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Photo: Kate Webber San Francisco's Sony Metreon in reality (top) and the Metreon as depicted in Rise To Honor (bottom).
We've come to the street corner where reality and virtual reality meet. Videogame producers are sending players to familiar locales rather than distant galaxies or fantastic realms. Thanks to GPS, Photoshop, and satellite photography, replicating enormous real-life cities is as easy as building fictitious worlds from scratch. And really, what better way to relate to your character than having him sail through the red light you always get caught at? Here's a guide to four games that really leap off the map.
RISE TO HONOR LOCATION: Sony Metreon, San Francisco PLATFORM: PS2 HOW THEY DID IT: Sony senior artist Fran�ois Gilbert spent the night inside the entertainment complex gathering data for an accurate blueprint. He snapped photos, scribbled notes on a legal pad, and furiously measured every nook and cranny. He used the information to create a 3-D scale model of the building's interior. The production team rendered the facility's fa�ade using photos for reference. REALITY CHECK: After hours of gameplay, you could walk through the actual Metreon blindfolded and not bump into anything.
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TRUE CRIME: STREETS OF LA LOCATION: Los Angeles PLATFORMS: PS2, GameCube, Xbox HOW THEY DID IT: Activision producers used satellite imagery, GPS, and geological surveys to re-create 240 square miles of the city to scale. Landmarks are in their proper locations, and homes feature appropriate architecture – bungalows in Venice, mansions in Beverly Hills. The data is streamed, so you can drive the 17 miles from Santa Monica to downtown in real time. REALITY CHECK: It has everything but bumper-to-bumper traffic on the 405. No complaints here.
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MEDAL OF HONOR RISING SUN LOCATION: Hellfire Pass, Thailand PLATFORMS: PS2, GameCube, Xbox HOW THEY DID IT: With dozens of scenes in this WWII game set in the Pacific Theater, EA's developers started with maps and archive photos and then hit the road. They visited conflict sites – like a former POW-operated supply line for the Japanese army – and recorded hours of video, audio samples, and digital pictures. Designers used the team's field research to mimic the environment, right down to the last jungle orchid. REALITY CHECK: Real enough to cause flashbacks.
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SPIDER-MAN 2 LOCATION: New York City PLATFORMS: PS2, GameCube, Xbox (due in July) HOW THEY DID IT: To render nearly all of Manhattan, from Wall Street to Harlem, at 50 percent scale, producers consulted piles of references, including Auto Club maps and city zoning charts. Then they went vertical, using a "tower of boxes" modeling system to construct skyscrapers and apartment buildings. REALITY CHECK: The jury's still out. Activision is in the process of naming streets and securing rights to well-known structures.
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