MFS 2020 uses bing satellite data to recreate the world with a large amount of accuracy, which is great. However, things look more and more off the closer you get to ground level. Apparently modders have been switching the game's source of data to google's map data and achieving much better results. I think dovetail would make their TSW franchise immeasurably better if they looked into making an agreement with Google to not only use their satellite imagery but also feed in information and imagery from street view. This would be used by an AI game builder that would use the data to accurately recreate towns and scenery automatically, it could create unbelievably realistic routes and allow user route building to be incredible, thoughts?
Have you seen how much Google charge for that if done above board? There is a reason why in the TS route builder each user had to register for their own personal Google API key with payment details on file. That's why many web services have switched to Open Street Map. Microsoft own Bing maps, so it's 'free' for them to use their in house system for FS. I suspect the GMaps modders would require each user to set up a Google Dev account with payment info, and then if the user exceeds their free allowance they'll get a big bill from Google.
DTG can directly obtain the license and use drones to collect the railway and the surrounding high-altitude environment, which will be more accurate.
Ahh well in that case then all they'd have to do is develop their own AI technology to convert that drone footage into something reasonable for far away landscape, for anything within view while driving the route their is no way they could use AI (Microsoft AI wouldn't work for that, and there's no way DTG have microsoft's budget). They'd still have to make custom stations and buildings close to the route as well. The AI they currently use is based off of open street maps - a drone won't give the same footage so will require new AI. Also it will not be cheap to get drone footage of a route... much cheaper to use open street api. What you're proposing costs much more than what they currently do and ultimately they are a business that wants to make money.
MSFS isn't all that good in some areas though. Flying up the north east coast of Scotland from Inverness to Wick where there should be cliffs was just field patterns spilling into the sea. As someone who still dabbles in route building, mostly for Trainz, putting together a ground level transportation route requires a different interpretation to what you see from an aircraft. It's primarily about what you can see from the cab, maybe the external view but you only need to really consider detail scenery out to 1 or 2km from the lineside. That doesn't mean to say we don't need a slightly better way of approaching route building for those sims which support it, but that's a topic for another thread!
You can hire the drones services and they are giving you a photoreal 3D model of the whole line including the geopos of each single balise, signal and board, or even use LIDAR mapping. This is indeed used in real life railway projects for track mapping purposes. The problem is that it´s not cheap at all. Getting satellite imagery even if it´s outdated could be easier for them. But there´s another problem: who has the satellite imagery for a 1950 era route, for instance? But I like the idea as the terrain textures in game are in general too plain and basic while the real data gives amazing visuals, specially in valleys and mountain areas. Cheers
