Fortunately I didn’t get a scratch though, as contrary to the rumour going round the office I haven’t signed up for a tour of duty with a mercenary company – I’ve been taking part in these real-world conflicts on my PC using VBS2.

Virtual Battlespace 2, or VBS2 to its friends, is a battlefield simulator developed by Bohemia Interactive Australia, the sister company of Bohemia Interactive, the developers of Operation Flashpoint and Arma: Armed Assault. However, although OFP and Arma are a good deal more realistic than most games, I’d hesitate to describe VBS2 as a game.

VBS2 is based on the same graphics engine as the game Arma: Assault Assault.

For starters, up until a couple of months ago you had to be a government organisation with a multi-million dollar IT budget such as the US Marine Corps or the British Ministry of Defence to even buy a copy of VBS2. That all changed recently though, as BIA decided it was okay to sell a version of VBS2 direct to consumers. At £275, VBS2 Personal Edition is still a lot more expensive than a typical PC game, but being the sort of person who enjoys arguing the merits of the seven different marks of Sten gun, I thought it worth taking for a spin.

Apart from the eye-watering price a number of things quickly become apparent when you try VBS2 for the first time. For starters, because even the cut-down Personal Edition version includes so many different units and maps it’s supplied on two DVDs. Secondly, like some professional graphics applications VBS2 PE is supplied with a USB dongle. This comes in a variety of colours, depending on the length and type of license you have purchased and prevents the simulation from loading without it being inserted in a USB port.

My first experience of VBS2 PE didn’t get off to particularly good start. Like most gamers I’m used to clicking on the game icon in the Start menu and then diving in. With VBS 2 PE however the default icon loads a ‘rights limited’ version of the simulation. In this mode you can’t adjust any of the graphics or audio settings, let alone remap any of the controls. I suppose this is to stop squaddies messing around with the computers they run VBS2 on, but VBS2 PE is the first ‘game’ I can think of with such a limitation. A quick visit to the manual suggested trying clicking on the Administrator mode icon – which treats you like a responsible adult and unlocks all the menus.

The next hurdle is trying to find something to ‘play’. Unlike other games, even non-linear games such as Team Fortress 2, which include a lot of pre-made missions or levels, VBS2 PE is surprisingly sparse. The main menu provides several options, but none are really conducive to jumping in and playing. There are a couple of training scenarios, but these are only really designed to get you used to the default controls as you navigate your avatar through an assault course.

The best menu to try is the Library – which allows you to view in 3D all the units and objects included in VBS2 PE. These vary from the insanely detailed; such as 13 different models of Warrior MICV, to the more mundane; four different breeds of dog, a tractor and a concrete mixing truck, just to name a few. The Library also allows you jump in and control any of these objects, setting you a number of different challenges, from the bizarre; racing a Challenger 2 MBT around a track, to the humdrum: shooting up a collection of trucks in your Apache attack helicopter.

The plethora of sea, air and land (both pedestrian and vehicles) units is one of the biggest differences between VBS2 PE and most games. Although VBS PE doesn’t simulate aircraft as well as Flight Sim X or boats as well as Ship Simulator it provides enough realism for soldiers from various military disciplines to train together in one giant virtual environment. This networking is hugely important, as one of the most crucial parts of training is teaching soldiers to work together as a unit. A virtual battlefield simulator such as VBS2 is thus immensely useful, as it allows soldiers to train to work together without much of the cost, or risk of training out in the field.

You too can walk the streets of Baghdad and get shot at by guerillas if you want. Just be careful not to shoot any civlians.

Unless you have downloaded some user-made missions from one of the several end-user accessible VBS2 forums such as Razors Edge, you’ll need to make a mission of your own to play. This can be done in the Mission Editor, which allows you to create hugely detailed scenarios with full control of the environment including the date, time and weather. In addition to simply plonking down units onto the map you can also script them to behave in a certain way, for example to wait in ambush or patrol a certain area. If works in much the same way as the scenario editor included in Bohemia Interactive’s games, but has many more options.

You can easily make your own missions in VBS2 – in this case a recreation of the Iranian Embassy siege of 1980.

The final part of VBS2 is the After Action Review, which acts much like the ‘instant replay’ feature found in the TV coverage of sporting events, allowing you to view what just happened in the game world. While this provides limited amusement for gamers, for the military it’s a key feature, as it allows instructors to show the troops where they went wrong after the battle so that they learn from the experience.

Although, on the surface, VBS2 plays like pretty much any first person shooter/driving/flying game it soon becomes apparent that this is no game at all. For example, while mainstream PC games have been slow to introduce a limitation on the amount of weapons and ammo your avatar can carry around, VBS2 has a sophisticated inventory system that takes into account the weight and volume of items. No more carrying around four rifles, half a dozen rockets and a crate full of ammo then.

VBS2 is also very uncompromising when it comes to the level of difficulty. Although it’s far easier to aim and shoot with the mouse than it is to aim and fire a real assault rifle, staying alive in VBS2 is still a real challenge – the 21st century battlefield is positively crammed with sharp bits of metal flying through the air at high-speed with your name on them. While you can slow down and accelerate time if you’re fighting a single-player battle, in multiplayer missions you can’t tweak the laws of physics to help you out in this way.

As VBS2 was first made available to government users in April 2007, it doesn’t have the best looking 3D engine. Still, although its graphics are several light years ahead of traditional military simulators, such as the British Army’s £400 million Combined Arms Tactical Trainer built by Lockheed Martin, it’s no Crysis. Still, the maps in Crysis are typically no more than 6,400 hectares, barely enough for a fast moving aircraft to turn around, compared to VBS2’s up to one million hectare maps.

The graphics in a traditional military simulator, such as the British Army’s CATT are truly atrocious by PC game standards.

As a gamer however, even one with a strong interest in military history, VBS2 has one principal fault – it’s not much fun. This is no doubt in part due to the tiny user community – VBS2 is only really worth playing online with other people, and at £275 precious few gamers have bought VBS2.

It can be hugely rewarding to complete a tough and realistic mission, but when you can get a very similar experience from a heavily modded version of Arma for £24.99, VBS2 PE suddenly isn’t a very attractive proposition, even for a hardened military geek such as myself.

Perhaps if the developers had decided to sell VBS2 PE sooner, then it would have given more time for the price to trickle down to a more acceptable level and allow the modding community longer to get to sink its teeth into the engine’s huge potential. After all, out of the box Arma suffers from many of the same problems as VBS2 PE – but most of issues have been addressed by an extremely active modding community.

Ultimately, while VBS2 is undoubtedly a fantastic training tool, and a huge leap forward in graphical fidelity from proprietary military simulators, for gamers, VBS2 PE is an interesting but costly distraction from Arma II.

by James Gorbold or bit-tech.net

This virtual reality shooting range at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is not just for combat personnel anymore. The government is making it available to military truck drivers, finance officers and others who are increasingly being exposed to hostile fire in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“When they used to be qualified with a weapon, they were pretty sure they were never going to have to use it,” said base commander Col. Bradley Spacy. “They can’t be sure anymore.”

Loren Thompson, a defense analyst with the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Va., said the Air Force has taken on roles such as base security and truck driving in Iraq and Afghanistan that it didn’t typically do in the past.

Numerous Air Force bases use firearms simulators, according to Air Force spokesman Vincent King at the Pentagon. Law enforcement agencies and other branches of the military also use virtual reality for shooting practice.

The walls of the hangar at Wright-Patterson are hung with camouflage netting. Real guns stripped of their bullets — from M-9 pistols to M-16 rifles — are lined up on the floor facing two home theater-sized video screens.

“You’re hot,” Master Sgt. David Small tells two shooters, warning them he is starting the computer program.

The screens light up. A desert scene is projected. Incoming mortars hit with a thud, sending showers of sand into the air. Shadowy figures and flashes of gunfire are seen in the distance.

The two U.S. shooters fire back. A computer marks and measures the accuracy of the shots.

Between 35 and 45 people are practicing with the system each week, most of them non-security personnel.

“It drives your adrenaline — those things that actually kick in in the real-world environment versus just sitting in a range,” said Small, who has used the system.

Maj. Christopher Duffley, an intelligence officer who has been deployed overseas five times, has practiced on the system between 10 and 20 times.

“Typically for a field like intelligence or other ones, we don’t get to touch firearms very often,” Duffley said. “You become a lot more confident in your own abilities.”
Staff Sgt. Zachary Odonish, a communications specialist, has used the system three times.

“It’s definitely a lot more realistic than just going to the firing range,” he said.

Thompson said virtual reality systems have become an effective training tool for the military.

“If you can capture the visual feeling of the combat experience, it is very, very similar to actually being in that experience,” Thompson said.

The system, which the base bought in January for $400,000, trains airmen how to hit moving targets in combat conditions and how to communicate with each other, reload quickly and fix a jammed weapon.

The simulator at Wright-Patterson is made by Meggitt Training Systems Inc., based in Suwanee, Ga., which has sold about 5,200 virtual systems around the world including about 900 to the U.S. Marines and Army National Guard.

As VBS2Fires is built upon VBS2, all of VBS2’s standard features are included.  Do you want to conduct Call-For-Fire training from a helicopter?  Do you want to perform a Danger Close mission with Infantry participants conducting a mounted assault?  Do you want to train FiST teams in deployment to and from OPs? All of this is possible within VBS2Fires thanks to the underlying VBS2 engine.

VBS2Fires is a desktop trainer that runs on any machine capable of running VBS2.  It is designed to use a two screen setup with one screen dedicated to Call-For-Fire functionality and the other running the VBS2 virtual environment.  This can be achieved through a dual monitor connection to a single PC, or for optimal performance, through the use of two networked PCs.

SimCentric’s proprietary Call-For-Fire Parsing Technology allows Calls-For-Fire to be entered in plain text and then interpreted by the system. Alternatively, VBS2Fires also provides a graphical wizard to allow interactive construction of a Call-For-Fire.

VBS2Fires runs in Trainee, Instructor or Standalone modes.  It is fully integrated with VBS2 core features such as the After Action Review and the Real Time Editor.  It has additional analysis tools for investigating ballistic trajectories, terrain and unsafe practices.  The system provides an interface external to VBS2 to allow streamlined operation and a professional look and feel.

Features:

• Highly detailed exterior ballistics model

  Simulates gravity, drag, wind drift, pressure, temperature, spin drift and Coriolis effects; additionally the model simulates the change of these parameters at varying altitude

• Customisable properties

  Supports field guns, self propelled guns, naval gunfire fire platforms.  Customise the firing characteristics, operational reloading and relaying times, and the munitions that a platform is able to fire.  Build your own projectiles with customisable ballistics properties.

• Wide selection of munitions and fuses

  Munitions include: HE, WP, Smoke (multiple colours), SADARM, DPICM, RAAMS, ADAM, ILLUM (multiple colours), and Copperhead.  Fuses include: Quick, VT, Time, Delay, Seek and Destroy, and Laser guided.

• Wide selection of fire distributions

  Including: Converging, Circular, Linear, Range and Lateral Spread, Parallel Lines of Fire, and user defined custom distributions.

• High fidelity terminal ballistics models

  Terminal Ballistics are modelled both visually and functionally to accurately reflect real-world effects.  Functional damage models reflect side lobe patterns of explosive rounds defined by round velocity and explosive velocity.

• Range of Call-For-Fire entry options

  Trainees enter Calls-For-Fire through the entry of plain text or through the use of a wizard-based GUI.  These are automatically interpreted by the system.  Additionally, voice may be used to communicate between a human instructor and trainee.  The instructor then has the option of manually entering Fire Control information into the system.

• Artificial Intelligence Engine

  VBS2Fires will automatically respond to a Call-For-Fore that is end by the trainee using a detailed Artificial Intelligence algorithm suite.  Alternatively, the instructor may manually respond to Call-For-Fire injecting errors as appropriate.

• Simulation of Radio Nets

  Communications are an essential part of the Call-For-Fore process.  VBS2Fires simulates CNR radio traffic, radio nets, radio frequencies, and radio logs.  Simulated encryption is also supported.

• Rapid scenario design

  VBS2Fires will save you time and money through its rapid scenario editor.  Using this editor building a VBS2Fires scenario is no more complex than building a standard VBS2 Scenario.  Scenarios can be rapidly prototyped and tested in a simple

• Real-Time Editor

  Provides an Instructor with a run time authoring capability allowing any aspect of training to be modified during training.

• After Action Review

  VBS2Fires is completely integrated with the VBS2 AAR system.  Bookmarks can be dynamically added from VBS2Fires and all projectile paths and effects are captured. Additionally, VBS2Fires provides terrain and ballistics analysis tools to aid the exploration of learning points following an exercise.

• Runs on COTS hardware

  Runs on a single PC with two video outputs, or on two networked PCs.  If a PC can run VBS2, it can run VBS2Fires.

• Flexible network based architecture

  Operable in Instructor, Trainee or Stand-Alone mode.  Can be run onsame machine as VBS2 on a separate machine connected over the network.  Seamlessly connects to other machines over any TCP/UDP capable network.

• Seamlessly links with VBS2 COTS Desktop Trainer

  Use VBSFires as part of a larger training exercise.  As it incorporates the VBS2 engine, Call-For-Fire training can be implemented as part of larger training scenarios with Combined Arms participants.

Example VBS2Fires applications:

• Individual training

  Standalone mode allows a trainee to practice Calling-For-Fire without an Instructor or other participants.

• Individual instructor/trainee interaction

  A single instructor terminal can be solely dedicated to a single trainee terminal, allowing an instructor to monitor and control the exercise for that trainee.

• Instructor led group training

  An instructor can monitor and control the exercise for a group of trainees participating in a single VBS2 scenario.  These trainees can interact with each other, or can alternatively be located remotely in a scenario calling fire for unrelated targets.

• Instructor monitored group training

  The Artificial Intelligence engine within VBS2 allows the system to automatically respond to Calls-For-Fire without the requirement for Instructor interaction.  This allows the instructor to focus on monitoring or assessing trainees and highlighting learning points, rather than on operating the system.

• Instructor led training during combined training exercise

  An instructor manages a group of trainees who are conducting Call-For-Fire training in support of a manoeuvre force consisting of a combination of human and computer controlled elements.

• Enhanced Offensive Support simulation for VBS2 training exercise

  VBS2Fires is used to increase the richness of a training exercise involving an Manoeuvre force by providing a high fidelity hostile indirect fire simulation.  To do this a single Instructor directs fire in order to shape the Blue force.

• Combined in exercise with Call-For-Fire Simulator

  VBS2 Fires is used in conjunction with the Call-For-Fire Trainer Simulator to provide seamless interaction between the physical simulator and the desktop trainer.

Accurately-modelled environmental and ballistic effects allow training in dynamic scenarios, and in any real-world location. The MK1 system is completely deployable, with rapid setup and minimum footprint; training can be performed in barracks or in the field. It provides a cost effective solution that is flexible enough to meet most training needs.

The Marksman MK1 is supported by a comprehensive software system which allows fall-of-shot analysis, target analysis and trainee evaluation. This software is seamlessly integrated with VBS2.

The MK1 system can be enhanced by an optional VR Spotter Scope or VR Range Finding Binoculars and can be used in conjunction with the Call-For-Fire Trainer (CFFT) or Aircrewman Virtual Reality Simulator to facilitate complex integrated training such as engaging targets from a rotary wing platform, and participating as part of a broader Offensive Support fireplan.

The Marksman MK1 is also designed to operate within the new VIS 360 Immersive Dome System, enabling marksmen to shoot in 360-degree, high-res projected environments for total immersion.

Train like you fight. The future of marksmanship training has arrived.

The CFFT employs the new VIS 360 Immersive Dome System, enabling trainees to Call-For-Fire in up to 360-degree, high-res projected environments for total immersion. This dome system can be easily adjusted for deployment in most training rooms. The CFFT also provides sophisticated surrogate devices for laser designators and binoculars, which utilise the latest 3D tracking technology for maximum realism.

The CFFT provides a new level of immersive Call-For-Fire training at a fraction of the cost of other immersive simulator systems.

Innovative hardware, state-of-the-art software: your complete Call-For-Fire solution.

VBS2Fusion transforms VBS2 into a true simulation platform, allowing bespoke applications to be developed which leverage the power of the VBS2 virtual environemnt, graphics capability and simulation engine.

VBS2Fusion is an add-on module that is sold separately to VBS2. VBS2Fusion will be released in several phases, with Version 1.0 to be released in May 2009. The initial version of VBS2Fusion abstracts the VBS2 Application Scripting Interface (ASI) and is designed to allow developers to influence VBS2 scenarios during run time.

Version 2.0, due for release in November 2009, will add a range of additional features such as direct access to the VBS2 simulation core (removing the need to access the scripting layer, or ASI, entirely) and also the means to control the complete VBS2 character skeleton externally.

VBS2Fusion is developed by SimCentric Technologies, a close partner of Bohemia Interactive. SimCentric offers professional and affordable support services for customers seeking to employ or fund updates to VBS2Fusion.

For more information visit the VBS2 website.

As VBS2Fires is built upon VBS2, all of VBS2’s standard features are included, including After Action Review and the Real Time Editor. Do you want to conduct Call-For-Fire training from a helicopter? Do you want to perform a Danger Close mission while Infantry participants conduct a mounted assault? All of this is possible within VBS2Fires thanks to the underlying VBS2 framework. VBS2Fires is suitable for a wide range of uses; from training general officers in the All-Arms Call-For-Fire through to practicing experienced Forward Observers, or simply simulating AI-driven indirect fire in support of VBS2 exercises.

Features include:

• Highly detailed exterior ballistics model

  Simulates gravity, drag, wind drift, pressure, temperature, spin drift and Coriolis effects. Additionally the model simulates the change of these parameters at varying altitudes.

• Customisable properties

  Supports field guns, self propelled guns and naval fire platforms. Customise the firing characteristics, operational reloading and relaying times, and the munitions that a platform is able to fire. Build your own projectiles with customisable ballistics properties.

• Wide selection of munitions and fuses

  Munitions include: HE, WP, Smoke (multiple colours), SADARM, DPICM, RAAMS, ADAM, ILLUM (multiple colours), and Copperhead. Fuses include: Quick, VT, Time, Delay, Seek and Destroy, and Laser guided.

• Wide selection of fire distributions

  Including: Converging, Circular, Linear, Range and Lateral Spread, Parallel Lines of Fire, and user defined custom distributions.

• High fidelity terminal ballistics models

  Terminal Ballistics are modelled both visually and functionally to accurately reflect real-world effects. Functional damage models reflect side lobe patterns of explosive rounds defined by round velocity and explosive velocity.

• Range of Call-For-Fire entry options

  Trainees enter Calls-For-Fire through the entry of plain text or through the use of a wizard-based GUI. These are automatically interpreted by the system. Additionally, voice may be used to communicate between a human instructor and trainee. The instructor then has the option of manually entering Fire Control information into the system.

• Artificial Intelligence Engine

  VBS2Fires will automatically respond to a Call-For-Fire that is entered by the trainee through a detailed Artificial Intelligence suite. Alternatively, the instructor may manually respond to a Call-For-Fire and inject errors as appropriate.

• Rapid scenario design

  VBS2Fires will save you time and money through leveraging the VBS2 scenario editor -building a VBS2Fires scenario is no more complex than building a standard VBS2 scenario.

• After Action Review

  VBS2Fires is completely integrated into the VBS2 AAR system. Bookmarks can be dynamically added and all projectile paths and effects are captured and replayed. Additionally, terrain and ballistics analysis tools are included.

• Runs on COTS hardware

  Calls-For-Fire may be entered either in a Windows-based interface (connected to a VBS2 instance by VBS2Fusion), or within VBS2 itself. The Windows-based interface can be run alongside VBS2 on a single PC with two video outputs, or on two networked PCs. If a PC can run VBS2, it can run VBS2Fires.

• Flexible network based architecture

  Operable in Instructor, Trainee or Stand-Alone mode. Can be run on same machine as VBS2 or on a separate machine connected over the network.

• Seamlessly links with VBS2 COTS Desktop Trainer

  Use VBSFires as part of a larger training exercise. As the system leverages the VBS2 engine, Call-For-Fire training can be implemented as part of larger training scenarios with Combined Arms participants.

Examples of VBS2 Fires applications:

• Individual training, or one-on-one training

  Stand-Alone mode allows a trainee to practice Calling-For-Fire without an Instructor or other participants. Individual instructor/trainee interaction A single instructor terminal can be solely dedicated to a single trainee terminal, allowing an instructor to monitor and control the exercise for that trainee.

• Instructor led or monitored group training

  An instructor can monitor and control the exercise for a group of trainees participating in a single VBS2 scenario. These trainees can interact with each other, or can alternatively be located remotely in a scenario calling fire for unrelated targets.

• Instructor monitored group training

  The Artificial Intelligence engine within VBS2 allows the system to automatically respond to Calls-For-Fire without the requirement for Instructor interaction. This allows the instructor to focus on monitoring or assessing trainees and highlighting learning points, rather than on operating the system.

• Instructor led training during combined exercises

  An instructor can manage a group of trainees who are conducting Call-For-Fire training in support of a manoeuvre force consisting of a combination of human and computer controlled elements.

• Enhanced Offensive Support simulation for VBS2 training exercises

  VBS2Fires can be used to increase the richness of a training exercise involving a manoeuvre force by providing a high fidelity hostile indirect fire simulation.

• Combined in exercise with Call-For-Fire Trainer

  VBS2 Fires can be used in conjunction with the Call-For-Fire Trainer to provide seamless interaction between the physical simulator and the VBS2 desktop trainer.

Desktop battlefield simulator: Virtual Battlespace 2 is a fully interactive, three-dimensional, PC-based synthetic environment suitable for military training and experimentation. Developed by Bohemia Interactive, the creator of Operation Flashpoint and ArmA: Combat Operations, VBS2 offers both virtual and constructive interfaces onto high-fidelity worlds of unparalleled realism. VBS2 supports rapid, real-world terrain development and is interoperable via both HLA and DIS (through LVC Game).

Features of VB2 include:

• Real-time rendering of large, high-fidelity terrain areas with an emphasis on simulating real-world conditions such as rotation of the earth, accurate star fields, time-lapsed weather and ambient flora and fauna
• Highly accurate 3D representations of ADF, NZDF, USMC and Middle Eastern units, vehicles and weapons are included, soon to include thermal signatures also. the entire US Army and UK equipment fleets are currently under development
• A flexible, networked training environment able to simulate complex combined-arms maneuevres such as combat teams of infantry and armored elements operating with human-controlled aircraft and artillery in support
• The VBS2 real-time editor (RTE) has set the standard for run-time authoring capability, allowing any aspect of the simulation to be modified during training; place an IED, assign behavior to OpFor AI or create a city without the slightest pause in the scenario
• Rapid terrain generation – create real-world terrain areas rapidly (within a few hours) from source data (DTED, shape, imagery), and import 3D models (buildings, vegetation etc) from 3DS or OpenFlight

Through VBS2 script and intuitive modeling tools, complex weapon platforms can be created quickly and cost-effectively. From vehicle checkpoint functionality to UAV interfaces, Bohemia Interactive has proven time and again the true meaning of rapid development.

Bohemia Interactive has a proven record at delivering on time and on budget, having completed numerous development projects for government agencies around the world. BI can quickly develop models or terrain, modify the simulation engine to suit new requirements, integrate new hardware, provide training courses for VBS2 operators or administrators and also deliver varying levels of product support.

Virtual battlefield – real training benefits:  VBS2 is an out-of-the-box training solution capable of simulating a wide range of situations at the tactical level. VBS2 can be federated with other HLA-compliant simulations to meet specific training outcomes, for example connecting dismounted infantry in VBS2 with a high-fidelity armored vehicle simulator, or simulating a special forces team conducting a counter-insurgency mission while the overall campaign is controlled by a higher-level constructive simulation such as OneSAF.

Other examples of simulated scenarios include:

• Mission rehearsal and/or AO familiarization
• Tactical training, up to combat team level
• Combined arms or joint training
• Convoy training (including integration of virtual reality technology)
• IED defeat
• Analysis of options (decision support)
• Fire support / forward air controller training
• Complimentary virtual environment for live and constructive simulation or crew procedural trainers
• Navigation
• Mission simulation (for example aviation elements practicing LZ procedures)
• Vehicle checkpoints and area control
• Helicopter loadmaster training
• Procedural training for UAV operators
• Cultural awareness training
• Visualization of weapon effects
• Weapon (or platform) familiarization or experimentation
• Training in urban environments (eg MOUT)

Multiple simulation systems: VBS2 allows commanders, crew, soldiers and support elements to be immersed in the VBS2 environment across multiple simulation systems in an endless number of different configurations. Briefly consider a typical mechanized infantry platoon, and how VBS2 may provide training for all of the elements of that organization at a fraction of the cost of live training.

Perhaps one squad is located in a small arms trainer using VBS2 TWS, with two squads in a separate VBS2 classroom. Air support might be provided by a VBS2 Aircrewman Virtual Reality simulator or flown by real pilots or AI on a VBS2 desktop trainer. An instructor operator station (IOS) controls the flow of the scenario and manages OpFor elements in real time. Meanwhile the company commander (or higher) views a constructive simulation such as OneSAF, communicating with VBS2 via HLA.

Extensive simulation content library: Bohemia Interactive has modeled hundreds of units, weapons and vehicles for the VBS series including USMC, ADF, US Army, NZDF, incident response, Eastern European and Middle Eastern representations. A wide range of structures and vegetation have also been modeled. These models are available for purchase through Bohemia Interactive.

The management team of BISim mirrors BIA—the CEO is Peter Morrison, the CTO is Dr. Mark Dzulko, and Gordon Bradbury remains the sales manager.

Key features:

• Player-driven story: Players will have the opportunity to command members of Force Recon Team Razor through a branching campaign full of twists and surprises. ARMA II integrates a combination of preset conversations with dynamic queries about the game environment: the revolutionary “dynamic conversation system” which brings to the player a unique gaming experience in a movie-like style. Players can talk to soldiers in the field and civilians caught up during fights to gather the Intel they need to further advance in the game. As a pure military simulator, there are linguistic difficulties while speaking to native citizens if you don’t know their native tongue. Chernarussian’s NPC’s speak Czech, US NPC’s speak English and Russian NPC’s speak Russian, etc.

• Reality check: Bohemia Interactive’s standard 225 square kilometers (over 10,000 sq km in VBS) of highly detailed sandbox landscape, modeled with stunning detail and precision and using real-world geographical data, covered by 235 megapixel of accurate aerial map (15.3602 pixels) and more than 1 million objects. This game is a true environment master piece, never seen before in first person shooter type games with 81 weapons and 136 vehicle models created to an exacting real-world schematics with extreme precision, including 350 kilometers of roads, 50 cities and villages full of life.

• Authentic military simulation: ARMA II simulates various aspects of combat and environment effects form bullet ballistics and deflection to material penetration, tracers, varying ammunition types and stopping power, to supersonic bullet crack and weather conditions. ARMA II benefits from the 3rd generation Real Virtuality engine featuring advanced and semi-autonomous AI. Players will compete with the ultimate next-gen AI: no scripts, no predefined pathways, and no repetitive gameplay. All units react to actual game situations and use the open environment to their advantage. Soldiers shout and use hand gestures based on real world military doctrine, actively seeking and using cover and also taking advantage of suppressive fire techniques. The ARMA II system is so complex and effective that the same simulation technology is used to train real soldiers in numerous countries around the world.

• Live war: the campaign missions can be experienced in cooperative mode, or players can join for duty in the massive multiplayer battles with up to 50 players. Among standard MP modes is Warfare, introduced in ArmA: Armed Assault, a unique combination of RTS and tactical FPS which allows players to choose whether to control the combat with detailed base management or instead to operate guerilla hit-and-run tactics focusing on attack rather than defense.

• Unlimited Creativity: An intuitive and easy-to-use built in mission editor, together with powerful modding tools, infinitely extends the gameplay of ARMA II and moves it far above the standard gaming experience. More than 200 character models, 81 weapons, 136 vehicles are ready to be used in an enormous 225 square kilometers sandbox map. Players can use default models or create completely new models and mods can be shared with other players all around the world.

For more information on ARMA II visit www.arma2.com.