Being there
eing there
(where dr_bob tries to prove that games are the best form of travel)
Goldeneye was on TV a few nights ago when I was flicking through the channels.
I get a kind of weird feeling watching it .
You know that feeling you get when you're watching a film based in your home town , and you }know{ that if the hero turns left here , and then right at that laneway there he'll be able to escape from the bad guys into a crowded department store , and also that he'll be right next door to where you're Auntie June used to work(Or maybe not given the way films are edited , but I digress).It makes the movie a tiny bit more real as its grounded in your own
personal reality(I've often wondered if its like this for most movies if you live in LA, but again, digressing).
Anyway I've never been to the former Russia, or the Columbian jungle , but I did play the N64 version of goldeneye before I saw the film.
You may roll your eyes and say "but its just a game dr_b" ,but if you take the level of the game where Bond and "bond girl who isnt Franke Jennson" are escaping from a kgb cell, Having played through the level a lot , I know that if he takes a right out the door , goes straight , and then up the stairs , it leads to an office area , that in turn leads to the library , watching the film , this pans out ,the layouts are identical.
To the left down stairs opposite the holding-cell theres a storage hall where I've had many a shoot out with mates while multiplaying the game, sure enough you can see it as bond and co. run past.I'm guessing the programmers at RARE (makers of goldeneye) had access to the set/locations , or else spent a lot of time watching the movie, designing the level and filling in the blanks.But you really do get the feeling of being there.
Its not just movie sets that get to be recreated for games , Deus EX (a well loved scifi 3d shooter/stratagy game) starts with a mission to the Statue of liberty , which sees you clearing it of hostages, Even though its set in the
future, the layout of liberty island is recognisable, from the dock , to the enclosed area (where you will end up queing in high season) , to the entrance , and some of the surrounding areas, seems accurate enough to my memory of it.
Ok so as you progress up though the statue things start to get imaginary again , but its interesting running around an area ,tranqing bad guys where, in real life , you perused touristy t-shirts and plaster statues
.Even the second level tries to keep a slight sembalance to reality , being set in Battery park , and having a couple of "real" features (the plinths and that big statue of the eagle are there, no-one in the game however tried to sell me dodgy raybans or rolexes there though and I was sorely dissapointed )
But the daddy of reality games is to my knowledge "Midtown Madness I" , forget recreating scenes, or parks, Angel Studios tried to recreate a city (well ok a good section of it), and suceeded.
Unlike its sequels , MM's map is based on an ordanance map of chicago.Its not perfect , I mean I dont know if, possibly murph2 would recognise all of it ,but playing it for a while gives the impression that in real life you could find your way from Soldier Field to say Orleans St without getting too lost.Mind you when you hit the freeways out of the city, you're kind of screwed as they implausably loop back on themselves, theres no way out of theis version of chicago.
I'm hoping to actually get to the real version next year (although the wedding means I'll have to put that on hold for a year or two), just to see if I an find my way around(although I'm guessing My Girlfriend wont let me drive based on this..)
This kind of recreation has only been round for the past 3-4 years, hopefully It'll progress as technology does,so that my dream game might get made .
Imagine an online port of something like Grand theft auto III, with a fully working map of a city,based on ordanance maps, accurate down to a meter, tested with by gps and constantly being updated by satellite photos.Knowing your way around the city in the games means you know it in real-life and vise versa.Could be handy for tourists: "get to know the city before you visit",although its quite possible it could kill tourism , why spend money getting there when you can sightsee safely from home...
posted by Mister Bob @ 2:13 PM
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