Logos3D: A 3D Simulations Engine

Creating fascinating virtual environments for games and simulations

Project Background

This project, which has won multiple awards and scholarships, was launched in the Netherlands by two brothers, Loren and Lennart, who are the two biggest 3D technology enthusiasts we’ve ever met. As with almost every game engine, their offering, Logos3D, began as an internal project intended to help the brothers create their own games. Later it grew into a comprehensive proprietary middleware for creating lush, natural 3D virtual environments ideal for games, interactive simulators, and research tools. Indeed, Logos3D’s application field is very diverse.

By October 2010, when we first met the brothers, they’d already developed a prototype for Logos3D. Loren and Lennart asked Sibers to help their company, IC3D, further develop and improve their band-new technology, which they believed would change the way people play, train, and learn.

First, IC3D gave Sibers a test: implement a custom 2D graphics engine as a wrapper atop an Ogre3D engine. It took our developer just several hours to find a solution, and the brothers were so inspired that they asked us to sign a long-term contract, and whished to pay a fee covering six months of further collaboration.

Solution

A game engine, by its nature, is a continuously evolving system that reacts to new opportunities and features appearing in the 3D technologies industry, as well as via hardware multiplicity. Therefore, after a year-long collaboration with Loren, his UK-based intern, and the design team, we actually rewrote the system. All the modules were modified.

Five years have passed since our partnership began, and we’ve completed multiple projects for Logos3D. Among them are Logos2D and the 2D game Johnny Jetstream, a combination comic adventure/scrolling shooter; and the “Future U 3D virtual room visualization”, in which a participant can see his “older self” in a mirror. Since the Future U project was designed to meet the challenge of preventing recurring criminal offenses, it garnered support from the Centre for Advanced Media Research Amsterdam (CAMeRA) and the Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR). Confronting delinquents with their sixty/seventy-year-old selves causes them to consider their future and the consequences of their actions, and helps steer them away from a life of crime.

The engine has also proven very useful in the safety professional training market. Since this sphere unifies thousands of specialists who constantly face dangerous situations that may threaten human lives and health, it’s essential that they’re trained to make the right decisions under pressure. Virtual training, i.e. the type provided by Logos3D, meets this difficult challenge efficiently and cost-effectively.

Logos3D’s training simulations platform, InterACT, creates virtual training software for safety professionals (police, fire, paramedics, etc.) according to each agency’s unique protocols and scenarios. Realistic graphics and animation, along with professionally recorded sound, allow safety professionals to be completely immersed in a virtual environment where they can master their desired skill.

Logos3D has also been used to create promotional games and presentations that help companies meet their marketing goals. For example, a number of promotional games for Android and iOS smartphones and tablets were developed for Heerema Marine Contractors. These games, which simulate the daily life of an offshore engineer, were created in just six weeks — in time to be presented for the christening of Heerema’s newest ship.

Tech highlights

  • C++
  • OpenGL
  • TCP/IP (winsock, UDP)
  • Lua scripting
  • OpenAL (sound support)
  • GLES (OpenGL for Embedded systems)

Results

Sibers threw itself into this project, reading dozens of 3D technology-related books and magazines while working around the clock. Our dedication paid off, as the client was very pleased with the end result. The main focus of our collaboration with IC3D is Logos3D, a 3D environment-development suite for games and simulations that works great for a large audience in an array of industries. Even now, Sibers is working continuously to support and improve the Logos3D engine and its capabilities.

Customer Says

We really recommend Sibers to anyone looking for high-quality offshore development/outsourcing. Sibers provided excellent programmers which have worked on a variety of complex tasks and performed very well. Their team has been very customer-oriented and responsive to our needs, which made us feel comfortable using their services throughout the project. They really try to go the extra mile: We even got a handwritten Christmas card and tiny Russian boots in December. What more could you want? (December 2014)

Loren Roosendaal — Founder and CEO at IC3D Media
+_THREE_ONE _SIX_EIGHT_ONE_SEVEN_SEVEN_TWO_FIVE_THREE_FIVE

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