Thread: I'm planning on creating the largest computer program ever devised

I want to simulate the entire planet. I plan to make this an open-source, not-for-profit, anybody-can-join project. A basic 3D engine for displaying massive terrain. It will need tons of people, especially artists and coders. Here's what I've figured out so far about the project.

• I will need to create program that can simulate and display entire cities, and massive terrain - parts of the planet. I'm planning on using C++ and OpenGL. DirectX 9.0c is a possibility - but it's not compatible with other platforms so I'm deciding against it. This can be difficult - but with the use of advanced occlusion culling and software optimization, it should be possible. Plus we have relatively cheap, quad core processors now - and video cards with 300+ GB/s video memory.
• I'll use the internet to recruit people (no pay of course) from all over the world - they'll probably be mostly from Europe.
• We will need many 3D artists to create the world, and the cities of the world. They make the projects in Maya 3D - then the programmers import it into the world. There'll likely be many different skill levels involved - so I'll have to sort the data created by quality.
• It will need many 3D programmers to take the art from the artists and insert them into the 3D engine's world. This will probably be best done by additional tools we develop.
• It will need a website, with DNS, which should cost $40.00 per year.
• Since it is completely open-source and there are many ideas - the project will likely branch into several different directions. We will need to keep track of them via the website. I.e. some people may want to take the project in a different direction - programming-wise.
• It will need many play-testers. To test out the program and find faults with it.
• It will need many database-entry people. I plan to make a search function for this digital planet, where people can search for anything. Rich areas, poor areas, areas with lots of trees, etc.
• It'll need tons of programmers to port the code to other platforms, operating systems, and possibly programming languages.
• It'll need programmers to create additional tools for the project. Such as tools for creating the world itself.

Any tips for improving this while it's still in the planning stages?