Thread: Peace Game

Originally Posted by Slashdot.org

"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."

I thought that was quite interesting. I personally enjoyed the game America's Army and although I eventually got bored of it I thought it was quite fun and was in the right mindset for a video game with a purpose. It really did a decent job conveying the Army. Of course it didn't really feel like an educational game although it really was. It took a different stance to an education game because the publisher thought that it was better to be and immersive yet convey some amount of informational significance. It really did a decent job giving insight. But I think the most important part of it was that it was addictive...and that it was.

Heck I remember how I used to take notes on post its because I failed the first aid a couple times. And they were short and fun and the game never lost its gameness. And yes those first aid âoeclassesâ were actually pretty good because when I became a lifeguard I still remembered some of it and it was all pretty good information.

And the sniper skills were fun and you really ended up putting a lot of effort. It kinda showed you just how complicated it was when you have to take into account windspeed and all that.

Basically it really did provide you with the experience the army was trying to convey. Even if it didnâ(TM)t make you want to join the army it did provide an insight into how it was.

And of course it was a whole lot of fun. It was really rewarding when you get to be a medic or use a sniper and the difficulty of the classes actually made it more fun cause it made it valuable (in the same ways that MMOs like WoW make it valuable to be level 70).

So I thought it was interesting and it got me thinking how could a "peace" oriented game be actually fun and kind of be like America's Army.

In all seriousness if you wanted to do a semi peace oriented game...not aimed at being boring and more at just being fun. You could take it from a UN perspective and show the hardships of UN peacekeepers who try to provide aid whilst being caught up in conflict. For example you might have to make tough decisions on whether or not to save someone and you would have to try not get caught up in the crossfire. You could make it in the form of a fall out like RTS kind of like fall out where you are trying to help people in heavily conflicted areas (eg. Most of Africa). I'm not talking about an educational game, but it would be educational in the sense that it would show just how hard it is to provide aid and in a war ravaged country.

You would have to make moral choices on whether to save or life and put yourself at risk. You could be in Indonesia or India and try to keep stability and hand out supplies but not everyone is on your side. You would have to defend your supplies and duck bullets and have to defend against thieves and stuff.

I dunno just food for thought. I am just wondering how you think it would be possible to make a game like this fun. Because so far its never really happened. Games like this always turn out boring as all heck and pointless and just like a bunch of information strewn outand without much substance or fun.