CMP’s New Sightline Esports Game for Home Training Available to Users in November
November 3, 2023
By Ashley Dugan, CMP Staff Writer
Calling all gamers! As part of its mission to promote the safe use of firearms and to provide training for all citizens, the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) has initiated the design phase of its own esports game platform, with gameplay features participants can access right from their own homes.
Beginning this week, users have the chance to play the game for the first time individually or against friends and family members – presenting another exciting outlet for marksmanship instruction and fun.
The CMP’s opening leap into esports, a game entitled Sightline, follows a first-person training platform, where users play from a perspective set behind the firearm to simulate real-life range scenarios. Sightline was created in in cooperation with Aimlabs, the leading first person shooter (FPS) aim trainer in esports.
The game is part of CMP’s latest objective of expanding its footprint and base participation, especially with youth, outside of its static ranges in Ohio, Alabama and at travel competition sites across the country. The CMP’s esports are designed to present versatile and authentic play, with the capability of later translating game training to a live range location.
As an introduction to the virtual world, the CMP is launching a series of “Combines” for users to enter gameplay, allowing a first-hand look into the program. Each Combine will present a series of tasks using a variety of firearms and training techniques through engaging and entertaining stage settings.
The first Combine, available now, features action pistol, rifle and shotgun tasks.
“As this generation of youth is growing up with gaming and esports, CMP is looking at ways to actively encourage young people to take an interest in marksmanship,” said Will Dantzler, CMP’s Chief Information & Technology Officer. “The CMP is interested in employing cognitive science, informatics science and analysis methods to help players learn by doing, discovering and inquiring.”
During the Combine, the user will enter a 3D arena where he or she will be given a series of nine tasks to complete. The player uses a keyboard and mouse to control the speed of play and the movement of the firearm itself. Each task contains various target patterns and its own set of individual challenges. Some are user-led, while others are timed – racing against the clock to finish the presented task. Scoring in the first Combine will be a mix of precision-based, meaning points are accumulated by hitting the target, and hit-or-miss. Leaderboards will also be available to users to see how others compare within each task.
Such scenarios users should expect to encounter within the first Combine include firing at moving bullseye targets and maneuvering around walls, wooden barrels and other obstacles. The rifle section features an iron sights task with an M1 Garand – simulating real-life shooting techniques like sight alignment to accurately line up the shot. The rifle gameplay also includes a highpower rifle with a scope, while the shotgun play showcases clay shooting in both competitive and arcade-like settings.
Users may go back and play as many times as they’d like, so keep playing, share with your friends and get good enough to be the best!
Those interested in playing may access Sightline by following this step-by-step setup guide through the Steam and Aimlabs gaming platforms: https://thecmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/SightlineAccessGuide_Windows.pdf. Unfortunately, MacOS is currently unsupported by Aimlabs, meaning Sightline is only accessible to PC/Windows users until a later date. Note that download times may vary due to user internet connectivity and available hard disk space.
As CMP’s game progresses into future development, users will be able to apply their own skins with special designs to their firearms for a personal touch and will be able to form their own unique avatars. Players will also be able to turn on personal settings, like seeing shell casings after firing and other graphic elements. Additional enhancements over time will incorporate assorted trainings, coaching aids and more.
The next Combine will follow in the coming weeks. Stay close to the CMP’s social media pages and newsletters for more on CMP’s esports program!
*If you check out the game, feel free to send your feedback to sightline@thecmp.org!*
Can’t get past the captcha. The Captiva kept saying that I had not completed the squares correctly to prove I was human. I must have tried 10 times.
Dave,
I’m not sure how to help but I’ll forward your inquiry to our Esports staff and see if they can help.
Thanks,
Christine
If you can add support for Linux, that will be awesome!
Thanks,
Urivan
I think time would have been better spent getting the E-Store up and running,its been down for how long now?????? Rather than this project I hate to say.Prioritys seem to be a little out of wack.The E-Store Generates income!
Jim — we are working both in parallel. The E-Store work has definitely been a priority. It’ll be restored soon. Check in to it after the Thanksgiving Holiday. Thank you.
Installation seemed complete, but I could not register. The Captiva kept saying that I had not completed the squares correctly to prove I was human. I must have tried 10 times. I cannot test further. Running a recently aquired Dell laptop with Windows 11 Pro
Mark,
I’ll have our staff reach out to you in regards to installing Sightline.
Thanks,
Christine
Ms. Elder
I have the same issue as Mark Carroll…
Mark,
Our staff will reach out to you in regards to installing Sightline.
Thanks, -Cat
In my humble opinion, I am not sure that spending CMP effort and funds to get more people to spend more time on the computer is in anyone’s best interest.
Robert — I understand your comment. As you know the CMP has a specified mission to focus on youth. And many, many, many youth are participating in shooting as part of video games. So we are going where the youth are and we’ll test to see what we can do to transition some percentage of them to physical ranges. While that percentage will certainly be small, it will likely be a small percentage of a HUGE number. For example, we might run a CMP esports competition and the winners or winning teams might win the prize of a trip to the Talladega Marksmanship Park to shoot for real. And we’d video that and put it on YouTube to try to encourage more to come to physical ranges/join our clubs . . . All this is though is still preliminary. We are looking at options and data to determine if we’ll proceed with this or not both from a business perspective and if we think it will fit with our mission. What you are seeing now is just some initial work. But again, it’s where literally all the youth are so we feel it important to at least explore options here.
Youth outside of home school are in school during the majority of available range time to this age group. Funding has to be a challenge and statistics prove themselves. Range time for youth cut in half doesn’t assist reaching or maintaining . I think it may be worth a try to this approach, but I agree more computer time is hard to swallow.
Kinda goes with pilots in military& law enforcement with drones etc…. Do more with less hopefully with less risk and more efficiency.
May look back after bugs figured out…
I have a Mac, any timetable to make Sightline games available on an Apple format?
Dave,
Not at this time but we will forward this onto our eSports Team.
Thanks,
Christine
waiting for the mac version as well
I stand line with Dave and Todd, Ms. Christine. A MAC version would be a great addition, so my grandson and I can both try it out.
Thank You for your time,
Kurtis
Thanks Kurtis! I’ll pass this along to our Technology Committee.
Christine
I tried to use the sightline@thecmp.org and gat a bounce back. See the bounce back info and my question below.
Sorry, we were unable to deliver your message to the following address.
:
550: no mailbox by that name is currently available
———- Forwarded message ———-
Is there an issue with sitting Sightline up?
I have gotten through downloading and setting up an account on Steam. I log out of Steam and click your link for Aimlab, but am unable to get past this point as there is nowhere to create an account for Aimlab?
Let me know what I’m missing.
Thanks
Chuck Mertz
Chuck, I will forward your message onto Ryan Hinson and he will be able to help assist you.
Thanks,
Christine
It appears this does not work on a Mac.
Scott, You are correct, it is only available on Windows/PC at this time.
Thanks,
Christine
First, I tried to email directly via the email above (sightline@thecmp.org), but that email bounced as it doesn’t exist.
You have an inaccuracy in your article.
The acronym FPS in this context refers to a “First Person Shooter.” A style of video game. The style CMP & Aimlabs has created.
The FPS you referred to (incorrectly) “Frames Per Second” would refer to the rate at which a computer is able to process and display distinct frames to the display. A data point often used in video games such as First Person Shooters.
I advise you to update your article.
Thanks Steve! We’ve revised the article and will have our IT Team look into the email address bouncing back to you.
Christine
Steve,
Please forward the bounced email reply to me at dev@thecmp.org and we will look into the issue.
CMP IT team
Please send the bounce back email to dev@thecmp.org and we will look into the issue.
Thanks,
CMP IT Supervisor
I can’t wait for a MACOS program.