Shamus's stuff I've looked into before, but it's nowhere near the realism I want. Outerra is the closest thing I've run across, and I've done TONS of research on engines that will do it for me. The biggest reason I'm still here is the fact that the engine is so incredibly detailed, and the fact that Cameni has been more than willing to discuss my goals privately in emails. Every other developer I contacted never even responded, other than to say "Thanks for liking the engine." (and in one case, actually banned me from his forums because I dared to even contact him about it)
Personally, I know a great deal of game developers (one of my best friends has worked for the likes of SOE, Microsoft, etc), and I know quite a few game artists as well. The problem with releasing anything early is the backlash you get, especially if there are bugs. I speak with these guys all the time about that, and the common denominator in all of these conversations is that games are typically released before they are ready, and are doomed to failure because of it. That's why World of Warcraft is still so popular ... when it was released, it was almost 90% polished. A game like Star Wars Galaxies (which I did both alpha and beta) was so buggy upon release that they lost a huge portion of their subscriptions within just six months. I'd hate to see that happen to Outerra.
Indy developers are in a slightly different boat, but the people that flock to them understand that (enter Minecraft). Minecraft is
essentially a game, but there's no real content other than building stuff. Woopee! I can do that in a 3d program all day long. Once Minecraft goes gold, there will ultimately be enough content to sustain itself as a "real" game. But the guys who have purchased it (and I'm one of them) understand that, and will wait. Outerra is in a similar situation. What will there be to do when the alpha/demo is released? Fly around in a plane, helicopter, or other aircraft, admiring the scenery, or driving a Tatra type truck across the landscape. Possibly putting a few roads in, a couple of houses that you can't interact with ... (disclaimer: I'd still love to do that
To release Outerra
too soon, without fixing the ATI problems, and without a
little more to do, will doom the engine to failure.
You also have to consider the fact that there are basically just
two people creating this engine, while most developers have anywhere from between at
least five programmers and more likely a
dozen or more. I've been inside a studio developing a game, and got to know each of them very well. Even with all that manpower, they were almost
always behind schedule, and
still had to deal with CEOs and company problems (financing, time tables, etc). The fact that the Outerra team has done what they have in the amount of time they have done it, as well as the fact that they
are the owners of the company and don't have to really listen to anyone else, makes them, long-term, more efficient.
I daresay you will see
something in the next few months, provided they can get the ATI bugs worked out. I've been here, I think, almost a year, and I'm amazed at the progress they've made so far, as I'm certain the rest of the forum veterans can attest to.
So be patient. It will happen. And it will be more enjoyable having a mostly polished engine, capable of running on a variety of systems, than to have one that's released too soon that only a few can ultimately enjoy. As of three months ago (possibly more), my system would not have been able to even load the engine, yet I was still salivating over it (I had a very old graphics card that was far below the min specs that Outerra requires).
As far as the logistics, the data sets for the moon and Mars, while impressive, will require a LOT of finesse to work out correctly and make it believable. It'll be months of labor, if not years, until they get the Earth-based engine appropriately programmed to handle it. Earth should be their top priority ... after it's more or less perfected, the rest will be much easier to add in over the long haul.
And
especially for my plans for the engine