An Interesting Future for Outerra

[HiFlyer 9,374]

TitanIM, an Outerra-based military simulation platform (reposted with permission)

 

http://outerra.blogspot.com/2014/12/titanim-outerra-based-military.html

Revealed at the world's largest modeling, simulation and training conference oriented at military use, I/ITSEC (Orlando 1-5.Dec 2014), TitanIM is a new simulation platform built on top of the Outerra engine, utilizing its ability to render the whole planet with the full range of detail levels from space down to the blades of grass.
 
As probably many people know, Bohemia Interactive Simulations (BIS), makers of VBS, is a major player in the "serious games" field. What is probably less known is that the company was originally founded as Bohemia Interactive Australia by David Lagettie, an Australian who saw the potential in Operation Flashpoint game, and went to use it for military simulation and training software, which soon saw a widespread adoption.
 
Later, at about the time BIA was relocated to Prague, he left and founded Virtual Simulation Systems (VSS), a company developing all kinds of simulation hardware used in weapon and vehicle/aircraft simulators. Several of these were actually used at the ITSEC demo, shown on the screens below.
 
A new era: TitanIM/Outerra

 

TitanIM is a company founded by David Lagettie to develop a simulation platform based on the Outerra engine, in close cooperation with us. Right now Outerra engine isn't generally available, still being in the development phase, and so any early projects have to be developed with our direct participation. We have worked with TitanIM for some time already, providing specialized API and the functionality they require for specific tasks of that domain. This effort culminated at this year's I/ITSEC conference where TitanIM was officially revealed, although several projects committed to using Titan platform even before the official launch.

Here's a quickly made video showing some (not all) simulators shown at the I/ITSEC:

 

(The) Titan booth was shared with two well-known companies that are already using Titan for their hardware simulators: Laser Shotand Intelligent Decisions (ID), showing diversity of applications even in this early phase.

 

A couple of photos of the simulators demoed:


Complete Aircrew Training System (CATS) with UH-60 Helicopter simulator

 

 

Boat platform, taking data from Outerra vehicle simulation and driving the platform servos.


Phil inside the F18 simulator using Oculus DK2, with accurate cockpit construction matching the rendered 3D model.


Overall it was a great success, with the whole Titan team working hard to get everything connected and working. These guys are seriously dedicated and insanely hard working; Phil (TitanIM co-founder and COO) had to be forcibly sent to get a bit of sleep after running for 3 days without rest, with other guys usually getting only short naps a day too.

We also decided to grant the exclusive license to Outerra engine to TitanIM for military use (direct or indirect use by the military), to secure its position, since we are already participating on it quite closely. This probably won't be good news for some other interested parties, but as many people are pointing out, competition can only be good in this field. With Outerra engine powering TitanIM, a global integrated simulation platform is possible for the first time, connecting all simulation areas - space, air, ground and water, into a single limitless world.

What does this mean for Outerra: apart from gaining an experienced partner handling simulation aspects that we could not cover by ourselves, lots of the stuff done for Titan will also get back to the Outerra engine and our games and simulators. We are also getting access to other connected companies, especially the hardware makers, making the engine more robust and universal in the process. It also allowed us to grow, to hire more people into our office in Bratislava, and the results will be showing up soon.

Edited December 8, 2014 by tonywob
Updated Video Link

[Baber20 1,475]

Military isn't exactly what I had in mind. I wish Outerra could have found another way than this. Giving exclusive military rights and getting funded by a military organization is a big let down for me.

[ChaoticBeauty 6,692]

Wait, so now Outerra can only be used for military simulations? That's not what I was expecting.  :unsure:

[HiFlyer 9,374]

I'm getting the impression people are only focusing on certain parts of the article.............

 

Or skimming very fast.  :huh:

[ChaoticBeauty 6,692]

I'm getting the impression people are only focusing on certain parts of the article.............

 

Or skimming very fast.  :huh:

 

Am I missing something? First the article announces Outerra's participation with TitanIM, then shows pictures of their simulators at work, and then says that the exclusive licence of Outerra has been granted to TitanIM and that this is bad news for other parties. Doesn't sound like what we wanted to hear.

[User72 28]

It would seem to be there in black and white alright. That sucks! Money talks at the end of the day I suppose.

[tonywob 4,770]

 

 

What does this mean for Outerra: apart from gaining an experienced partner handling simulation aspects that we could not cover by ourselves, lots of the stuff done for Titan will also get back to the Outerra engine and our games and simulators. We are also getting access to other connected companies, especially the hardware makers, making the engine more robust and universal in the process. It also allowed us to grow, to hire more people into our office in Bratislava, and the results will be showing up soon.

 

Maybe I missing something, but where does it say that in the article that Outerra can now only be used for military applications? The above reads to me as good news. If anything, we may now see some accelerated development on the platform.

[User72 28]

"We also decided to grant the exclusive license to Outerra engine to TitanIM for military use (direct or indirect use by the military), to secure its position, since we are already participating on it quite closely."

 

It does seem a bit contradictory alright. I'm surprised Cameni hasn't been on to provide some clarification.

[HiFlyer 9,374]

One wonders if the last two paragraphs are being read and understood. 

 

The up-shoot is that TitanIM has all rights for the use of Outerra in military applications. Outerra itself will leverage those advancements in its other projects, such as games and simulations.

 

 

:wub:

 

It should be noted as a corollary that while Bohemia is heavily into VBS (for instance) in no way does that diminish their other endeavors........

[Acetone 34]

TitanIM now hold the exclusive rights for using Outerra as a professionnal military simulation. It means, for example, that Bohemia Interactive can not make an agreement with Outerra to use their engine for the next version of VBS.
 
It does not means however that Outerra will be restricted to military simulations. For the case of AVSIM, for example, partner X can still licence the engine to make a civilian flight simulator. Outerra will keep it's current objectives
 
See that sentence : "lots of the stuff done for Titan will also get back to the Outerra engine and our games and simulators".
 
There is also more info on this thread : http://forum.outerra.com/index.php?topic=3076.msg32763#new
 

Features that we are making as a part of the engine are generally ours to reuse in our games and simulators, with the exception of some possibly classified stuff (some interfaces or data). This includes stuff like weather, various effects, some procedural stuff etc that are developed initially or out of the order for Titan, though we may sometimes have to re-create data, if the original ones came from licensed sources.

Models are made by Titan, but they are willing to share with us some of them. For example, the MiG was actually made for Titan, and shared with OT. There will be some other models coming from there, mainly some types that we do not have. One of them are tanks, but we need to implement track animation first.

Am I missing something? First the article announces Outerra's participation with TitanIM, then shows pictures of their simulators at work, and then says that the exclusive licence of Outerra has been granted to TitanIM and that this is bad news for other parties. Doesn't sound like what we wanted to hear.

 

I think it's pretty much an info for people who expected to see Outerra used as an engine by Bohemia for Arma/VBS. That's why Cameni have added a link to this thread in the Arma sub, it's a way to say sorry folks, but they where the first to be invested. He also clearly define TitanIM as a competitor for VBS, the professional training simulator created by Bohemia Interactive.

[HiFlyer 9,374]

On a lighter note........ Orca AI?

 

http://forum.outerra.com/index.php?topic=3077.0;topicseen

 

[User72 28]

Aha! I see. Well that's good news so.

[cameni 9]

"We also decided to grant the exclusive license to Outerra engine to TitanIM for military use (direct or indirect use by the military), to secure its position, since we are already participating on it quite closely."

 

It does seem a bit contradictory alright. I'm surprised Cameni hasn't been on to provide some clarification.

 

Sorry if it was unclear, the bold keywords should be "exclusive license to Outerra engine to TitanIM for military use". Indeed it means that only TitanIM can license the engine for use by the military users, as long as certain conditions hold, so that they can compete with other parties that are well established in that domain already.

 

If it does change anything for the use of Outerra engine by us or by other parties for non-military uses, it's maybe that we have secured some resources for further development and can continue expanding and developing the core engine, that will be then used in other products. Right now this basically only covers the core engine development, so we'd still need to secure funds for the development of any larger scale simulator or game to be developed on OT, required for its dedicated developer team.

 

 

[User72 28]

Good stuff, all good news so! Thanks Brano.

[ChaoticBeauty 6,692]

Sorry if it was unclear, the bold keywords should be "exclusive license to Outerra engine to TitanIM for military use". Indeed it means that only TitanIM can license the engine for use by the military users, as long as certain conditions hold, so that they can compete with other parties that are well established in that domain already.

 

If it does change anything for the use of Outerra engine by us or by other parties for non-military uses, it's maybe that we have secured some resources for further development and can continue expanding and developing the core engine, that will be then used in other products. Right now this basically only covers the core engine development, so we'd still need to secure funds for the development of any larger scale simulator or game to be developed on OT, required for its dedicated developer team.

 

One could also interpret that Outerra can be used exclusively by TitanIM for what they do (in this case, military use). But I'm glad you clarified that, and I can't wait to see what's next thanks to the new resources.  :smile: