getting vector files for existing regions (RL)

[kirin]

Hello together.

I wondered if there is a way to get complex and editable vector files (for Illustrator cs5) for a certain area.
I'd need it for a private and detailed future history/cyberpunk mapping project portraying a fictional metropolis which formed around a space elevator project.

The area in question is Singapore and the surrounding tip of Malaysia, the Riau- and Lingga-Archipelagoes and the northern tip of Sumatra which is visible in the generated rectangle.

I already started working by using a mosaic of screenshots from google maps, but because I want to do a quite complex and zoomable project (down to at least a broad streetmap level - optimally at least like this, but for the whole area: http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=13/1.3234/103.7702 ), this method is not really that elegant and takes hours of my time, just to archive the basic coastlines, not to mention todays locations and roadlines, before getting to the funnier part of editing them ( flooding for example: http://flood.firetree.net/?ll=0.4784...167&zoom=8&m=5 ).

Now to the point: I figured it should likely be possible to get an editable file from some public source, open streetmap or some accessible GIS. Maybe even complete with a matching file containing detailed topography of ocean floors and elevations.

I'm quite sure this is possible, but I have absolutely no clue how to pull it off. So, better to ask the pro's around here at the guild.
If you could help me (and others who might have similar problems) with this and tell me how i get these files, I'd be really grateful.

[Hai-Etlik]

Ways to get SVG out of OpenStreetMap: http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/SVG

You could also get the data from Natural Earth, load into QGIS, and then export to SVG or PDF.

[johnvanvliet]

there is also a tool being developed in Blender
for 3d view using openstreetmap


https://github.com/snovvfall/ArchoPlanet