Guild City - Overall Map

[DarkInfinity]

LOL! You and I are opposite in that sense. I come here to get away from structures. I find they limit my spontaneity and creativity, but then I've always been a bit wild and eccentric/unconventional. However, I do understand that there are people here who function better when they are working with a structure

I have two young children, I have plenty of unstructured wildness. Although to be fair, if I don't reign in my creativity/spontaneity I would never get anything done, I would be a perpetual thinker and never a doer.

[Redrobes]

I did see mention in one of the other threads about the work that goes into the zoomable maps (I'm a software engineer, programmer, code monkey whatever you want to call it) So learning about the process involved there does sound fun to me. If you ever do a tutorial, please let me know (or is there one in the tutorial section already?). I'm sure I could figure it out or find a tutorial somewhere else, but there is a difference learning from some random site and learning from a person you know does something and does it well.

The leaflet site has a load of tutorials on it so I just took some samples and played about. The hardest part is to make the tile set for it which is outside of the scope of the tutorials. But if your a code monkey then get some perl / python etc and run up some scripts to output a script and get image magick to create the tiles. It would take a while but its possible. You only need a 1K image chopped into 4x4 + 2x2 + 1 of 256x256 pixel tiles to make a sample set to start playing with. We use a 16K image with 6 levels of tiles but its all the same. Theres a couple of weird things about using your own tiles with an ortho view instead of something like mercator but with a bit of faffing you will get it working. Putting your own markers down is dead easy. Putting them down with links to other items is a little more tricky but not too bad. I have not played with all the other stuff like vector shapes, image overlays and so on. If you go to the main guild city thread where we discussed it all I have a link to a zoomable map I made for some nature site. From that one you should be able to view source and see the java script I used for it. On here its hidden by the php. Have a concerted go at the leaflet tuts and then start a thread about it and show up how you got on or post some questions and ill see how I can help.

Edit: Oh look - GDAL has a leaflet tile maker -> http://www.gdal.org/gdal2tiles.html

[Mouse]

Just a thought here, but do you think that making it a regular event might kill it just a bit?

I mean wouldn't it be better to just leave it 'as and when', so that CLs have the option of planning it in an 'either now or in a couple of months time' fashion? I mean... they do have private lives and commitments just like we do, and sorting something like this out can be very time consuming with all the simultaneous conversations going on between 20-30 people - not to mention drawing an area map and sorting out the topography and keeping everything updated, etc. We were just incredibly lucky that John decided to make enough time to make this thing happen for us the way that he did, or we would still only be talking about it and not mapping it like we are.

I know that I might just be a voice in the wilderness, but... well... that's what I think

[DarkInfinity]

semi-annual (assuming that's the one that means twice a year?)

That is correct

Just a thought here, but do you think that making it a regular event might kill it just a bit?

I mean wouldn't it be better to just leave it 'as and when', so that CLs have the option of planning it in an 'either now or in a couple of months time' fashion? I mean... they do have private lives and commitments just like we do, and sorting something like this out can be very time consuming with all the simultaneous conversations going on between 20-30 people - not to mention drawing an area map and sorting out the topography and keeping everything updated, etc. We were just incredibly lucky that John decided to make enough time to make this thing happen for us the way that he did, or we would still only be talking about it and not mapping it like we are.

I know that I might just be a voice in the wilderness, but... well... that's what I think

I had thought about their schedules which is why I even put in there a bi-annual options (every two years-ish). I didn't think everyone would always want to be spending time on these things but it would be nice to know its coming so those wanting to participate could plan ahead a bit.

The other side of that coin also thinking of the leaders, if it is a scheduled thing you may not have people asking repeatedly for them, and it is something for the group to look forward to.

As for utilizing the leaders time, I don't know what they would think about this, but it could be an excellent opportunity for others to learn new techniques and skills (such as making a zoomable map, or just taking the time to merge the maps) This would take some of the responsibility off the few who currently are maintaining that.

Or in some cases, as mapping out buildings within the city, the actual final linking could be done when whomever does that has time, and not much (or any) pre-planning with an area and topography map needs done.

I'm still new here so, I am not sure how tight the reigns are from the leaders here on these sort of things, but some of these ideas only need someone willing to organize and encourage them. I'm not saying we should plan on excluding anyone, but if their schedules are too heavy, there are things we could do to help out and still make a successful project.

[Redrobes]

Is it possible to have links in the overall, or zoomable maps that link up to the original threads so that it's easier to see the city sections in more detail? I was looking around these bigger maps, and found myself wanting to click on different sections to see them more clearly instead of then searching for the original section thread to see it at it's full size.

Yes - its just that I havent gotten around to putting any in yet. There is some talk of breaking up the zoom into 4 quadrants so that the max zoom amount is more than you can get currently. It might be the case that people post their final map sectors to the finished maps forum and ill link to that.

As for utilizing the leaders time, I don't know what they would think about this, but it could be an excellent opportunity for others to learn new techniques and skills (such as making a zoomable map, or just taking the time to merge the maps) This would take some of the responsibility off the few who currently are maintaining that.

Most of the stuff on the guild is something that anyone can upload. The zoomable maps are a bit of an exception. They are not part of vbulletin - the PHP/Javascript engine which drives the forum. So to upload them you have to be an admin to get the files on to the server and mess about with them directly. You can easily have a leaflet.js map on your own webserver tho if you wanted to try and make one. Also whilst it is possible to take everyones WIPs and make the masks into layers and scale them all individually and merge down to the final map it would be well tedious. I am using my own program to align the parts to the overall map and then after that is done my own program to break it back up into the leaflet tiles. I am also using my own script and code to generate all the links to patch up the different zoomable maps and links to images / threads which is not too hard to do. So many things yes, zoomable maps unlikely ! Even though there is quite a bit of overhead to making them, I volunteer to make the overall maps because its still an awful lot less issue for me to do it than anyone else. Also, I do really like to see the main map getting filled in !

As for challenges, I think an as and when thing is better. Sometimes we have ideas that need to be done at certain times and other times there is a lull in the schedule. I would like to see some challenges fill it out a bit more. One of my pet points is that I would like to see a challenge where either we take one persons sector and all map something in it, or, you have to map something in a sector that was not your own. The idea of the community mapping is that you can work on a bit of the map without having to necessarily conform to the demands from the larger sector mapper. You have to give up a bit of ownership when doing community mapping. People should feel free to add to bits of a community project. Most people will move their own sector forwards with extra maps which is fine. We have never got to the point where there is a more general pile in other than the initial divying up of the map. I am hopeful that in a city people might like to pick a building and map it. Theres no shortage of them to go around !

[Falconius]

Yes, that is certainly a possibility. But it doesn't also mean it's not worth a shot. Serendipity is not always so fortuitous.

[kacey]

Is it possible to have links in the overall, or zoomable maps that link up to the original threads so that it's easier to see the city sections in more detail? I was looking around these bigger maps, and found myself wanting to click on different sections to see them more clearly instead of then searching for the original section thread to see it at it's full size.

[Mouse]

DarkInfinity - I don't see that there is anything wrong with leaving things as they are.

Someone has an idea. They put it in the Challenge Suggestions forum (and I agree with an extra option to suggest something as a community project), then if one of the CL's takes it up and makes something of it, or if there's a big fuss about it generally - we do it.

Simple, uncomplicated, and natural

EDIT: Yes I know, Falconius V V... and this was a response to DarkInfinity. We ended up multiple ninjaing each other! LOL!

[Falconius]

Yeah. I think the reason people don't pick up random locations in the GW and map them individually is that it's not really part of a big fun group effort though. The City may be different. Here's hoping. The advantage with a city is that the things are immediately apparent, and mapping a building etc is generally easier than doing whole locations.

Edit: This was a response to RR

[Mouse]

Oh that's excellent work with the zoomy map today! I love the update

(And that's not just because you've added a link in Atlas Ward that takes you to the finished map thread )

Thanks Red!