> co-worker eating demons, optional chainsaws and barrels of toxic waste blocking doorways

You've been to Durham then?

You mean they played with the level creator, and made a game.

Fucks sake.

"However, those with videogames experience performed better than those without."

Not according to the version of this story that other sites are running. Apparently, the gamers would rush through fire-engulfed doorways without a second thought for their safety, while the less video-game savvy had the crazy idea to find another way out.

Presumably the gamers thought they'd only lose 5 or 10 health for a bit of heat damage, rather than setting their clothes on fire and suffering third degree burns over a large percentage of their body.

That's great. Except for the fact that a company called VectorCommand have been making software such as this for years, primarily for use by the fire service, but easily customisable for use by companies.

Of course for information like that, you can't get paid for several years to sit around playing Half-Life 2 and no doubt various other computer games under the guise of "research". Good work if you can get it.

Seriously, is this what we're paying "boffins" for?

Now do it again. This time only using the pistol.

The simulant left about 4 fire doors open on his way out - WTG as the fire spreads in his wake...

he'd be the only one that made it out alive. Mind you, if it's one of those buildings on Elvet it's probably for the best ;)

Nice to see in the demo vid that whenever a fire is encountered, the door is left wide open to allow the fire to spread.

Facilitating the deaths of coworkers is one way of getting a promotion, I guess?

One particularly slow night shift, a bunch of us created a level map of our datacentre in doom, just for fun. Must have been, what, 14 years ago.

That would have made short work of those office windows.

Please! Won't someone think of the children!

"co-worker eating demons, optional chainsaws and barrels of toxic waste blocking doorways"

WHAT!?! the barrels are not an option, every rendered environment since the original doom has exploding barrels, it's the bloody law!

If I die during the fire drill, I'll just respawn and try it again.

Mine's the one with the instant health restoring med kit in the pocket.

Next time there's a fire at work, I'll crouch jump through a burning window and bunnyhop to safety.

+buy vesthelm

"In a real fire I wouldn't fancy tripping over a geek who spent all his spare time playing video games but couldn't interact with the real world."

I think in a real fire you might be more concerned in getting out of the building though. You might find that, as a result of his having actually played the game, the geek is already out of danger and quite happy downing a few cold ones at the student's union, having known exactly the way to escape the building.

now now... come on.. all CS:Source players (and 1.6 players) know that it's better to run with your knife out :))

"counter terrorists win"

I suppose this brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "this is a save round" :))

OMG that guy in teh video is such a n00b, he would be pwnd totally on a real server lol

The IT geeks in the Army have to do some physical training and occasionaly a mock firefight.

The attemps are similar, run into an enemy fortified position and spray and pray before running off again, dodging enemy "bullets" and making it back to safety.

Rinse and repeat using one man each time until the enemy are taken out, or rush in all at once and lose 90% of the team but keep some alive to claim victory. Statistically they have a good chance of missing you, whereas the IT geek has multiple targets and only minutes to live.

“Although virtual environment toolkits are available, they usually only provide a subset of the tools needed to build complete virtual worlds,” he said.

Although my guess would be that price is more of a differentiating factor. Grad student time is cheap, commercial VR sims are not - and you don't get a publication credit for using a tool for the purpose for which it was written...

Did they find some people escaped faster by running while strafing?

see http://www.laws.sandwell.gov.uk/ccm/content/community-and-living/safer-stronger-communities-fund/video-of-my-space-on-the-tibby.en

Was the half life one engine i think they used

Playing games such games isn't going to teach you the skills needed to stay alive in a burning building. Before you get to the stage of closing the door behind you, you need to know if it is safe to open, by feeling the surface and then the handle. If it's hot, don't open it, or you'll get a face full of back draft, and it's game over.

Where be this?

*toddles off to ModDB to try and find it*

Mines the HEV suit.....what? no HEV suits in the real world? Noooooooooooooooooooooooo

Oh hell yeah, mine's the RPG!

OK, is the co-worker eating the demon, or vica-versa?

Mine's the one with the copy of "Eats, arms and fires" (slightly bloody, with holes) in the pocket.

What would be missing is the hoards of screaming students (kids as we used to call them); of course one could always "blast em" on the way out.

That's "hordes", unless you've stashed them somewhere</pedantry>

just use the zero-point energy gun to throw other students into the fire and be the last person left alive...

Its called free for all!