GTA - San Francisco

Have you ever wanted to play GTA in San Francisco? In San Francisco - The Game, you can now drive cars, climb buildings or even hang-glide over the Bay Area - all in your browser.

What makes this game world particularly interesting from a mapping perspective is that this isn't a fictional city inspired by San Francisco. The game's 3D world is built from real-world photogrammetry and elevation data, extracted from Apple Maps 3D data and converted into a playable open-world environment.

The result is an extraordinary browser map that doubles as a game. San Francisco's famously steep hills, dense streets and distinctive buildings are all rendered as a detailed 3D landscape. You can explore the city on foot, clamber over buildings and rooftops, jump into one of the cars scattered around the streets, and even fly over the city strapped to a hang-glider.

The city is divided into 3D tiles which are streamed into your browser as you explore.

The game also makes surprisingly good use of its underlying geography. A minimap shows your position and heading, while a teleport feature allows you to immediately transport to any location in the city. There are even multiplayer features, allowing you to see and chat to other players exploring the same virtual San Francisco.

The game feels like a collision between Google Earth, GTA and a retro arcade game. But beneath the fun is an impressive demonstration of what is now possible when real-world 3D mapping data is combined with WebGL and game-engine technology.