling.com

Questions?