Countdown to America's Army

[ultragaijin]

America's Army (http://americasarmy.com/ops/news/)

Characters (http://americasarmy.com/ops/mos/character.php)

Although America's Army is the best-equipped force in the world, the opposing forces are totting some of their own nasty weapons as well. Learn them well as you may have the chance in combat to acquire an enemy weapon and use it against your foe.

Ok, conspiracy buffs, what's the scoop on this one? Are they trying to install a trojan on everyone's computer, or is this straight-forward propaganda? I wonder how the press will spin the story in regards to videogame violence. What if America's Army is responsible for the next Columbine? Not to mention, it gives terrorists free training.

[Mr. BIG]

Looks like some straightforward propaganda to me....It doesn't have the appeal of a real video game though....it seems very uptight and boring--I haven't checked out any scenes online, but considering the fact that all 3 characters are long-range specialists, I doubt there's even much gore for the kiddies.....and kids love the blood 'n guts games. :P

[Crispy]

Well, you have to register with the .gov to get the game, so even if it is training terrorists, the .gov will know where they are.

[ultragaijin]

Since when do terrorists use their real names and real IPs?

[Crispy]

I'm guessing that if they are stupid enough to think of a computer game as training, they are stupid enough to use real ID stuff when signing up.

[ultragaijin]

It's out now...

http://www.bluesnews.com/cgi-bin/board.pl?action=viewthread&threadid=35978

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/21316

[Crispy]

I think I'm gonna download it. Although military themed FPSs don't really tickle my fancy, propaganda and persuasion techniques are of great interest to me, and I bet this game will be full of them. I think I'll wait until at least tomorrow morning to start though.

[ultragaijin]

From Blue's News:

I like how you CAN KILL THE DRILL INSTRUCTOR AND BE SENT TO A PRISON CELL.

Why would the Army let you do something as un-American as that? Maybe there's a back-door psych profiling program that is collecting data for a giant database in a secret underground base in Alaska...

[Crispy]

It's entirely possible, but if that were true, it would mean that the game had been in development for far longer than anyone knows. Recording that info and compiling it into psych profiles on a massive scale would take incredible amounts of time and resources to develop, but then our military represents about 60% of our tax dollars. This could be the government conspiracy theory to beat all conspiracy theories.

Still, they can collect all the data on me they want, if I play this game anything like I play CS, I will be running off to try to accomplish the objectives myself and likely being killed every time, not really someone you would seek out for the armed forces.

[ultragaijin]

I just finished downloading it...should I install it or not?

[Crispy]

You'll probably have to lie in the registration, I doubt they are interested in an American citizen (if you are one still) living abroad.

[ultragaijin]

ARMY GAME LICENSING AGREEMENT

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY.

4. Disclaimer of Warranty.
4.1. UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED IN THIS AGREEMENT, THE SOFTWARE IS DISTRIBUTED "AS IS." ALL EXPRESS OR IMPLIED CONDITIONS, REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES, INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT, ARE DISCLAIMED EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT THAT THESE DISCLAIMERS ARE HELD TO BE LEGALLY INVALID. THE SOFTWARE YOU ARE USING IS IN THE DEVELOPMENT STAGE AND, BY USING IT, YOU AGREE TO ASSUME FULL RESPONSIBILITY AND RISK FOR ANY COSTS OR DAMAGES YOU MAY INCUR WHILE USING THE SOFTWARE.
4.2. THIS SOFTWARE HAS BEEN PROVIDED TO YOU FREE OF CHARGE AND YOUR USE OF IT IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHALL THE DEVELOPER, UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT, THEIR EMPLOYEES, AFFLILIATES OR CONTRACTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES THAT RESULT IN ANY WAY FROM: ANY USE OF THE SOFTWARE; OR, YOUR RELIANCE ON OR USE OF INFORMATION, SERVICES OR MERCHANDISE PROVIDED BY THE DEVELOPER IN RELATION TO THE SOFTWARE, OR THAT RESULT FROM MISTAKES, OMISSIONS, INTERRUPTIONS, DELETION OF FILES, ERRORS, DEFECTS, DELAYS IN OPERATION OR ANY FAILURE OF PERFORMANCE.

5. Export Controls. You may not download, use or otherwise export or re-export the Software or any underlying information or technology except in full compliance with all United States and other applicable laws and regulations. In particular, but without limitation, neither the Software nor any underlying information or technology may be downloaded, used or otherwise exported or re-exported (i) into (or to a national or resident of) Cuba, Haiti, Iraq, Libya, Yugoslavia, North Korea, Iran, Syria and any other country to which the United States has embargoed goods or (ii) to anyone on the U.S. Treasury Department's list of specially Designated Nationals or the U.S. Commerce Department's Table of Deny Orders. By downloading or using the Software, you represent and warrant that you are not located in, under the control of or a national or resident of any such country or on any such list.

[ultragaijin]

To play any map, rename it to the rifle range name.

The multiplayer server apparently isn't up yet.

[ultragaijin]

Beware...it just locked up my system while in the Rifle Qualifying stage. Had to do a hard reboot. :?

[ultragaijin]

Well, I qualified, but the servers aren't up for another hour or so, so I couldn't save.

Instead of renaming the maps, you can just use ` to get into the console and 'open [mapname]'. You can also change various settings including res and mouse sensitivity by editing the .ini

[Crispy]

Hm, their registration server is shot to hell. I'm calling it a night and trying again tomorrow. I really don't expect to be blown away by this game, though. Right now I am busy playing Zelda: Orcarina of Time and Neverwinter Nights.

[ultragaijin]

It was a pain to get in, but the game is just ok. Nothing too special. NWN is cool, I just started Morrowind too.

[ultragaijin]

Enlist or else (http://www.cascobayweekly.com/cbw/news/city07.04.02.stm)