How to Bring the Warfighter Experience to Video Games

Written by Dabney B. on Friday, October 5th, 2012

Video game manufacturers have to walk a fine line between realism and convenience. The best way to understand this tension is to power up a video game and look at the user interface. It’s not very realistic to show health bars – after all, it’s not like you can watch a boxing match on TV and see that one of the fighters only has five hit points left. You need health bars in video games though – how else would players be able to tell how close they are to death?

Modern first-person shooter games and other war games struggle with this issue. The game designers want to create an experience that’s as realistic as possible, but at the same time gamers don’t need a lot of the sensors that you will see in an F-22 cockpit.

A while ago I was visiting a website for a space video game that’s currently under development. The manufacturer posted a poll, asking players whether or not they wanted the game’s space ships to show cockpits. Gamers overwhelmingly voted yes. The cockpit, complete with all of its buttons, dials, and sensors, creates a sense of immersion that you just can’t get with health bars and other conventional video game user interfaces.

For a good example, take a look at this cockpit (pictured above) from Tom Clancy’s HAWX game. It maintains a balance buy cialis uk between accuracy and convenience. Most of the sensors at the bottom of the screen are irrelevant to the gamer, but the missile icon on the right side tells gamers exactly how much ammunition they have remaining.

Call of Duty 4 was widely praised for one of its missions, which featured combat from an AC-130 gunship. The game’s manufacturer, Activision, absolutely nailed the modern air support experience, from the black-and-white infrared camera to the fuzzy battlefield graphics and the realistic radio communication. If you didn’t know what this is footage from a video game, would you be able to tell that this isn’t from an actual battlefield?

It’s absolutely imperative that video game designers get advice from military experts. The top-notch expertise that you get from Strike fighter Consulting Inc. can elevate a video game to the next level. Players want a realistic combat experience, and the only way game developers will be able to supply that is with the help of real ex-warfighter pilots.

What’s it like to sit in the cockpit of an F-22? What does it feel like to fire an air-to-ground missile? What type of real-life technology does a helicopter gunner use to make sure he gets the job done? These are all questions that gamers want answered through their gameplay experience and Strike Fighter Consulting Inc. can provide spot-on accuracy.

If you want advice about the world of military aviation, there’s no better people to turn to than men and women who have sat in the cockpit and flown some of the world’s most advanced aircraft. With over 50 current and ex-warfighters on call, Strike Fighter Consulting Inc. can give you access to up-to-date, first-hand technical and tactical expertise.