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Virtual Battlespace 2 press release

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Heh, I wonder how much it will cost this time :P

We dont know if it will actually ever become available for the public and if it does it will problably happen long after initial release (Q3 2k6).

Considering it will be based on new technology (has oposed to version1) i think it might be even more expensive though sad_o.gif .

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Hi all

Yet more Press coverage for VBS2 this time from Gamasutra

Quote[/b] ]Operation Flashpoint Creators Get 'Serious'

Operation Flashpoint creator Bohemia Interactive (BI) has announced its new 'serious game' engine Virtual Battlespace 2 (VBS2), which is intended for military use such as training small teams in urban encounter tactics, and is also intended for non-military usage such as incident response or terrain visualization. The firm is showing VBS2 at a simulation convention, I/ITSEC, in Orlando, Florida from November 28 to December 1.

According to Bohemia Interactive, which has been guided by comprehensive feedback from various organizations including the USMC and the Australian Defence Force, BI has developed VBS2 as a flexible and scalable simulation solution, which is being driven by the Real Virtuality engine, also used for the Operation Flashpoint PC and console titles...

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=7245

Keep it comming

Regards Walker smile_o.gif

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''VBS2 announced''

Plenty of news every time about VBSx, but they only really told people about OFP: Elite a month or two before release, and there is hardly anything to find about ArmA. BI is moving more and more away from making games, and is concentrating more on making high-priced simulators for military use sad_o.gifgoodnight.gif

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BI is moving more and more away from making games, and is concentrating more on making high-priced simulators for military use sad_o.gif  goodnight.gif

Dont forget the publisher thingy, its something to consider wink_o.gif , plus in to long run their developments in the sim market might benefit all of us smile_o.gif .

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BI is moving more and more away from making games, and is concentrating more on making high-priced simulators for military use sad_o.gifgoodnight.gif

Dont forget the publisher thingy, its something to consider wink_o.gif , plus in to long run their developments in the sim market might benefit all of us smile_o.gif .

I would have to agree with Heatseeker on this one. Military spending will be only a portion of their total revenue. For all we know it could be that VBS2 is based on the Next Gen PC Title and not the other way around which would of course then indicate that we will see the NGPCT as well. Personaly if the only hold up is a publisher I will gladly wait rather than get stuck with company like UBI for example.

Stout Hearts

|RE|Warhawk

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Its interesting that CTC doesnt mention anything about VBS2 in their site while they will be atending to I/ITSEC 2K5, 2 booths promoting VBS1 and its capabilities.

Heres something that i found interesting:

Quote[/b] ]the Marine Corps will showcase how the Virtual Battlefield System (VBS1) training system from Coalescent and Bohemia Interactive Studio is being used at the I and II Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) simulation centers to provide virtual combat convoy training to Marines.

Also interesting is to find DARPA listed in CTC's clientele  page list but thats not relevant here.

Im wondering if CTC doesnt have any deal with BI about VBS2, currently i mean..

I do hope BI(S/A) will show off some goodies to us regular joes about VBS2, it looks very promissing smile_o.gif .

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''VBS2 announced''

Plenty of news every time about VBSx, but they only really told people about OFP: Elite a month or two before release, and there is hardly anything to find about ArmA. BI is moving more and more away from making games, and is concentrating more on making high-priced simulators for military use sad_o.gifgoodnight.gif

VBS is considered a low cost military simulator. Only gamers think it's expensive cause they pay around $50 for a game. Then they see $500 for VBS they don't understand that it's not a game. It's a sim for military use.

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Quote[/b] ]

Im wondering if CTC doesnt have any deal with BI about VBS2, currently i mean..

That would be a God send to those in NA if true. whistle.gifyay.gif

Stout Hearts

|RE|Warhawk

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It's also dissapointing having some unuseable ADF2 units in VBS1 that have never been fixed sad_o.gif

The models look great and all, but some of the configs need some serious adjustments which cant be done by any of the VBS1 mod community as there encrypted sad_o.gif

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I just realised its only 5 days left to the I/ITSEC Conference!

Those screens is a great foretaste, well atleast I hope we will see and know more after that conference. Particular 1 question.......

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They should keep VBS2 as training tool, and GAMe 2 as game/simulator.

If VBS2 is sim for military use, why "regular PC Simulator fan needs it" ?  smile_o.gif

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Are we sure that VBS2 is running game2 engine? According to all the press releases, Real Virtuality, is the engine that will be used. This is the same engine as OFP(VBS2 using ArmA engine??)!!! . I was under the assumption(yes i know assumptions are the mother of all f*** ups) that game2 would be using Real Virtuality 2 engine, not just a heavily upgraded one? Or have I f***** up? And about the gore in game, im sure that most people that use VBS1 dont do so for the looks(im sure some of you bought it for that reason alone crazy_o.gifbiggrin_o.gif) but for the situational awarness and tactical communications skills that it provides.

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My opinion? (i know you didnt really ask but...).

I think VBS2 is using a vastly improved OPF engine, and i dont mean the current VBS one, i mean one that includes the improvements from OPF:E and some other specific ones too, ofcourse the OPF:E optimisations can only go so far on a xbox but on a current gen. decent PC? Damn i can only imagine how much they could deliver:

-New streaming optimised rendering code capable of drawing twice the detail (bigger and more detailed environments).

-Colision detection and some physics improvements. (What OPF engine really lacks/needs).

-Bullet ricochets/bouncing grenades yay.gif .

-Better a.i. (capable of performing more realisticaly in diferent environments and situations).

-Improved damage model for vehicals and objects, vehical physics and performance, more realistic vehical characteristics and features?

-Improved lighting efects, HDR, yaba...

-Sound engine maybe.

Then theres problably a lot more script functions and possibilities included in it like new editing stuff and the necessary tools that are needed for training/reviewing/analysis, etc.

Didnt Suma once said that they (BIS) got it right the first time? wink_o.gif . I dont think they would need to built a whole new game engine, just improve and take it several steps higher and it will be unbeatable.

That is all we would need, a more capable/perfected OPF game engine but unfortunetly it seems its going straight for the military only...

Still this is all speculation wink_o.gif .

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well VBS1 went public, ArmA is coming, NextGen is coming what more do we need?

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Quote[/b] ]Press Release - Bohemia and Calytrix Connect

Australia - 25th November 2005

Bohemia Interactive Australia (BIA) and Calytrix Technologies are pleased to announce their recent cooperation to provide DIS and HLA simulation integration to the Real Virtuality synthetic environment, the game engine behind the successful Virtual Battlespace (VBS) series of products (www.virtualbattlespace.com). The new technology is to be demonstrated at the Calytrix Technologies booth (#2017) at I/ITSEC, to be held at the Florida Convention Center in Orlando, from November 28 - December 1, 2005.

VBS provides fully interactive, three-dimensional training systems with premium synthetic environments suitable for a wide range of military (or similar) training and experimentation purposes. Within the Real Virtuality engine, a participant views the virtual environment from the first-person perspective and is able to move, interact and otherwise operate as he or she would in real life. Participants may operate weaponry, drive vehicles, and fly aircraft within the simulation for any training or analytical purpose.

VBS1 is currently used by a number of military organizations worldwide, including the Australian Defence Force and the United States Marine Corps. Applications of VBS include collective training (eg. combined arms, MOUT), individual training (eg. helicopter loadmaster training, mortar training), experimentation and analysis, as well as terrain and 3D model visualisation and walkthroughs for AO familiarization and limited mission rehearsal. VBS2, an entirely new product currently under development and due for release in mid-2006, provides a greatly enhanced game engine and introduces a range of new features and improvements (www.virtualbattlespace.com/press_vbs2_iitsec.htm).

Using Calytrix SIMplicity� (www.simplicity.calytrix.com), Calytrix has partnered with the BIA development team to create an agile DIS, HLA and 1516 VBS Gateway; enabling participants immersed in the VBS Real Virtuality game engine to interoperate with existing live, virtual, and constructive simulations. In preparation for major joint/coalition training operations, the first application of the VBS Gateway will see VBS2 integrated with the US developed Joint Semi-Automated Forces (JSAF) constructive simulation environment, allowing VBS2 participants to be immersed in a much larger (battalion level or greater) training exercise.

Via the Calytrix VBS Gateway, the VBS2 integration with JSAF is fully bi-directional � VBS2 is a completely interactive three-dimensional front end to the constructive JSAF simulation, with support for photo-realistic terrain areas hundreds of kilometres in size. VBS2 is a cost-effective, flexible and proven companion product for any networked DIS or HLA environment.

The use of Calytrix SIMplicity�s MDA code generation solution ensures that the VBS Gateway can be rapidly repurposed for most DIS, HLA 1.3 and 1516 environments (including vendor RTI variations); providing a cost effective means to integrate VBS into your live, virtual or constructive environment.

A demonstration of the new VBS Gateway will be available at I/ITSEC 2005 in Florida at the Calytrix Technologies booth (#2017). For more information please contact either BIA at vbs@bistudio.com or Calytrix Technologies at info@calytrix.com.

if this works out then bohemia could be setting a milestone with VBS2 and for virtual simulating anyway. winder how this would effect the gaming comunity...

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Uh, i dont get none of it, anyone care to do a minimalist/simple translation for dumbass to read? Like simply posting what calytrix SIMplicity is about? crazy_o.gif .

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Uh, i dont get none of it, anyone care to do a minimalist/simple translation for dumbass to read? Like simply posting what calytrix SIMplicity is about? crazy_o.gif .
Quote[/b] ]Calytrix SIMplicity® is an integrated development environment (IDE) that enables developers and scientists to rapidly assemble component-based HLA simulations from new and pre-existing components (federates) in a visual environment.

SIMplicity's goal is to reduce HLA project costs and duration by 40%. This is achieved by supporting best design practices, significantly reducing coding overheads, and simplifying simulation development and execution.

Development using SIMplicity is based entirely around the executable model created within the SIMplicity visual environment. This model is used by SIMplicity to encapsulate the simulation's workflow, manage its deployment, and to generate the code needed to provide the physical component integration via the RTI (for federates) or via alternative middleware (for sub-federate level components).

As far as I understand it, it's about the use of SIMplicity integrated development environment for VBS1. So basically being able to put the stuff that you design with SIMplicity into VBS1. But I could be wrong confused_o.gif

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Hi all

HLA and DIS are connection protocols between different simulations.

In short what it means is that using the technology you can connect different simulations together.

DIS

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distributed_Interactive_Simulation

Distributed Interactive Simulation (DIS)

DIS is defined by IEEE Standard 1278

This is what existed before HLA and was not as tight as HLA it also apparently varies a lot according to who builds it; leading to different DIS interfaces on different products; hence the move to HLA.

HLA

High Level Architecture (HLA)

HLA is defined by IEEE Standard 1516

Unless you have the several thousands of dollars needed to buy the documentation this link will act as a start to point for you to follow.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Level_Architecture

The key factor with VBS using HLA/DIS is the Run Time Infrastructure (RTI) Basically a kind of VBS client/server with variables relating changes in the simulated environment passed between two or more differing simulations.

So you can connect and advanced mil spec AI up to VBS2 or a high end flight sim. So that that AI controls the soldiers in VBS or the full on cockpit based flight sim moves the aircraft around in VBS2.

Or the invidual soldiers or tanks moving around in VBS2 can feed the equivalent agregated objects normaly represented at a statistical level in a constructive sim and allow actions taken the constructive simulator at the Divisional level be passed back down and visualised and be properly simulated at a physics level by VBS2.

You can also connect military analytical programs to VBS2 for experimentation.

I know an HLA RTI has been developed by someone in Sweden for Microsoft Flight simulator. It may also be possible now that Lead Pursuit a group of Falcon 4.0 Moders, who bought the licence for Falcon 4.0 from Atari, that they could be pursuaded to make an HLA RTI Falcon 4.0 or that a sensible ministry of defense might want to fund such work.

http://www.lead-pursuit.com/

I met a team of such people who could do the work at a conference last year in The Hague but the Atari license was the thing that held such a project back it seams now that that problem is moot.

It is also possible, via a different part of HLA not the RTI we are talking about here, to interchange data such as models in HLA although the only ones interested in this in industry seem to those with a shortage of models. As far as I can tell this part of HLA is not needed for VBS and I would see little benefit to BIS or BIA of them going to the extreme cost in doing so.

With HLA there are granularity issues between different simulations. Where the soldier sim may demand terrain and objects in it to be at a higher resolution than in the tank or copter sim. This is the so called Tank is Hull down in the Tank sim but on the crest of the hill in the soldier sim effect.

With this granularity issue VBS has a distinct advantage over all other simulations as it is capable of modeling everything from single soldier up to helicopter and ship in the same environment.

With the arrival VBS2 it may even be possible to Model fixed wing aircraft to true flight sim levels in the same environment. This is the holy grail of simulators; a single sim environment, the VBS OFP family are the closest to it yet; with the description of Terrain sizes in the 100km by 100km range and those magic words "streaming terrain" (something the military has spent millions on) VBS2 may even have achieved it.

That said developing true flight sims in VBS will take some time although it may be possible to buy the programming of an existing flight model. This would give VBS an insurmountable advantage over all its competitors.

In the mean time VBS2 with an HLA RTI gives full access to the level of fixed wing aircraft or constructive level simulation or for AARs and external AIs as one one can use an HLA interface with little or no risk of Granularity issues at these levels. It will also allow VBS to talk to older legacy systems.

Hope this Has helped

Kind Regards Walker

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Ugh, dumb connecting flight from nashville to orlando is delayed 1:30 sad_o.gif

HLA is the net code used by the heavy sims. This means that VBS can be the eye candy for heavy sims, and heavy sims can track VBS units. In other words, it's all your sims are belong to us stuff.

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Hi all

HLA and DIS are connection protocols between different simulations.

In short what it means is that using the technology you can connect different simulations together.

Hope this Has helped

Kind Regards Walker

Very much, thank you Walker smile_o.gif . I suppose that if VBS2 manages to increase the "fidelity" (yuck, hate that word icon_rolleyes.gif ) of some other elements/features other than infantry the product's value would increase has a combined operations training tool.

Maybe vehical simulation could be improved though a diferent solution should problably have to be adopted for fixed wing? Or maybe the development should take a diferent aproach and the engine be used for developing distinct/seperate simulation products (fixed wing, armor, infantry, naval...) that could then be used simultaniously with this solution.

In short.. we will be missing on a lot of fun lol biggrin_o.gif .

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Hi Heatseeker

There are some interesting future OFP game posibilities for beyond next gen games that an HLA type interface would allow.

If I give you this clue see if you can guess what they are.

An RTI connects simulations together.

biggrin_o.gif

Kind Regards Walker

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