This paper presents a review of potential architectures and tools for the production of Virtual Environments with Integrated Intelligent Characters. Initial research was carried out into the production of a real-time system for the creation of graphically realistic scenes for crime scene reconstruction in Davies et al (2004). The system was capable of rendering scenes produced via a graphical interface, and characters with pregenerated animation sequences could be placed and oriented in the scenes to act out crime events. It is proposed that these characters would be more beneficial if they were endowed with intelligent qualities so they could act in an autonomous manner when presented with a scenario. It is anticipated that this would produce a diverse set of actions and resulting scene disturbance which would be of benefit to forensic crime investigation students, who could theories about the events performed in the scene, and evaluate their responses against the actual events.

Current war games and simulations are primarily attrition based, and are centered on the concept of “force on force.” They constitute what can be defined as “second generation” war games. So-called “first generation” war games were focused on strategy with the primary concept of “mind on mind.” We envision “third generation” war games and battle simulations as concentrating on effects with the primary concept being “system on system.” Thus, the third generation systems will incorporate each successive generation and take into account strategy, attrition and effects. This paper will describe the principal advantages and features that need to be implemented to create a true “third generation” battle simulation and the architectural issues faced when designing and building such a system. Areas of primary concern are doctrine, command and control, allied and coalition warfare, and cascading effects. Effectively addressing the interactive effects of these issues is of critical importance. In order to provide an adaptable and modular system that will accept future modifications and additions with relative ease, we are researching the use of a distributed Multi-Agent System (MAS) that incorporates various artificial intelligence methods. (Anderson 2002a, Anderson 2002b)

Electronic games have moved to the mainstream. With this change has come a new set of challenges for engineers, developers, and funding entities. Thirdgeneration game warfare goes beyond the reflex-reaction of the first and secondgeneration games, particularly with regard to warfare. The task today is to blend a data rich environment, near real time updates, and cognitive change within a context. Funding agencies, particularly for government-sponsored projects, require two different approaches to engineering design. The first is the need for architecting so that one or more elements can be easily repurposed. Repurposing means that the cost of developing a function or feature can be spread across multiple event delivery platforms. The second is the need for cost reduction and even cost recovery. The outcome of these two different engineering boundaries is a change in the way second-generation games and third-generation games are planned, constructed, implemented, and repurposed. The outlook for games is more robust than for some other types of applications but the opportunities come with greater costs. Changes include the need for online support, use of game-like functions outside of a game environment on analysts’ desktops, and an increased discipline with regard to code, team composition, and engineering tactics.