google have a new online version of monoploy it uses openstreetmaps or google maps, but their server are in meltdown just now.
OpenStreetMap
google have a new online version of monoploy it uses openstreetmaps or google maps, but their server are in meltdown just now.
Discussion
Comment from JoostB on 9 September 2009 at 21:07
What do you mean by "openstreetmaps or google maps"? The maps you see (if you are so lucky) are Google maps. No idea what they mean with their OpenStreetMap link in the lower right corner.
Comment from Dannytchuca on 9 September 2009 at 21:11
Esta dificil conseguir algo hein
Comment from amm on 9 September 2009 at 21:26
From what I have seen, it is actually a very interesting combination that happened there. The map background that you see is indeed google maps and as far as I can tell can't be changed to OSM, but as we all know, the license / terms and conditions of Google Maps only allows you to use their bitmaps and does not give you access to the underlying vector data. However, inorder to create a game like this, you need the vector data in order to maintain the database, calculate lengths and highlight individual roads and this is not possible with google maps and therefore they use OpenStreetMap vector data for this. So IMHO, without OpenStreetMap, this game would not have been possible (as a license from Navtec / Tele Atlas would have probably been way to expensive) and thus is a prime example of why OpenStreetMap is needed and is "better" than the free as in beer google maps.
I can only speculate about why they ended up using Google maps for their tile background, as the underlying game data (OpenStreetMap) and the tiles (Google) obviously don't always match perfectly and cause some interesting artefacts, but my guess is that they wanted to use the marketing power of the google brand name. And looking at the media hype, who seem to imply that this is a google game, they were quite successful at that.
It is a real shame though that none of the media have actually picked up on what their use of OpenStreetMap actually means and have mostly failed to even mention OpenStreetMap being used at all. Somehow we need to use this game for our own positive PR and spread the word why free data is so important.
Comment from marscot on 10 September 2009 at 09:05
yeah we came get some good PR rom this game i am sure
heres a comment from them about what going on...
The biggest land grab of 2009...
We ANTICIPATED an opening rush when we launched the Monopoly City Streets online game, but the first few hours have surpassed even our greatest EXPECTATIONS.
We are in the process of increasing our firepower and expect to be running more smoothly within the next several hours.
Thanks for your patience as we work as fast as we can to resolve this and get everyone playing and trading on Monopoly City Streets.
What's going on?
So then... today has been a rather busy day to say the least. We appreciate your enthusiasm to try Monopoly City Streets. Thank you for your patience as we work behind the scenes to make the necessary changes to accommodate the traffic to the game.
We had planned for a lot of traffic on launch day and had been load testing the game - in fact, we've been testing and optimizing for a whole month. However, between the enthusiasm of Monopoly fans around the world, everyone who was excited to try out the new experience and non-stop mentions of the game on Twitter, blogs and everywhere else, our servers were overwhelmed. Based on the stats we have, we show a daily rate of about 1.7 million unique visitors, but the figure is likely far higher.
Please be patient as we work to make the necessary changes. In the meantime, if you'd like to help us design a building for the game, see an earlier posting about the SketchUp contest. And, if you'd like to follow us on Twitter, our official address is: MonopolyCitySts
Thank you again for your patience!
Comment from RichardB on 10 September 2009 at 12:21
OpenStreetMap is mentioned (and linked to) from the BBC website article about the game.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8245700.stm
Comment from davespod on 10 September 2009 at 18:40
Is this use and attribution compatible with our CC-by-SA licence? Either way, as you say, it should raise the profile.