Map: Height Maps

[DRG]

Just about any Lat/Long co-ords can be googled with something like

valencia spain latitude

and it pops up as the first entry

[wulfir]

Let's try another one:

SALLA, FINLAND (previously called MÄRKÄJÄRVI).

Latitude: 66°49′59″ N
Longitude: 28°40′00″ E

What numbers to punch in? I end up in the Atlantic...

EDIT: Got it! This centers on SALLA:

Latitude: 66.8300
Longitude: 28.650

Love it!

[dmnt]

There are some bandwidth limitations with openstreetmap where the images are loaded if they're not found in local or web site cache.

A new version will be available soon (hopefully) where you can just download the terrain map right away after placing the grid. It needs still some coding and testing and may not work in every location of the world.

[dmnt]

If there's anybody interested in helping it'd be much appreciated. Some things to consider:

• User manual
• Testing
• Debugging

Especially some help file on how to enter coordinates, how to use the web app (entering coordinates on decimal format, rotating map, placing the grid on current location, what do all those buttons do etc.)

The map download system is getting pretty much ready soon, but will need some testing.

[dmnt]

New version is out!

On the left hand side there's the zoom in/out control (mouse wheel works also, as does shift + mouse select)
On the right there's 5 functions from top to bottom (not all visible, hidden if they won't do anything):

• Return the map to normal orientation (north is up)
• Place the map grid on the current view center
• Turn map so that the grid is not tilted (game view)
• Download this map terrain file (see previous messages on how that works)
• Get link to this current grid placement (for bookmarking or linking)

It's now reworked so that it will use Google API for terrain data but Google limits the amount of requests so please don't use it too much. It also limits concurrent requests so map generation is limited to 1 map at a time. Creating a map takes roughly 30 seconds and it'll always be a 160x200 map. Downloading a map does not destroy your current view unless something goes wrong (and you're shown the error message).

Other controls: shift+alt+drag = rotate map (grid stays put unless you replace the grid)

http://www.venhola.com/maps/

Feedback is welcome!

[wulfir]

Originally Posted by dmnt

It's now reworked so that it will use Google API for terrain data but Google limits the amount of requests so please don't use it too much.

What is 'too much'?

[dmnt]

Originally Posted by wulfir

What is 'too much'?

Google has the following limit enforced: https://developers.google.com/maps/d...n/usage-limits

2500 elevation API requests per day, 512 locations per request (we're using 480 per request) and 10 requests per second.

Every map has 31284 hexes to fill and it needs 66 requests per map. Therefore, my site can give you 37 map downloads per day, no more, unless I start paying google for the service. If you need more (like you created 40 maps a day... ) you can always download the code yourself from https://github.com/tvenhola/SPMBT-maps - it's free as in beer - and try it out. You need to apply your own Google developer API key, free of charge.

The new version that uses Google API isn't yet documented in the README (so it's not mentioned on the github page) but it's a completely new approach: no downloading of satellite data files, no need to install image magick and no west-east constraint, but you need the Google api key. And still Linux or some way to make it work under Windows.

Requires: Perl, some Perl libraries such as libcurl-perl.

Map output will do some automagic stuff which should be mentioned in the user manual:

• The lowest point on map will be made "level 0"
• If anything is over 150 meters high from the lowest point, it's clipped
• Resolution may be poor, Google API gives lowest resolutions of "152 meters" for my neighborhood: that means that the distance between points of interpolation may be up to 3 hexes away and the result is lacking detail.
• At some points it may be overspecific, giving resolution between 2-8 meters. Then the point selected on map may affect too much the hex by picking some random rooftop or excavation and not the general terrain. If this happens, I'll give your money back.

[MarkSheppard]

So if it takes 66 requests to build a map...

The Google Maps Elevation API has the following limits in place:

(snip)

$0.50 USD / 1000 additional requests, up to 100,000 daily.

I certainly can transfer a few bucks a month for this tool.

[dmnt]

Originally Posted by MarkSheppard

So if it takes 66 requests to build a map...

The Google Maps Elevation API has the following limits in place:

(snip)

$0.50 USD / 1000 additional requests, up to 100,000 daily.

I certainly can transfer a few bucks a month for this tool.

Well, the problem is that it'd be a hassle to handle everything. Chipping in $5 a month is no problem, handling the payments etc. is. Currently there is no such traffic that there would be any problem with this free service.

[DRG]

Sweet!