Comments on: More games and simulations http://www.investigations.4-lom.com/2006/11/14/more-games-and-simulations/ Failing better at understanding the past Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:05:46 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: William http://www.investigations.4-lom.com/2006/11/14/more-games-and-simulations/#comment-5709 William Sat, 01 Sep 2007 02:50:56 +0000 http://www.investigations.4-lom.com/2006/11/14/more-games-and-simulations/#comment-5709 Regarding a quality military-entertainment complex product, see Battlefront.com and the 'Combat Mission' series, particularly the latest 'Combat Mission Shock Force' game. Actually, Battlefront didn't originally develop these from military 'sims'. They were built from the ground up as games...albeit by military history and simulation fanatics. The various 'Combat Mission' games are by far and away the most realistic simulations of tactical ground warfare ever made available to the public as a commercial product (that I am aware of). MOHAA, COD, OFS, etc. are essentially action shooters by comparison. Regarding a quality military-entertainment complex product, see Battlefront.com and the ‘Combat Mission’ series, particularly the latest ‘Combat Mission Shock Force’ game. Actually, Battlefront didn’t originally develop these from military ’sims’. They were built from the ground up as games…albeit by military history and simulation fanatics. The various ‘Combat Mission’ games are by far and away the most realistic simulations of tactical ground warfare ever made available to the public as a commercial product (that I am aware of). MOHAA, COD, OFS, etc. are essentially action shooters by comparison.

]]> By: Investigations of a Dog » The Game at the End of Reality http://www.investigations.4-lom.com/2006/11/14/more-games-and-simulations/#comment-170 Investigations of a Dog » The Game at the End of Reality Mon, 18 Dec 2006 16:47:55 +0000 http://www.investigations.4-lom.com/2006/11/14/more-games-and-simulations/#comment-170 [...] The development of new technology was a necessary condition for this situation to arise, but it’s not a sufficient condition in itself. People who thought that ever improving technology would have to do all the work in catching up with unchanging reality were barking up the wrong tree. The real and the virtual are converging from both directions. Reality is getting more virtual at the same time as the virtual is getting more realistic. Culture is just as important as technology. When the media we habitually use to interact distance us from the reality we’re interacting with, a convincing simulation only needs to simulate the medium, not the reality itself. This negates the technological limitations which have dragged down attempts to simulate direct interaction between a person and a virtual environment. Simulations of tanks and planes were the earliest success of VR, because when you’re driving a vehicle, that vehicle is a medium which distances you from the rest of the world. The primary role of the simulation is to simulate the cockpit, a much easier task than simulating direct contact between a human body and a whole world. In the 1980s, even home computers like the C64 could simulate flying a plane quite convincingly (or at least more convincingly than they could simulate most other things). The SIMNET tank simulator used by the US Army is realistic enough to be a substitute for real exercises (see my post on More Games and Simulations). [...] [...] The development of new technology was a necessary condition for this situation to arise, but it’s not a sufficient condition in itself. People who thought that ever improving technology would have to do all the work in catching up with unchanging reality were barking up the wrong tree. The real and the virtual are converging from both directions. Reality is getting more virtual at the same time as the virtual is getting more realistic. Culture is just as important as technology. When the media we habitually use to interact distance us from the reality we’re interacting with, a convincing simulation only needs to simulate the medium, not the reality itself. This negates the technological limitations which have dragged down attempts to simulate direct interaction between a person and a virtual environment. Simulations of tanks and planes were the earliest success of VR, because when you’re driving a vehicle, that vehicle is a medium which distances you from the rest of the world. The primary role of the simulation is to simulate the cockpit, a much easier task than simulating direct contact between a human body and a whole world. In the 1980s, even home computers like the C64 could simulate flying a plane quite convincingly (or at least more convincingly than they could simulate most other things). The SIMNET tank simulator used by the US Army is realistic enough to be a substitute for real exercises (see my post on More Games and Simulations). [...]

]]> By: Gavin Robinson http://www.investigations.4-lom.com/2006/11/14/more-games-and-simulations/#comment-103 Gavin Robinson Fri, 08 Dec 2006 16:39:27 +0000 http://www.investigations.4-lom.com/2006/11/14/more-games-and-simulations/#comment-103 Yes, the availability of this kind of information could mark a major watershed in military history, and also put the cat among the pigeons in theoretical debates about how much we can know about what really happened in the past. On the one hand it now looks like we can get something like a god's eye view of tactical and operational movements without having to worry about perception, memory, the meaning of language, or the relation of text to reality. Will post-structuralists be able to argue with that? On the other hand, this is likely to provide concrete empirical evidence of the unreliability of individual perceptions and memory, especially in combat situations. Will empiricists be able to argue with that? We might be forced to abandon everything we thought we knew about battles before 1991. In practice it's probably more of a continuum than a drastic break. Information tends to get more complete and reliable the closer you get to the present (although there are exceptions). The research I've been doing on the First World War is so much easier than researching the seventeenth century because the records are more complete and more detailed (and also better sorted and indexed). I'll never be able to pinpoint the exact spot where my great-grandfather was captured, but I've been able to narrow it down to a fairly small area that I can point to on a map with more certainty than I can locate most things that happened in the English Civil War. Yes, the availability of this kind of information could mark a major watershed in military history, and also put the cat among the pigeons in theoretical debates about how much we can know about what really happened in the past. On the one hand it now looks like we can get something like a god’s eye view of tactical and operational movements without having to worry about perception, memory, the meaning of language, or the relation of text to reality. Will post-structuralists be able to argue with that?

On the other hand, this is likely to provide concrete empirical evidence of the unreliability of individual perceptions and memory, especially in combat situations. Will empiricists be able to argue with that? We might be forced to abandon everything we thought we knew about battles before 1991.

In practice it’s probably more of a continuum than a drastic break. Information tends to get more complete and reliable the closer you get to the present (although there are exceptions). The research I’ve been doing on the First World War is so much easier than researching the seventeenth century because the records are more complete and more detailed (and also better sorted and indexed). I’ll never be able to pinpoint the exact spot where my great-grandfather was captured, but I’ve been able to narrow it down to a fairly small area that I can point to on a map with more certainty than I can locate most things that happened in the English Civil War.

]]> By: Battlefield Biker http://www.investigations.4-lom.com/2006/11/14/more-games-and-simulations/#comment-96 Battlefield Biker Thu, 07 Dec 2006 17:43:18 +0000 http://www.investigations.4-lom.com/2006/11/14/more-games-and-simulations/#comment-96 I was in Fox Troop 2/2 ACR and protected Ghost Troop's flank during the battle of 73 Easting. As alluded to by GR, another important point about the gathering of modern battlefield data is that some first hand accounts can be uncorroborated by the facts on the ground, which allows a far better understanding of the true nature of the battle and hence, far better, more relistic training. In the past, these type of reports (and I'm talking about altruistically, neutral and non-altruistically motivated accounts) were subject to the individual historian's "belief" or "gut" as to whether they were true or not. Some of my recent research on the battlefields of the English Civil War showed some battlefields with 3 distinct possibilities for some of the action (Langport) based on each historian's view of the the first hand accounts. Had we not had the technological detail of the 73E, we would not understand it this well either. The amount and quality of detail that we are beginning to see from battlefield autopsies, electronic governmental evidence, hourly economic data and ubiquitous CCTV / satellite data will surely make training /decision making more effective. Now, using that same information in real time...that's another question altogether that my colleague, <a href="http://www.carlisle.army.mil/usacsl/Publications/S03-03.pdf" rel="nofollow">H R McMasters</a>, has written about. I was in Fox Troop 2/2 ACR and protected Ghost Troop’s flank during the battle of 73 Easting. As alluded to by GR, another important point about the gathering of modern battlefield data is that some first hand accounts can be uncorroborated by the facts on the ground, which allows a far better understanding of the true nature of the battle and hence, far better, more relistic training. In the past, these type of reports (and I’m talking about altruistically, neutral and non-altruistically motivated accounts) were subject to the individual historian’s “belief” or “gut” as to whether they were true or not. Some of my recent research on the battlefields of the English Civil War showed some battlefields with 3 distinct possibilities for some of the action (Langport) based on each historian’s view of the the first hand accounts. Had we not had the technological detail of the 73E, we would not understand it this well either. The amount and quality of detail that we are beginning to see from battlefield autopsies, electronic governmental evidence, hourly economic data and ubiquitous CCTV / satellite data will surely make training /decision making more effective. Now, using that same information in real time…that’s another question altogether that my colleague, H R McMasters, has written about.

]]> By: Barista » Blog Archive » History Carnival XLIV http://www.investigations.4-lom.com/2006/11/14/more-games-and-simulations/#comment-77 Barista » Blog Archive » History Carnival XLIV Thu, 30 Nov 2006 14:01:13 +0000 http://www.investigations.4-lom.com/2006/11/14/more-games-and-simulations/#comment-77 [...] The dog inquisitive has another treat. The history of modern military campaigns is documented digitally from bullet to laser cannon. It gives us an entirely new way of doing history - building computer simulations, games driven entirely by their devotion to accuracy. This approach is distinctly different to the average war game, which simulates merely a certain kind of isolated hero. With a certain affinity for matters digital, the pooch has also been thinking about the way “technology has brought huge changes to historical research and opened up new possibilities.” That is a casual introduction to a huge topic. [...] [...] The dog inquisitive has another treat. The history of modern military campaigns is documented digitally from bullet to laser cannon. It gives us an entirely new way of doing history - building computer simulations, games driven entirely by their devotion to accuracy. This approach is distinctly different to the average war game, which simulates merely a certain kind of isolated hero. With a certain affinity for matters digital, the pooch has also been thinking about the way “technology has brought huge changes to historical research and opened up new possibilities.” That is a casual introduction to a huge topic. [...]

]]> By: Gary Smailes http://www.investigations.4-lom.com/2006/11/14/more-games-and-simulations/#comment-31 Gary Smailes Fri, 17 Nov 2006 10:15:06 +0000 http://www.investigations.4-lom.com/2006/11/14/more-games-and-simulations/#comment-31 Perhaps the most successful conversion from training simulation to popular computer game in the Operation Flashpoint series. This series of FPS games was based directly on Virtual Battlefield Systems, a training tool for military agencies round the world, among them the US Marine Corps. Perhaps the most successful conversion from training simulation to popular computer game in the Operation Flashpoint series. This series of FPS games was based directly on Virtual Battlefield Systems, a training tool for military agencies round the world, among them the US Marine Corps.

]]> By: redrob64 http://www.investigations.4-lom.com/2006/11/14/more-games-and-simulations/#comment-30 redrob64 Fri, 17 Nov 2006 03:25:54 +0000 http://www.investigations.4-lom.com/2006/11/14/more-games-and-simulations/#comment-30 I confess my ignorance about things computistic (that is the correct word, yes?) and can only say that I run it on a low end eMachine with a Radeon X700Pro and an old CRT monitor. It is supposedly compatible with the 8500, 9000, and X series cards, so I would guess that it should work. You may find some of the scenes a little jumpy on occasion, but that and a tendency for the sound to be scratchy is all I've trouble with. The sequel is pretty good too. I'm working my way up to the "realistic" level. Good luck. I confess my ignorance about things computistic (that is the correct word, yes?) and can only say that I run it on a low end eMachine with a Radeon X700Pro and an old CRT monitor. It is supposedly compatible with the 8500, 9000, and X series cards, so I would guess that it should work. You may find some of the scenes a little jumpy on occasion, but that and a tendency for the sound to be scratchy is all I’ve trouble with. The sequel is pretty good too. I’m working my way up to the “realistic” level.

Good luck.

]]> By: Gavin Robinson http://www.investigations.4-lom.com/2006/11/14/more-games-and-simulations/#comment-26 Gavin Robinson Wed, 15 Nov 2006 12:30:40 +0000 http://www.investigations.4-lom.com/2006/11/14/more-games-and-simulations/#comment-26 I didn't know about that but it looks really good, and there are cheap second hand copies on Amazon. How well do you think it would run on a Radeon 9600 non-pro? I didn’t know about that but it looks really good, and there are cheap second hand copies on Amazon. How well do you think it would run on a Radeon 9600 non-pro?

]]> By: redrob64 http://www.investigations.4-lom.com/2006/11/14/more-games-and-simulations/#comment-25 redrob64 Wed, 15 Nov 2006 01:55:40 +0000 http://www.investigations.4-lom.com/2006/11/14/more-games-and-simulations/#comment-25 You should give "Brothers in Arms" a try. It attempts to replicate squad tactics with the player as an NCO in charge of one or two fire teams. There is still a lot of the “'do I have to do everything myself' conventions of FPS" in it, but it does a much better job of deterring the "John Wayne" style of play -- you tend to get shot. There is also a good deal of explanation of the situation being simulated and on the design efforts that you can chew over for criticism. You should give “Brothers in Arms” a try. It attempts to replicate squad tactics with the player as an NCO in charge of one or two fire teams. There is still a lot of the “’do I have to do everything myself’ conventions of FPS” in it, but it does a much better job of deterring the “John Wayne” style of play — you tend to get shot. There is also a good deal of explanation of the situation being simulated and on the design efforts that you can chew over for criticism.

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