Extends FLAMES to create the ultimate framework for the creation of serious games and 3D, entity-level constructive simulations.
The FLAMES Unreal Engine Option tightly integrates FLAMES, the world’s most capable constructive simulation framework, with Unreal Engine, the world’s most open and advanced real-time 3D creation tool, to create the ultimate framework for the creation of serious games and 3D, entity-level constructive and virtual simulations.
What Unreal Engine Brings to FLAMES:
- Powerful tools for creating 3D worlds and 3D objects
- Industry-leading 3D rendering capability, including stunning visual and audio effects
- Detailed physics functions for simulating the movement of ground vehicles and humans, collisions, blast effects, environmental effects, and more
- Robust support for multi-player games which allows Unreal Engine-based virtual simulators to integrate with FLAMES-based constructive simulations with a level of fidelity, realism, and performance that is not possible with DIS and HLA
- An immense library of existing 3D content
- A massive support community and a wide variety of compatible third-party products
What FLAMES Brings to Unreal Engine:
- Robust support for simulating the movement of air and space-based vehicles and munitions
- Robust support for simulating sensors, data processors, weapon systems, and electronic warfare
- Robust support for simulating command, control, communications (C3), and logistics
- Human cognition modeling that realistically simulates real-world behaviors and tactics
- Robust support for interfaces to real-world systems, including live C3 systems
- Powerful editor for creating scenarios without the need to rebuild the Unreal Engine game (resulting in infinite use cases for the same game)
- Flexible, interactive control over players during scenario execution
- Simultaneous 2D and 3D views of the scenario, both rendered by Unreal Engine
- Elimination of “terrain correlation” issues; FLAMES uses the Unreal Engine world as the terrain.
Like Unreal Engine, the FLAMES Developer and the FLAMES Unreal Engine Option are available for free.
How to Build an Unreal Game for FLAMES
- Use the exceptional 3D development capabilities of Unreal Editor to create a project with just about any world and content.
- Add the FLAMES plugin (will be available for free from Ternion) to the project.
- Add FLAMES-compatible Unreal “entity” classes. Many will be available for free from Ternion.
- Optionally, create your own FLAMES-compatible entity classes by adding FLAMES interface blueprint functions to almost any class.
- Optionally, create instances of entities that you want to be controlled completely by Unreal (“Unreal Autonomous” entities, see below).
- “Cook” the project to create an Unreal game library.
How to Use an Unreal Game in FLAMES
- Execute FORGE with the FLAMES Unreal Engine Option plugin. FORGE automatically loads the Unreal game library.
- Edit FORGE settings to specify the Unreal “level” to be opened in the game. FORGE directly loads the Unreal game and the specified level. The “Unreal autonomous entities” that you created in the game are present immediately in the FLAMES scenario.
- Visualize the scenario simultaneously in 2D and 3D (both rendered by Unreal Engine) during scenario editing and execution.
- Use the outstanding scenario editing capabilities of FORGE to create and edit the players (called “Units”) in the FLAMES scenario. Decide which Units will be “FLAMES autonomous” Units and which will be “FLAMES hybrid” Units (see below). Units are present immediately in the Unreal game without having to rebuild the game.
- Execute the scenario, which simultaneously executes the Unreal game, directly in FORGE and visualize it in 2D and 3D as it executes.
- If the Unreal game is network enabled to support a multiplayer game, execute the scenario in FORGE (or “headless” in FIRE) as an Unreal “listen server”. Then, execute one or more Unreal game clients and connect them to the server.
- If you have a legacy simulation that is DIS or HLA compatible, connect it to FORGE (or FIRE) using the FLAMES DIS or HLA Option. The entities in the legacy simulation are represented in the FLAMES scenario and the Unreal game.
Types of Units
When the FLAMES Unreal Engine Option and an Unreal game library are used in FLAMES, three overall types of Units (players) are supported. All three types of Units are present in both the FLAMES scenario and the Unreal game.
| FLAMES Unit Type | Unreal Entity Type | Description |
| FLAMES-Surrogate | Unreal-Autonomous | Created in and controlled completely by Unreal. Can be a Player (controlledby a human) or an AI Entity. Corresponding surrogate Units are created automatically in FLAMES (FLAMES-Surrogates) and mirror the motion of Unreal-Autonomous entities. |
| FLAMES-Hybrid | Unreal-Hybrid | Created in FLAMES. Corresponding entities are created automatically in Unreal. FLAMES controls most aspects of the entity. Unreal performs motion processing for the entity in accordance with commands provided by FLAMES. |
| FLAMES-Autonomous | Unreal-Surrogate | Created in and controlled completely by FLAMES. Corresponding surrogate entities are created automatically in Unreal (Unreal-surrogates) and mirror the motion of FLAMES-Autonomous Units. |
Unreal-Autonomous entities are used primarily for human-controlled players in a multiplayer game. They can also be used for entities that do not have an active role in the scenario. They are created in the Unreal Editor and can not be edited in FORGE.
FLAMES-Autonomous and FLAMES-Hybrid Units both utilize FLAMES cognition, sensor, weapon system, communications, command and control, and electronic warfare processing. The two types of Units differ in how motion is processed. The motion of FLAMES-Autonomous Units is processed in FLAMES native platform models. This type of Unit is well-suited for anything that moves in the air. The motion of FLAMES-Hybrid Units is processed in Unreal. This type of Unit is well-suited for anything that moves on the ground or on water. Both types of Units are created and edited in FORGE and are controlled by FLAMES cognition models.