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Virtual Peace Sim Game Based On America's Army
Posted by
ScuttleMonkey
on Mon Dec 01, 2008 04:26 PM
from the where-everyone-looks-like-a-victim dept.
from the where-everyone-looks-like-a-victim dept.
fortapocalypse writes "Duke University in collaboration with Virtual Heroes (who created America's Army) has produced a game called Virtual Peace, the intention of which is to help the gamer develop disaster relief and conflict resolution skills. Virtual Peace also is the winner of the HASTAC/MacArthur Digital Media and Learning Competition, according to an article published by the university."
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I don't know (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Global political simulator? I think it does all right.
There were also some rts games made by a german company that involved environmental cleanup. I'm not sure how those did but they looked interesting.
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Global political simulator? I think it does all right.
There were also some rts games made by a german company that involved environmental cleanup. I'm not sure how those did but they looked interesting.
Careful though: historically, Germans have poor judgment when it comes to determining what constitutes an "environmental cleanup".
Meh, the joke is all right, but could use a little work.
Re:I don't know (Score:4, Funny)
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Re:I don't know (Score:5, Interesting)
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Actually, it's not. It's much, much worse.
Depends how you like to play... one group has fun! (Score:3, Interesting)
Yep, that's unbelievably lame to most people, but some people are going to have fun. There exists a subset of the population that will be intensely serious (perhaps even obsessive/compulsive) about carrying out these virtual negotions. You've seen them in other online games before... the people for whom the game becomes their reality, and they are so dedicated they don't eat or sleep in the real world.
However, that's not the group I was referring to when I said some people are goi
Re:I don't know (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
But the ones you listed don't have an overt propaganda mission (ok, "educational aim"). This is "Make Learning Fun"! - which generally isn't a very good way to teach.
If they wanted to actually get their point across, make it an expansion module to America's Army where you get promoted to a position that actually needs these skills to win the game. Think Petraeus in Iraq.
Re:I don't know (Score:5, Insightful)
I hope this took you at least several hours to write because it's difficult to imagine the two thoughts occurred within within seconds or minutes of each other...
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Re:I don't know (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:I don't know (Score:4, Insightful)
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Re:I don't know (Score:4, Insightful)
I don't believe it's intended as video game entertainment. It's an educational simulation to train people who may need to devise disaster response policy. Players run through the simulation, make certain choices, and then they all engage in an after-action review session to check the appropriateness, or effectiveness, of their choices.
Parent
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The AAR, great in theory...but harder to sit through than a 4 hour budget meeting.
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I'm guessing you were never in Model UN in high school - this looks to be exactly like that, but with a glossy, Second Life sheen.
It could be fun if it were done correctly or at least be educational, but this looks like it'll end poorly. I fail to see why getting kids into a room, assigning them characters and responsibilities and letting them argue with each other needs to have an OMG TEH INTERNETS MAEK AWESOME component to it.
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That's the thing that even chess club nerds are embarrassed to be associated with, right?
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Model U.N.? That has to be the coolest idea I can think of! Not only that, but it would be tons of fun and give important life lessons. Kids could learn important lessons about graft, hypocrisy, corruption, incompetence, dishonesty, even the sex slave trade if your district can afford the Congo program. Reenacting the "Food for Oil" scandal could give us enough corrupt bureaucrats and influence-grubbing politicians for the next generation!
Issuing finger-wagging resolutions that threatening nothing worse
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Well, what about Sim City?
I never got into FPS games, but I did at one point have a serious Sim City habit. The point of a game is to get you into a kind of "flow state"; so any game with a dynamically evolving situation that requires just the right amount of attention can do the job. Sim City worked because the city starts out growing, and once it gets to the size where expansion isn't rewarding anymore there's always a problem cropping up some place.
It seems to me that humanitarian relief is somethin
I Played as the US... (Score:5, Funny)
I played as the US in the Katrina emergency so that I could eat Cheetos and surf the web instead of helping anyone. After a few in-game days, I transferred some water to the survivors and attempted to blame everyone else.
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I'm pretty sure there's folks who were on the ground on day one who would disagree with you, including myself (No, I do not work for FEMA, but I am a Federal Employee, and made the trip down as soon as it became apparent that things were worse than expected). That said, I won't resort to calling your post flamebait, or anything else of the sort, even though I agree it is disappointing that certain executive offi
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You forgot to mention that after blaming everyone else you asked for more money and more power from congress. Congress is doesn't want to seem like it is doing nothing so it then happily grants your request.
Fun side missions include, illegally breaking into people's homes, taking away guns from rich white people who aren't affected by the flood and arresting people who try to get back into their homes even though their home isn't affected! (and yes all of these things have been done by FEMA).
Who said this g
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How on earth did you get through the first phase of the game? Arabian horse breeding is not for the timid!
Get used to hearing it... (Score:4, Funny)
Booooring. (Score:2, Funny)
Hey, would you like to come over to my house and play a new game?
Sure, what is it?
It's called Virtual Peace!
Virtual Peace, huh. That's a cool name for a sex game! Is it like Leisure Suit Larry?
No, Peace, not piece, you know, as in non-violent lovey-dovey.
So it's a girl game?
Well, not exactly. It's about saving people from disasters and injustice through negotiation and treaties.
Oh. Do you get to kill people, like in Star Wars where they were all like What are you doing!? And she was all, "Aggressive negotia
Forging Peace. (Score:2)
"Duke University in collaboration with Virtual Heroes (who created America's Army) has produced a game called Virtual Peace, the intention of which is to help the gamer develop disaster relief and conflict resolution skills."
They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. - Isaiah 2:4 [wikipedia.org]
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Uh huh. Thanks for reminding us that the bible has a retarded quote for just about everything.
Another great quote by Ben Franklin... (Score:3, Interesting)
"I am Ben Franklin! Master of sex and Voodoo!" - Benjamin Franklin
That's fine but... (Score:3, Funny)
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PvP is indirect in this game. You have to starve the person to death by giving supplies to someone else. It takes strategy and skill as opposed to some of those other lame PvP games on the market.
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Idea isn't necessarily bad (Score:3, Insightful)
The idea itself isn't necessarily a bad one. Not all games have to be violent, and 'fun' computer games can be had without violence, sex, or comedy.
That said, it's the gameplay that makes it work or not work. It sounds like this one is going to be a flop (not to mention it sounds rather politically motivated, another thing that can potentially ruin a game...)
Conflict resolution (Score:5, Funny)
America's Army teaches conflict resolution.
By killing all those that disagree with you, you resolve the conflict.
Expansion pack for America's Army... (Score:4, Funny)
...will be checking to see whether your avatar has served in the Virtual Peace Corps before deciding to let you join.
Watch out (Score:4, Funny)
While flying supplies into the outback, we were shot down by the kangaroos anti-aircraft fire.
Video Game to Develop Skills? (Score:4, Funny)
...The creators must have taken their notes from this http://www.somethingawful.com/d/photoshop-phriday/video-game-skills.php [somethingawful.com]
Video goodness (Score:5, Insightful)
There's a video up on the referenced website, and it's freakin' hilarious - there are 20-30 kids seated at computers and wearing headsets and playing around in a virtual world, completely ignoring the fact that, if they took the computers away, they'd be sitting in a room with 19-29 other students who could easily pose the same arguments and take on the same personalities IN PERSON. It's called Model UN, and it's been going on in high schools for at least a decade. The selling feature of this thing looks to be that it's happening in a virtual world that looks sorta like the conference rooms in the real world where decisions were made about Hurricane Mitch, and that you can make your avatars look like the real-life politicians involved.
The internet is not and should never be a replacement for exercising an imagination. I can't help but shake the feeling that somebody needed to justify a shiny new computer lab and this is what they came up with.
I'm working on a new game (Score:4, Funny)
I'm calling it "Oil For Food".....
It's a sim, not a game (Score:3, Informative)
Before you get all excited, note that this doesn't appear to be a game at all as the summary implies. ("Editors on crack" alert.)
Instead, it looks like it's just a simulator with one scenario that's used as an educational aid in one class at Duke University. It's not available for download. I don't even know why it's a .org domain. From what I can tell, the site explains this Virtual Peace in a very vague manner and appears to just a way for those involved in the development to get their big faces on the web (and probably in print).
This is an undergraduate course at Duke University (Score:3, Interesting)
It's like saying flight simulators are boring because you can't shoot the other planes.
This "game" is a simulator used to help train our potential, future world leaders how to resolve conflicts without resorting to the type of diplomacy typified in America's Army.
You will also notice there is no way to download this "game." It seems this is part of the course curriculum, as the private area of the website points out.
Sure, it may be more fun to blow someone's head off with a sawed-off shotgun, but really, would you do it for real, just for fun?
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This is a little disturbing. (Score:5, Informative)
America's Army was known to be a "reciting tool" intended to show kids how "cool" being a grunt in the infantry is.
In light of current politics, there is something on the "to do" list for the major players in government, and it's called National Service. Obama, McCain, Clinton and Bush all supported this and they have been using careful wording to sugar coat what is basically forced government conscription.
Rep. Rahm Emanuel Obama's choice for chief of staff wrote a book called "Big Ideas for America" where he writes. (emphasis added)
It's time for a real Patriot Act that brings out the patriot in all of us. We propose universal civilian service for every young American. Under this plan, All Americans between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five will be *asked to serve* their country by going through three months of basic training, civil defense preparation and community service.
Here's how it would work. Young people will know that between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five, the nation will enlist them for three months of civilian service. They'll be asked to report for three months of basic civil defense training in their state or community, where they will learn what to do in the event of biochemical, nuclear or conventional attack; how to assist others in an evacuation; how to respond when a levee breaks or we're hit by a natural disaster. These young people will be available to address their communities' most pressing needs. ..
Some Republicans will squeal about individual freedom..
On one hand, they say this is voluntary.. Groups like "Service Nation" that had a big rally in New York attended by McCain and Obama on, yep.. you guessed it 9/11 to exploit the date to promote their plan, they *claim* it will be a persons choice.. However if "Some Republicans will squeal about individual freedom" As Rahm says.. then he is clearly NOT planing for this to be voluntary.
I have no indication of it.. but I wonder if this game is, like America's Army, propaganda in order to convince people that "National Slavery" is a good thing and they they should love working for their masters in government.
Re:Reality Check (Score:4, Insightful)
Um... Cuban Missile Crisis? Just first thing that popped into my head. There have been a couple times in the past when conflict resolution skills have come in handy.
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I would liken the Cuban Missile Crisis to calling the dad a hero that studied law while
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Re:Reality Check (Score:4, Informative)
Germany was OK with the peace terms imposed on it after WWII but not with the peace terms imposed after WWI: hence, dramatically different results.
I'd be careful with that. The outcomes of those two wars were vastly different even before peace terms. In WWI German soil wasn't even touched before the surrender, which then led to the sentiment that they got a raw deal. In WWII their cities were pounded to rubble, their men killed, their streets filled with enemy soldiers, and their government evaporated. It was very, very clear that they had soundly lost the war this time around.
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