The Maritime Warfare School asked Caspian Learning to develop a serious game that reduces the “shock” new recruits experience during their first days on the ship and improves speed-to-performance in conducting a Weapons Engineering round.

Game Development Background

The Maritime Warfare School (MWS) at HMS Collingwood is part of the Royal Navy’s Flag Officer Sea Training organization, and its mission is not to be taken lightly: “To train Officers and Ratings for the Fleet who are ready to fight and win.” To achieve this mission, MWS uses a potent strategy: combining theoretical classroom studies with practical work.

To remain true to its purpose, MWS is in a constant state of performance improvement, searching out gaps between training and real life at sea. One of the gaps MWS recognized was new and recent recruits had little or no opportunity to experience day-to-day life on board a ship such as the type 23 frigate and had no understanding of the ship’s layout and how to navigate from one area to another. Consequently, MWS asked Caspian Learning to develop an immersive learning simulation that exposes learners to a type 23 frigate and some of the core daily tasks that new and recent recruits will perform during their first visits out to sea. MWS’s primary objectives for the simulation were to:

• Reduce the “shock” that learners experience during their first days on their assigned ship

• Improve speed-to-acceptable-performance in conducting a Weapons Engineering Health and Safety round on board a type 23 frigate

Game Context To meet MWS’s objectives, Caspian Learning developed a photo-realistic immersive 3D interactive game titled Weapons Engineering Round - Immersive Learning Simulation.

The game was developed using Caspian’s core Thinking Worlds™ technology. In the instructor-led mode, trainers present the type 23 frigate simulation, leading learners through many of the ship’s compartments such as the Combined Radar Office and Gyro Room, and they guide learners through a typical round. In the free play mode, learners navigate for themselves, immediately discovering that on board the ship is a saboteur creating faults in the machinery and putting the ship’s crew in danger. Learners must find and fix the errors, locate the saboteur, and disarm his bomb before time runs out. In doing so, learners explore the ship and its cramped noisy compartments, interact with the equipment they will use on the job, and assemble knowledge about the critical importance of the machines. The game went on to win the Best Game Award at the eLearning Age Awards 2009.

About Caspian Learning

Founded in 2002 by two neuroscientists, Caspian Learning developed the award-winning Thinking Worlds 3d simulation tool. Thinking Worlds uses globally unique technology that allows instructional designers to create fully immersive 3d simulations at costs previously restricted to 2d development. Thinking Worlds has been utilized in the rapid development of immersive 3d simulations for clients including, QinetiQ, Volvo UK, cBeebies and the European Union.
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