

WebGL Grand Theft Auto - nthitz
http://experiments.hertzen.com/webgl-gta/

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DanI-S
I've been playing with WebGL via the THREE.js[1] library and I'm really
gobsmacked. It's relatively easy, and a lot of fun to play with.

I've noticed that a lot of the demos people have created so far are rendering
a simple scene, or trying to build a game engine. I'm looking forward to more
people building user interfaces that make use of 3D for data visualization and
user interaction. 3D has literally never been so accessible.

[1] <https://github.com/mrdoob/three.js/>

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darien
The 3D Globe WebGL library created by google is an awesome example of data
visualization. With the blessing of the reddit folks, I populated some Google
Analytics data into it. [http://www.webgl.com/2012/03/webgl-globe-
visualization-reddi...](http://www.webgl.com/2012/03/webgl-globe-
visualization-reddit-traffic-for-3rd-neil-degrasse-tyson-ama/)

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talmand
Another aspect that makes WebGL projects like this even more useful is that
you can right-click and save what you are currently seeing as an image.

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TazeTSchnitzel
Do all browsers support that?

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talmand
You made me curious, so I tried it. I could only get the option in Firefox, of
which I'm running Aurora. IE, Safari, and Opera wouldn't load WebGL, I'm just
running whatever the current mainstream version happens to be. Chrome, again
current mainstream version, loads the WebGL but no save image option.

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spuz
On Ubuntu 11.10 and Chrome 18.0.1025.168, this just _completely_ killed the
OS. As soon as the tab loaded, the mouse froze and the display stopped
updating. I couldn't even enter a separate TTY session (ctrl-alt-F6 for
example). At least this has apparently exposed a big security issue in the
browser.

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TazeTSchnitzel
It's not really a browser security issue. It's just that Linux graphics
drivers suck horribly, and so they create security issues and crashes
everywhere.

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gcp
Chrome and Firefox already wrap all WebGL calls through ANGLE to avoid real
exploits. Of course the driver being retarded enough to lock up is not
something that can prevent.

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notjustanymike
Grand Theft Walking Around A Bit

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friggeri
Using the latest Chrome dev (20.0.1123.1 dev, OSX 10.7.3), I've been stuck on
a black screen for the past 15 minutes. I do see the number of FPS and there
are some x/y/z values which change in the top right when I press the arrows on
my keyboard. Rendering issue ?

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vladev
Exactly the same on Firefox 12 and Chromium 18.

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jdub
It loaded for me after a while. Ran around a bit. It's a cute demo /
experiment.

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niklasvh
The loading time could be significantly lowered if the files would be
converted into a more accessible format for JavaScript. Especially the
sprites/textures, if they would pre-processed into PNG's or something more
understandable by javascript, the loading time could already be dropped by a
second or two.

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Selfcommit
Played for 10min, couldn't find 1 car to jack.

Disappointment level = Huge.

(Seriously Very cool WebGL stuff going on though!)

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dysoco
This is just a demo, an AMAZING demo, where you expecting a completly playable
game ?

OK: I also was, but I was not dissapointed, mainly because it's OpenSource,
it'll become a complete game soon.

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potatolicious
> _"mainly because it's OpenSource, it'll become a complete game soon"_

You must be new to open source game projects...

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Rudism
I still remember using NCSA Mosaic on my Mac Classic to browse the web in the
'90s. Back then there were two ways to lay out your website: tables, or no
layout at all. All I'm saying is, we've come a long way.

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prophetjohn
Works fine in OS X Lion and Chrome. There are some bugs, though. For instance
if I walk off a ledge into the ocean, I just keep walking in mid-air suspended
above the ocean. Pretty cool either way.

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kelnage
As it happens, this bug was somewhat in the original version of GTA. Whilst
walking over water would kill you, if you tapped the jump button, you'd never
fall.

This could allow you to reach areas otherwise impossible to reach - just find
a high enough building, run off the edge and tap jump until you reach your
desired location!

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nixle
How do I get into CAR??

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niklasvh
You can't

