Bay Area-based artist Andrew Johnstone has created a digital, virtual, and three-dimensional Black Rock City for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002 and 2004 platforms.
[I]n the spirit of Burning Man’s no-commerce, gift economy philosophy, he’s making his project available for free. One of Burning Man’s mottos is “participants only,” and, fittingly, Johnstone’s Virtual Playa rewards active involvement. On his site, he provides free 3D building tools that Burners can use to model a version of their own camp or art project, which they can then upload and incorporate into the complete Virtual Playa version available to everyone. If people want to design a camp made from pre-fab pieces, he provides digital tents, domes, RVs, U-Haul trucks and many of the other details.“You can be your own Larry Harvey if you want. You can put whatever you want in,” says Johnstone. “They can scratch their playa itch in March when they’re not feeling very Burning Man.”
Link to Wired News story