About

Overte is an open source virtual worlds and social VR software which enables you to create and share virtual worlds as virtual reality (VR) and desktop experiences. You can create and host your own virtual world, explore other worlds, meet and connect with other users, attend or host live VR events, and much more.

The Overte software provides the following key features:

  • Collaborative world creation and editing

  • VR support, including body tracking

  • Scalability for up to 500 users in a single world

  • Scripting in JavaScript, which allows creation of games, interactables, UI elements, and custom applications

  • High quality low latency spatial audio

  • Powerful physics through Bullet physics engine

  • Fully open-source under the permissive Apache 2.0 license

  • No central authority. You can run your own server from home.

  • No user account required

  • Supported by a democratic non-profit organization

Get Overte DownloadPage or take a look at our Gallery GalleryPage.

Join our Matrix Space on MatrixLink overte:overte.org 🔗. Our Matrix Space is also bridged to DiscordLink Discord 🔗.

Development meeting in the Overte office

Development meeting in the Overte office

News

2024-04-02 NLnet grant extended!

We've obtained an extension to the NLnet grant, with the following additional items:

Linux FHS Support

The Linux Filesystem Hierarchy standard defines the proper file layout for an application. This work would involve adopting it, and adding some nice improvements as well.

This will:

  • Make packaging easier and allow inclusion in distributions.

  • Make SELinux easier.

  • Allow easy instancing out of the box.

  • Make Mac packaging easier.

Tasks:

LDAP Support

LDAP is a common authentication mechanism, widely supported in organizations. Active Directory is compatible as well.

This will help Overte integrate much better into corporate and university structures. They could use their own internal system to control authentication. We'd save the need to write that code ourselves, which is of little interest and has been done better by other projects.

Tasks:

IPv6 Support

IPv6 adoption is reaching quite good levels as of late, and is especially important in environments that are hurting for IPv4 addresses such as corporate, universities, cloud and large deployments. Some providers already are charging extra for IPv4 addresses, so supporting IPv6 helps making hosting domains cheaper.

Tasks:

SELinux

SELinux is a security system that allows sandboxing applications and daemons.

SELinux would sandbox the domain server and optionally the interface, to ensure that any exploits can't affect the rest of the system. For instance, a domain exploit could still break the domain, but couldn't use the server to attack other computers or expose the user's private data.

Tasks:

Canvas texture

This would implement a new concept of a software defined canvas texture. Scripts can draw on it, and clients receive updates.

This has a huge potential range of useful functionality:

  • Software defined textures

  • Script-generated nametags, banners, status displays, etc.

  • Screen sharing without any external dependencies

  • Whiteboard

  • Synchronized web entity

  • Server-side rendered web entity. This would help with the Quest implementation.

Tasks:

2024-02-24 We've obtained an NLnet grant!

The NLnet Foundation is an organization that supports many amazing Open Source projects, and we're elated to announce that we've also made the list!

As part of the agreement, we commit to keeping users and developers up to date with the progress made on these items at least every two months. For that, we'll keep track of it during our usual Saturday development meetings, and use tags, projects and other functionality on Github to make it easy for anyone interested to follow the progress.

Project plan

The funding will be used to pay developers that will work on the areas listed below. There exists the possibility of more work being agreed between us and NLnet.

The agreed on deadline for completion is February 17, 2025.

Some of the work has already started and can be seen on GitHub: https://github.com/overte-org/overte

Audio Overhaul

Miscelaneous Improvements

Graphics Improvements

Vulkan

We're currently using OpenGL for 3D rendering. But unfortunately it's fallen out of favor in the last years, and some platforms like Mac are even deprecating it completely. AMD pays very little attention to it, and driver bugs are a frequent annoyance.

Vulkan will provide a much more modern, performant and supported renderer, and should fix our Mac support woes.

  • Wireframe rendering

  • Forward renderer (for low end hardware)

  • Deferred renderer (fully featured)

  • Optimization

  • Frame transfer to VR plugin

Build system improvements

This will make work on Overte more pleasant and make it easier to build. This is important for making maintenance easier and making life easier for future contributors.

  • Switching to Conan

  • Updating documentation

  • Improving build process

Thanks

  • NLnet, for giving us this great opportunity.

  • Julian Groß, for negotiating this agreement.

  • Sam Gondelman, Karol Suprynowicz and AnotherFoxGuy for taking on the work.

  • The Overte community, for making this possible.

2023-04-01 New website

Since our old 11ty based website was unmaintained and no one knew how to edit it, we created a brand spanking new website using Sphinx, the same system that we have been using for our main documentation for years now. This also allows us, among other things, to finally translate the website to different languages using Weblate.

If you would like to help translate this website or other parts of Overte, head over to weblate.overte.org 🔗.