A Decision-making Action/Adventure Game for Naval Surface Warfare Officers

 It’s a quiet morning in the Persian Gulf.  Tactical exercises during the night have sharpened the skills of the crew and heightened the intensity.  While most of the crew have racked, there are a few standing watch in the command and control center.  LT Jack Davis has the Con.  Suddenly one of the radar operators reports an aircraft flying straight into the navigational path of the ship.  Davis, well-versed in procedures, announces over the ship’s loudspeaker system, “General quarters, general quarters, all hands man your battle stations.”The radio operator interjects, “One at 350’s inbound, it’s coming inbound fast.  I’ve got a visual on the bow camera.”Davis now faces multiple demons – Is this attack part of the practice evolution?  Is this an actual attack by an as yet unidentified source?  Every second counts.   Hostilities are high.  911 looms in the mind of the crew.  Could the ship be in Iranian territorial waters?  What’s the next move? 

“Got the Con” is an action/adventure game that will provide surface warfare officers the opportunity to practice command and control procedures in unpredictable environments.  Used as adjunctive material to classroom instruction and simulation exercises, Got the Con adapts to the individual player’s decisions and changes paths or offers challenges based on individual input.  The “Win” takes place when the individual correctly guides the ship through a number of challenges and safely makes its way to homeport.   

Characters:

• Main Character – a student who completes a psychological, academic, and naval service questionnaire as a preliminary to the course.  Information from the questionnaire will be used to “build” the student’s character once the game begins.  Decisions and conflicts will be adapted based on information obtained in the questionnaire.
• Supporting Characters – Got the Con is a massively multiplayer role-playing game.  Members of the actual naval class will assume supporting roles.  Additionally, the game will present a number of minor characters who have potential to impact situations, e.g., food service worker with pneumonia; ship’s doctor on emergency leave; engineman with marital problems, etc.
• Team Play – if the instructor elects to place the game in team mode, students may be assigned to specific team roles with each role assessed and redirected as the game evolves.   

Target Audience: The audience for this game is the Surface Warfare Officers School, Newport.  Based on predefined entry modes, the game adapts to any one of a number of courses taught at the school or allows the game’s administrator to combine players from various courses with the common goal, “protect the ship and bring the crew home safely.” 

Game Genre: Action/Adventure Serious Game with identifiable learning goals and objectives 

Competitive Analysis: There are a number of military games on the market, e.g., America’s Army, Global Conflict, Sea War, etc.  These games have been built for a generalized audience.  Got the Con will be built specifically for use with Surface Warfare officers in order to give them the opportunity to practice in an environment more dynamic than instructor-controlled simulations. 

Game Goals: The game is designed to be used at the program level (Hirumi & Stapleton, 2007).  Its purpose is to provide the school with an optimal integrated training for all courses taught at the school and a method by which the school may ensure that student/players are able to apply what they’ve learned in the academic courses to real world settings. 

Reference

Hirumi, A. and Stapleton, C. (2006).  Applying pedagogy during game development to optimize game-based learning [Electronic version].  Paper presented at the 2006 Joint ADL Implementation Fest.  Retrieved July 12, 2007, from http://www.jointadlcolab.org/newsandevents/ifests/2006/briefs.aspx

I hope you enjoy sharing ideas and information about stories as we progress through the semester.