Writing simulation software for dummies.

• Author: Wright, Austin
• Position: TECH WIRE: EXPLORING TECHNOLOGY IN THE DIGITAL AGE

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Educational simulations offer a cheap--and sometimes more effective--way to train soldiers for the complex challenges they will face on the battlefield. Developing such simulations can be equally complex, as the process typically involves a lengthy back-and-forth dialogue among military officers, procurement officials and computer programmers.

But new software allows the users themselves to write storylines, dialogue and scenes. The software's manufacturer, Caspian Learning, is touting its product, Thinking Worlds, as a more efficient method for updating simulations to match the ever-changing realities of the battlefield.

The program lets the relatively unversed create their own video games, rather than pay programmers to do so. Several defense contractors and technology companies, including IBM, have leased Thinking Worlds, which costs $1,500 per year.

Thinking Worlds Chief Executive Officer Graeme Duncan demonstrated the product at a recent technology exhibition. He modified a scene in which a U.S. soldier interacts with an Iraqi truck driver. Duncan chose 3-D characters, vehicles and settings from a series of templates. The program also would have allowed him to upload his own graphics.

"Defense...