Delta3D: A Complete Open Source Game and Simulation Engine for Building Military Training Systems

Abstract

Delta3D, the open source game and simulation engine built for military training, is continuing to be improved to meet the requirements of the military users. The most recent upgrades, available in versions 1.4 and later, include adding capability for After Action Review, integration with SCORM-compliant learning management systems (LMS's), and distributed interactive simulation (DIS) networking. Additionally, more applications, created by both government users and civilian companies, continue to be built using Delta3D and its expanding capabilities With these added features, Delta3D has become the engine of choice for several military simulations, including programs of record. The developers and program managers of these programs were attracted by its advanced technical features, its lack of proprietary vendor lock-in and licensing fees, and the ability to quickly produce sophisticated applications using Delta3D. This paper discusses the current state of Delta3D version 1.4 and how developers and program managers can use Delta3D to quickly and cheaply build complex training systems. It will also briefly touch upon the systems currently being built using Delta3D and how some of these have been proven to work in a training environment. It will also discuss what improvements to the engine will be added in the near future.

Best practices for cross-platform virtual reality development

“…Game engines such as Delta3D 16 and Virtual Battlespace have a more targeted focus on features essential to US Military training simulations, such as after-action review, learning management systems, and distributed interactive simulation networking. While these are less popular than commercial game engines such as Unity3D, their unique feature set may allow a simpler and more targeted development process, depending on the final goals of an application.…”

Developing a parameterized simulation platform with intelligent synthetic agents for training driver candidates

“…OSG also supports visualizing determined screen space by limiting the visible area (small-feature culling), and more concepts improving the graphical performance such as LOD, node switches, and vision lists [6,7].…”

“…In the development of the simulation environment OSG [7] and ODE [15] have been employed. In the system the driver candidate and the agents (the number of them determined by the interface as described above) are located on the city coordinates determined by the user.…”

Understanding Requirements for Open Source Software

“…Other emerging applications are being developed for future combat systems, enterprise systems (the U.S. Department of Defense is the world's largest enterprise, with more than 1 million military and civilian employees), and various training systems, among others [33], [34], [35]. The development of software systems for developing simulators and gamebased virtual worlds [36] are among those military software projects that operate publicly as a "traditional" OSS project that employs a GPL software license, while other projects operate as corporate source (i.e., OSS projects behind the corporate firewall) or community source projects, much like those identified for higher education computing [27].…”