new developments in vbs3 - gametech 2014
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Copyright © 2014 Bohemia Interactive Simulations k.s. Al l other trademarks or copyrights are the property of their respective owners. All Rights Reserved.
New Developments in VBS3 – GameTech 2014
Copyright © 2014 Bohemia Interactive Simulations k.s. Al l other trademarks or copyrights are the property of their respective owners. All Rights Reserved.
Agenda
VBS3 status
VBS3 v3.4 released
VBS3 v3.6 in development
Key new VBS3 capabilities
Paged, correlated terrain
Command and control
Advanced wounding
Helicopter mission simulation
VBS3 focus: 2015
The New VBSDN
• VBS3 as a Development Platform
Engine improvements
• AI enhancements
• Solving the “Terrain Problem”
• Modularity
Copyright © 2014 Bohemia Interactive Simulations k.s. Al l other trademarks or copyrights are the property of their respective owners. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright © 2014 Bohemia Interactive Simulations k.s. Al l other trademarks or copyrights are the property of their respective owners. All Rights Reserved.
VBS3?
VBS3 is a game-based tactical training & mission rehearsal tool
First-person “virtual sandbox”
Tailored for military use: large terrains, “military-specific” capability
Can be tailored to meet new training needs: “open platform”
Combined arms, UAV, ISTAR, C2, Image Generation, part-task…
Copyright © 2014 Bohemia Interactive Simulations k.s. Al l other trademarks or copyrights are the property of their respective owners. All Rights Reserved.
VBS3 Status
VBS3 3.4 released
Most stable VBS release, after several man-years
of US Army and USMC testing
Major new features in 3.4:
More realistic 2D map
Event log in after-action review (AAR)
Advanced wounding: specify wounds in-game,
view more detailed wounded info in AAR
Support for bridge laying
Logistics report
Ability to jump and climb obstacles
Improved fast roping
Air resupply
Next public VBS3 release, 3.6, will be
available in November
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VBS3 Status
Improved 2D map example (v3.4), with shaded relief (v3.6)
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VBS3 Status
Support for bridge laying (v3.4) - video
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VBS3 Status
Ability to jump and climb obstacles (v3.4) - video
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VBS3 Status
Editor object tree structure (v3.4) - video
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VBS3 Status
Advanced wounding (v3.4) - video
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VBS3 Status
Additional wounding information in the AAR (v3.4) - video
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Key New VBS3 Capabilities
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Key New Capabilities: Terrain
Larger terrains through improved terrain paging (v3.6) - video
Example: 2200km x 2200km East Coast USA terrain, can load in under 10 seconds*
Supports high detail insets
Supports procedural biotopes for complete vegetation coverage
Correlates with other simulations, has been terrain tested with OneSAF
* Depends on hardware, SSD preferred
Copyright © 2014 Bohemia Interactive Simulations k.s. Al l other trademarks or copyrights are the property of their respective owners. All Rights Reserved.
Key New Capabilities : Terrain
Larger terrains through improved terrain paging (v3.6) - video
Example: 2200km x 2200km East Coast USA terrain, can load in under 10 seconds*
Supports high detail insets
Supports procedural biotopes for complete vegetation coverage
Correlates with other simulations, has been terrain tested with OneSAF
TerraTools and MatieralMap are key for building large VBS terrains
TerraTools is highly effective for multi-maps, with offline procedural generation
MaterialMap accelerates the process of applying surface materials to VBS terrains
* Depends on hardware, SSD preferred
Copyright © 2014 Bohemia Interactive Simulations k.s. Al l other trademarks or copyrights are the property of their respective owners. All Rights Reserved.
Key New Capabilities: ARH
Improvements to the VBS3 ARH
(Eurocopter Tiger) flight model to
support mission simulation (v3.4)
Simulation of cockpit systems
Moving map
Electronic Warning System
Reference marks (waypoints)
Helmet mounted sight display
More realistic NVG simulation
Forward Air Refueling Points
Weapon simulation Rockets
Hellfire missiles
Video
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Key New Capabilities: C2
Command and Control Improvements (v3.5) - video
Build order of battle (ORBAT) command hierarchies in the VBS mission editor
Command units can be given movement orders which will move the entire formation
Example ORBAT formations:
Company level: columnPlatoon level: lineSquad level: wedge
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Key New Capabilities: Avatar
In-game “avatar” reflects real life attributes
Fitness
Weapons skills
Vehicle skills
Appearance (face and body shape)
DTMS integration
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Key New Capabilities: Avatar
Soldier parameters can be loaded from DTMS or entered manually
Custom load-outs can be created through the Avatar interface
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Key New Capabilities: Avatar
Support for custom orders of battle (Squad hierarchy)
Support for validation by administrator
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Key New Capabilities: CCTT (VBS IG)
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Key New Capabilities: CCTT (VBS IG)
VBS IG is the first delivered plug-in built using our new plug-in
architecture
The VBS IG plug-in turns any VBS3 instance into an IG
VBS3 optimizations were implemented to ensure high frame rates at
7km object draw and 100km+ view distance
Included terrain format optimizations
Includes a maintenance console for administration and debugging of
VBS3 instances
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The VBS3 Sensor API allows 3rd parties to define own sensors like FLIR
through a plug-in interface
Geometry can be “peeled”, so sensors can "see" through certain
materials like bush and grass (depth peels)
Per-pixel information accessible includes material ID, RGB color,
lighting info etc
Sensors can be enabled and disabled through VBS script
Key New Capabilities: Sensor API
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Key New Capabilities: RTT from a plug-in
VBS3 v3.6 supports render to texture (RTT) from a Fusion plug-in
Allows a plug-in to render to an in-game 3D object
Following images show rendering a web browser and “pong” in-game (video)
Lots of possibilities, e.g. cockpit instrumentation, CCTV, radar visualizations…
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Key New Capabilities: Oculus Rift DK2
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Key New Capabilities: Oculus Rift DK2
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VBS3 Focus: 2015
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VBS3 for Integrators – "The New VBSDN"
VBSDN (VBS Developer Network) is being re-launched next April
VBS3 + modules + development tools + improved docs + improved support
Employ VBS3 on desktops, as an Image Generator… or anywhere in
between!
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VBS3 for Integrators – "The New VBSDN"
Dedicated support engineers and improved documentation
Interop interface access (build your own APIs, DIS or HLA gateway etc)
Example plug-ins include VBS IG and the new Sensor API
Render VBS3 as part of a windows application
Non-proprietary development pipeline (as far as possible)
Improved terrain development tools (TerraTools / V4 integration)
Supporting both procedural generation and hand-editing
Export correlated terrain for other runtimes directly from VBS3 terrain
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Example: Motion capture by Microsoft Kinect v2
BISim is building a new pipeline for animation import into VBS3 based upon “Blender”
Following are examples of raw (on left) and clean (on right) Kinect v2 data applied to a
skeleton, processed in Blender
VBS3 for Integrators – "The New VBSDN"
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VBS3 for Integrators – "The New VBSDN"
Example: Improved character head rig
The new VBS3 head rig provides many more bones for a wider range of expressions
Further work is scheduled to add more mimics, blend mimics more smoothly, support
idle animations and improve blinking
Future work will include the addition of wrinkle maps and corrective morphs
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AI Overhaul
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Solving the “Terrain Problem”
VBS3 currently supports large, paged terrains
2200km x 2200km proven, East Coast USA
Offline generation of terrain, buildings and other features through TerraTools
Runtime generation of biotopes and roads based upon polygons and linears
… but, this relies on accessible, quality source data
We have commenced a project to deliver:
Round earth, with base terrain procedurally created directly from source data (DTED)
Smooth transition from high elevation to ground level
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Solving the “Terrain Problem”
Procedural data fills out the entire planet, but real data (generated
through an offline process) can be used where required
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The Future “Modular” VBS
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In conclusion…
VBS3 is constantly evolving and improving in accordance with the
military training and simulation requirement
VBS v3.4 is released, VBS3 v3.6 coming in November
We are planning to re-launch VBSDN as a tailored product for military
system integrators
Our roadmap will see VBS3 become a more modular product suited to
the widest possible range of military training uses