▶ Click to watch the video that inspired this vision
There's a fan-made CGI video of cars racing through the Need for Speed Underground 2 city. It's captured the imagination of millions.
Neon signs reflecting off wet asphalt. Tuned engines echoing through tunnels. A city that never sleeps.
We're going to capture that feeling—in real-time.
Not a pre-rendered video. Not a cutscene. A living, breathing city running at 60fps on Spartan Engine. Path-traced reflections on rain-soaked streets. The rumble of engines you can feel. And you can actually drive through it.
When someone asks "What can Spartan Engine do?"—this is the answer. A trailer demonstrating path tracing, volumetric fog, realistic car physics, and massive environments. All real-time. Not a tech demo with spinning cubes. Something people want to experience.
Ambition drives progress. By committing to a specific, demanding goal, we'll expose every gap between "research project" and "game-ready engine"—and close them one by one.
When we reach this goal, we won't just have a video. We'll have:
- Driveable vehicles with realistic physics
- Dynamic lighting and weather
- Streaming and performance optimizations
- All the systems needed to make an actual game
It might not be a game yet. But it's everything you need to make one.
Here's what makes this approach powerful: once you have this vision in your head, you naturally understand what needs to be done.
Watch the video. Look at the engine. The delta between the two is your task list.
The rain effects aren't good enough? Now you know.
The city feels empty? Now you know.
The lighting doesn't capture that atmosphere? Now you know.
The car sounds don't match the visuals? Now you know.
You don't need someone to assign you tasks. The vision tells you what's missing. Your taste tells you what's not good enough. Your skills tell you what you can fix.
Spartan isn't starting from zero.
| Capability | Status |
|---|---|
| Path tracing & real-time GI | The lighting foundation is there |
| Advanced car physics | Pacejka tires, thermal models, telemetry—the works |
| Massive environments | 256M grass blades across 64 km², thousands of trees |
| Modern rendering | Bindless Vulkan, VRS, FSR/XeSS upscaling |
| The community | 600+ members, industry professionals, growing momentum |
The pieces exist. Now we assemble them into something that moves people.
This is an MVP—a minimum viable proof that Spartan can deliver something real.
But reaching this milestone isn't just about the tech. It's a threshold.
A functional demo at this level attracts attention. Investors. Studios. Opportunities we can't predict. The moment you have something tangible that people can see, feel, and believe in—doors open. What starts as a community project can transform into something far bigger.
When we get there—and we will—we'll have proven something. We'll have the knowledge, the codebase, the community, and the momentum to revisit this plan and aim for the stars.
First, we build the city.
Then, we see how far we can go.
The first blockout of this vision already exists in worlds/plan.world
If this resonates with you, pick up something and start building. The vision is shared. The work is open. Let's make it real.