Orlando, Fla. (USA) — Bohemia Interactive Simulations (BISim), a global developer of advanced military simulation and training software, introduces the VBS3 Bundle, which provides premium features to supercharge the VBS3 simulation and training experience.
As the military and simulation industry’s most versatile desktop training and simulation platform, VBS3 is used by hundreds of thousands of military personnel every year and it meets hundreds of training use cases. The baseline version of VBS3 offers a wide array of features and capabilities for virtual desktop training and simulation including scenario creation tools, a massive content library, after action review capabilities, and much more.
The new VBS3 Bundle offers advanced features and capabilities on top of VBS3’s already extensive baseline capability including enhanced AI behaviors and simulated radio capabilities, greater customizability, expanded collaborative capabilities, and more content. Enhancements will continue to be added to future releases including further complex civilian AI behaviors, additional terrains and a variety of smaller enhancements.
“The VBS3 Bundle offers our customers a convenient, simple and cost-effective way of unlocking advanced features and content of VBS3 in a single, simple package,” said Oliver Arup, BISim’s Senior Vice President, Product Management.
Customers who have existing licenses of either VBS Radio Pro or VBS Control Behavior Pack 1 will, optionally, be able to upgrade for free to VBS3 Bundle in return for an increased Software Updates and Support fee.
The VBS3 Bundle brings together the following advanced features, which were previously offered individually as separate licensed products:
VBS Control Behavior Pack 1 - A set of high fidelity and customizable behaviors that offer reliable and deterministic AI for some of the most common training uses. This new AI reduces the need for human role-players through providing high fidelity and repeatable AI for maximum training immersion.
The latest updates to VBS Control AI for the VBS3 Bundle v19.1 enables support for simulation clients, which allows users to run scenarios with approximately 200 AI performing different behaviors per simulation client. Road path-finding has been improved to stream the road network on demand. This helps decrease mission load times and memory requirements for large maps. Collision detection for AI vehicles has also been improved.
Future releases will offer enhancement to complex civilian behaviors such as multi-lane traffic, pedestrian queuing behavior, and more flexible configuration options for power users.
VBS Chalkboard Pro - VBS Chalkboard, included standard with VBS3, is an easy-to-use interface for drawing (military) overlays. It allows military symbols to be drawn in both 2D and 3D. Drawings are saved with the VBS3 scenario and can be re-loaded by a user in the RTE. VBS Chalkboard Pro offers collaborative planning, overlay export and printing capabilities, and enables use in the After Action Review tool.
VBS Radio Pro - The standard VBS Radio version, included with the VBS3 baseline for free, features five channels, 3D directional voice capability, automatic access to vehicle intercom systems and squad radio networks, and an audio tone to signal when a transmission begins and ends. VBS Radio Pro offers unlimited channels; enables configuration of radio network presets, allowing users to customize channel names, colors, icons and enable saving and loading of radio networks per mission; offers distance-based degradation that can also be influenced by weather effects in the simulation; and supports sidetone playback.
Terrain Pack - Included with the VBS3 Bundle is the Chernarus terrain, originally created by Bohemia Interactive Studio (BISim’s founding investor) for Arma 2 and updated for the award-winning open world survival game DayZ. Bohemia Interactive Simulations integrated and updated the terrain for military training use. The terrain spans 236 km² and offers a detailed and varied terrain, with a mix of forests, hills, mountains, shorelines, urban areas, rural villages, a dense network of roads, harbors, and marshlands fed by small creeks.
In future releases of the VBS3 Bundle, BISim plans to offer additional terrains.
About Bohemia Interactive Simulations
Founded in 2001, Bohemia Interactive Simulations (BISim) is a global software company at the forefront of simulation and training solutions for defense and civilian organizations. Our mission is to harness the explosive potential of technology to revolutionize training and simulation. BISim utilizes the latest game-based technology and a large, experienced in-house team of engineers to develop high-fidelity, cost-effective training and simulation software products and components for defense applications.