America's Army

Released in 2002, America's Army (AA) is the most successful serious game created. A high-quality downloadable game, funded and developed by the United States Army boasted over 8 million users in 2007. America's Army is a robust, fun first-person shooter (FPS) game, as well as a showcase of Army values. As a multiplayer game, it pits two opposing teams against each other in a battle to complete a variety of missions. Two teams of Champlain students were challenged to create a polished, playable mission level under the guidance of AA's development team. The Mission Editor, a tool included with the game comes with all of the art assets (textures, objects, sounds, etc) to create a map. Given the pieces, the students used them to design and create a believable environment and a fun, playable mission. Both District and Canyon maps were worked on throughout the Summer and Fall 2008 semesters and accepted as official America's Army maps, launched for public use on December 12, 2008. You can download and play the Champlain College maps here.

Map 1: District

District is an atmospheric urban map, taking place in a small section of a vaguely eastern European city. It is a night-time scenario, creating an interesting experience through the placement of environmental light sources. The teams start in opposite corners of the level - one in a park, the other in a warehouse, and each one must capture two objectives located in buildings near the center to win.

• Max Nichols - Producer, Level Designer
• Dan Peavey - Lead Artist, Level Designer
• Halley Greaves - Lead Level Designer
• Emily Benton - Artist, Level Designer
• Chris Matuszek - Artist, Engineer, Level Designer
• Jeremy Burau - Engineer, Level Designer

Map 2: Canyon

Canyon takes place in a Middle Eastern mountain village where a local warlord has recently gotten hold of a cache of heavy weapons. The players are charged with securing these weapons caches while enemy combatants are in the area.

• Joel Pelletier - Producer, Level Designer
• Trevor McEwen - Level Designer
• Elken Richmond - Level Designer
• Wesley Knee - Artist
• Michael Ackerman - Artist
• Sean Thurler - Artist