Serious Games - Integration av datorspel i militär träning

Abstract: Serious Games – Integrating games in military training. Serious games are computer games used for various training in virtual environments. This can in many cases reduce costs, time and gain better results over ordinary training. Complex training scenarios which would be practically infeasible to create in reality can be constructed in a virtual environment. Saab Training Systems have developed an integration platform called WISE (Widely Integrated System Environment). Any application can be integrated and communicate with other applications using WISE. Computer games are very attractive in the field of training due to their immersive realism, relatively low cost and scalability. The questions discussed in this thesis are; how can computer games be integrated with military training systems? What information does FPS and strategy games have in common? How can a scenario in the MSDL-format (Military Scenario Definition Language) be imported into a game? Using WISE as an integration platform, computer games can be connected through the use of a game plug-in and a WISE-driver combined with a common game information model. Scenarios described using the MSDL language, can be imported either through translation to game specific script, if the game supports scripting or through the WISE-driver and game plug-in. A generic WISE-driver for games, a VBS2 plug-in and a Half-Life 2 Empires plug-in have been implemented as part of this thesis.