Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Greese on May 22, 2002, 01:12:01 PM
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Apparently the Army has released a multiplayer game, available for free download at
http://www.americasarmy.com
Anyone try it out yet? Was wondering if it was worth the effort, or should I just pass it by.
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I just ordered it. Looks cool.
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May prove to be an effective recruitment tool . The videos look cool .
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Just noticed you have to be or say that you are not older than 34, haha .
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LOL, now this is funny. So who payes for this...tax payers?
I sure hope they are using this for training and not for free advertisment.....actually free advertisment works very well too.
Hmmm... :confused:
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Los Angeles Times
The Army's Video Game
By ALEX PHAM, Times Staff Writer
America's youth would rather play video games than do push-ups in the mud--a reality the Army wants to harness to its advantage.
Eager to prove it's not your grandfather's military, the Army is developing video games to recruit and build awareness among Generation Y.
Today at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, the Army will unveil two games designed to appeal to a media-saturated, tech-bombarded generation. One is a sanitized version of "Unreal Tournament," a classic first-person shooting game known for its graphic, nonstop killing. The other is a take on "The Sims," a popular game that mimics life itself.
But instead of dismembering mutants or pursuing romance, players can work on their organizational skills, free hostages and rise to the rank of first sergeant. The games are part of the Army of One marketing campaign, which stresses professionalism and the importance of the individual, themes marketers say resonate with youths.
Though the military has long used realistic video games as training tools, this is the first time the Army has relied on games to reach out to the public. The intent of the free games--which will be distributed starting in July at recruiting stations and on the Army Web site--is to sell the soldiering life.
Although interest in military careers rose after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, enlistments have changed little in recent years. And it's getting tougher to attract and retain soldiers, in part because there are fewer veterans to regale potential recruits with tales of their military exploits.
"The goal was to give them a synthetic experience of being in the Army in game form," said Michael Zyda, director of the Naval Postgraduate School's Modeling, Virtual Environments and Simulation Institute in Monterey, which developed both games.
"When I registered for the draft during the Vietnam War, I asked veterans of the Korean War what it was like," he said. "They were easy to find. Today, the Army is much smaller. There aren't as many people around today to answer that question."
The game project started two years ago, when the economy was bursting at the seams and dot-coms beckoned young people with the promise of riches and freewheeling offices in which they could skateboard. The Army spent $5 million to develop video games to show Army life. Like unscripted TV shows, the games show mostly action, leaving out the boring parts.
"Soldiers," for example, takes gamers from basic training to career development. Spit-shining shoes and peeling potatoes are not among the list of activities. Players going through sniper training in the more action-oriented "Operations" game don't have to camp out for hours waiting for terrorists to show up.
The games depict an Army that is precise, organized and technically advanced. Tactical missions and advanced weaponry are the focus of the game's missions, not violence.
In a survey this year by Northwestern University of 1,000 college students, the No. 1 concern about joining the military was danger, said Charles Moskos, professor of sociology at Northwestern and an expert on public attitudes toward the military.
"It's something recruiters just don't talk about," Moskos said. "But being in the Army is as dangerous as being a taxicab driver, which is considered to be one of the most hazardous occupations."
Because of such concerns, the armed forces have a difficult time replenishing their ranks. The military spends twice as much recruiting each soldier today--about $10,000--as it did 10 years ago.
Although the Army met its recruitment targets in three of the last five years--about 80,000 a year--those goals are far lower than in the past, Moskos said.
Given the current global climate, America is "likely going to need more people in the armed forces in the coming years," he said. "That's when the recruitment shortfalls will come."
Although store shelves are bulging with video games that have military themes, some of which are so realistic they are used by the military to train soldiers, commercial games such as "Halo" lack the realism of being in the Army, Zyda said.
Technical realism, in fact, is one of the biggest selling points ofthe two new games.
To make "Operations," developers rode tanks and Blackhawk helicopters, parachuted from airplanes and shot rifles and machine guns. They brought in soldiers from the Army's Special Forces to critique scenes and levels. They scanned images of 12 weapons and programmed their recoils, accuracies and bullet speeds into the game. For "Soldiers," developers videotaped real soldiers and drill sergeants.
Will that be good enough?
"It can't hurt," Moskos said. "But a video game isn't going to be as good as real personal contact."
Or like doing push-ups in the mud.
Pic:
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is it going to be multiplayer ?
When available in europe ?
it looks cool
:cool:
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"Intense Multiplayer Action!" they said :)
This sucks! I can't d/l it... looks like US Army don't care about it while i'm an Euro ;)
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They just found out a way to recruit remote drone pilots for the 'virtual' strike on baghdad :P
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Its a very good move, smart.
This will be the recruitment equivalent of TOP GUN (when it came out baack then).
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It's not actually released yet, it's still in beta. I think it's due for actual release to the public in August (correct me if I'm wrong?).
Looks like fun though.
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It's out and the download is free. Nothing to report on it... still in the middle of the D/L. 240MB!
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It was dark outside, dark and quiet in the time between midnight and the first whispers of dawn. Just minutes earlier, I had been asleep, thinking thoughts of happier times -- Judy by the lake, the sun glistening off her wet hair. But then, real life rudely intruded and duty called.
My hands were firm on the plastic grips. I reached down and flicked the switch and felt the beast come alive. This little cog in the big green machine was going to show those mommas' boys how it's down. With a steady hand I aimed the buffer towards the glowing light of the day room and blazed across the linoleum floor. Yep, the Drill Sergeant was going to pop a woody tomorrow when he saw the glistening glory...
Only the 3D FPS format can bring out the full army experience. You could have powerups like Brasso and Pinesol. Man, the heart is pounding already.
Charon
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rofl what a joke I know this was thought up by politicans,
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i will be downloading it tonight expect a full review tommorow
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Have had this game on the puter for a while now, my kid plays it.
Not bad, got some good stuff to it, the online fights are fun.
A little buggy, hard to get in the game servers sometimes, sides are very limited, but when it runs well, its pretty fun.
More features/challenges/adventures coming soon.
dago
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I played it the first weekend, lol what a mess... they didnt have enough Mount mekena training servers, and you have to get certified on one of those before you can go to a real server.
Once you get past the certification BS, it is alot of fun. One aspect the pissed me off was you can stil strafe and side step and not get hit and kill the guy who is prone and aiming, and it should be the other way around... heheh
Great graphics though!
The M249 SAW rocks!
I heard they will do snipers soon too but you have to do very well in the early marksmenship training to train as a sniper.
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I just quallified as marksman, woohoo, they haven't seen the thickness of my glasses yet! :D
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I downloaded it and it's nice
thank u american tax payers
:D
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I can't seem to be able to land the 2nd training course (Obstacle course)
What do I do after the last crawling part?If I move a bit away I get the whissle and have to start again... if I don't move time just runs out... :confused:
maybe I'm too stupid to join the US Army? ;)
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Originally posted by BUG_EAF322
I downloaded it and it's nice
thank u american tax payers
:D
We do this stuff just for fun in between times when we can play with the real toys.
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been playing it for a month now. Great game, but online sux. Too many quakers out there. They need to get officers or sgt's in the game to show leadership. Right now it's just like team player quake or GR but with better graphics and M.I.L.E.S. gear.
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to get sniper you must shoot 37 targets.
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I think I'd rather stick to "Deer hunter" after I saw the download size.
Looks good, maybe not for my machine until I get DSL.