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Get ready for the future!
Are you ready to step into the future of military training? Bohemia Interactive Simulations (BISim) can now confirm that VBS3 has a planned release date of May 19. As the cornerstone of the U.S. Army's five-year Games for Training program, with unrivaled training capability and unprecedented functionality, VBS3 is set to take over from VBS2 as the new standard in military simulation.
In the meantime, and keeping you at the cutting edge of game-based training, VBS2 v2.15 was released earlier this month. VBS2 v2.15 is the launchpad to VBS3, delivering significant capability enhancements, and positioning you perfectly for the step up and into VBS3.
We also have some major employment announcements to make this month: a new Customer Support Manager has been appointed to spearhead our mission of providing you with the most effective and responsive support available in the industry today, and we now have an experienced Academic Liaison on board our team to strengthen our growing Academic Programme.
2014 will see us focusing evermore on turning your reality into virtual reality, to give you the most realistic training experience available. Supporting our customers during 2014 will be of the utmost importance to us, and as we travel from country to country to better understand your needs, we look forward to meeting as many of you as possible.
Cheers, from all of us at BISim
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VBS3 ready for release in May
BISim plans to release VBS3 v3.4 on 19 May 2014. The release comes less than a year after the U.S. Army named VBS3 as the flagship of their Games for Training program. BISim first showcased the flexibility and versatility of VBS3 at I/ITSEC in December with a large-scale, virtual battle involving users from around the world.
“VBS3 represents a new level of quality and functionality for open platform training solutions,” says BISim Co-CEO Peter Morrison. “The training capability provided by VBS3 is unmatched. Avatars feature scientifically based fatigue systems and high-detail character models.” In addition, VBS3 users can anticipate larger view distances, out to 150 km with minimal frame rate drop, support for higher fidelity graphics, and improved maritime functionality including very large, enterable and physics-based 3D ship models.
Customers with enterprise licenses can contact us about access to VBS3 before the public release date.
VBS2 What’s New: v2.15 released
As the countdown to VBS3 continues, our developers have been hard at work. The last of the hugely popular VBS2 product line, VBS2 v2.15 is brimming with new features that will enable you to create more realistic and immersive virtual environments, extend your training scenarios, and more easily manage and learn from your missions. Some of the many enhancements include:
PhysX wheel simulation improved using raycast. Raycast wheel simulation refers to the use of rays to detect wheel ground contact, resulting in a more accurate simulation overall.
Flashlights and other light sources will work during the day. Flashlights and other light sources work during the day; they are governed by light accommodation, so will work if entering dark locations such as a cave or a sewer.
Improved 2D map performance. 2D maps can now be rendered quickly, with fast and efficient zooming in and out. Mipmapping technology uses less textures, and at the same time reduces the number of draw cells. This greatly improves rendering performance.
Larger view distances. Larger view distances are also possible through land grid aggregation.
xaitment pathplanning for most buildings. Many buildings have been updated to embrace xaitment’s artificial intelligence (AI) pathplanning technology. Through script commands, AI can enter, exit and move around most buildings, including up and down floors, using xaitment pathplanning.
xaitControl FSM plug-in for realistic AI behavior. xaitControl is a VBS2Fusion plug-in that allows users to control AI units behavior using xaitControl finite state machines (FSMs). Users are able to use functions that mirror scripting commands inside the xaitControl Creator tool. xaitControl is available for purchase separately.
 Reworked fatigue system. The new fatigue system is based on the latest scientific research in the fields of human anatomy, muscle fatigue, bio-mechanics and physiology. The new solution uses modified Pandolf (Pandolf/Wojtowicz) equations to track total metabolic energy cost of movement which is converted to biomechanical power. As a result, fatigue onset and recovery is much more realistic and depends highly on the movement rate, loadout, and gradient being climbed.
Procedural biotopes. A biotope is a “region of a habitat associated with a particular ecological community,” and the procedural generation of biotopes is one of the most important enhancements. It enables run-time rendering of biotopes, allowing sweeping environmental changes to be made on-the-fly.
Improved interior lighting. Interior lighting has been improved so that there can be arbitrary levels of darkness. This includes not only the house or underground models themselves, but all objects in them. The high-dynamic-range (HDR) lighting effect has also been improved to be more realistic and less obtrusive.
 Support for large-scale 3D models. It is now possible to build large-scale, fully-functional 3D models that can be hundreds of meters long, consisting of millions of polygons.
Water improvements. Water can now reflect terrain and 3D objects; total internal reflection effect is simulated and underwater visibility can be defined. Water rendering has been optimized, with improved ship wakes, more realistic sea states, and water cutting.
Other enhancements to VBS2 v2.15 include: significant network improvements and optimizations with multicast functionality and simulation and AAR clients, improved AAR, and high-detail soldiers and new face and body types.
VBS2 What’s New: v2.12 dev suite now available!
We are also very pleased to announce that Developer Suite v2.12 has finally been released. Please accept our apologies if this unusual delay has caused you any problems. To ensure this does not happen again, we have assembled a dedicated team of engineers, otherwise known as the Tools Team, to improve the Developer Suite. Both implementation and quality assurance pipelines have been redesigned to ensure the best possible stability and performance for the VBS content creators.
Some of the major improvements available in Developer Suite v2.12 include:
- AddonPacker, a new packing tool that is simpler to use and provides better user feedback than its predecessor, the PBOpacker. (Note, both packing tools are now present.)
- Visitor4 has been significantly updated to improve stability and streamline workflow.
For more details, please check the BISim Forums.
VBS2 v1.x Customer Announcement: We would like to inform our VBS2 v1.x customers that unfortunately we are no longer able to support 1.x. If you are interested in upgrading to VBS2 v2.x and/or VBS3, please don’t hesitate to contact us for a demonstration.
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Supporting academia with new Academic Liaison
 In 2014, we are keen to see even wider use of VBS across academia, in an effort to support innovative uses of our technology and stimulate the future generation of modelling and simulation engineers in our industry.
To date, a number of institutions have enrolled on our Academic Programme, including Imperial College London, University of Hull, Staffordshire University, Wiltshire College and Portsmouth University. As a result of the positive feedback, BISim are committing more resources to its Academic Programme. Academia plays a key role in educating the next generation of computer games experts and carrying out leading-edge research, and we are committed to forming and maintaining mutually beneficial partnerships.
We are excited to announce the appointment of Andy Fawkes to the role of Academic Liaison for BISim. Andy has been involved in simulation and training for 20 years both nationally and internationally, and comes with extensive knowledge of the issues and challenges facing industry and its customers. In this role, Andy will provide a direct link into BISim and the VBS community, communicating the latest industry challenges and sponsoring student projects and academic research. The scheme will also offer opportunities for internships and employment at BISim for students that show exceptional potential.
If you are in academia, or would like to know more about the scheme, please contact Andy Fawkes (andy.fawkes@bisimulations.com). Further information on the scheme, as well as updates on the projects currently being undertaken, will be provided on our website and in future newsletters, so watch this space.
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BISim names new Customer Support Manager
 BISim has appointed Cassandra Myer as its new Customer Support Manager. Myer joined the company in December. Myer has more than 20 years experience in managing and providing software customer support for the newspaper industry.
“Our goal is to improve customer satisfaction and support through our new ticketing system,” says Myer. “We also are looking to improve our customer forums to make them more visually appealing, user-friendly and easily navigable. Another priority is to enhance the Knowledgebase, by providing current information and solutions that customers can reference for resolving problems or setting up and configuring VBS2 and VBS3.”
Proactive customer support is a priority for BISim, notes President John Givens.
“We want our customers to be able to find good answers quickly and accurately whether that’s by contacting our customer support team or by searching our Knowledgebase online,” says Givens. “Cassandra and her team will help BISim meet our goal of offering the most responsive and effective customer support in the industry.”
In addition to improving the look and feel of customer support forums, Myer hopes to make the support forums more interactive.
“With a product like VBS, it is really about getting individual users engaged,” says Myer. “We have certain areas of the forums that are very active such as the Developer’s Network, and we want to encourage that and make sure there is a good flow of information back and forth.”
Myer welcomes customers to contact her with comments, questions or concerns by phone at +1 407-608-7019.
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BISim attending Singapore Airshow
Singapore International Airshow is one of the most important aerospace and defence exhibitions in the world. BISim will be participating in the air show as part of the Team Defence Australia delegation, sponsored by the Australian Government Department of Trade.
Representatives of BISim will be demonstrating VBS3 and showcasing many new features, including procedural vegetation generation and enhancements to armoured vehicle simulation.
The Singapore Armed Forces were one of the first adopters of VBS and currently use VBS2 to train the soldiers and officers of the Singapore Army in a wide variety of tactical tasks and scenarios. The enhanced capabilities of VBS3 offer the opportunity for VBS to meet a wider range of training outcomes in the land, air and sea domains.
If you are interested in viewing a demonstration of the new features in VBS3, please contact us.
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Elevate your CAS training with automated aircraft
Intelligent vehicles which carry out commands are as important as realistic patterns of life within a training scenario. In addition to Discovery Machine’s ability to enhance the capabilities of human non-player characters (NPCs) in VBS, intelligent vehicle behavior models are also being developed.
Discovery Machine’s voice-adaptive behavior models can be designed to control any vehicle in VBS. Current efforts are focused on developing behavior models for automated aircraft like the Fairchild Thunderbolt A-10 and the Lockheed Martin Fighting Falcon F-16 where each aircraft responds and adapts to verbal commands from a Joint-Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC).
Discovery Machine’s automated aircraft are designed to correctly simulate Close Air Support (CAS) missions for training, utilizing military doctrine and feedback from experts to create a realistic experience for trainees. Additional capabilities are currently being added to improve tactical performance and embrace emerging VBS3 capabilities. When there are limited opportunities to practice controlling aircraft with live pilots, a solution such as Discovery Machine’s voice-adaptive aircraft can be an effective alternative. With voice-controlled automated aircraft, trainees can call in an air strike on any target. Based on the information given, the aircraft will alter its behavior accordingly.
Possibilities for intelligent vehicles do not stop with aircraft. Ground and sea vehicles can also be controlled. In fact, individual crew members can be automated so that a player can interact with them the way they would in the real world. Discovery Machine offers this possibility. Contact Discovery Machine today for more information.
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VBS2 and VBS3 IN THE NEWS
The excitement surrounding the release of VBS3 continues to grow.
Army updates gaming website, first-person simulator game, in Army Times
Army Times recently published a story on the U.S. Army’s update to its MilGaming Web portal amid significant growth in registered users for the site. The story prominently features the launch of VBS3 and the Army’s legacy using VBS2 as its flagship simulation training solution. You can read more here.
Army’s “Gaming” System Gets Upgrade, at KCEN TV.com
KCEN TV in central Texas also ran a news story about Ft. Hood’s use of VBS2 for training soldiers. In the story, General Robert Cone emphasizes the value of simulation for troop readiness. Read and watch more here.
Defense Simulation Firms Turn to Commercial Sector for Inspiration, in National Defense Magazine
As budgets tighten, major defense contractors in the military training and simulation industry are increasingly looking to the commercial sector for innovative and cost-effective simulation solutions such as VBS3. See more of this story from National Defense Magazine here.
Franco-German meeting at French Air Force base, on the French Air Force website
General Serge Soulet, Commander of the French Air Force, hosted a delegation from Germany headed by the commander of the German Air Force, Lieutenant General Martin Schelleis at their renowned CFAA (centre de formation à l’appui aérien, the French Air Forces' Air Support Training Centre in Nancy). The CFAA is home to the SIMFAC, the NATO-accredited Forward Air Controller simulator which runs VBS2 as its virtual environment. You can read more here.
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VBS training: unlock its power and realise your potential
You too can realise the full potential of VBS2 and VBS3 with our professional training courses. Our renowned instructors have unrivaled product knowledge, and are happy to answer any questions you may have on your individual projects. The following courses are available to book now via our website:
| Administration Course: |
February 3-7, 2014 |
Orlando, Florida, USA |
| Scripting Course: |
February 10-14, 2014 |
Orlando, Florida, USA |
| VBS2 Terrain Course: |
February 17-21, 2014 |
Farnborough, UK |
| Administration Course: |
March 3-7, 2014 |
Orlando, Florida, USA |
| Scripting Course: |
March 10-14, 2014 |
Orlando, Florida, USA |
| VBS2 Terrain Course: |
March 17-21, 2014 |
Orlando, Florida, USA |
| Administration Course: |
March 24-28, 2014 |
Farnborough, UK |
| Scripting Course: |
March 31-April 4, 2014 |
Farnborough, UK |
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