Fighting Vietnam war with computer game

Press, 28 July 1986, Page 36

Fighting Vietnam war with computer game

By

NANCY MILLER

of Associated Press (through NZPA)

Hunt Valley, Maryland

Computer gamesters can now view the crucial battles of the Vietnam War as the field officers 'and foot soldiers saw them, a perspective that has been virtually ignored, according to the designers of a new, simulated war game.

“Where do most decisions get made?” asked Bill Stealey, president of Microprose, the computer software firm that has produced “Conflict In Vietnam.”

“Middle management ... the field commanders,” he said. Nonetheless, the field operation has been the least-studied aspect of the Vietnam War, said Ed Bever, an historian who spent I*4 years researching the war for Microprose. “There are lots of books on whether we should have been there ... but there are only one or two books that address the question of how the war was conducted on a military level,” said Mr Bever.

Mr Stealey, a United States Air Force Reserve major whose three-year-old company is amid the

rolling hills of this Baltimore suburb, said the game “is kind of the timemachine concept.”For about SUS4O ($72), consumers receive a floppy disk and a 110page instruction booklet that allow them to pretend they are in the jungles of South-East Asia, taking part in one of five battles. The booklet also contains a capsule history of the war. The realism of the computer game is unique, in the opinion of John Stanoch, president of Action Game Ware Incorporated, of Robbinsville, New Jersey.

"For example,” Mr Stanoch said, “the enemy forces in conflict in Vietnam are invisible, and the tactics for victory are sometimes unknown.

“It’s almost like playing Pac-Man without knowing where the ghosts (targets) are,” Mr Stanoch added. “We more or less had to unlearn the tactics and strategies of World War II to play the game,” said Mr Stanoch, one of the game’s testers. Evan Brooks, a member of the U.S. Army Reserve, who also tested the game, wrote in "Computer Gaming World” magazine that the game portrayed the

way the war was. The magazine specialises in strategy and adventure games. “Conflict In Vietnam” is not alone in the field. A game called “Nam” was released earlier this year by Strategic Simulations Incorporated, of Mountain View, California — the leading publisher of computerised military games.

‘“Conflict In Vietnam’ is perhaps a little bit flashier as a game, but both are good games,” said Arnie Katz, of New York, an expert on com-puter-entertainment software.

“No sooner did I get the first pieces in than they were out the door,” said Laura Miskines, merchandise manager for Ingram Software Incorporated, of Buffalo, New York State, a distributor of computer games.

‘“Conflict In Vietnam’ is doing up to four times as much business as ‘Nam’,” she said. She , attributed the game’s popularity to the reputation; of Microprose for high-quality simulation games.

The recent U.S. fighter plane attack on Libya practically duplicated part of Microprose’s Fl 5 Strike Eagle simulation-aviation

package issued almost two years ago. “Conflict In Vietnam” has critics, however. “It takes hours just trying to get an understanding of the dynamics the game was using,” said U.S. Army LieutenantColonel Bill Gregor, a simulation-game fan and friend of Mr Stealey. Husher Harris, regional manager for Vietnam Veterans Outreach programme, said he had not seen the game, but expressed concern about what kind of emotional turmoil the . game might trigger, particularly for veterans with heavy-com-bat battle experience.

When “Conflict In Vietnam” players plug the software into their computers, ah orange map of Vietnam appears oh the screen.

In the background, strains from the “Ballad Of The Green Berets” Play- h "It seemed kind of appropriate to Vietnam. It’s a lament about a guy being brave. In the end, he dies,” said Mr Bever of the 1963 hit tune.

“It captures the idealism of what we were doing. That we were going to . bring freedom . and democracy to these people?’ he said.