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February 5, 2010
Google Earth in Microsoft Flight Simulator
Google I/O 2010 is coming in May, but we're already starting to hear about some of the neat projects that will be unveiled there.
The first one is called GEVision, from the guys at PlanetInAction, which is trying to evolve into a 3D scenery engine. Their initial goal is to use Google Earth as the scenery in Microsoft Flight Simulator: "In the past various attempts had been made to use Google Earth scenery instead of the one included in Microsoft Flight Simulator FSX. Yet due to limitations in the interface technology this has never been fully achieved. GEVision is a new project that will enable the use of Google Earth as a full blown 3D scenery engine."
There have been some integrations of MS Flight Sim and Google Earth in the past, but nothing to this extent. Previous integrations include a version that used Google Earth as an overhead map and an idea to take Flight Sim Scenery and use it in Google Earth.
Over the past few years Google Earth imagery, combined with improved terrain quality and more 3D buildings, has blown past the quality found in Microsoft Flight Sim. The only real downside would be less realistic airports (MS Flight Sim does a great job with those), but that is improving with each new imagery update as well. On the flip side, Google Earth has a built-in flight simulator, but it's not nearly as full-featured as the one made by Microsoft. Combining the best of both could create something pretty neat.
The video below shows the vast quality difference between Google Earth and MS Flight Simulator X:
If you'd like more information about how to use the Google Earth Plug-in in a desktop application, this page should help. GEVision is expected to unveil some type of public release at Google I/O, so we're looking forward to seeing what comes out of it.
If you know of other neat projects coming at I/O, send me an email and let me know about it.
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Posted by mickmel at February 5, 2010 8:59 AM
Comments
Posted by: ozybolair at February 5, 2010 9:31 AM
There's always been an issue of possible copyright infringement when GE is used within Flight Sim, to my knowledge this has never been resolved. Efforts to use GE data (ground textures) have tried to stay "under the radar". Using GE 3D data is an interesting problem, as Flight Sim performance has tended to emphasize low poly count and high resolution textures, while I think GE 3D is kind of in the opposite direction due to texture download bandwidth issues. As indicated in the post, GE 3D seems focused on city centers, while Flight Sim tends to emphasize airport terminal buildings.
Posted by: scott s. at February 5, 2010 4:02 PM
ozybolair: You can fly the GE simulator with 3D buildings on.
- Start Google Earth
- Start Flight sim mode
- Pause Flight simulation by pressing space bar
- Click "View" in menu and check "Sidebar"
- On Side bar turn on "3D Buildings"
Posted by: dinther at February 5, 2010 6:42 PM
Ive been looking at this for some time now. The scenery in goole earth is unparalelled. but what about addon airports and where are the clouds.
Posted by: bigmoe at February 7, 2010 6:11 AM
The ground may be better but the sky/weather in FSX is vital to a sim experience
Posted by: Robin Capper at February 8, 2010 4:25 AM
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I've said this for a while now and it's a real opportunity google is missing out on. All they need to do is enable 3d buildings in the google earth flight sim mode for the MS flight simulator fans to really see the potential. Some better cloud and lighting wouldn't go a miss either (especially the shading on the automated 3d buildings, why isn't that activated?!?). There are also .kmls that show real time flight tracking, so what more could a flight sim enthusiast want!
Good job with the updates by the way, i check this site every day as i find google earth a facinating program and your coverage appears to be the best out there.