An Intel Team focused on gaming technology spent some time developing a video game concept using Google Earth. They describe the concept in an article on Gamasutra this way:
Martian robotic spacecraft are invading Earth and sucking up humans for experiments! We were able to capture one Martian spacecraft, which we need you to pilot in an attempt to blast other Martians out of our atmosphere. The Martians are being sent messages that direct them to their next target. Your mission is to decipher the messages, and blast these Martians before they can suck people off the planet. Stay tuned for intercepted Martian messages!
The Intel team then turned out some code to implement the basics of the game which they describe in this 4-page article. They didn’t go so far as to implement real game play or sounds. But, they are giving away the art and source code hoping someone will take it to the next step. One of the main problems they encountered is being able to detect when someone presses a key in GE so the software could fire the spaceship gun . To get around this, a gamer moves the Earth to the location and pause for a second and the gun fires. They are looking for ideas on how to get around this.
I haven’t had the chance yet to set up the code and test it. If anyone has done this, and has set it up on a server for testing, please let me know what it was like – or share a YouTube video. via Blogsearch.
Here’s a list of other games with Google Earth:
- German GE Christmas Game
- Battleship Google Earth
- Win a Mazda CX-7
- Mission Impossible III Game
- Find Skull Island
- CNET Superbowl Guessing Game
- Adidas Promotion Using Google Earth
- EarthContest
- Google Earth Hacks War
About Frank Taylor
Frank Taylor started the Google Earth Blog in July, 2005 shortly after Google Earth was first released. He has worked with 3D computer graphics and VR for many years and was very impressed with this exciting product. Frank completed a 5.5 year circumnavigation of the earth by sailboat in June 2015 which you can read about at Tahina Expedition, and is a licensed pilot, backpacker, diver, and photographer.