3D Atlas

3D Atlas is an educational title which boasts 3D graphics on twelve different types of spinning globes, time lapse video sequences animations showing changes to the planer such as the destruction of the ozone layer and more. The title has been in production for some time, the credits show this release was also called 3D Atlas 98 and that before that there was a 3D Atlas 97, 3D Atlas (v1.1) and 3D Atlas(v1.0). The atlas has built in links to America On Line which held downloadable content.

This version, and probably the earlier versions too, includes what is described as 'a challenging quiz' called 'Around The World' which can be played by one to three players. In their turn each player faces a round of five questions. Each question is timed and is worth a certain amount of points or air-miles, but that value decreases over time. When a round has been completed the game shows a humorous video of some form of transport, usually early aircraft. When all players have completed their round the game shoes a representation of the earth and how far the players have travelled with their accumulated air miles.

Questions are obviously based on geography and countries of the world. Identifying a natoins flag is a common kind of question as is recognising a country from a picture of its scenery or a local market, knowledge of capital cities and major exports helps too.

The quiz ends when a player has made a complete circuit of the earth. The scoreboard does not show high scores because a trip around the earth is always the same distance, instead it shows the percentage of questions answered correctly.