America's Army 3 Studio Closed

Most of us in the sim world are somewhat aware of the US Army recruiting game, America's Army. I've played it since it was first released and my current account dates back to 2003. Word has reached the community around it that the Devs towards the June 17th release date were growing increasingly unhappy with the information they were being fed and the fact they could be asked to leave without warning. Well the US Army pulled a Microsoft (reference to the MS Flight Sim Team) and sacked an entire development team.

Relevant forum post including comments by one recently terminated developer, here.

Relevant News article here.

Unfortunately the release of the latest iteration of the game can only be classified as a failure to fire (sort of like A2 but for different reasons), but this is most likely stemming from the authorisation servers provided for users to track their statistics. However having said that, once you eventually progress through the training scenarios that lead up to online play, you do get the time to learn some of the basic skills that will keep you going. Additionally during the basic first aid training, players get to watch a video "projected" up onto a wall, which includes synchronised audio with the picture. The training very much focuses on the Army of one mentality, or Rambo, unfortunately during the run through the Connex MOUT facility you're going it alone. On the upside there's a number of achievements or awards players can seek by working with team mates, which are part of the tracked statistics. There are also significant awards for participating as a medic and rendering first aid. Additionally there are incentives for the soldiers to confirm their enemy are dead, the old "kick in the nuts" or checking the pulse.

For the developer, AA3 has provided us a very valid lesson, which for most of us came at no cost, with the exception of those directly affected. Unfortunately it appears at this stage that there was a case of the head shed not understanding the constraints the developers were under or not appreciating their efforts. Who knows really as we're only getting one side of the story, and very unlikely to see the other side. On the upside it may be possible to find inspiration for simulation in a game.

At the end of the day as a developer we listen to direction from the boss, just as an organisation providing simulation training you listen to your users, particularly when planning for the future. They dictate the direction of the capability which is a major influence on development. To come up short in either instance is to fail in your mission and if you fail in your mission you're looking to set the blokes training up for failure, particularly if they're preparing for war.

Jamie.