Toyota Unveils Game Engine, But Not for PC or Consoles
▼ Summary
– Toyota Connected North America has developed a new, open-source game engine called Fluorite, designed for high performance on lower-end hardware like in-vehicle systems.
– The engine integrates with Google’s Flutter UI framework and uses the Dart language for game logic and interface development.
– Key technical features include a high-performance C++ Entity Component System core, artist-friendly tools for defining interactive zones in Blender, and console-grade 3D rendering via Google’s Filament.
– Toyota created Fluorite because existing game engines required high licensing fees or were too resource-intensive for their needs.
– While built for automotive displays, Fluorite is open-source, offering potential for independent game developers to use the engine.
Toyota has introduced a new, high-performance game engine designed not for traditional gaming platforms, but for the sophisticated in-vehicle systems found in modern cars. This unexpected move highlights the automotive giant’s focus on creating rich, interactive 3D interfaces for drivers and passengers, leveraging cutting-edge technology to enhance the user experience within the vehicle. The engine, named Fluorite, represents a significant investment in software development aimed at powering the next generation of automotive displays.
The revelation came from reports detailing the work of Toyota Connected North America, a subsidiary of the famed car manufacturer. They have developed the Fluorite engine to work in close conjunction with Google’s Flutter UI framework, utilizing the Dart programming language to manage both game logic and user interfaces. A core design principle is achieving strong performance on less powerful or embedded hardware, which is typical for the computers running a car’s infotainment and control systems. This allows for smooth 3D graphics and responsive interactive elements directly on the vehicle’s dashboard screens.
According to its official website, Fluorite boasts several key technical features. At its heart is a high-performance Entity Component System (ECS) core, built in C++ and specifically optimized for weaker hardware to ensure efficiency. Another notable feature is “model-defined trigger touch zones,” a tool that lets artists designate clickable areas directly within the 3D modeling software Blender. This approach aims to simplify the process of building complex 3D interfaces significantly.
Furthermore, the engine incorporates “console-grade 3D rendering” capabilities powered by Google’s Filament rendering engine. This provides a level of visual fidelity often associated with video games, expanding the potential for immersive in-car experiences even if Toyota’s immediate applications are automotive. Finally, Fluorite integrates Flutter’s ‘Hot Reload’ functionality, enabling developers to see changes to scenes and interfaces in real-time without lengthy recompilation, which speeds up the design and testing process.
The decision to build a proprietary engine stemmed from practical challenges. Toyota Connected North America initially explored using existing, established game engines for their projects. However, they found that these options came with substantial licensing costs or demanded too many computational resources for their target hardware. Faced with these limitations, the team chose to develop Fluorite as an in-house solution tailored to their specific needs.
Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of this project is its future availability. Toyota is positioning Fluorite as a fully featured open-source engine. While the company’s primary goal is to enhance its vehicles, making the technology freely available opens the door for independent developers and other industries to explore its capabilities, potentially for applications far beyond the automotive world.
(Source: EuroGamer)
