Line #75 Main/VirtualTrainingSimulation


1	[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mgs_565.jpg]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Reality doesn't look anything like this.]]
3
4	->''"War as a video game -- what better way to raise the ultimate soldier?"''
5	-->-- '''"[[PaperThinDisguise Iroquois Pliskin]]"''', ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty''
6
7	Showing up mostly in ScienceFiction settings, the Virtual Training Simulation is a training session, or perhaps an exam, set in virtual reality.
8
9	It can be done by having the participants put on VR helmets or similar equipment and having the perspective switch to inside of the simulation. Virtual training via {{Hologram}}s, often made of HardLight, is also possible. Often also involve ArtificialOutdoorsDisplay.
10
11	May get dangerous if a HolodeckMalfunction occurs. If it is dangerous or becomes so on a regular basis, it is also a DeadlyTrainingArea. Can be used for a DangerRoomColdOpen or an UnwinnableTrainingSimulation. See also {{Cyberspace}} and TrainingStage.
12	----
13	!!Examples:
14
15	[[foldercontrol]]
16
17	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
18	* ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'':
19	** In ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAs'' manga, the title character constructs a virtual training environment inside her head with the help of a {{Magitek}} computer and uses it for combat training without compromising her civilian muggle guise.
20	** In ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikerS'', the Riot Force 6 constructs a virtual training environment for the Forwards, however, said environment is made of magical HardLight, so it is actually very real until dispelled.
21	%%* ''Anime/MacrossFrontier'' has Alto losing horribly in one as part of his TrainingFromHell from Mikael, who deliberately turned up the difficulty. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own.
22	* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED'' has the ''Dominion'' undergo a simulated battle under Natarle Badgiruel's command. While Natarle proves herself more than capable, her crew does not, the Dominion is sunk, and the simulation ends.
23	* Early on in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' there's a scene where Shinji is training to fire the Eva's assault rifle by shooting virtual Angels. The same scene appears in ''Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion'' but with some notable changes, mainly that instead of Shinji actually piloting his Eva and firing the gun in the training room, he pilots a simulation body (a limbless Eva unit hooked up to the VR program).
24	* ''Literature/RebuildWorld'' has AugmentedReality training where the combatants wear goggles that, through a computer, simulate their weapons going off and where they’ll hit. Akira does this while training Sheryl’s gang of StreetUrchin rabble into a full blown hunter PrivateMilitaryCompany. He improvised at first with just his VirtualSidekick and cheap goggles, but after he [[CorporateSponsoredSuperhero got a corporate sponsorship]] from KIRYO, to test out their FlawedPrototype MissionControl and augmented reality system on the gang, the training improves significantly, not only making the kids into warriors, but Akira into a OneManArmy by simulating taking on the whole gang himself.
25	[[/folder]]
26
27	[[folder:Comic Books]]
28	* In ''ComicBook/{{Pouvoirpoint}}'', because of the growing threat of Proximian attack, the crew of starship Entreprise-2061 has to carry out self-defense training in the gym room, in the form of a CaptureTheFlag game set in a [[ArtificialOutdoorsDisplay virtual jungle]]. Players wear big VR glasses and use Amiga joysticks.
29	* In ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' story arc ''ComicBook/{{Crucible}}'', the eponymous superhero academy has training rooms which use holographic technology to simulate different combat scenarios.
30	* The "Danger Room" of the ComicBook/XMen was originally basically just an obstacle course, but in the later issues it uses holographic technology.
31	[[/folder]]
32
33	[[folder:Film]]
34	* ''Film/AmericanAssassin'' features the VR goggles version (with the trainees actually moving around in a large gymnasium-like space), complete with electric shocks for shooting non-combatants (and a bigger shock for letting yourself get shot by a simulated "terrorist").
35	* ''Film/DieAnotherDay'' puts 007 in a VR training scenario where he gets to play ShootTheHostage with M.
36	* ''Film/HotWar'' have C.S and Tangoo evaluating their skills in a digital labyrinth, shooting virtual terrorists as they proceed. Note that this movie came out a year before ''The Matrix''.
37	* In ''Film/TheLastStarfighter'', an apparent ordinary arcade game turns out to be both a training device and a recruiting tool to find promising pilots.
38	%%* ''Film/TheMatrix''.
39	%%** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXQozTxQSiE Neo and Morpheus are walking through a crowd and Agent Smith suddenly appears]]. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own.
40	%%** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d14jRsAobtk Morpheus testing Neo's martial arts abilities]]. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own.
41	%%** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9Nh0Fvoe9k Tank. Load the Jump program]]". %%Example needs context to make sense on its own.
42	%%* ''Film/{{Toys}}''. Pretty much the point of the film (namely that it's a bad idea, at least to do it to children). %%Example needs context to make sense on its own.
43	[[/folder]]
44
45	[[folder:Literature]]
46	%%* In ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'', the LEP are trained with these. Holly Short passed one of her exams by shooting the projector, technically defeating all the enemies. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own.
47	* In ''Literature/CarrerasLegions: The Lotus Eaters'', Admiral Wallenstein uses a VR training station to get the Earl of Care up to speed on commanding a starship, as Wallenstein's promotion just before the Earl was put under her left the United Earth Peace Fleet ship she was previously commanding without a CO.
48	* In the ''Literature/CatPlanetCuties'' light novels, the Catians have holodecks that look exactly like one out of ''Star Trek'' when not active. At least, that's the look chosen in the anime version.
49	* ''Literature/TheCulture'' has sufficient computing power to create indistinguishable-from reality VR on a whim, and likes to be very prepared before they enter a situation. Gets bizarre in ''Literature/SurfaceDetail'', where we're told the combatants in the War in Heaven use simulations to prepare for "real" battles ''which are themselves taking place in VR''.
50	%% ZCE * ''Literature/EndersGame''. Mostly.
51	%%* In the ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' series, these are shown being used both at [[MilitaryAcademy Saganami Island]] and by ships in space to train personnel, used at times as a DangerRoomColdOpen. The gravity manipulation that's de rigeur for the series allows them to simulate things like losing gravity generation and the ship shaking when taking significant damage. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own.
52	* In the ''Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse'', holograms and anti-gravity technology make for incredibly realistic flight simulators.
53	** The ''Literature/XWingSeries'' starts with a DangerRoomColdOpen showing prospective Rogue Squadron pilots attempting the ''Redemption Scenario'', a nigh-UnwinnableTrainingSimulation nicknamed the "Requiem Scenario." In a MythologyGag, author Mike Stackpole based it on an [[ThatOneLevel infamous level]] in the ''VideoGame/XWing'' PC game. Later in the Rogue Squadron books, a captive Rebel pilot is put in a TIE Interceptor simulator as part of an attempt to break him into a ManchurianAgent, but he notices that whoever's piloting the "enemy" X-Wings is trying to fly them like [=TIEs=], which helps him realize something is very wrong.
54	** ''Wraith Squadron'' features even more. One prospective Wraith, a [[PerfectPacifistPeople Talz]] with aspirations of becoming a fighter pilot, is put through a target-rich scenario based on the [[Film/ReturnOfTheJedi Battle of Endor]] -- the biometrics in the simulator pick up enough stress for Wedge to recommend the Talz for freighter duty. After Myn Donos' original squadron is wiped out in a TIE ambush, the incident becomes the basis for a new scenario that the other Wraiths are subjected to and Donos is excused from ([[spoiler:though the Wraiths later put him through it in an effort to snap him out of a HeroicBSOD]]). And the pilots are put through odd training scenarios such as a simulated attack on their base where things immediately go OffTheRails with the "death" of their MissionControl, to see how well they can adapt to a worst-case scenario.
55	[[/folder]]
56
57	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
58	* In ''Series/TheExpanse'', Bobbie Draper and her squad are introduced fighting turrets on the surface of Mars, which turn out to be holograms during a training session.
59	%%* Ditto for the simudeck on the Astro Megaship in ''Series/PowerRangersInSpace''. In addition to having most of the same purposes as the Star Trek holodecks, it was also a clever way of using ''[[Series/DenjiSentaiMegaranger Megaranger]]'' footage that would otherwise have been unsuitable. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own.
60	* The ''Series/StargateSG1'' episode "Avatar" revolves around the beta test of a simulator created using ImportedAlienPhlebotinum from "Gamekeeper". It goes into a full-blown HolodeckMalfunction when Teal'c sits in the chair.
61	%%* The ''Franchise/StarTrek'' universe has the holodecks which, as the name implies, use holograms. %%Example needs more context to make sense on its own.
62	[[/folder]]
63
64	[[folder:Pinball]]
65	* Inverted in ''Pinball/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''; the "Battle Simulation" mission requires the player to shoot (physical) pinballs at targets on the playfield.
66	[[/folder]]
67
68	[[folder: Tablteop Games]]
69	* ''TabltetopGame/WarhammerAgeOfSigmar'': The Gladitorium is a fantasy take on this trope; a magical arena created by Malerion, the god of Shadow and a MasterOfIllusion, as a "gift" to Sigmar. It uses powerful illusion magic tp let warriors, specifically the Stormcast Eternals, fight to the death in every situation and environment imaginable and come out completely unharmed, which is so useful for training that every Stormkeep now has a miniature version of it. Of course, this being a gift from [[AntiHero Malerion]], it also lets him peek in on those training sessions undetected so he can watch and learn all of the Stormcast's abilities. Just in case.
70	[[/folder]]
71
72	[[folder:Video Games]]
73	* ''VideoGame/ANNOMutationem'': The tutorial segment occurs in a virtual simulator. The basic mechanics on how to perform combat and other skills are explained which leads to a battle against the TrainingBoss.
74	* ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'': during the prologue, in the storage cellars in the southern part of Candlekeep you can meet Obe who will offer to spawn with his magic different waves of illusory monsters for you to practice with temporary companions.
75	* It's part of the {{backstory}} of ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberianDawn'' game that you're a "telegeneral" leading your troops from a computer screen, as if you're playing a RealTimeStrategy game, and then you were first flagged as potential command talent because the GDI and Nod are monitoring online strategy games for that reason.
76	* In ''VideoGame/CosmicStarHeroine'', once you clear the area of enemies, you can choose "Battle" from pause menu to engage in a virtual recreation of one of the battles from the area, allowing for LevelGrinding in a game with no RespawningEnemies.
77	* The campaign in ''VideoGame/FutureWars (2010)'' is that students are preparing for war in an a simulation similar to ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars'', almost as if it's for multiplayer that wasn't included in the original game. However, the training is somehow SeriousBusiness and there's someone who wants to break the main player's winning streak. %% Note: VideoGame/FutureWars links to a different point-and-click game. It's also not worth creating an alternate page
78	* ''VideoGame/{{Headhunter}}'': the protagonist has to take VR tests to obtain new weapons and earn higher-ranked licenses that advance the plot.
79	%% Needs Context * The premise of the vertical {{shmup}} ''Image Fight''.
80	%%* Used in the ''Franchise/JamesBond'' game ''VideoGame/EverythingOrNothing''. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own.
81	* In ''VideoGame/JudgeDreddDreddVsDeath'', the tutorial level takes place in the training area which itself is real, but the perps and hostages are all holograms.
82	* ''Franchise/MassEffect'':
83	** ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'' DLC ''Pinnacle Station'' features the eponymous space station which uses holograms to simulate combat scenarios, both for training and competition. Normally these simulations are harmless, but if you can beat the records in all scenarios, Captain Ahern will offer you a scenario in which you ''can'' get killed.
84	** In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' you get the Armax Arsenal Arena, a combat simulator complex located in the Citadel's Silversun Strip. It is actually presented as a game open to public, but it works the same way as a military simulator, and you can access to it freely to combat with holograms.
85	* ''VideoGame/TheMatrixPathOfNeo'' let's you play through all of Neo's training simulations, including the fight with Morpheus and an altered version of the jump program.
86	%%* A big part of the plot of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty''. Other games include VR training. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own.
87	%%* In ''VideoGame/{{MUGEN}}'' one of the two default stages that comes with the game is the "Training Room", which is based off these. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own.
88	* ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'' features teachers who construct training landscapes inside their minds, then allow students to [[JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind enter them]] to learn PsychicPowers.
89	%%* The LightGunGame ''VideoGame/RangerMission'', although not stated outright, is implied to run on this trope. You assume the role of a counter-terrorist soldier shooting enemies left and right, but with BloodlessCarnage abound and as soon as a terrorist is hit, he immediately dissolves into a wireframe model. Additionally, the missions where you blow up enemy vehicles have them disappearing instead of outright exploding. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own.
90	* In ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankUpYourArsenal,'' a VR course teaches the player the basics of using two gadgets.
91	* In ''VideoGame/RingRunnerFlightOfTheSages'', the tutorial accesible in the main menu is framed as a simulation provided by NERO, an AI implanted into the {{featureless protagonist}}'s head.
92	* During Issue #8 of ''VideoGame/TheSecretWorld'', players discover that the [[FictionalUnitedNations Council of Venice]]'s headquarters at the [[ElaborateUndergroundBase Sunken Library]] is in possession of an unimaginably powerful virtual reality machine. As it so happens, this machine is primarily used for training purposes, and players are charged with completing several training sessions in order to earn proper certification to enter [[WhereItAllBegan Tokyo]] in the following issue.
93	* ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'':
94	** TheReveal in ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga'' is that [[spoiler:except for Sera and Angel, everyone is a combat [=AI=], and the ForeverWar is a computer simulation meant to train them in urban warfare. Then Angel used it to test the Demon Virus, which had some [[HumanityEnsues odd side effects]]]].
95	%%** In ''VideoGame/GitenMegamiTensei'', the Devil Busters of Hatsudai Shelter have one that they use for training, as well as testing new recruits. Civilians are also allowed to use it, but they're restricted to the lowest setting. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own.
96	%%** Gladiators in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII'' use these to train. More importantly, Hawk first meets [[BigGood Stephen]] in one of these, who gives him a copy of the Demon Summoning Program. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own.
97	%%* Red trains using these halfway through ''VideoGame/{{Solatorobo}}''. The scenarios within are based on his subconscious, so they recycle parts of his adventure thus far, as well as [[spoiler:unlocking the repressed memories of his origins]]. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own.
98	* ''VideoGame/SpaceQuest'':
99	** ''VideoGame/SpaceQuestVTheNextMutation'', being a parody of ''Franchise/StarTrek'', starts with [[AlmightyJanitor Roger]] in a [[UnwinnableTrainingSimulation Kobayashi Maru]]-like simulation in the [[TheFederation StarCon]] Academy before beind discovered by [[JerkAss Captain Raems T. Quirk]] and kicked out. Unlike the Trek version, though, this is a one-man simulation.
100	** In ''VideoGame/SpaceQuestVIRogerWilcoInTheSpinalFrontier'', Roger uses a [[HardLight holo-cabana]] onboard the [=SCS=] ''[=DeepShip=] 86'' to load a training program for the Vulgar nerve pinch.
101	%%* Often used in ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' games. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own.
102	* In ''VideoGame/StarOceanTillTheEndOfTime'' virtual training rooms (video games) are implied to be quite popular. The [[HeKnowsAboutTimedHits tutorial]] takes place inside one.
103	* The home computer versions of ''VideoGame/StriderArcade'' seems to follow the official story. However, completing the fifth stage (by destroying Mecha Pon) reveals that Strider was performing a simulation in preparation for the actual battle, and that his skills will become handy when the real invasion starts. The ending also recycles images, implying that the villains General Mikiel and Tong Pooh were praising Strider for completing the simulation.
104	* Ryusei Date's storyline in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration'' starts with him being recruited to become a mecha pilot based on his performance with a video game created to train and scout prospective recruits. Military-grade simulators are also referred to in several cutscenes.
105	* The tutorial levels for ''VideoGame/SystemShock2'' take place in {{Cyberspace}}.
106	* In ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}'', the digital entities called cephalons can manifest "datascapes" where organic beings can simulate combat scenarios without harm to themselves. The tutorials on advanced movement and Cephalon Simaris's synthesis, the Mastery Rank tests and the {{S\|andboxMode}}imulacrum are all manifested in such datascapes.
107	* ''VideoGame/ZeroRanger'' has the White Vanilla ArrangeMode, a simulation designed to train pilots for the real thing (I.E. the main Green Orange mode). You even get to fight the AI Erasure as a TrueFinalBoss.
108	[[/folder]]
109
110	[[folder:Web Comics]]
111	* In ''Webcomic/AliceAndTheNightmare'', Phanty U manages Dream Domes, where students learn to manipulate and move around dreams without actually entering them. The Domes have part of Dream Spring's output siphoned to them to emulate dream environment.
112	* In ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge'' the heroes train in a holodeck style room, which malfunctions frequently. In fact pretty much every time they use it.
113	%%* ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'' has the students play those, apparently for entertainment rather than training. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own.
114	* ''Webcomic/RedHoodOutlaws'': "All Aboard the Watchtower" opens with Artemis defeating Darkseid in single combat before the next panel reveals it to be a training simulation on the Watchtower.
115	[[/folder]]
116
117	%%[[folder:Web Original]]
118	%%* The heroes of ''Webcomic/TheMotleyTwo'' participate in one of these as part of army training, and those who do badly face demotion. It's sort of patterned after typical CompetitiveMultiplayer {{First Person Shooter}}s, with two teams against each other; one of the "game modes" is an "escort the VIP" objective, while in another an outnumbered team defends themselves until they can use an airstrike. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own.
119	%%[[/folder]]
120
121	[[folder:Western Animation]]
122	* The ''WesternAnimation/DangerMouse'' relaunch episode "Megahurtz Attacks" has a DangerRoomColdOpen with Penfold taking a training simulation to become a Danger Agent (Grade 2). Because of RuleOfFunny, the simulation works like a video game, with inventory puzzles and enemies turning into giant coins when defeated. The eponymous Megahurtz is the FinalBoss, who escapes into the real world and causes havoc, continuing to run on video game logic.
123	* Virtual Training Simulators are present in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}''. They can even malfunction and turn the holograms real.
124	* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' has training simulators for situations of varying severity levels.
125	[[/folder]]
126
127	[[folder:Real Life]]
128	* Both civilian agencies and the armed forces use a variety of simulators to help prepare them for things they might encounter in RealLife, though generally not of the VR Goggles or Matrix variety.
129	* A big argument against video games made by people like Senator Joe Lieberman was that {{First Person Shooter}}s are too much like the RealLife simulations used by the military. Someone with the actual knowledge and experience with the simulation countered the argument, saying that it is nothing like a video game. If you die in the game, you can just [[DeathIsCheap re-load from a save]] and try again. In the military simulation, getting "shot" means you failed the test, which has RealLife consequences. After all, you can't afford any mistakes when facing the enemy. Also, instead of a mouse or a controller, soldiers use guns that have an actual kick.
130	** The best you can learn from an FPS is how to take advantage of the terrain and layout, and how to do coordinated attacks with other people. Any actual shooting skills or dealing with a living enemy who cares about dying requires some actual military training.
131	[[/folder]]

Context Main / VirtualTrainingSimulation