An interesting aspect (bug?) of the game is that you can pilot your ship right through downtown if you get seasick and tired of the ocean. Imagine this technology being incorporated into ‘regular’ video games so that instead of fighting, say, WWII in a simulated German town, you could do it on the actual geography of a real town.
In this ship simulation program you get to be the helmsman of your own fleet of ships. “Ships” will take you past worlds incredible scenery at a leisurely pace. All you need to play ships is a small Google Earth plugin.
The idea to use Google map data for a game came almost 2 years ago. The “Ships” concept was initially written in Scratch Since the release of the Google Earth plugin and it’s versatile programmers interface it became feasible to write a comprehensive application using Google Map data.
“Ships” is a case study / Technology show piece that demonstrates what can be achieved with Google Earth. While map data has a tremendous value for practical purposes, it can also be used as a backdrop for a range of games.
In a radically different usage of Google Earth, if you have Google Earth 5 installed and click on this link, it will open the Map of the Fallen. Each casualty is represented by a Google man figure at the person’s hometown. A line connects the most recent casualties to the spot where they died. Sobering doesn’t come close to describing this.
This Memorial Day I would like to share with you a personal project of mine that uses Google Earth to honor the more than 5,700 American and Coalition servicemen and women that have lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. I have created a map for Google Earth that will connect you with each of their stories—you can see photos, learn about how they died, visit memorial websites with comments from friends and families, and explore the places they called home and where they died.
I’ve always wanted to play GTA in a realistic LA simulation (as well as race F1 cars on the interstate).
Plus, terrorists can use it to simulate attacks.
BTW, why hasn’t DHS arrested anyone from Google Street View for taking pictures of public buildings and bridges?
“Imagine this technology being incorporated into ‘regular’ video games so that instead of fighting, say, WWII in a simulated German town, you could do it on the actual geography of a real town.”
Simulators have incorporated realistic terrain data for years. The big thing Google Earth offers (“photo-realistic” terrain imagery) wouldn’t be very useful in a WWII sim, things have changed a tad bit since the 40’s.
I would like to see the imagery in something like Microsoft’s flight simulator though.
Many German towns seem to have been extensively remodelled during the early 1940s.
I believe that the the RAF and USAF held some sort ‘world’s worst handyman’ competition there.
I hope they make Google space some day.
Have we won the 2 wars yet?
What are the conditions for winning, anyway?
#4: It’s already built into Google Earth — Sky mode and Mars.
Awesome, i recognise my hometown in that simulation! Got to have this!