Terrain runtime format: PTF

One of the many technologies that need standardization is the terrain that simulations happen in. And, because of the large pre-processing effort needed, sending open source data and requiring each client to re-process the data on demand doesn't seem tractable.

At Forterra, we did a suvey of existing terrain runtime formats, and came to the conclusion that there was no open format that did the job. Either the formats are intended as source data interchange (Collada, DEM, SEDRIS, OpenFlight, etc) or they are too tightly bound to some specific tool, not allowing for all the runtime data needed for what's effectively an all-the-world game engine (MAP/BSP, TerraPage, etc).

We have spent the last year creating an industrial-grade terrain runtime format. This format supports a number of features important to virtual worlds:

• Whole-earth capable
• Accelerated collision queries
• Tunnels, overpasses, building interiors, etc
• Partial download support
• Asynchronous paging support

We call this the "Pageable Terrain Format," or "PTF" for short.

The format will be published as an open standard, and moved into the auspices of a standards organization such as InteropWorld. However, a format alone doesn't make for a successful standard. Thus, we have also developed a C/C++ library to read and write terrain databases (or "game levels") in this format, and we will be making that available as open source.

We believe that this will be useful to a variety of virtual worlds -- enterprise, military, entertainment, etc. We also hope that the benefit of a single standard, with an existing open source implementation, will outweigh the benefits (and costs!) of building a specific terrain runtime for each virtual world.