Outerra is an in-development game engine that just keeps getting more impressive. It already scales wonderfully from space like distances, all the way down to close up fields of grass, without a hint of stutter (and not much pop in) despite the huge draw distances involved. In a new trailer released by the developers, it looks even better, as it now has diverse biomes.
This trailer was rendered in real time, at 30 frames per second, using a single AMD 6850 – hardly a monster card. [yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJUPdABgsrA']
While it still looks a lot like the engine being used in Kenshi, Outterra has a lot more going on with the addition of these new biomes, with trees, grasses, seas and more easily rendered in real time and at great distances.
The engine features near unlimited line of sight and that bodes well for the in-game world being created in the Anteworld demo of the engine. It's a real scale version of Earth and uses Google maps data to draw the landscape. In this latest video, Mexico is mostly featured, but if you download it yourself , you can fly all over if you wish.
It's built using OpenGL 3.3+ and features Oculus Rift support, so if you happen to have one of those headsets and want an unlimited flying experience, the free Outterra demo might be worth a look in. Of course if you'd rather do things at a more sedate pace, or in a bit more style, you could always take to the waves: [yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxVUC65uBmw']
For more information on the engine and its developers, check out the official site.
KitGuru Says: The scale of this thing is truly quite impressive. It's going to be interesting to see what the game ends up being; hopefully you can move fast, as traversing the world otherwise is going to take forever. [Cheers Kotaku]