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Google Earth As a Game Engine For Ship Simulation

Posted by Soulskill on from the all-i-ask-is-a-tall-e-ship dept.

dinther writes "Yesterday the program Ships was released. Ships is significant because it is the first serious application that uses Google Earth as a game engine. In Ships, you take control of a selection of ships and drive them around the world (if you have that much time). Building games around Google Earth is now viable, thanks to its ever-increasing level of detail. From a technical standpoint, the Google Earth browser plugin has proven to be quite a capable platform to work with. Further tech details about the application are available as well."

14 of 84 comments (clear)

  1. only available on Windows and Mac OS X 10.4+ by Norsefire · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The Google Earth Plugin is currently only available on Windows and Mac OS X 10.4+.

    Well, that's the first browser-based game I've tried to play that isn't cross platform.

    1. Re:only available on Windows and Mac OS X 10.4+ by gandhi_2 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Google Earth browser

      browser-based game

      are we forking the meaning of "browser" now?

      --
      THL phish sticks
    2. Re:only available on Windows and Mac OS X 10.4+ by Jurily · · Score: 4, Funny

      Well, that's the first browser-based game I've tried to play that isn't cross platform.

      Doing 3D games in a browser makes baby Jesus cry.

    3. Re:only available on Windows and Mac OS X 10.4+ by lilo_booter · · Score: 5, Funny

      Well, that's the second browser-based game I've tried to play that isn't cross platform.

    4. Re:only available on Windows and Mac OS X 10.4+ by CarpetShark · · Score: 3, Funny

      No thanks. I choose my browser and platform based on important principles like freedom and openness -- principles that the web was designed to support. I've no intention to lie about that choice just badly designed game.

    5. Re:only available on Windows and Mac OS X 10.4+ by hr.wien · · Score: 3, Informative

      Linux/OSX won't magically be able to run Windows executables just because you change your browser's UA string.

  2. finally... by gandhi_2 · · Score: 5, Funny

    finally a game that SHOULD account for piracy.

    --
    THL phish sticks
    1. Re:finally... by scsirob · · Score: 3, Funny

      But only when you pass Somalia..

      --
      To Terminate, or not to Terminate, that's the question - SCSIROB
  3. load on google servers by mehrotra.akash · · Score: 4, Interesting

    wouldn't this type of game cause an exponential increase of load on Google's servers??

    1. Re:load on google servers by SailorSpork · · Score: 3, Funny

      Only if it looked more interesting than it does.

    2. Re:load on google servers by pipatron · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Because people don't know what exponential means, they think it means "a lot".

      --
      c++; /* this makes c bigger but returns the old value */
  4. This is actually a big deal by LS · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Imagine if you could play GTA but across the whole world, dealing with drug cartels in Columbia and making weapons trades with the Russian mafia. Or recreate a WW2 battle. Google earth could become a platform for any game that is based in real world geography.

    The API may not be robust enough and the detail may not be comprehensive enough to do this yet, but it seems like it could be done in short time if Google so wished.

    The platform could become a general gaming engine as well, where you could select a universe (real world / Star Wars World / J.R.R. Tolkien world, etc) and visit other planets.

    I suppose google could call this Google Universe, a MMO engine based in GIS technology, with one of the Universes being managed by google based on real data, and any others being created by 3rd party developers.

    The potential is pretty exciting...

    LS

    --
    There is a fine line between being a cultivated citizen and being someone else's crop. - A. J. Patrick Liszkie
  5. congratulations! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    congratulations! you've made the world's most boring game!

    coming next from the studios of dull-o-game are more tedious job with so sense of achievement related titles:

    canning factory tycoon. you work in a canning factory, making sure the machine that puts the labels on doesn't run out of labels. 70,000 hours of gameplay.

    night time security guard simulator. you play a guard in an office complex where nothing ever happens. walk around on the hour registering your prescense at various parts of the building. go home. do the same thing tomorrow.

    the sims 3. sit in filth and squalor because you don't have enough time to wash and clean because you are making some poxy computer character wash and clean *his* virtual place.

  6. Is it a game, or is it real? by snarfies · · Score: 4, Funny

    The only winning move is not to play.

    How about a nice game of chess?