With all the hoopla surrounding virtual reality, simulations, and role playing, it’s not often one sees fresh ideas or an original approach. However, every now and then something comes along and everyone slaps their foreheads and says, “Why didn’t I think of that?” Well, you didn’t, but Steve Harris has.
What Harris, a member of Chrysler’s Jeep and Eagle Engineering staff, has come up with is called the Starship Combat Simulator, a multi-player, multi-screen, multi-station sci-fi game (if you can call it that), that functions off of the collective input of 5 players — “the crew.” In its current state, the SCS looks like a NASA command deck, but I would wager Steve’s creation may even out-perform one of those.
My meager question about how this mass of technical data interacts to form a cohesive “game” lead Steve into a detailed description of the stations: “It’s very heavy on interaction — the Engineering station has over 110 controls on one screen alone, so you know the players will be very occupied, they won’t be twiddling their thumbs. Engineering also has complete power management of the ship — we’re emphasizing that: Ships cannot walk and chew gum at the same time. Also, since this is a combat simulator, damage control will be a very big part of the game. The Weapons officer will also be a very busy individual, managing all of the ship’s weapons, which are mostly direct fire weapons: high-energy beams, balls-of energy, and a lot of emphasis on missile-type weapons, or long-range shooting. There are multiple targeting computers that input solutions for firing on other ships, detailed sensor information on ship. (Last but not least) The Operations officer is in charge of everything on the ship — the historical databases, computers, sensors, shields — the eyes and ears of the ship.
“Hopefully in late Summer or early Fall we’ll open up a Simulation Center, with this (the SCS) being the centerpiece. The emphasis will be on multi-player games, through computers, in the fantasy and science fiction realms.” Eventually there will be at least two of the Simulators, allowing for starship vs. starship battles, which is bound to draw hordes of faithful sci-fi and role-players alike. Or if you’re like me, you’ll go just to see the fully rendered starships in action, and marvel at the levels of Assembler and C code it took to build these monoliths. The images (we were shown a tank demo) are all ray-traced renderings done with a program called Bob, which uses the same technology that Renderman used for Terminator 2, except Bob is more sophisticated. Assisting Steve with the artwork is James Kim, who is a student at the Warren Consolidated Career Preparation Center, underneath the tutelage of Bob Skrupa.
You’ll also notice (for good reason) the absence of any brand-name science fiction terminology or lore — Harris & Co. have created an entirely new world which serves as the backdrop for their invention. “The last thing I need is an annoyance lawsuit to shut me down,” says Steve, “Everything here is based upon modern Navy: The ships all have modern naval configurations, control and vocabulary.” So who exactly will be qualified to successfully play these games? “The Captain needs to be an experienced strategic gamer. The emphasis is definitely on strategic combat,” Steve tells me. This is all not to say that the only people knocking on his doors will be ex-WWII Destroyer Captains — Just don’t expect to walk in and get your money’s worth with your only gaming experience being Dungeons and Dragons, or even Super Mario Brothers!
What I found most intriguing about the Simulator was that the game is played in real-time. No Pause button, no help screen, no Mama to run home to. Steve actually prefers the term “real-playing” for his inventions. Those of us who tire of simulations on our increasingly obsolete PCs and Macs, it’s great to know there are people like Steve Harris and his staff who are breaking through those barriers, and creating a new medium in which to lose ourselves completely. — Dan Sicko
Note: Eventually there will be open admission to the Center, but for now, game play will be on appointment basis. Call 313-758-7363.
