quote: Original post by DrNecessiter
Of course we''ve been using this stuff in flight sims for ages. Some sources we''ve used in the past include:

USGS DOQs
Digital Chart of the World
NIMA''s CIB
C/ADRG
GeoTIFFs (various sources)
DAFIF (Digital Aeronautical Flight Information File)
DFAD (not widely available to the public)

You''re right on the money when you said most of the Govt data ain''t so hot (at least the stuff we can get). Private industry has eclipsed what NIMA was supposed to have achieved, and NIMA laments this as well.
...

@DrNecessiter,

Might I ask your background and if you specifically have used any of these sources? There have been many references in interviews and such where people say that these types of sources have been used, but I''ve never actually seen any of the people that incorporate/use this data interviewed or mentioned.

And, great reply (above).

quote: Original post by adventuredesign
You know, there is an awful lot of topography out there in CAD 3D files in zillions of surveyor company''s offices. I''ve often wondered if those could be used, or had drawbacks in them that would not make them useful.

Anybody know?

Addy

Topo maps/files are easy to come by and often free. However, elevation and land cover (trees, water, dirt, etc.) is generally of little use. Although Sim City 4 does allow you to pull in USGS topo as the base for new cities.

quote: Original post by bulldog232 : Have you seen any other references to people building games off of real-world maps like this? If yes, please post a link or a reference.

Flight Simulator (and its ilk) comes to mind, as do various flight combat simulators. If memory serves, one of the big selling points of FS5 (and the reason it came on 3 floppies, with 3 floppies per supplemental area) was that it used actual topographical data, not just made-up data that looked really close to the real thing. This was back in... ''92? Around then.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Oblivion Lost apparently is an almost perfect recreation of 30 square miles(acres? can''t remember) of the area around Chernobyl.

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quote: Original post by Iron Chef Carnage
A buddy of mine got about 80% of the college campus into a Quake III map before he graduated, and never finished the project.

I got about 70% of my A-Level college done as a Quake 2 level, nothing near as precise though - all by eye. Eventually it got to the point where the game just barfed on loading with a "map too large" error and I never could face chopping anything out so it was never finished.

quote: Original post by GodlyGamr
True Crime was amazing...I actually did use mapquest to get directions to the staples center...which was right where it should be.

me too

I think the most hilarious is when you are watching a movie and you recognise locations FROM THE GAME.
Like, I played Vice City for some times, and last night as I was watching THere is something about Mary, I just couldnt stop thinking "Bloody Hell ! I was there too !".
It''s kind of freaky

Flight sims have been doing it for ages, too. I remember trying to find the FS files that would describe my region of France so I could to a bit of flying around my region...
Given that I had access to real fly routes maps and all, there was something cool about doing your flight plan for real, and then do the flight in a simulator

Sancte Isidore ora pro nobis !

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