TitanIM

[Janez 534]

Could people imagine if in Skyrim one could order hundreds if not thousands of units around the map via wagon train, mega hike and dragon -all AI controlled? Games just don't even attempt this anymore so I applaud any who try.

Vanilla Skyrim? Couple of dozen is an achievement :D.

[vran. 13]

True true and Im most def looking forward to where this ends up -hopefully in the civvie market. Im mostly curious what others do with large scale, open terrain AI as I think most people just don't get what a monumental task that is and just call Arma's dumb. Sure they are dumb on one level while the sheer amount of control and functionality over them is also pretty awesome. There's just no other games in which I can order so many units top so many different areas via other AI pilots, drivers, and boats. Yeah ok, the driver's may not make it in a timely manner but nevertheless.

Could people imagine if in Skyrim one could order hundreds if not thousands of units around the map via wagon train, mega hike and dragon -all AI controlled? Games just don't even attempt this anymore so I applaud any who try.

Well that's the difference between a simulation game and a 'regular' arcade/action game. :p

The average action game focuses more on graphics and spectacle while being easy to get into whereas a simulation game is more demanding of the player and focusing more on things that don't matter that much in your average action game such as advanced A.I., detailed physical simulation that affects gameplay (not just 'eye candy' visual effects like in action games with no real purpose other than visual stimulation), massive world rendering, terrain deformations, ect. It's also why simulation games tend to be very heavy on the CPU which is not a priority on the modern console systems or otherwise (PS3's Cell was the exception here but it was more an early hybrid CPU + graphics co-processor in one, a sort of predecessor of the modern 'APU'). And looking how the modern game industry revolves more on console-centric games or games built for the largest possible audience, it's expected that the majority of 'mainstream' games don't put much emphasis on these things or under-utilizes them. It's also why there is a missconception that advanced games such as ArmA or DCS should perform the same as your average action game does. So yes, these games may not make the best usage of multi-threaded processing or have some archaic code left in their base engine, it is still reasonable to expect a simulation game to perform worse than your average action game due to all the things it is doing and processing in real-time.

[x3kj 1247]

Could people imagine if in Skyrim one could order hundreds if not thousands of units around the map via wagon train, mega hike and dragon -all AI controlled? Games just don't even attempt this anymore so I applaud any who try.

Yes, people can imagine, but its not feasible. You can't display those hundreds of people on the same screen. So you have to blend out those that are too many (no big battles-> pointless having those numbers in the first place).

Everytime someone builds a sandbox game there are certain guys who complain about not having even more sand. They want more and more, it will just never stop. You can't build a game with _everything_. Ressources (time, money, manpower) are limited, so you cant build something that is basically unlimited.

[Arma3goodCPUlowFPS 12]

hello, someone posted this video in this forum:

(for people in germany or others who cant watch this video: use vtunnel -google it-, this video seems to be blocked in some countries)

when i watched this video, i got intersted immediatly and wanted to know if its a open world sandbox like arma and checked out theyr site:

http://titanim.net/www/

Overview:

WHAT IS TitanIM?

A global sandbox. An open world. A complete ecosphere in which to create, to experiment - to experience.

There are no limits in TitanIM, geographically or conceptually.

TitanIM is a simulation software platform offering a genuinely new capability. Within minutes of picking up TitanIM for the first time, a user can leverage a whole world representation of Earth and create a new scenario, modify the environment, or participate as a virtual entity - at any point around the world.

In a single integrated program, TitanIM offers:

-A Point & Click Scenario Constructor

-Powerful Game-quality Runtime Engine

-Scenario Debrief with full 3D playback

-Online Multiplayer Networking

-Real-time Terrain Editing

-Global Terrain Database

-Web-integrated Environment

-An Open Development Platform

Scale:

Scale

TitanIM is all about scale, and scalability.

TitanIM is capable of recreating planetwide environments from ocean floors to Earth’s orbit at equally high fidelity for any point between. Using the powerful Outerra rendering engine, blades of grass and dirt roads are as eye-pleasing as in any major video game, yet the view from 50,000 feet altitude is suitable for a high-end simulator.

Air, Land, Sea and Space are not separate concepts in TitanIM; they are an uninterrupted continuum, and TitanIM is equally capable of operating anywhere in that scale – or in all domains at once.

TitanIM also embraces the concept of Scalable Users. Not everyone has the same goals or interests or skills in how they approach TitanIM. One user may want to create a simple scenario to quickly test a concept within a few minutes, another may want to author and deliver a complex solution to a need, and another may create a complete self-contained game, simulation or application using TitanIM as a starting platform. TitanIM strives to strike a balance in accommodating all such users without alienating any.

Experience

TitanIM provides a user with everything they need out of the box to instantly engage in a high fidelity experience, without limiting that user from changing the nature of that experience.

The capabilities to enable this come in many forms, but broadly break down to five elements – the World and its environment, the Content inside that world, the Scenario that can be authored (from a simple mission to a full standalone application), the User Interfaces, and the External Interfaces available.

To illustrate the experience we’ll use three generic categories on the user spectrum:

- An End User – operates TitanIM out of the box, a pick up & go experience.

- A Modder – likes to peek behind the curtain and lightly modify TitanIM, without being a programmer or specialist.

- A Developer – wants to get under the hood and buried in code or tools to vastly alter TitanIM.

(more information about the categories here http://titanim.net/www/ )

[chrisb 196]

There is already a thread in other games for this. Still..

I love playing around with Outerra and hoped one day someone would pick it up to use for a mil/sim, its great they have.

Now the worry bit, Outerra can be heavy on some systems without anything placed, put a truck or whatever other mod you like on there and the rates go down even more. Put a war on there and.. well.;)

But I hope they can do something with it, it is crying out to be used for mil/sim style gaming.:D

Its a fascinating concept they have with it, the devs have worked long and hard on the Outerra engine, mostly in their spare time I think. Hope now, that someone has picked up the engine seriously, that it works out for them all..

[Arma3goodCPUlowFPS 12]

There is already a thread in other games for this. Still..

I love playing around with Outerra and hoped one day someone would pick it up to use for a mil/sim, its great they have.

Now the worry bit, Outerra can be heavy on some systems without anything placed, put a truck or whatever other mod you like on there and the rates go down even more. Put a war on there and.. well.;)

But I hope they can do something with it, it is crying out to be used for mil/sim style gaming.:D

Its a fascinating concept they have with it, the devs have worked long and hard on the Outerra engine, mostly in their spare time I think. Hope now, that someone has picked up the engine seriously, that it works out for them all..

yeah but this is a direct comparison to arma 3 and possible its the first competitor.

if this game will be released to the public (not like VBS to military only) or a personal edition is planned, i bet that the arma series would be dead in the water after titanim release.

ofcourse they have to make it playable for a military simulator, also titanim is early alpha afaik. i bet that they do something with it, i mean it would be useless if the first problem appear when you start without placed anything.

i have hopes in it and with such large scale and proper support for skyscrapers/large models: a dream comes true !

[big_t 1]

It looks interesting but some of the animations look very silly. Maybe just temp placeholders? There was supposed to be a Project reality 2 project that was using the cry engine but I'm not sure if they are still doing that no mention in the last year or so.

[warlord554 2065]

Man I will be on that when its released. Hell yeah

[JdB 151]

i bet that the arma series would be dead in the water after titanim release.

In the 12 years that I've been here I've heard that before, a lot. About loads of supposed competitors that were either never released, were plagued with technical issues or turned out to be dumbed down FPS games when people actually got to play them themselves. The complaints about the RV engine have been a constant for all this time yet still no one has made/adapted one of the plethora of engines that supposedly do everything RV can't, which should be easy to do or so they claim in all their lack of knowledge on game engines and development. If it were easy to make a near perfect engine for this type of game BIS would have done it already with all their experience. And ArmA is still on top despite all of these "ArmA killers" :bounce3:

I'm a bit sceptical when things are said to be too good to be true. They usually turn out to be just that.

[chrisb 196]

yeah but this is a direct comparison to arma 3 and possible its the first competitor.

if this game will be released to the public (not like VBS to military only) or a personal edition is planned, i bet that the arma series would be dead in the water after titanim release.

ofcourse they have to make it playable for a military simulator, also titanim is early alpha afaik. i bet that they do something with it, i mean it would be useless if the first problem appear when you start without placed anything.

i have hopes in it and with such large scale and proper support for skyscrapers/large models: a dream comes true !

Yes, don't get me wrong, it works and works fine, with very high settings it still runs great. But the headroom isn't much when you think of what would be needed to have a mil/sim play out on there. Still I do hope they get this done and as you say, release to the public. I know its going to be a VBS competitor type thing, more than a game, well at the moment anyway.

Still, I'm ready to buy it now. :)

The forums for the Outerra engine has a good community, many of them play this series, also the download demo is free (that's for the engine, not this sim), or was, not sure now. But you pay for the upgrade, but there are lots of bits and pieces to play with (mods) so worth a look for anyone interested.

Not sure about the devs that are making this sim though.

---------- Post added at 01:19 ---------- Previous post was at 01:16 ----------

ArmA is still on top despite all of these "ArmA killers".

I agree with that, this series is one of a type. But that does need to change, a little competition would be nice.

[twisted 128]

Had had not seen this before. Am an early backer of outerra, but this looks good. Will buy if they get things right, and with outerra as a base they might have a head start. Let's hope they can do the rest of thing to high fidelity.

Edit. After reading all I could find about titanim it seems they are riding Very heavily on the outerra engine and is terrain ability. No mention of ballistics or systems, it's more of a generic framework. But maybe I'm missing something.

Edited January 12, 2015 by twisted

[Maio 293]

Threads merged for maximum efficiency

[inlesco 233]

Why people keep spreading the bullshit about BIS motivation after a competitor appears on the market?

BIS are motivated enough as it is now. All I see in their studio are passionate developers in a tight creative industry. For instance, Arma 3 campaign was really good and stood up to the classics of OFP and Resistance.

Making a 20+ hour campaign for a modern military simulator is a risk by itself, but it was worth the efforts.

Those "potential competitors" simply can't anticipate how much work goes into making a mil-sim engine function without loads of bugs.

If the competitors listed their remarkably experienced programmers and other devs for proof of expertise, it might seem possible. Otherwise it's just rumors. They'll remain so, like, forever.

[chrisb 196]

Why people keep spreading the bullshit about BIS motivation after a competitor appears on the market?

BIS are motivated enough as it is now. All I see in their studio are passionate developers in a tight creative industry. For instance, Arma 3 campaign was really good and stood up to the classics of OFP and Resistance.

Making a 20+ hour campaign for a modern military simulator is a risk by itself, but it was worth the efforts.

Those "potential competitors" simply can't anticipate how much work goes into making a mil-sim engine function without loads of bugs.

If the competitors listed their remarkably experienced programmers and other devs for proof of expertise, it might seem possible. Otherwise it's just rumors. They'll remain so, like, forever.

But maybe they're not thinking of making a game, as in story/campaign. More a military sandbox where they give you the tools. Similar I suppose to our Editor in this series. I haven't ever played a campaign from this series, use the game for the military playground side (sim). There you can build a war-gaming world, not based around stories as such.

I think this might be along those lines, i.e. give you the tools to do with it, what you want. Which from my point of view would be ideal, seeing that I never come out of the editor here.;)

[x3kj 1247]

I'm a bit sceptical when things are said to be too good to be true. They usually turn out to be just that.

Indeed, All they have is a big landscape on a grandscale... and that is basically it. Its more of a tech demo for their landscape algorithms then a "game", not even really an alpha.

All the crap you need to make an actual game... Mechanics, interface, Network code, Animations, Sounds, etc that's a loooot of work. And then there is the optimization part... Apparently it already runs pretty terrible. If they strap things to it it will run even worse.

But there are still people who believe in the tooth fairy i guess...

[JdB 151]

Indeed, All they have is a big landscape on a grandscale... and that is basically it. Its more of a tech demo for their landscape algorithms then a "game", not even really an alpha.

All the crap you need to make an actual game... Mechanics, interface, Network code, Animations, Sounds, etc that's a loooot of work. And then there is the optimization part... Apparently it already runs pretty terrible. If they strap things to it it will run even worse.

But there are still people who believe in the tooth fairy i guess...

Additionally how long has Outerra been underdevelopment? Since at least 2008. And how many big titles have been released that use it? Zero.

Maybe it's not so easy to create a fully simulated world sandbox and fill it in with perfectly realistic physics, objects and buildings and have the flawless Ai move through it fluently with only negligible bugs as some people make it seem ...

[NeMeSiS 11]

Additionally how long has Outerra been underdevelopment? Since at least 2008. And how many big titles have been released that use it? Zero.

Maybe it's not so easy to create a fully simulated world sandbox and fill it in with perfectly realistic physics, objects and buildings and have the flawless Ai move through it fluently with only negligible bugs as some people make it seem ...

Don't forget something resembling reasonable performance.

[vran. 13]

It's amazing how realistic the Outerra engine can look. Here is a comparison real-life vs Outerra:

http://levicires.minus.com/m1yGdhD1afRiY

I couldn't say which is which if it wasn't for those reflections on the bottom of the plane. I just don't like the 2D trees it has. When viewed from a distance they look ok but from up close even OFP trees look better... ;)

[bullsh 22]

TitanIM is scheduled for release this year!

[Ltf 381]

Simply a new military simulation with huge variety. It'll be available for everyone at this december, and this is the trailer that took my breath away:

 

 

 

for more informantion:     http://titanim.net/www/

[target_practice 163]

I guess it was only a matter of time before BI's unchallenged monopoly of the military sandbox scene came to an end, I wonder how such competition might change their approach?

One thing to add though, BISim have already done this with VBS Blue, which (although I might be wrong) runs on their branch of RV. Maybe this could come to Arma/Enfusion someday?

[.kju 3245]

Seems like a simulator indeed and much not of a game given the shown footage. Mostly terrain and air simulation. Maybe some strategic level too.

The infantry, vehicle, AI and PvP part seems not their strong part.

In any case we will see once its available.

[Ltf 381]

The important thing is people will be able to buy it easily. As I know BI sell vbs only to commercial customers and governments

[froggyluv 2136]

 Haha what? No zombies.. and FEMALES running around!? What kinda military simulator is this! Probably no Life mode either- losers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seriously looks pretty damn spiffy to me. At first, figured yet again probably no infantry and tho they look a bit stiff -seems to be the full package.

[jw custom 56]

Looks pretty cool and interesting B)