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US Government Licenses Unreal Game Engine To Train FBI Agents and Army Medics
cylonlover writes "While games like Batman: Arkham City and Gears of War are certainly entertaining, virtually beating up thugs and fighting subterranean creatures doesn't exactly translate into real world skills. However, a new agreement with teaching software developer Virtual Heroes could see Epic's Unreal Engine platform used to create more practical experiences and train medical staff and law enforcement officers to handle high-stress situations. By using Epic's Unreal Engine 3, some United States government agencies like the FBI and U.S. Army are hoping to give their employees tools for virtually practicing their skills in a more realistic environment and better prepare them to save lives."
> Give the guy with bullet wounds the white medkit box.
"Congratulations, Doctor, You passed LEVEL 1!"
???
when a downed FBI angent screams officer down they will be comforted by the fact that their medical personal trained behind a sony with a analog controller and a mountain dew
Dont get me wrong, games can be high stress, but not nearly as high stressed as one wrong move and you cease to exist, games a have reset button and a spawn location
yep, that's what first person shooters are for.
So let me get this straight, in the near future, the US government will pay people to play Unreal or derivative games?
WTF was I thinking getting a degree and a job? I should have stayed at home playing Xbox!
The government isn't saying this will be the only source of training for medics or law enforcement. This would be a supplement to existing training they give them. I don't see how this is any different than a flight simulator for pilots in training.
Its not necessarily about you the player. While stress may be a factor for you in the sense that you have severe time constraints and have to do a bit of multitasking, the real point is learning to deal with *others* that are severely stressed. The actors, computer controlled characters, are acting in a highly stressed and possibly irrational manner. Learning how such people act and how to deal with them is a skill that a "serious game" can help one learn.
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Oh wait, we're supposed to be RESCUING them?
Ooops.
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Old news. America's Army used the unreal engine too.
THEY'RE TAKIN URR JURRBBBSS!
I mean they already have VBS2 (vbs2.com) and probably other stuff as well. They just like spending.
I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I can think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do.
LOL. They're going to waste so much time tweaking the engine to get it to work right for their machines... They'll NEVER get anything done!
Goverment inefficiency and general cluelessness + PAIN IN THE ASS unreal engine game = Infinite time wasted!
As a former combat medic, I can assure you NO VIRTUAL TRAINING can match or prepare you for the real thing. NONE. I participated in medical procedures on dead people (cadavers, people who'd donated their bodies to medical science before death,) and livestock (farm animals, I cannot be more specific, legally,) as part of my post-Healthcare Specialist Course, given at Ft. Sam Houston, TX. I subsequently worked in an aid station and gave literally scores of IV's over the years before my retirement, and helping train new medics as they arrived at my unit, as well as treating numerous wounds in combat (burns, and a few gun shot wounds, but mostly run of the mill stuff as I've mentioned). This includes several deployments to combat zones.
It is my considered opinion, having gone through STX (Situational Training Exercise) or "Sticks," as it's sometimes called, (somewhat realistic training at the end of Advanced Individual Training, treating soldiers playing casualties with realistic-seeming (but fake) wounds and injuries) to the Combat Medic Advanced Skills Training Course, including procedures done on livestock animals... and additional training administered as part of our routine day to day during any down-time we had... literally MONTHS of training that went for the duration of an entire standard work-day... that when you see your first soldier all banged the fuck up from a grenade or IED, or with a hole in him oozing various bodily fluids, all the training up until that point will seem like a goddamned joke.
Anything done on a computer, likewise, is going to be a goddamned joke. I can see why they want to use every tool available to train the newest generation of docs, but it calls into question the people who make the procurement decisions, and how much they can possibly know about the training of medics, because as someone who has been through it, let me assure you. There is NOTHING like the real thing. You will never forget it, as long as you live, even if you forget the procedures, the medical training itself, the sight of a fellow man in bits and pieces will never leave you till your dying day.
So what I'm saying is, enjoy your fucking computer games, just don't imagine they're going to help you when the shit hits the fan.
America's Army has been based on the Unreal engine since inception, so this is not particularly new news.
They did this with the game America's Army and Unreal Engine 2.X. I'm not sure if that upgraded to UE3 yet. The engine is free if you aren't selling anything (and dirt cheap if you are) and it is basically the best game engine out there.
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In the very least, it's been proven (as well as anything with regard to video games, I suppose) that playing games that involve stressful and/or traumatic situations desensitizes the players to such situations. It's been noted by military professionals (I don't remember where I saw the quote) that they've had problems with soldiers wanting to just charge out and "Call of Duty" the bad guys--which is, of course, likely to end badly.
On the other hand, teaching medics to handle seeing lots of blood/death/danger without freaking out is (ostensibly, anyway) a rather useful thing to accomplish. This is likely to result in a more rational thought process while in the tense situation, rather than relying on the "wildcard" of whether a first responder will be able to keep his cool, based on personality and past experiences, alone. In more common terms, it'll probably make "green recruits" essentially less "green."
Unreal Engine 3 came out when? 2007? Does it even have true HDR or just that bloom stuff? Off the top of my head, the game engine from the PC version of Crysis 2 (especially with the DX11 patch that adds high-res textures and tessellation) looks WAY prettier. I'm sure the DoD could easily transform "prettier" into "more realistic".
Why not use an opensource engine like the quake/sauerbraten/cube one?
No one's mentioned Virtual BattleSpace2? What I don't get is that there's no mention of the fact that the US government already licenses the Unreal Engine for America's Army and they also license VBS2 for precisely this form of training.
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Another engine option is the Delta3D game engine, which is open source software. The Delta3D project is run by the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS), and maintained just for this sort of thing. I hoped they examined that alternative before spending big bucks for an Unreal Engine license (if not, shame on them, and they need to look next time).
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I work in the building where that engine was developed (ID has since moved :-( ). I should build a map of this building for shits and giggles.
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How exactly by standing next to an injured person and pressing Z to heal them help train them?
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Translation: Virtual Heroes steals the idea & credit from Army Game Project, waits 2 years, posts it as news.
Still nothing but a bunch of looters with no original ideas and only minimal talent. Or in other words, a typical government contractor.
"HEADSHOT!"
UT2K4! maybe they'll make enough money to start working on another UT so we can stop playing ut2k4...