Outerra

Last updated
Outerra s.r.o [1]
TypePrivate
IndustryInformation Technology
Founded2010
Headquarters
Bratislava
,
Slovakia
Website outerra.com

Outerra is a Slovak computer software company best known for its middleware 3D planetary graphics engine, called Outerra engine, in development since 2008. [2] The engine renders high-quality terrain, terrain texturing, flora and water flow normal maps using relatively sparse and highly compressed data through fractal processing and other types of procedural generation. The game Anteworlduses real world data to create a virtual replica of planet Earth.

Contents

Features

Features of the engine and its tech-demo Anteworld include:

An example of how Outerra relies on fractal calculations for terrain rendering. Outerra example.jpg
An example of how Outerra relies on fractal calculations for terrain rendering.

Anteworld

A landscape from the Outerra Anteworld engine Outerra Anteworld Engine The Middle-Earth DEM Project (12238972843).jpg
A landscape from the Outerra Anteworld engine

The developers of Outerra in 2012 released [8] an alpha tech-demo for the engine called Anteworld (the name comes from the Latin prefix Ante-, meaning prior-to in time - "A world that was") that consists of a digital replica of the whole planet Earth at a 1:1 scale. The virtual world can be explored in a free-camera mode as well as in vehicles such as planes, boats and cars. It also features a first person walking mode. For the mirror world real world data was used - ingame the user can blend in an embedded Google Maps of real Earth that is synchronized with the current camera position. [9] Since June 2013 Anteworld provides support for Oculus Rift. [5] [6] [7] Furthermore, user-made objects such as houses and vehicles can be spawned and used in the sandbox game. [10] While the tech-demo is free some features require an upgrade to the $15 full version. [11] An accompanying novella that is loosely tied to the game written by C. Shawn Smith is planned as well. [11]

Returning aboard an interstellar colonizer ship built in the Golden Age of Mankind, players arrive on the planet earth to discover civilization and humanity vanished. They will have to rebuild the civilization - exploring, fighting, and competing for resources while searching for clues to the disappearance of humanity. The game will contain several modes, the basic one will be a single-player game but with player-built locations being synchronized and replicated between clients. That means player can settle in a free location of his choice where he can build and play, and when he goes exploring he'll be able to observe and visit other sites where other players are building their world.

— Brano Kemen, Developer of Outerra on the plans for the game [11]

Middle-Earth DEM Project

In 2013 a separate non-profit motivated group of hobbyists released a first version of terrain data of Middle-Earth compiled for Outerra. [12] The goal of this digital elevation model project, which was launched by Oshyan Greene and Carl Lingard in 2006, [13] is what they summarize as a "living, breathing Middle Earth" - a highly detailed model which includes rivers, vegetation, buildings, roads and subterranean features. [14] The sources for the maps include Tolkien's maps (such as the ones in The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion ), Strachey's Journeys of Frodo , Fonstad's The Atlas of Middle-earth , the locations used in Peter Jackson's movies as well as fan made maps.

Virtual Mars

In February 2014 the developers announced ongoing development, which was planned since October 2009, [15] to add another planet to the two already existing ones (Earth and the fictional Middle-Earth) – Mars. [4] Additionally in 2014 they stated that "ultimately the whole solar system should be accessible" in a single game on Twitter. [16]

TitanIM

TitanIM (Titan Integrated Military) is an Outerra-based military simulation platform that was revealed in December 2014 at the world's largest modeling, simulation and training conference oriented at military use, I/ITSEC in Orlando. TitanIM was granted exclusive license to the Outerra engine for military use. The initial public release version of the software is known as Titan Vanguard. [17] [18] [19]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unreal Engine</span> Video game engine developed by Epic Games

Unreal Engine (UE) is a series of 3D computer graphics game engines developed by Epic Games, first showcased in the 1998 first-person shooter video game Unreal. Initially developed for PC first-person shooters, it has since been used in a variety of genres of games and has seen adoption by other industries, most notably the film and television industry. Unreal Engine is written in C++ and features a high degree of portability, supporting a wide range of desktop, mobile, console, and virtual reality platforms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crytek</span> German video game and software company

Crytek GmbH is a German video game developer and software developer based in Frankfurt. Founded by the Yerli brothers in Coburg in 1999 and moved to Frankfurt in 2006, Crytek also operates further studios in Kyiv, Ukraine and Istanbul, Turkey. Its former studios included Crytek Black Sea in Sofia, Bulgaria, Crytek UK in Nottingham, and Crytek USA in Austin, Texas. Crytek is best known for developing the first instalment of the Far Cry series, and the Crysis series, and the open world nature of their games which showcase the company's CryEngine.

Insomniac Games, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Burbank, California and part of PlayStation Studios. It was founded in 1994 by Ted Price as Xtreme Software, and was renamed Insomniac Games a year later. The company is most known for developing several early PlayStation mascots, Spyro the Dragon, Ratchet and Clank, as well as the Resistance franchise, 2014's Sunset Overdrive and the Marvel's Spider-Man series with Marvel Games. In 2019, the studio was acquired by Sony Interactive Entertainment, becoming a part of SIE Worldwide Studios.

Torque Game Engine, or TGE, is an open-source cross-platform 3D computer game engine, developed by GarageGames and actively maintained under the current versions Torque 3D as well as Torque 2D. It was originally developed by Dynamix for the 2001 first-person shooter Tribes 2. In September 2012, GarageGames released Torque 3D as open-source software under the MIT License.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CryEngine</span> Game engine by Crytek

CryEngine is a game engine designed by the German game developer Crytek. It has been used in all of their titles with the initial version being used in Far Cry, and continues to be updated to support new consoles and hardware for their games. It has also been used for many third-party games under Crytek's licensing scheme, including Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 and SNOW. Warhorse Studios uses a modified version of the engine for their medieval RPG Kingdom Come: Deliverance. Ubisoft maintains an in-house, heavily modified version of CryEngine from the original Far Cry called the Dunia Engine, which is used in their later iterations of the Far Cry series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Google Earth</span> 3D globe-based map program owned by Google

Google Earth is a computer program that renders a 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposing satellite images, aerial photography, and GIS data onto a 3D globe, allowing users to see cities and landscapes from various angles. Users can explore the globe by entering addresses and coordinates, or by using a keyboard or mouse. The program can also be downloaded on a smartphone or tablet, using a touch screen or stylus to navigate. Users may use the program to add their own data using Keyhole Markup Language and upload them through various sources, such as forums or blogs. Google Earth is able to show various kinds of images overlaid on the surface of the Earth and is also a Web Map Service client. In 2019, Google revealed that Google Earth now covers more than 97 percent of the world, and has captured 10 million miles of Street View imagery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Procedural generation</span> Method in which data is created algorithmically as opposed to manually

In computing, procedural generation is a method of creating data algorithmically as opposed to manually, typically through a combination of human-generated content and algorithms coupled with computer-generated randomness and processing power. In computer graphics, it is commonly used to create textures and 3D models. In video games, it is used to automatically create large amounts of content in a game. Depending on the implementation, advantages of procedural generation can include smaller file sizes, larger amounts of content, and randomness for less predictable gameplay. Procedural generation is a branch of media synthesis.

SpeedTree is a group of vegetation programming and modeling software products developed and sold by Interactive Data Visualization, Inc. (IDV) that generates virtual foliage for animations, architecture and in real time for video games and demanding real time simulations.

In video games, an open world is a virtual world in which the player can approach objectives freely, as opposed to a world with more linear and structured gameplay. Notable games in this category include The Legend of Zelda (1986), Grand Theft Auto III (2001) and Minecraft (2011).

<i>Cities XL</i> 2009 video game

Cities XL is a city-building video game developed by Monte Cristo as a sequel to their earlier title City Life. It was originally scheduled for release in the first quarter of 2009, but was eventually released on October 8, 2009. The game allowed players to play online and interact with others on massive persistent planets, and to work together by trading resources or building blueprints in order to satisfy the needs of city inhabitants. However, on March 8, 2010 the online service was closed and the game became single-player only.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leap Motion</span> Former American company

Leap Motion, Inc. was an American company that manufactured and marketed a computer hardware sensor device that supports hand and finger motions as input, analogous to a mouse, but requires no hand contact or touching. In 2016, the company released new software designed for hand tracking in virtual reality. The company was sold to the British company Ultrahaptics in 2019, which rebranded the two companies under the new name Ultraleap.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oculus Rift</span> Virtual reality headsets by Oculus VR

Oculus Rift is a discontinued line of virtual reality headsets developed and manufactured by Oculus VR, a virtual reality company founded by Palmer Luckey that is widely credited with reviving the virtual reality industry. It was the first virtual reality headset to provide a realistic experience at an accessible price, utilizing novel technology to increase quality and reduce cost by orders of magnitude compared to earlier systems. The first headset in the line was the Oculus Rift DK1, released on March 28, 2013. The last was the Oculus Rift S, discontinued in April of 2021.

SpaceEngine is an interactive 3D planetarium and astronomy software developed by Russian astronomer and programmer Vladimir Romanyuk. It creates a 1:1 scale three-dimensional planetarium representing the entire observable universe from a combination of real astronomical data and scientifically accurate procedural generation algorithms. Users can travel through space in any direction or speed, and forwards or backwards in time. SpaceEngine is in beta status and up to version 0.9.8.0E, released in August 2017, it was available as a freeware download for Microsoft Windows. Version 0.990 beta was the first paid edition, released in June 2019 on Steam. The program has full support for VR headsets.

Eve: Valkyrie was a multiplayer dogfighting shooter game set in the Eve Online universe that was designed to use virtual reality headset technology. Originally launched for Microsoft Windows for use with the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset, CCP Games had announced they plan to enable cross-platform play between the three major VR systems: the Oculus Rift, the HTC Vive, and the PlayStation VR. Released in March 2016, the game had two game mode options: Chronicles could be played in single player, while Combat allowed eight by eight combat PvP missions. Reviews generally criticized the limited plot and limitations of single player mode, although the described "arcade experience" was praised for having intuitive controls and "exhilarating" dogfighting features, with PC Powerplay dubbing it "arguably the best VR experience currently available for the [Oculus Rift] platform."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reality Labs</span> Virtual and augmented reality products company

Reality Labs is a business and research unit of Meta Platforms that produces virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) hardware and software, including virtual reality headsets such as Quest, and online platforms such as Horizon Worlds. In June 2022, several artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives that were previously a part of Meta AI were transitioned to Reality Labs. This also includes Meta's fundamental AI Research laboratory FAIR which is now part of the Reality Labs - Research (RLR) division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little Green Men Games</span> Croatian video game developer

Little Green Men Games is a Croatian video game developer. The company began in 2006 with producing its first video game Starpoint Gemini developed with custom made engine called IC Whale Engine in 2010. Their second game Starpoint Gemini 2 was released in 2014, followed by 3 downloadable content, made with LGM Games' proprietary Whale2 Engine. The latest installment in the franchise, Starpoint Gemini Warlords was released on May 23, 2017 on Steam and GoG. It uses the proprietary Whale 2.5 engine.

Tilt Brush is a room-scale 3D-painting virtual-reality application available from Google, originally developed by Skillman & Hackett.

<i>The Climb</i> (video game) 2016 video game

The Climb is a first-person virtual reality game, developed by Crytek and Oculus Studios. In it the player climbs cliffs in locations around the world. The game released for Microsoft Windows on April 28, 2016, while a Oculus Quest port was later released in 2019. A sequel, The Climb 2, was released in 2021.

RaceRoom Racing Experience is a free-to-play racing simulator for Microsoft Windows, developed by KW Studios and published by RaceRoom Entertainment AG. Their aim is to provide an authentic racing experience through detailed car and track models as well as realistic car behaviour and sounds. The game provides a selection of free-to-play race cars and tracks to drive in multiplayer and single player games modes. Sponsored competitions and other free-to-play events allow users to use premium game content at no cost.

Survios is an American virtual reality game developer and software publisher based in Los Angeles, California. The company develops virtual reality software and games, including the titles Raw Data and Sprint Vector. Survios was created by graduates from the University of Southern California's Mixed Reality Lab, where they worked together on Project Holodeck. The company has raised over $54 million in venture funding led by Shasta Ventures, Lux Capital and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

References

  1. ↑ Outerra s.r.o, Business Register of Ministry of Justice of the Slovak Republic
  2. ↑ Outerra on Blogger
  3. ↑ "Features". Outerra. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "2013 Retrospective, 2014 Look Ahead". Outerra Blog. 9 February 2014. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  5. 1 2 "First Outerra Build with Oculus Rift Support Now Available". roadtovr.com. 2 June 2013. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  6. 1 2 "Outerra Preview: Fly planes, drive buses and steer boats". theriftarcade.com. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  7. 1 2 "Outerra Tech Demo - The whole planet Earth". Oculus VR Forums. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  8. ↑ "Outerra Tech Demo released!". 25 February 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  9. ↑ "Terrain Source? - Developer answer". Outerra. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  10. ↑ "Outerra Mods - FAQ" . Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  11. 1 2 3 "Outerra Tech Demo - Free tech demo, upgradable to the Anteworld sandbox game (alpha)". Outerra. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  12. ↑ "Outerra Forums - Middle-Earth World for Outerra released!". Outerra Forums. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  13. ↑ Rubin, Peter. "If Middle-Earth Were Real, These Exquisite Shots Would Be Its Vacation Brochure". Wired. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  14. ↑ "ME-DEM.org - What is the purpose of this project?". me-dem.org. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  15. ↑ "Welcome to the 'Ideas' forum". Outerra Forum. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  16. ↑ "Twitter post by Outerra". Twitter - Outerra. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  17. ↑ "TitanIM, an Outerra-based military simulation platform". Outerra Blog. 7 December 2014. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  18. ↑ "Titan at IT/SEC 2015". YouTube . Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  19. ↑ "TitanIM - I/ITSEC 2015". titanim.net. Archived from the original on 2016-05-04.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.