I Tried Creating a Game Using Real-World Geographic Data

A little experimental game I've been working on recently, where you fly around a tiny version of the world and deliver packages to various cities. Would love to hear any ideas you might have about how this could be taken further!
The next episode about this project's development is now available here: • Trying to Improve My G...
The source files for this project are available here: github.com/SebLague/Geographi....
If you'd like to support my work, and get early access to new videos and projects, please consider becoming a Patron of the channel over here: / sebastianlague
Earth data from:
www.naturalearthdata.com/
www.gebco.net/data_and_produc...
visibleearth.nasa.gov/collect...
Music:
Faith - Michael FK
It Will Come Back - The Stolen Orchestra
Icicle Caverns - Cast of Characters
On Earth - We Dream of Eden
Nightingale - Emorie
Heart Caligraphy - Cody Martin
Cosmic Waves - Michael FK
Living - Borrtex
Wonderland - Shimmer
Falling Through the Hourglass - Sid Acharya
The Art of Loneliness - ANBR
Another Time Another Place - Sounds Like Sander
Summit - Gray North
Parachutes - Michael FK
Chapters:
0:00 Intro (feat. Ori)
0:36 In Which a Cube Becomes a Sphere
2:06 Topography and Bathymetry
2:38 Latitude and Longitude Conversions
3:24 A Vertically Exaggerated World
6:10 Flying About the Planet
7:35 Frustum Culling Optimization
8:20 Generating a Normal Map
10:09 A Splash of Colour
10:39 Countries and Cities
12:06 Drawing Borders
13:07 Country Highlights
15:37 Drawing the Oceans
18:01 Some Gigantic Boats
20:05 Cloud Experiments
24:08 Custom Shadow Casting
25:39 Atmosphere Test
26:44 Parachuting Packages
28:00 Let's Play!
31:27 Outro (feat. Ori and Beemo)

[@kentabenno]

This game could become really engaging if you added some "learning" mode, where players are guided to the destination (with some form of arrow, minimap or whatever) for the first few flights, so they have a chance to memorize the locations of the countries/cities. And this could get gradually more difficult, starting with the big, well known countries and proceeding to smaller countries along the way.

[@natecodesai]

I like that approach for giving the option. For casual play though, just to play to get points, the arrow would help casual gamers get into it. The other way is totally like a quiz... maybe in that sort of quiz mode, it could take a second and show you how wrong you were like ... nope, this city is on the other side of the world! that way, it gives like a "learn from mistakes" sort of flow.

[@Khazzgamer]

He could also add a score system based on time and proximity (of delivery), similar to geoguessr. And add wind currents that accelerate the plane.

[@recurvestickerdragon]

Could time the deliveries, so you can strategically choose routes based on how desperately the package is needed, how late it is, etc. But that may take away from the chill atmosphere

[@PaytonHouser205]

That’s what I was thinking, like a small arrow in a close proximity to the plan that points to the country.

[@MrToady225]

An arrow to the destination on a compass rose, or a heading bug on a tape. This should be for kids to learn geography. You should be told the country that you are currently flying over, so players can learn where each country is as they fly around. The target city should be highlighted on the map, (maybe like a little bull's eye?). Weather simulation (wind, rain, lightning) would be interesting also. Pilots need to know how to handle the weather situation just as much as knowing where to go. So the game should "pay" you for each delivery based on how long it takes to accomplish, (less money for not getting it done in a timely manner). This could just be a simple ticker that counts down as a function of time. Your 'money' is really just an expression of fuel burn, and the game ends when you are out of fuel (ie. you cannot continue the flight to the destination). After so many deliveries, you are "leveled up" and you are offered a chance to upgrade your equipment (with the money you have earned)... or buy better airplanes. Bigger planes can go faster, make longer flights, and deliver larger payloads, but also cost more money to maintain and burn more fuel, etc. Then there could be special 'bonus' missions that pay more, and there could be some obstacles, like having to avoid mountain ranges and large thunderstorms...

[@MizManFryingP]

"I've been playing around with this built-in trail renderer effect but I struggled to get it to do exactly what I wanted, so I decided to write my own trail renderer, and now, several hours later, I'm struggling to get *that* to do what I want instead." I think every programmer ever relates to this haha

[@skeggs]

18:54 if anyone missed it :)

[@taxfraud4853]

Expectation: coding a game from scratch Reality: developer teaching us geology every second

[@taxfraud4853]

I love the video

[@briandunfee4326]

It's geography

[@parasaurusparasaurus]

@@briandunfee4326 It's geology. Geology is about the Earth's crust. Geography is a science discipline about the Earth in general. So it's both geology and geography.

[@briandunfee4326]

@@parasaurusparasaurus does he talk about the Earth's crust. I don't remember. Im not sure I watched the whole video. From what I remember, he was talking a lot about countries and locations.

[@parasaurusparasaurus]

@@briandunfee4326 He talked a lot about geology at the beginig. Tectonic plates, the underwater mountain range etc.

[@jaimeferaer362]

He’s like the bob ross of coding he’s voice is so comforting along with the music

[@zanedetraveler2275]

hahahahhhahaa yuppppp

[@manuel.camelo]

True

[@Sand-gang]

😂 yeah

[@irp3ex]

he is indeed voice

[@asswamp]

This would be an INCREDIBLE learning tool to educate on geography. You could even add difficulty levels, such as displaying major roadways for an easier challenge.

[@Mrbulletfire]

id probably need the country names to be shown to get the packages anywhere near close xD

[@ronaldweasley6175]

like geogussr?

[@bc4198]

Reminds me of the Take Off! board game.

[@Bakkerbaard]

I remember something like this back when the Commodore 64 was shiny and new. It had you fly a rotating X over a Netherlands-shaped green slab, trying to find towns. I hated it. Computers weren't supposed to teach you things!

[@hpetty9404]

I was thinking this the whole time. I suck at geography and if I had this in highschool I would have probably been much better at it.

[@lwouisYT]

@Sebastian Lague: there is a large community of people playing a game called Geoguessr. Your game's gameplay could cater to them. There doesn't need to be fighting and shooting. Exploring the world is a great adventure in and off itself, especially with more details/specifics to explore (e.g. you could introduce landmarks, vegetation, buildings, roads, etc)

[@z3dar]

Geoguessr's idea of rounds could work well here as well: deliver 5 or 10 packages as accurately as possible (and as fast as possible?). Add worldwide leaderboard (and by country) and that's already great. You could get a small polaroid photo of the place you're delivering to(ripped from google earth database or something)? It could create little bit depth to the deliveries when you see that the delivery is to the center of paris or to some remote village. The plane could need to fuel which would add strategy to choosing the locations, but would also make the game more stressful. Getting off the rails, but... Other thing that comes to mind is changing the camera in-game for a special delivery strike: the plane would dive and speed up, while the camera would move to 3rd person and you'd get a target area highlighted. This could only be done when close to the country or once per game or something, but you could use that as a simple radar to help with completely unknown countries(once per round). Or maybe just a radar. Or, if not for the delivery strike, maybe you'd need to take a picture of the package pirates plane to have them arrested and that would be done in 3rd person camera. Winds could also be a factor to add a skill element, so the packages would drift a bit according to a wind pattern that could be overlaid to the planet when holding a key. Not sure if this is a good idea though, maybe if the drift factor is small. There could be emergency packages to be delivered in hurry, like bring supplies to Antarctica, or put down forest fires, or entertain ppl at a celebration with a flyby, or fly gpu's to gamers. If taking it to more skilful direction, it would be nice to get some graphs of your efficiency at delivering, Sebastian makes the best graphs :D The skill element might fit with the idea of package pirates Sebastian mentioned. Oh, also a barrel roll with the plane is a must. Maybe just for fun or to dodge package pirates or something.

[@poliestotico]

Exactly my thoughts

[@henryj.walker2025]

@@z3dar I love the idea of forest fires and having to put them out as well as the weather mentioned. Having to avoid hurricanes. I also love the idea of getting a score based off of accuracy, time, and maybe even make it so you have multiple packages and you have to drop the correct one.

[@z3dar]

​@@henryj.walker2025 The problem with time based score is that the randomisation of targets would be the main factor in scores(close by targets lead to high scores) which is not optimal. One way to solve this would be to make the time score relative to the distance of selected target(and weigh it to score longer distance more). I think that could be great! It would add tons of depth to the game: You have fueling, so distances matter as you lose time score when refueling; But to balance it out, the farther the next target, the more time score you can get. This'd would mean that selecting far away targets, knowing the shortest path, and best fueling spots, and ofc dropping the cargo accurately would lead to the highest score. That sounds like a good balance of skill, experience and luck. Add the pirates with some cool dodging and photographing mechanism and some random challenges/events(always x amount per playthrough to keep it fairer for leaderboards?) and you have an awesome game.

[@KallePihlajasaari]

You can add tourist charter flights to the mix so players will get to see all the wonders of the world at the destinations like Pamukkale, Ayers Rock or Tugela Falls.

[@tymz-r-achangin]

I'm 48yo, built my own computer, have no idea how you find all that technical information that you needed to put those things together, but I'm fascinated enough that I watched your video twice

[@mastershooter64]

books + google

[@fpsterby]

You can honestly learn a lot and even to do it yourself. This guy's content is really awesome and there is another channel called reubs who remade the ps2 game Simpsons Hit and Run in unity. Check it out and if you find this awesome you should have a go at it too!

[@tymz-r-achangin]

@@fpsterby Thanks for the heads-up and hope you have a great day :)

[@elpolodiablo5486]

Damn dude you must be a genius to build your own computer from scratch.

[@tymz-r-achangin]

@@elpolodiablo5486 Nope, I'm nowhere near being a genius.... I just watched A LOT of youtube how-to videos before I started building my own pc :)

[@lilitbeglarian7942]

If you reskin this with Santa Claus this would be such an AMAZING Christmas game. I've been subbed to your channel for a few years and I'm constantly in awe of you, you are a massive inspiration.

[@Voltechs]

Dang you beat me by 4 days! I just commented the idea too before reading the comments. 😭

[@skulliam4]

When you added the boats, I was silently hoping you'd use real trade route data to generate the paths

[@micaiahstevens8840]

That is a great idea, this game does REALLY awesome adding in real world data.

[@PenitusVox]

The only problem with that is the scale of the ships. Looks like they'd be too big for the Suez, for instance. I'm sure he'd figure out some workaround, though.

[@Dreadnote-pf7of]

@@PenitusVox well... if some ship got stuck in Suez... That would be very unfortunate.

[@notahotshot]

@@Dreadnote-pf7of, too soon, bruh.

[@probablydei]

I was also hoping he would add trucks or at least some kind of land traffic. It could definitely add a lot of life into the land as well.

[@Mekose]

This would actually be a fantastic and marketable Geoguesser type game. Have settings for difficulty like population of city, city lights, compass, name of country on the map, etc. I could see this being a full game or program for students to learn geography.

[@PantheraLeo04]

I know I would have loved this as a study tool when I was in geography

[@benrae6337]

What about a Geoguesser type game with variable sea levels to really get home how much it's all going to change due to climate change?

[@Grrizo]

100% agree. Some kind of highscore system + difficult system and voilá!

[@-TXPPY]

I thought the same thing

[@gtaviper]

So geo guesser?

[@dl1083]

18:20 "Strange, apart from the boat being about 150km long" That made me lol

[@BuhdaPunk]

You have a huge opportunity to turn this flying delivery app into an educational game used to teach geography, history, math, science, communication skills and economics all in one app.

[@esdenaze]

This is so immensely humbling, that there are people out there who can make something like this in their 'spare time'.

[@Salt_and_Peroxide]

Indeed

[@conorbryant5103]

I'm pretty sure making these videos is Sebastian's full-time gig

[@pasteancalin7826]

Idk really I've been developing a game in my spare time and I'm about to break the 3 year mark and I'd say I'm 60% done. It's amazing the things he does

[@CombatJJ]

This is what he does

[@Aaaaa-hw6iz]

This forsure his moms account

[@DaedalusYoung]

So, here's a suggestion: you can have different difficulty levels. Some cities are better known than others, so on the easier difficulty settings, you get big cities, like London, Paris, Barcelona. Everyone will know where these cities are. Then when you move to a higher difficulty, you add smaller cities to be found. This gives the player a sense of progression. Maybe on day 1 of playing, you can only complete level 1, but as you learn where the smaller cities are, on day 2 you might complete level 2.

[@probablydei]

To add to this, there should also maybe be different assist levels as well. On a low level, you get a compass pointing to the city. Then on higher levels, the compass turns into just a warmer/colder beep, until you get no help at all. I think it would also be interesting to put a time element into the mix as well, where you get graded on how fast you get to the city. This could especially be a good test when you have lower assists. The grade should sort of be a weighted average based on all these elements, kind of how Forza Horizon adjusts the reward you get from a race based on the amount of assists you have turned on. Maybe the grade gets you points you can spend on nicer planes and stuff??

[@valarionch]

Also, stating the city's population, and proceduraly generate cities according to population, to have a better idea of wich one's the city you have to drop the package to

[@greenbear1561]

And upgrades. Lots of upgrades so that the player can find his/her own playing style.

[@jraulc]

Logic analytic, sense of humor, creativity and humbleness in this dude are far beyond the imagination...

[@AstorSkywalker]

When you find a video that mixes coding, NASA and tectonic plates you know you are in for a treat! 😊

[@Gromek999]

I like that last north korea package going straight into the ocean

[@Jayozranger]

Verified man?

[@billbuttlicker647]

Hi gromek

[@HororKodStudio]

My man knows better than to fly over NK

[@NukelearFallout]

@@repentoryouwilllikewiseper8741 Bot.

[@Slickolas]

I just realized that Gromek sounds like he could be Sebastian’s brother 😂

[@Salmonman0604]

It looks amazing, I'd definitely say that adding "challenge" like enemies or pirates, isn't the way to go. It seems like a total relaxation game, so adding more simulation, like weather, is how I'd flesh it out.

[@popcorny007]

Or just include a relaxation mode into the game

[@nou4898]

tornadoes and thunderstorms would make more sense

[@qusr4737]

Definitely agree adding weather and other natural phenomena is the way to go. I feel like the gameplay could also be more than just dropping packages, though. Just a random thought I had, maybe the ships (or something) could communicate to you and give you a message or something to pass on to some other place in the world. I think adding more elements like that, where you have to juggle multiple things at once, could make the game more interesting, but maybe thats just me :)

[@potsuaye69]

There's something about watching a dude with a calm voice and calm editing while making my own game that is such an enjoyment

[@f.d.3289]

I really like that you also show the results of programming mistakes, which on fun projects like these are usually nice and interesting. it also shows that everyone makes mistakes and that it's nothing to be ashamed of.

[@ThaCodeFreak]

I consider myself an advanced coder, having a degree in computer science and working in the field, even spending my time outside of work expanding my knowledge base in personal projects. HOWEVER, when I watch Sebastian Lague videos I cant help but feel an overwhelming sense of awe. This content contains the absolute highest quality of storytelling, production, and visuals that fully immerse the viewer into the thought process of building these magnificent worlds. As always a great experience, keep up the hard work!

[@hojdog]

What's amazing is not just his ability to build these things but also create the educational visualisations to help us understand how they work.

[@chameleonfoot]

@@hojdog Exactly! I have a small understanding of code (a few classes in college and that one time as a kid I took a Minecraft mod making program) but I can follow along with any video easily. That’s a skill we sometimes take for granted when consuming content

[@morfeusfs]

Agreed. Sebastian's videos always trigger my impostor syndrome :D

[@rasmadrak]

100% agree, haha. Been working professionally as a programmer for a million years and still this guy instills awe. Amazing stuff. :)

[@felosrg1266]

His not less than a god of coding omg

[@jamesasher63]

This is honestly perfect for teaching kids geography, I think it would be improved by the countries changing colours once you'd delivered the package there, so people remember where they'd been, plus it would help with deducing where somewhat obscure countries/cities are. Also, I think that the player should get maybe 5/10 guesses then clues start appearing for the locations. Maybe also add a HUD with a compass, the objectives and if you added in mobs of some kind maybe a health bar or something, and maybe limit the cities to major cities within the respective countries or capital cities. idk but this has so much potential

[@slimysomething]

Kids would find it boring and frustrating. It would be better to make an actually fun game that teaches geography passively by using irl locations.

[@porc1429]

Yeah, this should be used in schools

[@Octamed]

@@slimysomething At the moment, but the potential is there to make a great educational game

[@DoorThief]

Beat me to it!

[@DoorThief]

@@slimysomething you know what's boring? Using Google Earth to complete my homework assignment. I think this was definitely like that assignment more enjoyable and more appreciative. College student here

[@Just4KeigA]

This is absolutely Beautiful! Even i didnt understand most of the codes. it was so fascinating to watch this ! Thank you. Greetings from a Newcomer in Gamedev =D

[@liam-ec-m595]

I always revisit this video, I'm currently studying Geography at uni with a focus on satellite science, remote sensing and simulating environments. We are taught a lot of the techniques you discuss here and it's interesting to see the similarities and differences between the subjects of game simulation and technology focused geography.

[@PeteWall]

Some things that could add some fun: * Generate the packages on the surface, fly over them to pick them up, then it'll tell you where to deliver it. Make the ui look like a little shipping label that shows "to" and "from". * Scalable difficulty. An easy mode could include a compass towards the country, medium allows for dropping anywhere in the country, hard is for city and country.

[@austinedeclan10]

A compass in a hud would also be nice

[@meandersonline]

I love the way this game looks, but as I was watching the gameplay I found myself getting a bit confused of what direction you were going. One way I could think of to fix this is adding some sort of compass at the top of the screen? Also, a visible scoreboard that tracks your best score as well as your score for the run you just did could be fun.

[@OhSoUnicornly]

Yeah I'd love for the player to be able to change the camera angle perhaps, maybe a little minimap that always maintains north-facing direction and gives a more recognisable view?

[@user-bd4vy1lf4d]

omg i love it so much!!! it's an unbelievable experience coming across you and your coding journey!! sooo beautiful, what you've made touched my soul deeply!!!

[@blizzard8247]

My dude, this is so, so well mae, both the video and this little game. I've got to mention as well just how Relaxing your voice is, I really needed something like this today. Greetings from Sweden!

[@martinskovrup8528]

There is something strangely inspirational about Sebastian. Just the way he talks about things he care about. I have never cared for themes he goes around (realistic simulations and such), but seeing him make it, makes me appreciate it in a very different way. His mind seems so simple and clean, but at the same time incredibly advanced and messy. I like it.

[@micheledaffara9245]

I love the way he talks, it seems like he is always smiling

[@Lord_Drakostar]

Imagine what it's like for someone who is! It's pretty amazing.

[@PenitusVox]

Showing the failures yet pressing on anyway is a good part of that. Though the quiet inspirational music doesn't hurt!

[@jondoe79]

That's the voice true pure passion

[@JimKrillPDX]

This is so good. And could be really fun! Ideas: - Storms - crashing / landing (refueling?) - picking up more packages from something... airship? I hope you keep working on it and possibly release it. It's really great!

[@daveloomis]

Difficulty filtered by distance and population size of the city.

[@madladd8239]

And Different Camera Position by Just pressing C

[@falsemcnuggethope]

I thought about picking up the packages from the clouds. You could even use real-time lightning data for where the packages appear (or to get bonuses like extra speed).

[@Michallote]

-default Atmospheric look and eagle's eye view for package drops (used to slow down as well) -multiplayer competition for delivering packages (geography knowledge might be the advantage for choosing closer locations, however farther locations give more points) players have the same objective cities so snatching the drop first might generate fun moments

[@yomuin5389]

So cool, when you added the clouds and flew through them it looked so satisfying and relaxing. Just flying around admiring the planet and a few little gimmicks is sometimes enough.

[@mohammadhassaneskandari8508]

I watched the whole project and was absolutely blown away by your work, and your presentation of it! This is the definition of TRUE CONTENT CREATOR. Beautiful and smart.

[@geir-karetaksdal5692]

As an educator, this game has to be completed and released. I would totally recommend this for some fun training in geography.

[@slevinchannel7589]

Oh, how i wished some talented, young Programmers would make a HunterxHunter Game. Until now, no one has done real-good with this, despite the franchise being so super-popular and it’s magic-system being even more popular.

[@ramiztudio3208]

@@slevinchannel7589 Idk why but i feel like there's not that many good anime games out there despite the fact that there's a lot of big fanbases out there which is kinda weird

[@slevinchannel7589]

@@ramiztudio3208 I see.

[@slevinchannel7589]

@@ramiztudio3208 Yes, theres definetly not enough.

[@mathiasjensen9107]

@@ramiztudio3208 Haven't played it in years tho, but i remember one Naruto game being pretty good, don't know if it was just because i was a kid and didn't know the difference between a good and bad game

[@Jabrils]

30 mins? damn the gods are shining down on us today boys

[@hiddenkendo]

Nice

[@PredaDev]

Indeed 😅

[@sian2005]

Yes ✨🎍 Oh yeah: Netherlands

[@SebastianLague]

I was getting a bit stressed while editing as the video length kept creeping towards the 30 minute mark, thinking no one could possible be interested in watching for that long. So that's nice to hear haha!

[@recker321]

@@SebastianLague When I'm watching your videos I literally keep wishing "please don't be over, please don't be over". Btw: Germany

[@shotakhakhishvili8640]

I have no idea how you make those animations you show while explaining things, but it is stunning and unexplainably helpful to understand the topic. Thanks for everything!

[@Downvotestupidcensorship]

I would literally do straight lines for hours, recreating efficient flight paths. Imagine how it would be if there were storms and wind to either avoid or take advantage of, and maybe slow the speed down a bit. What you have done here is amazing, and yet still has so much potential.

[@dennismouzawak3806]

This game has serioussss potential!! Dodging enemy planes, finding paths to cities while voiding bad wether, maybe a night mode too, and perhaps on the long run maybe an ocean adventure driving packages with a boat to different coastal cities! I loved this video :)

[@Alex-nv5sw]

And then put some fuel items as refills when an airplane is running out of fuel. That would be more challenging. Also gas button to speed up traveling but reducing fuel bar. Just Suggesting.

[@HankMeyer]

Simplicity of gameplay would be better I think. Maybe add a time limit for each package, and the option of customizing your plane. Maybe a mode where you're in a boat instead of a plane, & only have to deliver to coastal cities.

[@hansflanse2674]

@rennid xD

[@hubble970]

Maybe there's a night ma of the world that can be used to simulate the lights of cities at night, would love to see him continue this project :)!

[@anisazzoug4172]

It's great! It's a more graphically involved version of GeoGuesser, which has a lot of following because it's satisfying to test your world map knowledge. Better keep it rather simple and let the trivia part at the center of it. I would love to play it on my android, even the beta version. Will it be available rather soon?

[@djones02]

I'm pretty sure Sebastian is literally a really chill cat that learned how to program. The person holding the camera is just the camera hooman.

[@VampireSquirrel]

there is no camera??

[@aleksaaleksic4353]

@@VampireSquirrel 0:00

[@halcyonwinds1970]

This was so incredible to watch. I worked on browser based geospatial visualizations for awhile and this blows everything I did out of the water. It’s so cool! I love the ships and the way the clouds get knocked out of the way. You are truly inspiring!

[@noamamarfarkash1189]

it’s crazy how you do these incredible things and make it sound so easy

[@dandymcgee]

I honestly think the game is perfect as-is, expecially for teaching kids geography. You could easily sell this to school, though it would be even easier if it ran on iPads, which could be tricky depending on how GPU intensive it is.

[@squeakybunny2776]

Fairly sure this game heavily relies on the gpu.

[@Brahvim]

@@squeakybunny2776 Almost completely, even. Pretty much everything is running on shaders. ..and do iPads even allow for Compute shaders?! It's also going to be a pain to render all those vertices and handle culling...

[@NoTenJakMuTam]

in a time when geoguesser is a huge game this could easily be a multiplayer game with current system already 10 people join the lobby, you get the city, first 9 to deliver the closest to the target (or x to deliver in some time) advance to the next round and so on

[@ckarts5784]

Smart thinking!

[@hojdog]

@@NoTenJakMuTam Sebastian needs to hook up with GeoWizard I'm sure he'd have a blast playing this

[@thomascarstens2729]

I would play it as is. It looks like a great way to learn my maps, been on the wait for a gamified geography tool. Watching from Cape Town :)

[@SebastianLague]

Awesome, thanks for watching!

[@RaggedLands]

yeah this could be a great educational game

[@moldybaguette567]

Another south African here, also in cape town😁. I was checking social blade for top South African youtubers and Sebastian was one of them which confused me at the time but I guess he lives here?

[@adriaan3883]

@@moldybaguette567 Another fellow Capetonian. I figured Sebastian must be from South Africa when he mentioned loadshedding in one of his videos 😅

[@xero2715]

@@adriaan3883 Having moved Australia from SA, I can pick up a few South African pronunciations here and there, which is what clued me in.

[@adityaranjan3638]

Thank you so much, love the style, effort and math behind all of this!

[@cholson]

Beautiful game. Thank you for walking us through your processes. You make something that is so difficult and complex look so easy.

[@dylanwinters8850]

This would be a perfect Christmas game... as Santa delivering presents. From Ireland.

[@bso1538]

Yes, that was I though when I saw him droping "gifts" that could be great. From Argentina.

[@lot2150]

Bro that’s genius

[@guillermo.mserrano]

The Byzantine Empire.

[@putte954]

I always thought Santa delivers from the North Pole but from Ireland is good too I guess..

[@duke.]

this could totally be a calm game with nice music and simple tasks that you could play for hours on end, gaining more money and buying cooler planes and stuff. I would really try to avoid enemies / pirates because it doesn't make sense and it takes away from the calm, simple nature of the game. The game could still be challenging and fun without them!

[@danyoten9204]

I love this idea, I think guessing the right place if you don't know it will be stressful enough! It would be cool to have plane customization, and maybe also making the locations less random. Like option 1 could be within 2 or 3 countries away, 2 could be further and 3 could be very far away.

[@AverageAlien]

nah. bring the pirates on

[@bc4198]

@@AverageAlien Toggle Pirate Mode 😁

[@internal1825]

He could add a war mode where you battle other planes and have machine guns. Maybe shoot targets too, like a battleship

[@ImpresifMediaDev]

Hello from Indonesia. What a wonderful project. The way you divided and conquered the project's parts was awesome, to say the least. Thank you so much for the great content.

[@ChatGPT647]

This video is impressive! It's amazing how you were able to create a game using real-world geographic data. The concept of delivering packages to various cities while exploring a tiny version of the world is unique and educational at the same time. I particularly like the idea of adding difficulty settings to make the game more challenging. It would be great for students to use this program to learn geography. Your attention to detail and the effort put into this project is very admirable. Keep up the great work!

[@IndustrialBonecraft]

"Maybe I should do an entire project on weather simulation..." Oh God, this way lies madness - Dwarf Fortress went down this rabbit hole and now there are entire cloud fronts that form in a game where you can't even see the clouds.

[@scorchthelost]

I think this would be useful in a geography classroom. Teaching kids where different countries and cities are is pretty valuable.

[@darien4313]

I was thinking the same thing, I would have loved something like this

[@als0689]

Definitely! Kids who have been taught via video games such as minecraft education edition have been found to be way better than kids who have been taught with books.

[@Doge_Spartan]

@@als0689 source ?

[@als0689]

@@Doge_Spartan hundreds of articles have said that video games make children focus way more. Plus it’s also common sense.

[@Doge_Spartan]

@@als0689 i know bro 😂 I was just being sarcastic 😂 I thought you would reply : Source:Trust me bro xD

[@sobraxus]

This video is insane, I am glad it caught my eye. It blew my mind when I saw how much work really goes into programming a game like this.

[@MrMrlowlifer]

Thanks Sebastian! As a big fan of GeoGuessr and flying, this is the coolest educational game. Hope you can spread this far and wide to mobile devices and schools. Purchased and now about to spend my weekend exploring the world! Cheers!

[@Mystixor]

"Geology is very cool. Significantly less cool, unfortunately, is my GPU" This made my day 😄 Awesome video as usual!

[@HootyTooty]

Sebastian: "I think it is more fun creating the game than actually playing it" The whole geo guesser community: "How dare he!" 28:40

[@rephaelreyes8552]

It looks so fun tbh

[@flowrianeast42]

For real! Not a GeoGuessr, but a Paradox-Map-Game-Enthusiast tho. Nonetheless a round world with accurate Mountain-ranges and sizes is everything someone who stares at flat maps all day wants in his life.

[@barsgecgil3437]

@@flowrianeast42 I can second that as some one who is also a Paradox-FlatMap-Game-Enthusiast.

[@MrRezRising]

It's got GTA Taxi Missions written all over it.

[@wah_productions5456]

as a beginner game designer, this is amazing and shows the power of just what you can do with game engines. this is so beautiful and really makes me excited about just what you can make with knowledge and time on your hands. i will probably never get close to your level but you have single handedly reignited my inspiration to explore and learn more about the game engines i am working with. you have earned a new subscriber and probably become one of my favourite content creators with just one video. im looking forward to exploring your channel and following along with your creations.

[@LSG_Squadron]

As someone who has memorised things in geography like countries and flags aswell as basic knowledge of which are of the world has a certain type of terrain. I love this.

[@ayior]

I can imagine this working as an educational game. You could make it so you have to pick up the package first, but that the pickup is marked on the map so that you habe a chance to learn city locations without looking them up, then deliver them blindy - one half to learn and one half to test :D

[@middelz2]

Great idea! Maybe adding different airplanes depending on learned continents would add some reward for the studying😁

[@yunom00n.]

@@RealSavage7 you sound like there is something wrong with that? also like 99,9% of adults couldn't tell you where every country is - can u?

[@nevada7174]

@@yunom00n. exactly- and there’s no adult that could tell you the location of every city. No person.

[@floppy4everyone913]

@@nevada7174 as someone who really enjoys looking at maps, whether that just be naming all countries in the world, watching videos on maps, watching gameplay of games that utilize maps a lot (such as HOI4, EU4, pretty much any paradox map game). I can tell you that I don't know jackshit on cities. I can locate almost every country on a map just fine, besides the oceanic island countries. But I can barely name like 20 capital cities. I would struggle hard to locate them on a map, let alone non capital cities. Even If I was given country borders and locations of non capital cities to base it off of, I would maybe get 10 out of 197 correct. Essentially the guy claiming that this would be a good idea for kids and kids only is simply incorrect. If they can give proof of them naming AND locating them, then I guess this wouldn't benefit them. But I really doubt they would be able to do so.

[@Czarewich]

This is genius! I think it should give you a vague idea of where the package is being delivered though, maybe direction at least.

[@reNINTENDO]

This game honestly looks great as an educational game. I genuinely could see myself playing it from time to time just to try and brush up on my countries/cities (or even get slightly okay at them). I absolutely loved seeing your progress throughout this video, and I appreciate the massive amount of work it must have been to make (shockingly, cool transition animations and video editing aren't needed on the large project that already is game development).

[@trevorkeller5431]

Yeah, absolutely! I'm not nearly as familiar with world geography & topography as I would like, and a casual flying sim like this with random delivery targets would be a really fun way to start fixing that. It would be great to tie the zoom level to the aircraft velocity, so you can quickly fly around the globe then spend some time trying to get as close to your intended city as possible. Also... perfectly top-down with dropping parachutes made me dizzy.

[@piggythepimp]

I was thinking this as well. I'm horrible with countries and especially cities so definitely want to try it to help, but would be so good in a school setting as a fun way for kids to learn. This is the way we should be teaching, rather then memorizing give them something fun to do that makes them actively want to learn 🙂

[@KaptianHunter]

I would like to play this game

[@codegoblin7740]

yeah and it should give funfact about the city/country after delivering a package

[@FewVidsJustComments]

As a geography nerd, I wanna download this “game”, but with the game aspect being toggleable. It’s a wonderful interactive globe, with that little extra speck of immersion. And I love it. I wish I could make something like this myself, but I don’t know what program you used to make this, so I guess that’s not an option. But still, well done! * hi five *

[@orinbrim7019]

He created in on Unity, if that helps you.

[@hunterchichester5720]

Ya,I download 👆

[@NotSomeJustinWithoutAMoustache]

Your voice sounds very soothing, and this game looks like a lot of fun!! All the hours you spent on this certainly paid off given how much this video blew up. Thank you for the game trailer/tutorial Sebastian!

[@Jimdoga]

You could turn this game into a geographical learning experience for kids to learn!

[@MistaNoteal11]

It would be so much better than learning on schools.

[@gfdbvhfeytvyt300]

Thats a pretty good idea

[@fidgetgadget3475]

my thoughts exactly

[@MagnusMSNRoTMG]

I teach geography for 7 graders and im sure they would love to play this in class

[@nate6692]

Yeah - maybe not quite Carmen SanDiego, but any number of smash hits have made it on less.

[@glennclapp2537]

Honestly, I'd play this exactly how it is. And it'd be a nice little geography teaching game for my kiddos. Though maybe a tutorial mode where the country names are rendered to begin with? Or maybe if you've been flying a long time without successfully dropping a package, the country names are rendered.

[@countravicchio1050]

I think this could be put on Steam for like 3.99$ i'd buy it

[@thebirdhasbeencharged]

Same thing I was thinking, dropping off packages at sea etc and chess boards at Vostok

[@AaronJackson]

I agree, you could start with countries, the move to capital cities, and progressively get harder

[@Rajivrocks-Ltd.]

Just goes to show much complex it can be to make quality games, I've gotten so inspired by watching your awesome code adventure videos!

[@ayreonate]

awesome video, I love how you just jump into new topics and research them and use them to a great extent on your project. Im binging your videos and the ones I already watched are so fascinating. you should make a video explaining your researching method. i think it would be very interesting and informative. cheers from Egypt

[@pacefactor]

This is one of the better globe renders I think I've seen. You could sell this to geography classrooms IMO - its fun, interactive, and fairly accurate.

[@2001herne]

Also really educational if used correctly - I'm thinking this could be a fun, end-of-term competition for an early-to-mid high-school geography class. You might need to add a "Here's where the country is" popup on the hud if you get it completely wrong though.

[@sebastianjost]

With only a little bit more work, this could indeed be great. 👍 Except maybe the size of the plane and ships and the altitude of the plane. I'm fine with them being not to scale and not moving at realistic velocities, but I feel like they are slightly too exaggerated. But that's an easy fix.

[@AtariKafa]

this can be great geography learning game for kids.

[@dorkle9085]

Or MSFS 2

[@DanBergmanSE]

That was what I was thinking to..

[@FriedMonkey362]

Not just kids😅

[@aidanmcknight8119]

could have different challenge levels of hit the right country vs hit the right city. interactive learning = best learning

[@amassasa]

And adults

[@oliver-ht7qn]

This video is edited really really well, and an amazing informative, and entertaining video. Great job!!

[@peterkimemiah4800]

Impressed by your work and the way you talk through the simulation building.

[@VenomGamingPro]

"ive borrowed some code from myself" thats when you know youre a good programmer xD

[@macaronmunch793]

When u know ur a good programmer is when u only have to use one search to get the right stack overflow article

[@VenomGamingPro]

@@macaronmunch793 facts lmao, sometimes it takes me hours

[@TinyDeskEngineer]

@@macaronmunch793 I find that the most efficient way for me to find answers to questions I have about programming is to post it to stackoverflow. Within minutes someone's managed to find a question that has an answer for me, succeeding in the place I spent several hours failing.

[@HIA_LAMBO]

I love this comment. I’m currently doing the same

[@mcgaggie1442]

@@macaronmunch793 I had to use this obscure Python library for a computer science class. Jeebus crackers, I hurt.

[@johnnyowen6087]

I think adding a togglable camera angle between cinematic (the atmospheric veiw with the sun) and package delivery view the final product view point) would make this game really calming

[@Moelemon]

i would play that !

[@leonardogarzon3437]

I would love it

[@JLK89]

Another idea: have a 'keep north up' view mode.

[@pedrotorresboreli9708]

@@JLK89 that would be cool to watch on the poles

[@GreenPsycho]

Very good video and project! I find it very nice and helpfull how you made not just the video, but the whole process :) very enjoyable to watch

[@edgarguinartlopez8341]

What a beautiful project from a brilliant mind... This is a great platform for many things, but original idea is pretty fine. This looks a very nice, interesting and a relaxing game. Thanks for sharing this :)

[@BrianRichins]

18:54 One of the most relatable tongue-in-cheek programming quotes ever - "I was struggling to get [the built-in renderer] to do what exactly I wanted, so I decided to write my own. And now several hours later, I'm struggling to get *that* to do what I want instead. Great progress." 💀

[@prototypex8217]

I don't even do code and I can still get the pain (mainly cause if there's something super technical in a game and a tutorial is like do this I go "no I'll do it myself cause I'm too stupid to do what your telling me")

[@AmieOkami]

Please never stop showing us the random tangents you go on, testing things out even if they have no purpose in your final game! I love the heart your videos have, very relaxing to watch

[@kreativekendi4267]

Damn i didnt see the “never” i was like bruh why

[@AmieOkami]

Kreative Kendi lol oof

[@storyspren]

I love all the tangents here, it's like we're not just watching a game be written, we're along for the adventure of noticing stuff and finding out what it is :D

[@nathanvuillemin1970]

This is without a doubt the coolest video I’ve ever seen, finding something that can captivate me for half an hour is near impossible but this video has done it👏👏

[@oxlip]

I think that one small addition could make this game playable for hours: every package delivered will give you a random piece of trivia about the country or city. Also, a multiplayer mode for racing against friends could be fun. It goes without saying though that this is an awesome project.

[@Nighzmarquls]

That would be neat, but compiling the list of fun facts would be a ginormous effort. He sort of skims over how much data prepping he had to do for various source things on this already.

[@oxlip]

@@Nighzmarquls I was thinking it would grab the data from Wikipedia

[@JDoawp]

For making nighttime more interesting you could get one of those night lights maps that is just stitched together images of earth taken at night, then have places gradually light up as it gets dark. Should make it easier to find cities as well.

[@AgsmaJustAgsma]

The street lights would look weird, as if they magically appear out of thin air at night, but other than that it would make for a convenient way to traverse the globe at nighttime, rather than having the sun constantly following you. In fact, making the deliveries at specific times of day would probably add more depth to the game, adding more challenge and whatnot.

[@mfaizsyahmi]

that's too rasterized and low-res. should instead use the city and its population dataset, and scale up the blob of light proportional to population.

[@TheBcoolGuy]

@@mfaizsyahmi With some sort of noise-driven offset.

[@NathanVoge]

You would have to use light pollution data and and population data because there are areas (like North Korea) that have very little light pollution due to lack of power or perhaps fear of being bombed.

[@RLPlays]

Cheers from Brazil! Sebastian, you're such an inspiration for all of us Unity devs! Keep up the stunning work mate! God bless u

[@salvatorebutera7453]

The concept and the gameplay is amazing! Continue to work on it because it's something that I would buy now. It would be fun if there was a fuel system and more action (like the pirates you quoted). Different game modes such as arcade with time and stuff or free roaming. Hope you keep working on it, that's fantastic.

[@diegodesouza5382]

As a person who is passionate for both geography and coding, I can say that this video was a blast to watch. I almost screamed when I saw it in my subscription feed.

[@2dboys230]

Lol

[@Marc-WOA]

This would be an absolute gem of a game for my 5 year old daughter. Simple controls, exploration and very very educational. If you decide on releasing it (I pray you will) you'll have a customer and a happy dad and daughter for hours and hours.

[@2036scott]

I was about to post something similar, I would buy this as a geography tool for my kids.

[@mykeywazowsky]

@@2036scott Me too! For me!

[@jacktea1156]

I am a kid so infact i'd buy it for myself ;)

[@warpdrive9229]

How do I get this game?

[@smolytchannel5062]

I think the source code is already on his patreon so you could technically buy it

[@X7Juno]

Brilliant idea, brilliant execution and making of, smooth voice, inspiring, love it ! Keep going !

[@deez_nuts_77]

This channel is amazing! Everyday I am realizing that there is so much more to learn about programming

[@MagicPixel]

This is the most insane game dev-related video I've ever seen! It took crazy amounts of effort just to edit this, let alone creating the whole thing! Godlike level achieved! Congrats from Europe!

[@123TeeMee]

He does seem quite exceptional

[@zhyphirus548]

I feel like every video that this guy posts is a masterpiece, every time it's so good to watch, calming

[@ad.ke.7224]

I'm not a programmer, but every craft is a joy to watch when done with dedication. Greetings from Germany.

[@Helpadoggoreachsubs]

🤗🤗🤗🤗

[@Volyz]

As always a fine work and an amazing video to Watch ! Keep up Sebastian !

[@romangorkusha6178]

Spectacular! ) What a satisfying result for such a tiny experiment! Well done!

[@TheCrewExpendable]

“Improvements” Points system where packages at night are worth more points. Packages in bad weather are worth more points. Basically more difficult packages are worth more points. You can then use those points to purchase upgrades (e.g. plane headlights, cold resistant engine, etc) Also maybe change your altitude. Flying up higher is faster/avoid bad weather, but the wind is very strong and unpredictable. On the other hand, if you are a more skilled player you can “ride the wind” and get to your destination faster.

[@anthonybowling131]

This^

[@NStripleseven]

+1

[@noahwilliams4973]

hire this dude

[@ClastrCloudGaming]

Now imagine 30 kids in the geography class, each one of them flying a plane, collecting points for visiting cities and countries around the World, competing with each other who will get the most points...I would take this geography class. And the beauty is you can literally include cities, countries, rivers, mountains...everything! You just made a perfect geography teaching tool :)

[@christopherjc54]

THIS ...and he can teach us multiplayer :D

[@sajibsrs]

Most amazing video about game dev I have seen so far. Thank you!

[@MADIA383]

That was amazing! Thank you for sharing this with us!

[@ArcadeFL]

Wow this was amazing. The way you edit these and explain things is on another level. 👌 And it was actually a pretty cool game idea. Oncoming planes to dodge would be nice too. I felt a bit of a geoguessr vibe from this also.

[@Mark.Ritchie]

geoguesser should pay you mega$$ to integrate this into their website.

[@fredspipa]

Even on its own I'd play it for hours, just because it's such a zen way of practicing you geography.

[@rayru]

Arcade!! Love your videos

[@monnujanbegum378]

Wait...Arcade?!?

[@docfo4r]

I can see this being a fun multiplayer game where everyone is flying around getting as much points/deliveries done in a set amount of time. If there are enough people, avoidance of in-air collisions would spice things up aswell.

[@billiejoearmweak5302]

And maybe they could have delivery pick-up centers so everybody would gather together.

[@fredrikjohansson]

And steal other players packages while not running out of fuel!

[@marr1379]

I still, to this day, boot up this game every now and then for an hour or so. Timeless. Wonderful work!

[@justonedeveloper]

Love the idea of the lighthouses, NASA actually also has maps for that, I used them in a 1:1 model, so setting that up wouldn't be that hard. Of course, coding the shaders to illuminate would be the tricky part, never done that in unity, but you know your stuff Great video!

[@Zaezar]

A density of cloud above and below the player would be really engaging too. So you're not always flying a line through the whole thing, sometimes you only catch the top of them. Or even poke a hole through a particularly large one!

[@globalcharts369]

1) You can keep the clouds at different height level. So some times plane can fly below the cloud. 2) fuel ⛽ 3) speed control for plane. 4) effect of rotation of earth, would be awesome.

[@crazydragy4233]

I think fuel management could be a nice challenge to make it a lil less monotonous.

[@mikkelbreiler8916]

For a helicopter and for small planes there is a height limit by which it will not be able to go over a mountain ridge. r I remember when James May flies him and Richard Hammond from Italy to England to beat Jemery Clarkson in a car on land to see who can get a trouffle from Italy To England the fastest. Maybe you could add a few Jules Verne elements of allowing for ships, trains and air balloons. But that would require a lot of infrastructure to be built into the engine, which you could get help with by making it a joint effort online. Now I won't spoilt it by saying if Clarkson beat Hammond and May or not as I am sure that episode of Top Gear is somewhere on YT. But he drove a red car and May is Captain Slow.

[@skyerichards4906]

Really a lot of variables!

[@AlexMuseMatrix]

I love how this video isn't all 'Exciting' and 'Engaging' But it's still entertaining and I love your style!

[@christopherhinzman7424]

Dude this looks amazing. I love it!! Well done!!