Google Earth already lets you explore the world in 3D, but what if you could have that same experience in Minecraft instead? It’s not uncommon for dedicated Minecraft players to recreate iconic landmarks like the Eiffel Tower, or even large parts of the globe, for example with this fully playable map of Europe. Now, a new mod takes things to a completely different level by converting Google Earth into Minecraft.
By utilising Google Earth’s data, Redditor KevinJNguy01 has created a unique method to take the hard work out of recreating iconic locations in the building game. Google Earth’s data can be accessed using a program called RenderDoc – the models are then tidied up in Blender before being exported to an object file. From this point, KevinJNguy01 uses his program to convert the object file “into a data pack function and map out all the textures”, which then “finds the Minecraft block with the closest colour”.
The quality of the end result does depend on the amount of work Google has put into its Google Earth recreations. Targeting locations like New York, Tokyo, and London proved to be successful for the modder as these areas are highly detailed in Google Earth.
While this method is significantly faster than building your desired location by hand, only KevinJNguy01 will be able to use it. He created an application specifically for this purpose, which he cannot make available to others as it’s against Google’s terms of service to publicly distribute its data.
Playing through an empty version of the real world may not sound like your cup of tea, so you’ll want to make it interesting with the best Minecraft mods. Want to try something completely different? Check out this Minecraft survival map that turns the game into an RPG.