VBS3 is a highly successful game-based application that is used to train soldiers and marines in tactical training and mission rehearsal. However, emerging requirements reveal the need for technology not readily available in the entertainment space, including whole-earth terrain, real-world weather systems and doctrinal AI. This presentation will discuss how VBS is being rebuilt to leverage the best of what both game and simulation technology can offer, in order to deliver a new generation of training game to the US military.

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Future-Proofing the Virtual Battlespace
… through modularity and One World Terrain

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Operation Flashpoint: VBS “Zero”
Operation Flashpoint (2001) was a first-person simulation-based
computer game supporting air, land & sea platforms
Large, open environments
Included a mission editor and a script language

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The Legacy of Operation Flashpoint

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Why Games?
Computer games are proven to aid in cognitive learning (“how to think”)
But also…
IED training Route clearance
Enemy
mindset
training
Vehicle
identification
Vehicle check
point
Vehicle and
object search
Driver training Crew training
Convoy
training
Gunnery
training
Crew served
weapons
Aircraft mission
simulation
UAS training
Surveillance
systems
Sensor
training
FO/FAC
training
Engineer training
Vehicle
recovery
Radio
procedures
First aid training Scuba training Parachuting
Ship
familiarization
Rules of
engagement
Anti-piracy
operations
Cultural
awareness
Lessons
learned
Aircraft part-
task training
CBRN training Sniper training
First response
training
Mission
rehearsal
Intel training
Ops room /
staff training
CASEVAC training
Navigation
training

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The Game Industry is HUGE!
155 million Americans play video games
FOUR OUT OF FIVE
U.S. Households own a device used to play video games
42%
of Americans play video games regularly (3 hours or more per week)
The average game player is 35 years old, and 44% of game players are women
56%
of most frequent gamers play with other gamers
... a global industry estimated to be worth $100 billion by EOY 2017!

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How to Acquire Game Technology?
There are many approaches to acquiring game technology. Here are two…
License game platforms and BUILD training applications
▪ Examples include Real World, Delta 3D, Unreal 4…
▪ Pros:
• Government-wide licensing arrangements, at a (perceived) lower cost
▪ Cons:
• High through-life support cost (maintaining source code, buying code updates)
• Typical military integrators are not game developers, which increases risk
• Configuration management challenges
License training applications and CUSTOMIZE them for military use
▪ Examples include VBS3, Tactical Language
▪ Pros:
• Commercial-off-the-shelf software has a lower through-life support cost
• Lower delivery risk, because software can be verified and validated at the start
▪ Cons:
• More difficult to apply/shape the technology to meet new requirements without
engaging the developer

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Software Design
Monolithic
▪ Focused on performance and development agility, not focused on reuse.
Modular (Component)
▪ Well defined software components integrated to suit a need, while focusing on reuse.
Services-based
▪ Collection of network-based, loosely associated components that interact for a goal.

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History of Modularity in Games
Software Crisis
▪ In 1968, NATO coined the term “software crisis” at the first NATO Software Engineering
Conference in Germany.
▪ This “software crises” was in response to the need to deal with the recently coined
monolithic software that was pervasive on huge mainframe applications.
Proliferation of gaming technology
▪ Game middleware became a common method for game companies to accelerate
development but in the majority of applications it was integrated in a monolithic
fashion.
Serious Games
▪ Serious games leveraged the same gaming middleware approach.
▪ This has allowed for a degree of modularity, but in most cases serious games are not
built around military simulation standards, which is both good and bad; on the one
hand, they have been able to innovate quickly, but on the other hand, interoperability
and reuse can suffer.

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Game Middleware
Middleware provides off-the-shelf functionality for game engines. Not
trivial to implement – and there are integration and licensing pitfalls!
▪ Physical simulation
▪ Artificial intelligence
▪ Animation
▪ Lighting and clouds
▪ RakNet networking engine
▪ Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG) back-ends
Examples of game middleware:

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Solving the Terrain Problem
Years after the wide-spread adoption of military simulation, worldwide
militaries are still grappling with a “terrain problem”
▪ A myriad of terrain formats for a myriad of runtimes
▪ A copious amount of geo-referenced data and an ever-expanding range of data
collection devices
▪ … and yet it still takes too long to generate new terrain

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Rendering Runtime Formats Obsolete?
The US Army STE “One World Terrain” (OWT) aims to solve the terrain
problem through central distribution of a simulation platform
▪ One “ground truth” that solves correlation issues between sims and maximizes re-use!
We recommend not adopting a new or existing “terrain format”…
▪ Instead, we believe that STE (and similar initiatives) should ingest any geo-referenced
data (new or legacy) and render it directly
▪ Source data is already standardized!
We have developed a planetary rendering engine that ingest any geo-
referenced source type through open plug-ins: VBS Blue
▪ DTED
▪ Coastline data
▪ OpenStreetMap
Legacy terrain formats can be rendered in Blue through new plug-ins, or
as 3D models
▪ Correlation out to legacy formats will also be supported
▪ Forestry data
▪ Point cloud data
▪ 3D geometry data
▪ Land use data
▪ Imagery (satellite / aerial)
▪ …

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Demonstration

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Conclusion
Modularity will allow the US Army to smartly leverage game technology
▪ Building games is high risk (simply acquiring UE4 or Unity is not the answer!), but…
▪ Buying COTS can result in vendor lock-in
▪ An approached based on modular components (e.g. “Gears”) is desirable… swap out
game technology to leverage best-of-breed
“One World Terrain” requires an open, whole-earth engine to solve the
terrain problem
▪ … that reads directly from source data, and supports plug-ins for additional data types
Final thought: the US Army needs to leverage innovation in the broader
tech industry and not rely solely on traditional military contractors.
The US Army is on the verge of a step-change in simulation capability!

16. Thank You!
Contact me at peter.morrison@bisimulations.com for more info.