Getting Started

In this tutorial, we will show you how to select characters, scenes, and use VIVID API to perform deep reinforcement learning.

First, download the latest binary file from here, run the executable file VIVID.exe on Windows (Windows 7/10 is recommended ). A UE4 Prerequisites Setup process might be triggered if you do not have DirectX End-User Runtimes, just follow the instructions step by step to install it.

VIVID supports four characters: AirSim Drone, Vivid Drone, Vivid Robot and AirSim Car.

The default character is Vivid Drone, which supports AirSim functions as well as additional APIs for deep reinforcement learning. The flight behavior is simplified. The manual controls are listed below:

Key	Function
Esc	Vivid Menu
W S A D ↑ ↓ ← →	Fly in X-Y plane
Space / Ctrl	Fly Up / Down
Q / E	(Left / Right ) yaw rotation
Alt + P	Take screenshot

Press Esc, the Vivid menu will appear:

If you want to switch the screen mode from full screen to window mode, or vice versa, change FullscreenModeto 1 for full-screen mode or 2 for window mode in \VIVID\Saved\Config\WindowsNoEditor\GameUserSettings.ini.

The default port of Vivid Drone is 16612. The port can be configured in Config/settings.json. Unlike AirSim, the setting file is saved at a local folder. To change the API server port, one needs to add the following paragraph in the settings.jsonfile

"VividDrone": {
   "ApiServerPort": 12345
}

VIVID provides additional APIs for deep reinforcement learning. Refer to API reference for detail information.

Let's select a scene by pressing a button on the menu. Press the Small Office button and the environment will be loaded shortly:

You can manually fly your drone using keys listed above (WSAD, QE, Space/Ctrl), enjoy!

In the next tutorial, we will show you how to use Python API to control your drone.