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Can Games Fly On Google Earth?

simoniker writes "A team at Intel have built a game prototype that works entirely within Google Earth, in which: 'Martian robotic spacecraft are invading... Your mission is to decipher the messages, and blast these Martians before they can suck people off the planet.' The engineers explain: 'Existing games we found all require switching back and forth between a web browser window and Google Earth. Our goal was to develop a game with all the action inside a single window, similar to a traditional video game, leading to a more immersive and responsive experience.' The gameplay is fairly simple as of yet — but could this be the start of a host of fully integrated Google Earth games?"

30 comments

  1. Brewster Jennings? by duguk · · Score: 2, Informative

    What about Brewster Jennings?

    Hell, that was on /. a year ago...

    Looks good anyway, gunna give it a go.

    Monkeyboi

    1. Re:Brewster Jennings? by daranz · · Score: 1

      Google Maps != Google Earth

      Still, am I the only one who finds that putting a game in Google Earth makes as much sense as putting a spreadsheet program (although that happened before)? I know people love google, but what the hell.

      --
      This is a sig. It is appended to the end of comments I post.
  2. Fails to mention by Dunbal · · Score: 1

    Does it say (c) Google all over the game?

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    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  3. Carmen Sandiego by mnmn · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Carmen Sandiego where are you?

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    "Give orange me give eat orange me eat orange give me eat orange give me you." -Nim Chimpsky
    1. Re:Carmen Sandiego by Non-CleverNickName · · Score: 3, Funny

      She's having sex with Waldo...which would explain why you can never find either of them.

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    2. Re:Carmen Sandiego by Randolpho · · Score: 1

      I dunno, but to find her you need:

      1) The Loot

      2) The Warrant

      3) The Crook

      --
      "Times have not become more violent. They have just become more televised."
      -Marilyn Manson
    3. Re:Carmen Sandiego by Will2k_is_here · · Score: 2, Insightful

      LOL, my thoughts exactly!

      Carmen Sandiego would be killer with a Google Earth interface and all that satellite imagery.

  4. RTS... by 7Prime · · Score: 1

    I bet someone could develop one hell of a real-time-strategy game with google earth. Oh wait...we already do, it's called real life, but the only players are Bush and Chaney

    --
    Multiplayer Gaming (defined): Sitting around, discussing single-player games with my friends, at the bar.
    1. Re:RTS... by the+dark+hero · · Score: 1

      Their current fave at the moment is defcon 5...

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    2. Re:RTS... by geedra · · Score: 0

      Nah, Bush can't navigate his way around a map to save his life.

    3. Re:RTS... by a10waveracer · · Score: 1

      Erm, not so much. Defcon 5 means that the US is at normal peacetime levels. Last I checked, there wasn't much peace in the US Army...

    4. Re:RTS... by Enoxice · · Score: 1

      Hmmm...

      Risk: http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/11/10/ 0035205&from=rss

      RTS: http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/10/ 1859252

      Though it does seem like the RTS link is down, it may still be around somewhere...

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    5. Re:RTS... by Rob+T+Firefly · · Score: 1

      I may as well mention Cyber Nations, although the Google Earth component is little more than window dressing.

    6. Re:RTS... by sgt.greywar · · Score: 1

      Yes, they rule *your* life and all others like you. Think about it.

      --
      Laborare Est Orare
  5. Goggles? by fmwap · · Score: 1

    Goggles was flying on google maps months ago!

  6. Dear Google by SydBarrett · · Score: 5, Funny

    Please put a Katamari Damacy mode in Google Earth.

    1. Re:Dear Google by JoeMoma · · Score: 1

      I'll second that!

  7. Is done boys! by Tei · · Score: 1

    Is done. Theres a proff off concept with code. What needs more? people can start hacking this to make other game concepts posible. Of course, the limites are tight. You can make some simple games, for the sake to make simple games for earth. Nothing earthbreaking (no pun intented). Anyway.. I wish some guy make a "Defcon" clone :D

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  8. Great! by JFMulder · · Score: 3, Funny

    Now let's make a life simulator to simulate the evolution of the Earth. We could call it Sim Ea... err... wait.

  9. I quote with risk of being off topic by Ricken · · Score: 1

    you know what google earth really needs? ion cannon button
    (http://www.bash.org/?542053)

  10. Martian love by nagaicho · · Score: 4, Funny

    Your mission is to decipher the messages, and blast these Martians before they can suck people off Eh heh heh.

    the planet. Oh.
    1. Re:Martian love by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I for one welcome our Martian overlords sucking me off.

  11. MS Flight Simulator by DigiShaman · · Score: 1

    The application is obvious. Aside from legalities (or possible joint-venture), having Flight-Sim tap into the Google Earth system would be the best option.

    1. You don't need to install two DVDs worth of data (17GB install?)
    2. Graphics are better.
    3. Google Earth is always updated with 3D buildings.
    4. Other stuff...etc.

    Downside however. A working broadband connection would be required.

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    Life is not for the lazy.
    1. Re:MS Flight Simulator by PFI_Optix · · Score: 1

      The 3D buildings in Google Earth aren't nearly as detailed as those in MSFSX. At least, not in the cities I've looked at on both.

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    2. Re:MS Flight Simulator by Chineseyes · · Score: 1

      Great I can see the headlines now Google Earth Based Flight Simulator Helps Train Terrorists News At 11

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    3. Re:MS Flight Simulator by LibertineR · · Score: 1

      Megascenery (www.megascenery.com ) has got Google Earth beat, and although expensive, does a very good job of providing photorealistic scenary for Flight Simulator. They have most of the interesting locations in the US.

    4. Re:MS Flight Simulator by tlhIngan · · Score: 1
      Megascenery (www.megascenery.com ) has got Google Earth beat, and although expensive, does a very good job of providing photorealistic scenary for Flight Simulator. They have most of the interesting locations in the US.


      Or just leave the Flight Sim game at home and just use X-Plane. With the massive global scenery (see the screenshots on the front page), they tie in at a massive 4 DVD9s(!) of world scenery data. It installs into a mindblowingly large 60+GB of world data. Mars scenery is just so small compared to it (aboug 2GB).

      (And it always helps that you catch the upgrades when it happens - they are so much cheaper).
  12. Games and more by FooHentai · · Score: 1

    Sure. Games, simulators, business systems, educational programs.

    Once virtual world software goes through the initial period of being peddled in various forms by various vendors, and the realisation of a mapped virtual model of earth starts being treated as a single data source from which other systems can draw information, then it could be channelled into a whole host of applications.

    Unfortunately, this vision kinda falls down on one point - Unlike teh intarnets, which could survive and expand without needing much of a central host to run on, a full-on virtual earth allowing the kind of thankless data serving described here would probably be too much of a challenge for not enough reward for any single group. And I doubt we'll be lucky enough to have such a task picked up as a government service.

    The point is kinda drilled home right in the topic itself, because Google Earth is named specifically. We're at a state of technological development now that can support the creation of a digital clone of our world, yet in terms of a civilisation, we don't have any structures in place that would allow us to reap the max benefit from it.

  13. spoiler by underwhelm · · Score: 1

    "Be sure to drink your Ovaltine."

    --

    I don't need large brains to have a good time.

  14. Google Spreadsheet by GanjaManja · · Score: 1

    You may be entirely surprised by this, but The google spreadsheet application is AMAZINGLY useful to my research group. There is no other (immediately obvious) way to have 40 people upadte, view or make entries into a spreadsheet. We log our equipment useage on it, and it is basically perfect for this application. Even google's Picasa is Very useful for use to show each other problems we see on our devices and in the lab. Go figure, I can't believe we're using Google's Apps to actually aid our productivity, and it's working so well!