We're working on a flight simulator that uses satellite imagery and 3D modeled aircraft models. The view is from a top down perspective. We've modeled the satellite imagery to take elevation into account. The altitudes of all land objects will be modeled. The terrain correctly scales as you increase and decrease your altitude. You have full elevator, aeleron, flap, and throttle controls. Please leave your comments and impressions as it greatly helps us in the development cycle. Thank you
Looks great from what I can see in that screen. I hope it includes a cockpit view because that's pretty much a requirement for it to be a flight 'simulator'.
Since were using highly detailed satellite imagery, we need to use a top down perspective. I can't think of a way that we can include a cockpit view. If you have any ideas please let me know.
Here's one more screen. This shows the plane right before trying to land on the street. This is about as detailed as the terrain gets. From here the plane gets smaller as it decreases in altitude.
Why would you use a top-down view in a flight simulator? A "simulator" is supposed to create an experience that would feel like the actual thing. Using satellite imagery is nice and all, but it makes it no longer a flight simulator. A real simulator would be 3d, and have a cockpit view like said before. It's meant to portray how it would feel to actually fly a plane. Not trying to be a troll or anything, but I just thought I'd say this, since you're trying to sell it as something it isn't.
I like the concept, but agree it'll be a difficult sell with being top-down only. Maybe a few other views at the very least by putting the camera in front an above or to the side or even to use the "cinematic" constantly panning to different angles view. If satellite images include clouds it may look a little off seing a cloud affixed at the same level of the ground (depending on the quality of the images). Primarily the only flight simulator I've used is X-Plane for the iPad, more or less so a young nephew can get his fix for flying a plan... before it crashes soon thereafter into the ground. It's got a great mix of aircraft and is obviously more detailed than what I'd use it for, but it has always seemed lacking to me since it functions more as a port and not as an with a more native look, feel and responsiveness. Hopefully yours will err more on the side of a native feel for iOS. Questions Will the terrain be 3D or will it just be the aircraft? Is there any way to use lower res images in a cockpit view? For anyone looking to follow the development, are you setting up a blog or posting updates via twitter? What will set this game off from other players in the flight simulator arena? Will there be any other hooks for replay/reusability? Any hints to how many planes or even the type you're shooting to have in the app for release (All commercial planes or will you also go for some historical or military based aircraft)? Any environmental elements such as clouds?
We are looking into adding other views and creating a full 3D environment that uses detailed satellite imagery. The terrain won't be full 3D but we are trying to incorporate various 3D models, such as airports, bridges, and roads. Our objective is to create a realistic flight simulator that offers "neat" things for you to do. For example, can you land the plane on a highway? Can you land on the Golden Gate Bridge? Yes, the game will have detailed clouds. At the moment we don't have a website. I'll update this thread when we do. If you guys have any requests please post them here. Thanks
More than top down? As far as getting an accurate view other than top down, you would need to overlay the images on a world model. I used to be a cartographer and orthorectifier (fancy word for correcting aerial images to real world coordinates). I also built fly-through models of many of the images. A friend that works for ESRI.com (they are the worlds leading mapping software maker) said that the company is building a new branch for gaming. This would be a great candidate for their tools.
We're having trouble figuring out how to expand different sections of the map to the entire terrain layer. So right now the satellite imagery repeats.
Cockpit view is a must. The graphics look good but only in as much as you have a static plane model going over a scrolling back drop. That's not exactly complex and would be something I'd tire of pretty quickly, and feel short changed having it labelled as a 'sim'
The mixture of "Top-down" and "Flight Sim" is an awkward one, which is why you're having trouble combining these things together. I'm not sure how far along you are, but: If you avoid the words "Flight Simulator" and don't use cockpit controls (since they look out of place against the terrain), you could turn it into a top-down flying game or even arcade game, which still has take-offs and landings, using the Satellite images as a "gimmick" or hook, but doesn't claim to be a traditional flight simulator. Personally, I'd like to fly a spaceship over that terrain!