Crazy?! I think not!

[zakthedodo]

Am I wrong to assume that given the recent technology in gaming through the internet, that games such as Grand Theft Auto will in less than ten years be able to approximate any city in any country given google earth and other applications?
I understand the details may have to be generic but would this would revolutionize sandbox games, and is it reasonably considerable within 5 to 10 years?
My friend said i was crazy, but who wouldn't pay to download a patch of GTA in their own hometown.

[Koa Zo]

It would have never happened, but that you've said it, it will.
Within 10 years sounds reasonable.

[Niku-Sama]

yay, I cant wait!

in 10 years i'll be playing grand theft auto: north korea
not just any one city, but the whole country! because 10 years!

[The Adventurer]

There are certain hard caps to scale yet. I don't think 10 years will be enough. Or at least enough where the city you're travelling around in isn't super generic with little personality outside the 'oh hey I'm at X address'. Games still have to DESIGNED, at least to make it at all interesting to play in.

[Tanooki]

I'm going to just throw this out here as for the time, they had already done what you're speaking of, but look up the development of True Crime Streets of LA.

The developers went and used high quality photography of the greater Los Angeles area to accurately for as much as you could on GC/PS2 recreate the city minus any legal hurdles with signs and corporate logos they wouldn't pay for. It's not photo realistic by any means, but if you know the city area you can navigate the game fairly well.

[Nebagram]

IIRC Bizarre Creations did the same thing when making Metropolis Street Racer (and later the PGR games). MSR even had a free roam feature in it that was pretty amazing for its time, and I'm surprised some developer hasn't yet hit on the idea of mapping the whole of a huge city like London, New York or Tokyo and selling it as a base for other developers to design a game around.

[Jorpho]

In the end, I suspect the limitations to which real cities are subject just won't make for an entertainment experience as good as something entirely synthetic.

[WCP]

In March a game called inFamous Second Son is going to come out for the PS4. Sucker Punch, the developer of said game, is trying to recreate the city of Seattle for the game. They were asked in a recent interview how "exact" the city is going to be in the game, compared to the real deal, and they said that if they wanted to, they could have made it incredibly accurate, but they noticed that it just took too long to get from one section of the city to the other, and there was too much downtime between the sections of the city where the real gameplay was taking place, so they decided to cut out certain areas and shrink the city to a degree, so that gamers wouldn't have to spend an inordinate amount of time traveling from one end of the city to the other.

Sometimes reality isn't as fun as you'd think it would be.

[Scott45]

I don't see why not, say some company wanted a city specific game, they could buy a "generic" version sans any logos and corporate names from, say, GoogleMaps or one of the current GPS companies and have the current highway system plotted... just fill in the blanks.

[BlastProcessing402]

In March a game called inFamous Second Son is going to come out for the PS4. Sucker Punch, the developer of said game, is trying to recreate the city of Seattle for the game. They were asked in a recent interview how "exact" the city is going to be in the game, compared to the real deal, and they said that if they wanted to, they could have made it incredibly accurate, but they noticed that it just took too long to get from one section of the city to the other, and there was too much downtime between the sections of the city where the real gameplay was taking place, so they decided to cut out certain areas and shrink the city to a degree, so that gamers wouldn't have to spend an inordinate amount of time traveling from one end of the city to the other.

Sometimes reality isn't as fun as you'd think it would be.

Reminds me of Spider-Man 2 (sandbox game based on the movie of the same name) on the Xbox. It was most definitely NYC, as you'd expect, but some concessions had to be made to make it, ya know, playable and fun.

[8-Bit Archeology]

Can I pick a place? Cause playing gta would get pretty boring if it was mostly fields. Haha.

[Rickstilwell1]

Can I pick a place? Cause playing gta would get pretty boring if it was mostly fields. Haha.

Grand Theft Tractor/Grand Theft Riding Lawnmower, Hahaha. I'd love to see that.

[Tanooki]

I think he wants some Grand Theft Amish. Avoid the bishop or you shall be judged and shunned.

[Rickstilwell1]

I think he wants some Grand Theft Amish. Avoid the bishop or you shall be judged and shunned.

Where the only song you get when you turn on the car's radio is Amish Paradise by Weird Al Yankovic...

[8-Bit Archeology]

I love this forum. Hahahahaha

[zakthedodo]

I understand that some scaling/editing would need to be done.

That said, everyone can relate to some larger city in their vicinity, and games like True Crime have done very good recreations, I was merely saying that any city could approach that treatment in about a decade.

10 years seems short, however consoles from 1992 to 2002 already skipped over a generation.

[8-Bit Archeology]

Sorry I couldnt pass it up. But on a serious note. I think this would be cool as a stand-by feature. As in not required. It can be done easily i would think with all the navigation tech thats out there. Theres even gps tracking apps that layout a very detailed map of your ride on a trail including elevations. Knowing that, I dont think scale will be an issue. But without a person to validate some sensitive locations it could be a security issue. Some of us live near some areas with top secret clearances and even nuclear power plants. These are things that even google maps is not allowed to view. They have to blur or photoshop the map so other countries that could be a threat cant gain sensitive info.

I can see a homebrew app, or video game designer getting into some deep trouble if soneone who is not supposed to be seen finds a gps ping nosing around.

Btw this is all concerned speculation of course.

[Tanooki]

Where the only song you get when you turn on the car's radio is Amish Paradise by Weird Al Yankovic...

Yes but it would be on the buggies phonograph, remember, no electricity or modern conveniences. :) Or did you get the mennonite add-on to it?

[Daltone]

The Getaway on PS2 was London.. ish.

[Atarileaf]

Am I wrong to assume that given the recent technology in gaming through the internet, that games such as Grand Theft Auto will in less than ten years be able to approximate any city in any country given google earth and other applications?
I understand the details may have to be generic but would this would revolutionize sandbox games, and is it reasonably considerable within 5 to 10 years?
My friend said i was crazy, but who wouldn't pay to download a patch of GTA in their own hometown.

Hard to say. It's 2014 and according to history, we're already supposed to have flying cars, robot maids, and moon vacations.

[BlastProcessing402]

Where the only song you get when you turn on the car's radio is Amish Paradise by Weird Al Yankovic...

Thou shouldst flog theyself for suggesting something so frivolous as a radio. If thy driving be too boring, simply recitest thou the Bible.