PRP - Research

Game Engines: Tools for Landscape Visualization and Planning?
Adrian HERWIG and Philip PAAR

Summary
The fast growing market of computer games forces the development of constantly improved software and increasingly powerful hardware. Meanwhile many of the computer games can simulate virtual environments, e.g. synthetic landscapes, extremely close-toreality in real-time on PCs or game consoles. This rapid development in computer game technology is almost unnoticed by the users of professional CAD-, GIS-, and illustration software. While many of these games are objectionable because they glorify mindless violence, landscape planners should have an eye on these developments because some components of the software may be useful for their purposes. Can these low-priced tools be applied for landscape architects and planners, e.g. to support collaborative landscape planning?
The authors discuss options and limitations of game technology for landscape visualization, and present a preliminary example within a collaborative landscape planning process.