Roads in Video Games

[Pete from Boston]

Waiting for a game that uses actual highways in a realistic fashion.

I remember telling someone 15 years ago that a realistic driving simulation of Boston would be hours of satisfying gameplay.  I stand firm on this assertion.   

[vtk]

Microsoft had a few decent driving games circa 2002. I had the Chicago one.  It had a freeway that basically made sense, if you accept that the world is only about four square miles.

[The Nature Boy]

Waiting for a game that uses actual highways in a realistic fashion.

I remember telling someone 15 years ago that a realistic driving simulation of Boston would be hours of satisfying gameplay.  I stand firm on this assertion.

The actual experience terrifies me enough that I'm not sure I could handle it in video game format.

[hotdogPi]

Waiting for a game that uses actual highways in a realistic fashion.

I remember telling someone 15 years ago that a realistic driving simulation of Boston would be hours of satisfying gameplay.  I stand firm on this assertion.

The actual experience terrifies me enough that I'm not sure I could handle it in video game format.

I would expect the computer-based drivers to drive more safely than real people. (Pedestrians too, if there are any in the proposed game.)

[SteveG1988]

Microsoft had a few decent driving games circa 2002. I had the Chicago one.  It had a freeway that basically made sense, if you accept that the world is only about four square miles.

Midtown Madness "Chicago Edition" followed by Midtown Madness 2 (San Fran and London) and then on the xbox only Midtown Madness 3 (Washington DC and Paris)

Was a fun game, still is today, so many ways to have fun in a cruise, demolition derby, cops and robbers, etc.

[Pete from Boston]

Waiting for a game that uses actual highways in a realistic fashion.

I remember telling someone 15 years ago that a realistic driving simulation of Boston would be hours of satisfying gameplay.  I stand firm on this assertion.

The actual experience terrifies me enough that I'm not sure I could handle it in video game format.

I would expect the computer-based drivers to drive more safely than real people. (Pedestrians too, if there are any in the proposed game.)

Sure, take the fun out of it.

[PColumbus73]

I would like something like Streets of SimCity, the game was super buggy, but I liked being able to create a map in SimCity 2000 and driving around in Streets. SimCity 4 kinda does this, but the the top-down view becomes a problem when you are driving between skyscrapers.

[Bickendan]

That would be awesome.

[vtk]

A driving mode in Cities:Skylines would be so fun...

[Zeffy]

A driving mode in Cities:Skylines would be so fun...

On a side note, I preordered that game yesterday. Cannot wait. It looks absolutely thrilling and with the modding capabilities, it could possibly become as great as SC4. CitiesXXL was literally a re-release of CitiesXL with marginally better performance, so I was disappointed there.

[formulanone]

Waiting for a game that uses actual highways in a realistic fashion.

I remember telling someone 15 years ago that a realistic driving simulation of Boston would be hours of satisfying gameplay.  I stand firm on this assertion.   

I think folks' desire to avoid real traffic jams, average slower-than posted limits, and pretend to drive mediocre vehicles is why there will always be racing simulators.

Idiotic drivers will still exist as long as a beginner/troll/sore loser wishes to race others on-line.

[sbeaver44]

Microsoft had a few decent driving games circa 2002. I had the Chicago one.  It had a freeway that basically made sense, if you accept that the world is only about four square miles.

Midtown Madness "Chicago Edition" followed by Midtown Madness 2 (San Fran and London) and then on the xbox only Midtown Madness 3 (Washington DC and Paris)

Was a fun game, still is today, so many ways to have fun in a cruise, demolition derby, cops and robbers, etc.

I spent a large amount of time playing all of these, especially the Chicago one.  I actually learned how to get around Chicago and Washington (the Xbox one) by playing these games.  I haven't been to San Francisco (nor London nor Paris) yet so I cannot attest to how MM2 helped me.

[KG909]

Holy shit I wish a had a good computer. I will not be playing the game on PC but I'm going to replace the game's bgs' and road/freeway textures for my friend.



HD:
http://www.rockstargames.com/V/screenshots

[silverback1065]

you can now play pacman in google maps today, using city streets as the maze. 

[formulanone]

you can now play pacman in google maps today, using city streets as the maze. 

This is a slice of unexpected awesome.

A couple of locations:
Taj Mahal, India
Phoenix
Monte Carlo
Rome
Vatican

[SteveG1988]

Need For Speed The Run has a section that starts on the Newark bay Extension at exit 14B and takes you through liberty state park.

[ET21]

Need For Speed The Run has a section that starts on the Newark bay Extension at exit 14B and takes you through liberty state park.

Annoying race at the end though! lol

[Mileage Mike]

I would like something like Streets of SimCity, the game was super buggy, but I liked being able to create a map in SimCity 2000 and driving around in Streets. SimCity 4 kinda does this, but the the top-down view becomes a problem when you are driving between skyscrapers.

Yeah a game that would allow realistic driving from your imported cities from Sim City 4 would be absolutely incredible.  Like a dream.  The bad part is that it might be so indulging that I would become detached from the real world.

I'd pay in excess of $100 for such a game.

[Atomica]

Three guesses as to what's wrong on this sign.

Hmmm....
1. "Oakland Bay Bridge" should be "San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge" or just "Bay Bridge"
2. I-80 is East/West, not North/South
3. California doesn't use separate exit tabs on overhead signs (for the most part)

There is technically a 4th error which is the use of all-caps instead of mixed case but looking at the other screenshots you posted, it looks like all their signs are all-caps.

However, in the 80s there were signs at a freeway entrance in downtown San Francisco, next to a BGS reading SOUTH US101 San Jose, reading, FREEWAY ENTRANCE, I-80 SOUTH.

[The Nature Boy]

I know nothing about the Bay Area but is it possible that Oakland and the Bay Bridge are separate control cities on that sign?

[Atomica]

Yes, the control cities listed for the I-80 in San Francisco at the exits from US101 are Bay Bridge and Oakland.
case in point -
https://www.google.com/maps/@37.76609,-122.405043,3a,90y,2.25h,93.16t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1saull0l4gwVNWvt8qrZbgRg!2e0

[CNGL-Leudimin]

Now that I've watched some videos about The Crew, I've discovered a thing NE2 will really love: It has an interstate through Yellowstone (Or at least through the area they mark as 'Yellowstone').

[noelbotevera]

No idea if this was mentioned already, but, in Left 4 Dead 2, on the campaign The Parish, at the finale, there are some BGSs saying I-10 as the Veterans Memorial Bridge.
Here's one:


In reality, there is no Veterans Memorial Bridge on I-10. It may be based on the Lake Ponchartrain Causeway on I-55 (they say it's based on the Gramercy Bridge) (remember, this is in Louisiana). That river underneath is also the Mississippi River (note how wide it is) except I-10 crosses the Mississippi at Baton Rouge.

[Zeffy]

I was watching some old Modern Warfare 2 gameplay today, and I realized that one of the in-game depictions of I-95 along the east coast is... wrong to say the least:


Link to bigger image

The biggest inconsistencies are that it is depicted running through upstate New York, avoiding both Connecticut and Rhode Island completely, and traversing the western half of Massachusetts up into Maine. I believe that it is also depicted running too far to the west in North Carolina and Virginia as well.

[Rothman]

I was watching some old Modern Warfare 2 gameplay today, and I realized that one of the in-game depictions of I-95 along the east coast is... wrong to say the least:


Link to bigger image

The biggest inconsistencies are that it is depicted running through upstate New York, avoiding both Connecticut and Rhode Island completely, and traversing the western half of Massachusetts up into Maine. I believe that it is also depicted running too far to the west in North Carolina and Virginia as well.

Interesting, since the northern end of the line looks like the way I-95 goes through Maine.  Still, I doubt they would have transferred some sort of vector data into the image just for a game.