In recent years, GIS technology has been adopted across numerous applications. From urban planning to environmental management and even disaster response, it’s proven to be an effective way to address numerous issues by utilizing real-time data. With that said, a new use of GIS technology has emerged, in the realm of game development. Game developers are making strides in using this technology so that more expansive virtual worlds can be created.
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GIS Technology and Real World Simulations
GIS technology can be used to create vast, realistic landscapes. It’s also possible to take GIS data from real-world locations and use it to create virtual worlds that look and feel natural, like in Ark: Survival Evolved. GIS tech can also be used in combination with development programs, like FIGMA.
Paddy Power slot machines, including Big Bucks Bison 10k Ways and Even Bigger Bananas, utilize FIGMA as a design tool, to create user interfaces and prototypes. This technology allows for cross-collaboration between different teams as well, whether it is refining a design concept, adding new game features or updating graphics. In other gaming genres, utilizing both together allows developers to create visually appealing maps, with custom styling, markers and layers, opening the door to new and exciting possibilities.
Unsurprisingly, another area where GIS truly shines is simulation games. This is especially the case with those that involve urban planning, or resource management. By taking into account geographical features and infrastructure, in combination with other programs, it becomes possible to create accurate depictions of roads, utilities, land use, and zoning. In flight simulators, a program that is used to train pilots in real life, it becomes possible to recreate runways and landing pads, so that people can get a feel for what it is going to be like when they get in the cockpit and practice for themselves, as explained by Atlas.
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Real-Time Weather Simulations and Training
Real-time environmental changes, such as weather patterns and even natural disasters, are becoming more powered by GIS as the years go by. This allows developers to integrate up-to-date weather data so that it can be applied to the in-game world. If a player is in a tropical environment, or in the instance of flight simulators, flying over the Amazon Rainforest, temperature fluctuations, rainstorms, and hurricanes can be driven by GIS data, ensuring that there is always a level of realism in games.
Additionally, things like floods, earthquakes, and wildfires can be included, with players being tasked to deal with these. In some instances, players may be tasked to deal with these conditions for example, in the instance of a survival simulator. In some instances, firefighting simulations, as stated by Firehouse, take data from GIS technology as well. Real-world data can show how quickly fires can spread in outdoor environments, allowing developers to recreate virtual simulations of real-world locations. This allows people to identify risk and mitigation strategies while training up new teams of people in how to deal with them in virtual worlds.
The potential of GIS technology is truly endless, and for developers, it’s not just a way to simulate real environments. It’s also a way to make virtual worlds look better, showing how much potential this technology truly has.