Outerra Tech Demo
Free tech demo, upgradable to the Anteworld sandbox game (alpha)
Outerra Engine is a unique world rendering engine capable of seamlessly rendering whole planets from space down to ground level. It can use real world data to render the planets realistically, while also dynamically refining the data using procedural algorithms to provide high ground-level detail.
The engine provides unlimited visibility obstructed only by the planet's curvature, with details ranging from thousands of kilometers down to centimeters. Real time atmospheric rendering, oceans with shore waves.
It can integrate vector data overlays for roads, and land class modifications. Uses the JSBSim Flight Dynamics Model library for high fidelity simulation of aircraft, and Bullet physics engine for simulation of vehicle physics. Terrain and fractal algorithms maximally utilize the GPU, leaving the CPU resources for simulation.
Hardware requirementsOuterra engine runs on OpenGL 3.3 and requires recent graphics drivers. It will warn you if your drivers are outdated, or even refuse to run in case you've got old ATI drivers that are known not to work at all.
The minimum requirements are:
- Windows Vista and higher, limited Windows XP support
- Nvidia 8xxx series or better, AMD/ATI 5xxx or better with recent AMD/ATI drivers (older ATI series are no longer supported by AMD and their legacy OpenGL 3.3+ drivers are buggy)
- Recent graphics drivers!
- 512MB graphics memory
- 2GB RAM
- 500MB disk space for the initial install, up to 15GB for fully downloaded Earth dataset
Recommended:
- Nvidia 470GTX or better, ATI 6870 or better
- 1GB graphics memory
- a 2-core CPU
DownloadDownload links for the Outerra tech demo, upgradable in-game to the Anteworld sandbox game (alpha):
Anteworld-17.1.0.9830 (EU server)Anteworld-17.1.0.9830 (US server)Driver issues, graphics glitches Please check the
Graphics driver issues topic to resolve the most common issues with the drivers.
Tech demoThis alpha release features:
- A complete, real scale planet Earth that can be explored
- Created from real elevation data with resolution 90m where available, 1km resolution for oceans; data are dynamically downloaded as you go
- Further refined by fractal-based procedural techniques down to centimeter-level details
- Vector-based road system that integrates with the procedurally generated terrain
- Adjustable lighting and environment parameters
- Oculus Rift support
The demo comes with the whole planet Earth that can be explored in a free-camera (UFO) mode or in a testing vehicle (8-wheeler truck). There's also a first person walking mode.
Full versionAfter upgrading to the full version (alpha, access to all further versions), the following additional features become available:
- Road and runway editor
- Editor for placing static objects
- Additional vehicles - aircraft driven by the JSBSim flight dynamics engine
- Model importer for static objects, ground vehicles and aircraft
- Ability to export and share mods with others
- Dynamic terrain deformation (craters)
People who like it and/or want to support us and the development of Outerra engine can buy the
alpha release of Anteworld at a discounted price. Doing so will give you access to regularly released alpha/beta updates of the game, together with the final version when it's done. The price will gradually rise with each major release.
You will also become our beta-testers, with ability to influence the priorities of the development.
The full game includes more vehicles, allows you to use vehicle mods made by users, a basic sandbox tool set allowing you to create roads and runways and place stock or imported objects. A model importer and vehicle configurator enables you to create custom models and vehicles and share it with others. It also enables you to play with dynamic terrain deformation (craters) and more things being regularly released. Changelog for the active version can be found in the [http://forum.outerra.com/index.php?board=14.0]latest version[/url] topic.
The demo contains a few locations around the world (a couple of them were created by our tester Pico). Data for the default location are already included within the installer, the rest of it will be downloaded automatically on demand as you explore the world (note: proxy servers aren't supported yet for data download). The total size of the data is around 15GB, but normally you'll download just a fraction of the size, unless you traverse the whole planet surface at a low altitude.
Limitations of current alpha state of the technologyThis alpha release comes out to show the potential of the engine, but it still lacks many features commonly found in other engines, and especially the effects are postponed until the major features are implemented.
The demo currently comes with just a single biome - northern type forests. There are no rivers and lakes implemented yet, and no weather yet.
Almost all the areas are work in progress.Known IssuesThe alpha state of the engine also means that it's not very optimized yet. It consumes more GPU memory than it should, and spends some time rendering things that is not eventually visible etc.
Windows XP (32bit): Because of a lower and fixed limit on available system memory for GPU transfers on 32-bit Windows XP you may encounter a not-enough memory problem. In this case please close all other apps, especially browsers and other apps that consume a lot of NP (non-paged) memory as shown in the Task Manager.
Driver issues: Please check the
Graphics driver issues topic to resolve the most common issues with the drivers.
Anteworld gameAnteworld
* is a world-building game on a massive true-to-life scale of our planet. 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.
There's going to be also a multiplayer mode for gaming in the existing world.
Sim-connect mode should allow to use Anteworld as an image generator for another simulation program.
In fact, Anteworld is meant to create the basis for an Outerra game/sim platform, allowing to create mods and new game modules that would run on the existing backend.
*The name comes from Latin prefix
Ante-, with the meaning of prior-to in time.
A world that was. There's going to be an accompanying novella written by C.Shawn Smith that should be loosely tied to the game.
Here's a sample, the epilogue:
The Outerra Initiative - Epilogue
Author
Topic: Outerra Anteworld Alpha Demo (Read 1056349 times)