Army Game Research Articles

Detailed Analysis of Factors Affecting Team Success and Failure in the America's Army Game

Abstract : We analyzed an extensive data trace of the on-line multi-player first-person-shooter game America's Army to understand the traits of the social and dynamic networks present in the game. Analyses were performed at the player level, team level, and clan level. Statistical analysis methods are used to examine the data at those three levels. In addition, the dynamic social networks of the teams are examined using a variety of social network analysis methods. Particular focus is given to discovering and explaining winning strategies employed by game players. From the analyses, some ways to win the game are revealed: top America's Army players distinct behaviors, the optimum size of an America's Army team, the importance of fire volume toward opponent, the recommendable communication structure and content, and the contribution of the unity among the team members. Also, the analyses are compared to squad-level military research, and some similarities and differences are found.

Detailed Comparison of America's Army Game and Unit of Action Experiments

Abstract : America's Army game and Unit of Action experiments are simulations of military units. America's Army is a simulation of a squad level military organization, and the Unit of Action experiments simulate the brigade/battalion level command and control structure. Studies of both these domains reveal that configuring and organizing a unit is important in enhancing its performance. Thus, we may argue that there is a fundamental similarity between the game and the experiment. In this paper, we compare the two simulation analyses in terms of their initial features, results, and recommendations. The comparison of the initial features suggests that both domains use similar explanatory variables, and the comparison of the results shows that the findings of these domains also correspond in many ways. Finally, we investigate different ways of capturing implications in both domains, and based on that, discuss future research issues for the Unit of Action experiments such as developing an ideal communication network or policy by adopting a research method used in the America's Army analysis.

Digitized Virtuosity: Video War Games and Post-9/11 Cyber-Deterrence

In post-9/11 America, digital war games have increasingly come to provide a space of cyber-deterrence where Americans are able to `play through' the anxieties that attend uncertain times and new configurations of power. This article seeks to examine the increasingly close relationship between the US military and the digital-game industry, along with the geographies of militarism that this has produced. Focusing on the contribution that digital war games make to a culture of perpetual war and in the manufacture of consent for US domestic and foreign policy, the Pentagon's mobilization and deployment of digital games as an attempt to create a modern version of the noble war fantasy is critically examined. With particular reference to America's Army, the official US Army game, the article seeks to examine the influence of digital war games in the militarization of popular culture and in shaping popular understandings of geopolitics.

Evolution of Player Skill in the America's Army Game

Many disciplines utilize computer games as interactive training simulations.However, their use is often limited to training mechanical skills, and they are not viewed as a sophisticated training tool with which to teach human interactions within organizations and social/organizational skills. Therefore, in this paper we examine how the players of the game America's Army changed their performance, play styles and social positions after one year of game play experience. For the initial investigation, we compare performance measures and play style at the beginning and the end of our survey period.Also, we calculate social network measures, such as centrality measures and clustering measures, to see how the social positions of the players change.After the comparison, we observe that players with one year of experience are more sensitive to communication and have tighter and denser communication networks around them.

Detailed Analysis of Team Movement and Communication Affecting Team Performance in the America's Army Game

Abstract : We conducted the second data analysis with a new game log record dataset and focused on what the optimal team structure is in terms of communication and movement. We utilized regression analyses and correspondence analyses to make the optimal network, and we identified several important features of optimal networks from those analyses. Furthermore we coded Network Fitter and used it to make a computer program figure out the most effective team organization. From the fitting result, we could obtain five optimal movement networks and five optimal communication networks. Among them, we found out that a dense movement network with two sub graphs and a long-chain shaped communication network would make casualty lower without damaging the deadliness of a team. After identifying the optimal movement networks and communication networks, we applied the findings from the analyses to the real world and made three recommendations on training squad level unit, constructing effective TTP, and configuring an optimal squad unit.