Mars Sucks: a Google Earth game

Mars Sucks

An Intel team experimented with Google Earth to see how it can be used to make a PC game. Unlike other Google tools, Google Earth isn’t web based; it’s an application that you download and use on your PC, and that means you can play a game on Google Earth without having to open an Internet browser window.

The Intel team came up with Mars Sucks. It’s a scavenger-hunt kind of game: you are given clues about the whereabouts of Martians and then you look for them and blast them to bits.

Even though the game is only a prototype, we have to say it’s addictive (in a Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego kind of way). That makes sense: Google Earth is an application that has wide appeal, and the game built on it is a pick-up-and-play kind of game that would appeal to casual gamers and different kinds of people.

The Gamasutra article (where we got this news from) covers the technical aspects, the problem-solving and troubleshooting steps in the game design process, and other nifty things that developers might want to look at. The source code is available for download, too. The Intel team suggests adding more levels and putting in sound.

In other news, Google and NASA are teaming up. Anybody else want visit the face on Mars?

Mars Sucks

An Intel team experimented with Google Earth to see how it can be used to make a PC game. Unlike other Google tools, Google Earth isn’t web based; it’s an application that you download and use on your PC, and that means you can play a game on Google Earth without having to open an Internet browser window.

The Intel team came up with Mars Sucks. It’s a scavenger-hunt kind of game: you are given clues about the whereabouts of Martians and then you look for them and blast them to bits.

Even though the game is only a prototype, we have to say it’s addictive (in a Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego kind of way). That makes sense: Google Earth is an application that has wide appeal, and the game built on it is a pick-up-and-play kind of game that would appeal to casual gamers and different kinds of people.

The Gamasutra article (where we got this news from) covers the technical aspects, the problem-solving and troubleshooting steps in the game design process, and other nifty things that developers might want to look at. The source code is available for download, too. The Intel team suggests adding more levels and putting in sound.

In other news, Google and NASA are teaming up. Anybody else want visit the face on Mars?

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