The Game of War: Military Simulation and Game Development Jennifer Sandercock Michael Papasimeon.

The Game of War:The Game of War:Military Simulation and Game DevelopmentMilitary Simulation and Game Development

Jennifer SandercockJennifer SandercockMichael PapasimeonMichael Papasimeon

Air Operations Division, DSTOAir Operations Division, DSTO

• Conduct research into air operations to help the Australian Defence Force (usually the Royal Australian Air Force)• Make smart acquisition decisions on

new systems

• Make best use of existing systems (tactically, operationally etc.)

• Military Simulation is one of our primary tools.

• Defence Science and Technology OrganisationDepartment of Defence

Scope and PurposeScope and Purpose

• Raise awareness of Australian military simulation activities amongst Australian game developers.

• Raise awareness of Defence simulation activity in Melbourne.

• Explore the potential for future collaboration.

• Focus on particular areas, will not be exhaustive.

Games and Military SimulationsGames and Military Simulations

• Similarities• Technology• Software Design• Construction

(Software Engineering)• Some common skill sets.

• Differences• Purpose• Emphasis• Funding• Social

Purpose of Military SimulationPurpose of Military Simulation

DE

PLO

YM

EN

TIN

LIF

E S

UP

PO

RT

TRAINING

HUMAN FACTORS

CONOPS

DEVELOPMENT

AC

QU

SIT

ION

DESIGN

MILITARYSIMULATION

Example SimulationsExample Simulations

• Human In The Loop• Flight Simulators (e.g. AOSC Dome)

• Training

• Human Factors

• Constructive and Wargaming• Operational Analysis for Acquisition,

• Tactics Development,

• Concepts of Operations

• Experimentation

• Campaign• Strategic

• Sortie Generation

• Force-Element Mix

Military Experimentation for AEW&CMilitary Experimentation for AEW&C

Types of SimulationTypes of Simulation

COMPONENT(ENGINEERING)

ENTITY

ENGAGEMENT

MISSION

CAMPAIGN

Operational

Tactical

Strategic 103 -104 km2 , 10-1000+ entities, days- months

102 -103 km2 , 2-32+ entities, hours

< 102 km2 , 2-4 entities, minutes

1 entity

A Flavour Military Simulation in DSTOA Flavour Military Simulation in DSTO

• F/A-18 Air Combat (“Top Gun”)• SWARMM and XCombat

• AEW&C Acquisition• Air Operations Simulation Centre (AOSC) Dome• Synthetic Environment Research Facility (SERF)

Tactics for F/A-18 HornetsTactics for F/A-18 Hornets

F/A-18 Fighter Pilot AIF/A-18 Fighter Pilot AI

Example:Example: Cognitive Modelling Cognitive Modelling (AI) (AI)

• Ingelligent Agents• Situational Awareness• The BDI Reasoning

Model• BDI Languages

• dMARS• JACK

• Graphical Representation

• The Melbourne Link

BDI Agent MechanisationBDI Agent Mechanisation

How to perceiveactcommunicatetactics etc..

Plan ..Plan CPlan BPlan APlan Library

Observe

ExternalInformation

Orient

Currentbeliefs

Planselection

Plan ..Plan nPlan yPlan x ‘To do’ list

Prioritisation

Decide

Act

Plan executionExternalAction

Pilot Agent Architecture and Cognitive ModelPilot Agent Architecture and Cognitive Model

Situation Awareness

Situation Assessment

Tactics Selection

Standard OperatingProcedures

Data from the environment

Actions

Pre-briefed (mission) data

Computational representation

of the OODA Loop

Agent Architecture Agent Architecture (detail)(detail)

Situation Assessment

Tactics Nomination(reaction)

Situation Management

Future Assessment

Situation MemorySituation

PredictionSituation

Awareness

Tactics Management

Future Tactics Nomination(Planning)

Implement Tactic

Present / Reactive Future / ProactiveBalancing & Management

Distributed SimulationDistributed Simulation

• Distributed Mission Training

• Example: The Virtual Air Environment

• DIS/HLA Standards• Interoperability between

simulators that were not originally designed to work together.

Some things military simulations have…Some things military simulations have…

• Artificial Intelligence and Agent Technology• Simulation Architectures and Design Patterns• Complexity• Sophisticated Distribution• Credibility and IV&V• Standardisation• Complex Analysis and Scenario Setup Tools• Commercial heavy duty software engineering

Some things games have…Some things games have…

• Cool and easy to use user-interfaces

Some things games have…Some things games have…

• Cutting Edge Graphics and Visualisation

Some things games have…Some things games have…

• Cutting Edge Sound

Human Chess Players

Human Playing AgainstRobotic Chess Simulator

Human Playing Against Chess Computer

Chess Playing Agent Versus another simulated Chess Playing Agent

Chess: Real, Virtual and MixedChess: Real, Virtual and Mixed

Real Crew in Real AP-3C

Real Crew in AP-3C Simulator Virtual Crew in OR Simulator

Real Crew in AP-3CTactical Simulator

AP-3C Maritime Patrol: Real, Virtual and MixedAP-3C Maritime Patrol: Real, Virtual and Mixed

Classifying GamesClassifying Games

• Methods:• Genre• Complexity• Number of Entities• Number of Interactions• Time scale (minutes vs. hours vs. days)• Levels• AI• Graphics

Complexity?Complexity?

COMPONENT(ENGINEERING)

ENTITY

ENGAGEMENT

MISSION

CAMPAIGN

Sim City

The Sims

Unreal Tournament 2004

Pinball

Civilization

Grand Turismo

Getting Games to Play withGetting Games to Play withMilitary SimulationsMilitary Simulations

• Should be able to:• Be validated• Plug & play for models• Control game/simulation time• Run for extended periods of simulation time• Have access to API documentation• Modify look & feel of game

Current Active and Relevant ResearchCurrent Active and Relevant Research

• Representing teams and team tactics• Mixing teams of virtual and real military operators• Representing virtual environments for agents and

other A.I• Emotion Moderators in Agents• Strategy and Tempo of War• Speech Recognition for Controlling Agents

Existing CooperationExisting Cooperation

• United States• Full Spectrum Warrior & Full Spectrum Command (ICT,

US Army, Pandemic, Quicksilver)• America’s Army (MOVES Institute, US Navy)

• Australia• Turing Tests of FPS games (DSTO)• Modifying FPS for Army soldiers (ADFA)

Opportunities for Opportunities for InteractionsInteractions

• Conferences• Local: AGDC, SimTecT, • International: GDC, IJCAI, AAMAS, OzCogSci

• Books and Magazines• Game Developer, Gems Series, AI Wisdom, AI Magazine,

IEEE, ACM

• Associations• IGDA (Melbourne Chapter), Agents-VIC

Groups to Interact WithGroups to Interact With

• Academia• Agents – The University of Melbourne, RMIT

• Government and Defence• Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO)• Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA)

• Local Technology Companies• Agent Oriented Software (AOS)• Agentis

Questions?Questions?