Weather report makes the jump from 2D to 3D, aggrivates old ladies, Myst-lovers

[Jake]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3572562.stm

Currently, he said, the technology and weather maps that presenters use for bulletins, which has been in place for six years, are rather akin to Super Nintendo gaming from 1991.

"When Super Nintendo gaming came out, people thought it was really clever.

"If you were to make a game like that now, people would ask why when we have the technology of Xboxes and PlayStations."

The new 3D package will be completely different. It will be a big change and a far cry from the days of magnetic clouds stuck on a wall map.

The change to 3D is really going to lose the expressiveness and, truly, the soul present in the 2D weather reports -- works of art, really -- that I grew up on. It is a sad day for the industry.

Hopefully we'll get some 2D SNES-era indie retro-throwback weather reports from time to time from the more bold risk-taking weather stations.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

The change to 3D is really going to lose the expressiveness and, truly, the soul present in the 2D weather reports -- works of art, really -- that I grew up on. It is a sad day for the industry.

How so? It seems now a far more efficient a process and invites viewer interactivity. It'll take some getting used to, any new system always does. Reminds me of manipulating the camera in Black & White.

[jp-30]

We've had this system in New Zealand for many years now (I see it's the NZ based system the BBC are using).

The problem being in the flyover you have to start from the south and fly north (so as the country doesn't look Upside-Down, or look like you're flying backwards).

So, after years of having the weather presented North-to-South (??), the UK could be in for a major South-to-North shock! I see angry masses with pitchforks and burning sticks.

And don't worry too much Jake - It's more of a pre rendered 3D backdrop with cell-shaded sprite overlays...

[shbazjinkens]

In Oklahoma (USA) I guess we have some of the best weather technology in the world, but the 3d stuff has been around for a while. The most useful thing to come from it has been the 3d rotation zones and the clouds - it's nice to see them in volume instead of trying to decipher RGB values. The faster I can see where the tornado is going to be, the better.

Also - the visual given in the article reminds me of the keyhole.com viewer I've been playing with. The systems here are cell shaded with major roads and cities shown on the map - it doesn't have the satellite imagery like that photo (except for the weather data, of course).

[Intrepid Homoludens]

The change to 3D is really going to lose the expressiveness and, truly, the soul present in the 2D weather reports -- works of art, really -- that I grew up on. It is a sad day for the industry.

Thanks for explaining your [all too] subtle brand of sarcasm in MSN, Jake. But I'm still not gonna let you get away with leading me on. This is for not using an ironic smiley:

[Erwin_Br]

Thanks for explaining your [all too] subtle brand of sarcasm in MSN, Jake. But I'm still not gonna let you get away with leading me on. This is for not using an ironic smiley:

Teehee! And I thought your reply was sarcastic too!

--Erwin

[Roderick]

You fooled me... Hell, you fooled us all =)

[Chris]

Man, anyone who's spent the slightest bit of time on AG (or anywhere on the internet adventure community) should have identified the sarcasm immediately. Also, it's pretty awesome that Trep's genuine response is actually his genuine response when this comes up in adventure discussions.

[Roderick]

Ai am but eeh poor Dutch perzon. Vee haf no sense of humour.

[Farbror]

I should really say "Why fix it if it's not broken?" but what I really want to say is "Who cares?"

In Sweden, we have some news programs that uses the old "Draw the weather with pencils before the program starts" and a lot of more that uses "Blue screen stuff thing" like everyone else. And honestly, I couldn't be bothered less about which one I prefer.

Somehow, I can't help thinking about this in the same sense as the transition to 3D in gaming. "Just beacuse you CAN make it 3D doesn't mean you should, but IF you do it good, well, go ON then."

Except remove the IF part, beacuse I'm sure there are thousands of things out there that could need the resources and time required for this much more.

But honestly, who cares?

[Huz]

Somehow, I can't help thinking about this in the same sense as the transition to 3D in gaming. "Just beacuse you CAN make it 3D doesn't mean you should, but IF you do it good, well, go ON then."

Hey, silly adventure game parallels aside, Farbror has hit it on the head - will there be any benefit to having a 3D weather map? My initial reaction is no - it just seems like a bit of a gimmick. But then, I suppose that's part of the argument against 3D adventure games too, so never mind.

Oh, and going south-to-north won't be a problem - they'll spend 10 minutes talking about what it's like in the south and then skip over the weather in the north, just like they do now...

[shbazjinkens]

Hey, silly adventure game parallels aside, Farbror has hit it on the head - will there be any benefit to having a 3D weather map?

I can't speak for everywhere, but there's definately a benefit in tornado alley. Tornados are very localized things and when you see it on a mapped 3d surface with the storm clouds in 3d it really does give you a better idea of what is going on (in comparison to the 2d weather maps). But, as I said, ours aren't as good as the one pictured. It's just cell shaded with roads and city names on it. If it had satellite imagery for a colormap, that would be awesome.

Oh, and Intrepid, that reminds me of when I believed Yufster's mom was posting on the boards. Christ, that was so obvious.

[Swordmaster]

Hola! Ton meteorologicos het week, ton detiales est:

Valle Portos: Scorchio!

Mi Nia Kuniatera Interior: Scorchio!

Mi Nia Kuniatera Exterior: Scorchio!

Monto Blonko: Scorchio!

Milton Keynes: Scorchio!

Coasta Scorchio: Scorchio!

Chris Waddle Citti: Scorchio!

San Pelledros: Scorchio!

Ieswe Havno Bananas: Scorchio!

Andropos Mikros Astetze: Scorchio!

Philspekta Scorchio: Scorchio!

Summation: Scorchio!

[Marek]

Boutros, Boutros Ghali. Bono estente!

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Sorry, I can't read Japanese.

[MrHoatzin]

Boutros, Boutros Ghali. Bono estente!

Man, they named that guy twice... how cool is that?