At Sundog Software, we try to focus on what our customers need instead of the competition. But, we’re often asked how we’re better than other 3D ocean technologies out there. OpenSceneGraph users are usually comparing the Triton Ocean SDK to osgOcean, Ogre users to Hydrax, and game developers are looking at WaveWorks (WaveWorks is a trademark of NVidia). In many cases, these competing packages are free or bundled with other tools, so why pay a modest licensing fee for Triton?

Well, as you can see in the feature comparison chart below, we offer a lot of features that these competing packages don’t. Some of them are really important for many customers – fast GPU acceleration, ship wakes, and the most realistic wave spectral model available (JONSWAP) for real-time graphics. We provide quick, responsive technical support and continual product updates – and since we’re a small company, we’re very fast in making customer requests become reality.

We also offer easy integration with any engine based on OpenGL or DirectX. If you can call into the Triton library at initialization time, and then again at the end of each frame, you can get a basic 3D infinite ocean up and running in your application very quickly. But, we also offer shader hooks and source code for customers who desire tighter integration or customization.

One case where I’d concede is if you’re targeting game console systems such as XBox or Playstation. In that case, have a look at WaveWorks. But for everyone else, try a free evaluation of Triton or run the demo on your system and compare for yourself!