US Army drafting new first-person shooter

The US Army is laying the groundwork for a new video game simulation to serve as the backbone of its Games for Training program, and has outlined a few goals to reflect realistic battlefield conditions.

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The United States Army is considering making another first-person shooter to head up its Games for Training program. The title is tentatively planned for 2013, and hopes to incorporate a host of new features that will more realistically simulate battlefield conditions in current conflicts.

Kotaku reports that among other realistic touches, the game will feature the ability to call in artillery fire, medevac missions, and Arab and Afghan female suicide bombers. The Army also reportedly wants updated graphics and tech underpinnings, and so it is proposing that it gains input from the gaming industry.

The Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (PEO STRI) put together nearly 250 pages of technical requirements and a 13-page checklist -- most of which is extremely specific detail about terrain and equipment. The current simulator, Virtual Battlespace 2, has been adapted to be used for cultural awareness training and IED detection, so this follow-up would probably be used for similar purposes.

The new title seems targeted at "small wars" and counterinsurgency training. It would replace Virtual Battlespace 2 from Bohemia, and both Bohemeia and America's Army are expected to bid on the Pentagon contract.

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From The Chatty
  • reply
    July 31, 2012 10:30 AM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, US Army drafting new first-person shooter.

    The US Army is laying the groundwork for a new video game simulation to serve as the backbone of its Games for Training program, and has outlined a few goals to reflect realistic battlefield conditions.

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      July 31, 2012 10:32 AM

      They should just invest in Bohemia Interactive.

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        July 31, 2012 10:33 AM

        Oh, companies will bid on it, and Bohemia is expected to bid. Interesting!

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          July 31, 2012 1:09 PM

          I was at a Military trade show few years ago when they were showing the ARMA2 milspec version (VBS2?). It was hi-fidelilty and accurate physics . .. until the demoing T72 hit a little rock on the ground and went catapulting hundreds of meters into the air - and then the presentation ended.

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            July 31, 2012 5:08 PM

            That's comical and sad, but mostly sad.

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            July 31, 2012 6:29 PM

            This ain't like shootin' deathclaws back in fallout 3, son - oh, wait, nevermind. It is.

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            July 31, 2012 6:39 PM

            Genuinely LOL'd at that hahaha.

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        July 31, 2012 6:06 PM

        they have invested a shitton in bohemia interactive, but bohemia is an australian company, and they hate that.

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          July 31, 2012 6:31 PM

          This made me do a double take. I've checked and Bohemia is NOT Australian, its based in Prague, Czech Republic.

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          July 31, 2012 6:38 PM

          uhh.. pretty sure they're Czech dude. Hence Bohemia. Maybe you meant Austrian, which still incorrect is at least closer.

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            August 1, 2012 1:51 PM

            FYI, Bohemia had a studio based in Australia called Bohemia Interactive Australia. They are for the most part (understatement) responsible for VBS2. I believe they relocated the majority of that studio to Prague and opened a satellite studio in Florida.

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      July 31, 2012 10:53 AM

      something very few of the mainstream shooters approach at all: accurate reaction to battlefield injuries! with few exceptions, the shooters these days depict ZERO interest in a fallen comrade... no medics actually work on them or remove them from the line of fire and/or point of contact... ive always thought the immersion is destroyed by the cavalier approach most games take to this... a wounded man takes up 2-3, or more, otherwise battle ready men to treat and/or move the wounded - creating a tactical reason for wounding rather than killing an opfor...

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      July 31, 2012 10:54 AM

      whatever happened to Americas Army 3?
      I remember being pretty sucky compared to AA2.
      Did they ever fix it?

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        July 31, 2012 12:10 PM

        I don't know, but I used to love me some America's Army back in the day. I don't think I ever played 3.

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          July 31, 2012 12:33 PM

          3 was pretty awful. They never got around to fixing the performance and such.

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          July 31, 2012 1:04 PM

          I know a guy who worked on it, he said they scrapped the whole thing when it was ready to ship because the people in charge of the project on the military side didn't know shit about game development, and wanted a ton of stuff added/changed at the last min, then when they got the time estimate to do it decided to drop the project instead of continuing development.

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          July 31, 2012 7:11 PM

          I played the hell out of AA back when it first came out. Such an amazingly fun game when you had a team of competent people.

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        July 31, 2012 5:28 PM

        Oh man, I put so many hours into AA2. I hope they can reach that quality again.

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        August 1, 2012 7:28 PM

        I was pretty upset to fire up AA sometime ago to get my Urban map fix after taking a year break, only to find out they shut the whole thing down and everyone is forced to move to AA3. So I put the time into that, training and all and I finally join the game and you're right, it sucked big time. AA2 is probably as complex as a game should get, AA3 on the other hand was just too much work.

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      July 31, 2012 12:10 PM

      Bohemia should have this one in the bag.

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      July 31, 2012 12:18 PM

      Options I can think of

      - VBS (3)
      - DCS: Combined Arms
      - Crytek has been up to something..

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAmFRWm4TEo
      http://www.vg247.com/2011/05/27/us-army-spending-57-million-on-military-simulator-using-cryengine-3/

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      July 31, 2012 5:37 PM

      walking, walking, boring, hungry, tired, oh! someone just got shot!

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      July 31, 2012 6:42 PM

      Codemasters are the true military simulation guys.

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