New to forum - Using SVG maps generated by php from data in mysql

[Hai-Etlik]

It took me a while to figure out "OS" meant "Ordnance Survey". It's not a term used outside the UK.

Try taking a look at OpenStreetMap for free vector data. It's modern, rather than roman, but it's free (assuming the CC license works for you) and there are already tools for converting it to SVG, Mapnik and Osmarender being the two big names.

You might also find OpenLayers helpful, it provides "slippymap" functionality (The OpenStreetMap main page, Google Maps, Bing Maps, etc) and can incorporate map services provided by Mapnik or OSM (or Google Maps), along with raw geographic vector data like GML, GeoJSON, etc which can be symbolized, selected, edited, etc.

[Redrobes]

Hmm thats quite some project then.

I think maybe you should look at Hai's idea of grabbing some of the OpenStreetMap data and echo the CC licensing note. But it would get you the coastal outlines and some of the features you need quite quickly.

In terms of getting trees and stuff its all starting to sound like a full on game engine and maybe what we call a VTT - a Virtual Table Top which is a mapping system where people can make role playing moves and get those adjustments to the map delivered via the internet to all the other clients logged in. I write one of those and I am grokking the kind of low bandwidth and tree icon stamping that you are looking at. See my sig for more info and the VTT section here on the forums.

In terms of AI for combatants thats a pretty involved problem all by itself. I wrote an app and a thread about it here called mapping with economics which you might also want to have a browse at.

http://www.cartographersguild.com/sh...sing-economics.

I found that quite a challenge to get even that far and I didn't think it made much of an effect of simulating the world conflict even in a small space. Maybe I haven't quite got the gist of it right.

Anyways there's a few more things to consider. And I would think that you meant 350 AD not BC if were talking about Romans in the UK.

[Simon Tomlin]

Hai-Etliks suggestions sounds very useful and I will certainly follow those up. My most time consuming and also badly done aspect of the mapping so far is the coast lines and rivers. The thought of getting the coast lines mapped and the difficult rivers sounds very appealing thank you very much for the suggestions. Sorry for the cryptic OS reference.

Redrobes, your economic project is very interesting but much more advanced than the system I am using or need. For example the trees symbolism is only to show the level of woodland. Woodland is important in the economic system for food, fuel and of cause timber. At this period of time there is no shortage of woodland in Southern Britain but it will be an impact in other areas such as the Mediterranean coastlines where ship building is more comprehensive and populations larger.

There is also the other side of the coin where clearing lands aids in the development of farming and husbandry. It also has a military impact for battlefields lack of an open spaces impacts military formations and the deployment of certain weaponry (basically it becomes more close quarters and communication becomes an issue).

However, it does share your projects desire to model the living aspect of the community, house building, roads farms etc.
So its the level of detail which is the difference. Yours is a lot higher. Basically players want to see change happening in their world and so when a new settlement is made a house is shown, a road being completed is nice to see it snake along to conclusion. Stone circles look good on the map as well as they convey a sense of development.

The time is correct at 350BC and there is a reasoning behind this. It is a convenient starting point with Persia being the most powerful, Greece on the ascent after Phillips hegemony, the start of Rome and the Carthaginian Navy controlling the southern Mediterranean. During this time Britain is a back water which makes it convenient for a place to start since its very basic and not much is known about it so historical accuracy is not so important - realistic is the demand rather than historic.

I will definitely check out the VTT threads. I did find a natural attraction to the board gaming subject since the military system has some roots in a board game GMTs Great Battles of History. However I think you are right that its natural placing is in the VTT world due to the number of players and eventual scale.

Once again thanks for your help, very impressed with the site and the members.

[Simon Tomlin]

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[torstan]

Fixed - sorry to have missed that earlier.

[NeonKnight]

Welcome to the Guild!