Video Game Maps Size Comparison

[TrueAnimationFan]

The guy who made the 3D animated video comparing fictional spacecraft (which was recently made private for some reason), MetaBallStudios, now has a size comparison that showcases several dozen video game maps from popular titles. I thought it was really cool to watch, especially the end.

[Nanotechandmorefuture]

The guy who made the 3D animated video comparing fictional spacecraft (which was recently made private for some reason), MetaBallStudios, now has a size comparison that showcases several dozen video game maps from popular titles. I thought it was really cool to watch, especially the end.

Wait a min... correct me if I'm wrong how the hell did anyone get a 1:1 scale of the Milky Way Galaxy? I'm sure some may say its a game I know but to claim 1:1 scale is a very big claim ya know! If someone has a source for this non astronomer it would be nice because that is wild.

Its just something that really got my attention in that video. With the sizes available of some simply amazing space photos after colors get added you get awed at the sheer size of everything so for me to see that claim for those games is impressive. Its a wonder if those MMORPG space games still get a player base because there would be so many places to go.

Edit: The reason why I say how the hell a 1:1 scale of the Milky Way Galaxy is because let's be real how the hell is someone with a telescope on this planet going to be able to tell where the other side of the Milky Way is? For all we know some of the things astronomers have seen besides other galaxies could still be in ours! I would hope once probes or some advanced tech is out there in space mapping the galaxy becomes more accurate. It is definitely something that caught my attention.

[wjfox]

Wait a min... correct me if I'm wrong how the hell did anyone get a 1:1 scale of the Milky Way Galaxy? I'm sure some may say its a game I know but to claim 1:1 scale is a very big claim ya know! If someone has a source for this non astronomer it would be nice because that is wild.

Its just something that really got my attention in that video. With the sizes available of some simply amazing space photos after colors get added you get awed at the sheer size of everything so for me to see that claim for those games is impressive. Its a wonder if those MMORPG space games still get a player base because there would be so many places to go.

Edit: The reason why I say how the hell a 1:1 scale of the Milky Way Galaxy is because let's be real how the hell is someone with a telescope on this planet going to be able to tell where the other side of the Milky Way is? For all we know some of the things astronomers have seen besides other galaxies could still be in ours! I would hope once probes or some advanced tech is out there in space mapping the galaxy becomes more accurate. It is definitely something that caught my attention.

I played Elite: Dangerous, very extensively, between 2014 and 2019. The 1:1 scale claim is true. However, they use a very clever technique called procedural generation to "mimic" the effect of an entire galaxy. It's just fancy algorithms to massively compress all of the data/assets. It's somewhat like the difference between bitmap and vector images.

They use real astronomical data for all known star systems, e.g. Sol, Alpha Centauri, Sirius, Betelgeuse, etc. Same for nebulae.

But all the unknown star systems are randomly generated using a model called Stellar Forge, which is effectively a "best guess" based on the location within a spiral arm, probable star type, density of matter, etc.

So, for example, you don't need a human programmer to determine whether a system is binary, trinary, has a black hole, etc. Stellar Forge can do this and will also map an entire planet, auto-generating its terrain, or adding cloud systems, rings, moons, nearby asteroid fields, etc.

Indeed, it's very impressive. Below is one guy's reaction.