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Neat! Of course the first thing I tried to do was see whether you could drive though buildings. You can.
Same. It's neat, but I don't think you can call it a simulator without collision detection.
Driving around Mountain View again gave me a big nostalgia trip. I miss that place.
I fly out of there tomorrow. I'm not going to miss it (except for the excellent food).
Why not?
It's a desolate suburban wasteland of freeways and strip malls, utterly lacking in character, history and any real sense of geography.

Although I will grant you that once you get up into the hills it's really rather nice.

Next step. Make it 3D using Street View. Theoretically, you have enough 3D information in there to detect building collisions. Also, Oculus ;).
Or add collisions with stationary vehicles and walls. That would be cool.
Next next step : Counter Strike : gMaps.
There was a Google project that done this. I'd guess five years ago, so before full 3D buildings. Just hills and perhaps certain landmarks.
I had a fun time flying down the runway at Groom Lake going 150mph
Whoa, this is so cool because you can pick a real world location you're familiar with, and role play driving around, and you know you can reach any destination you imagine. It's going to be there. So fun.
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It let me see how fast I can get to work if I drive 120 km per hour. :)
This, combined with driving through a few walls and parks seemed to speed up my commute considerably.
Make this a multiplayer, an MMO! Force a slightly different field of view, like a chase view and it'll get even better!
That's pretty awesome. Would be cool if you could upload a google tracks file and have it show you're route with the car.
Rotate the map, rather than the car. With OpenGL in the browser, you can get the graphics card to do it.
I found I can still remember how to drive to my exes's
Game of the year!

...and I'm not kidding

The turn radius on my car is abysmal
The turn radius on my car is abysmal
It says "Box2D" but I am not seeing any collisions, is it just for car control?
It would be fun to add some multiplayer support via websocket just like Mozilla did with BrowserQuest. Maybe make it run on phones and take it with you when you actually drive.

Then we can simulate the traffic jam in Mountain View together!

Wouldn't it be better if he used an airplane since the car is flying over building and fences anyways
Good stuff, small remark: the braking and accelerating on the car are pretty poor (as in, both take forever).
And it handles like a brick in a vacuum. The momentum taking you of your lane in a corner at 20km/h is just ridiculous.
reminds me someone had put together a way of entering directions into google maps, then seeing a 3D view of the step by step navigation. Anyone remember what the url was for that?
Reminds me of the first (pre 3D shooter) Grand Theft Auto.
Cool. This really needs some audio though.
Could it get roads and buildings from OpenStreetMap to add collisions?
I wonder if you could detect trees and objects from the shadows
Also there is 3D data for buildings that could be used.
Eventually driving simulators should replace 80% of initial real-world driving instruction. It has the potential to be a lot safer, cheaper and environmentally friendly.

Not to mention that repetition-based practice of mind-muscle reflexes, like stick-shifting, could just as well be practiced in a fun context (like racing simulators).

You'll need to replicate the full physical feedback, i.e. you'll need a simulator machine akin to what flight pilots use.