Optional Map Feature?

[+NevadaWolf]

Seeing as this is based on old adventure games, and with the possibility of tours offered for areas, is it possible to somehow include a primative map of where a player is in relation to visible zones/characters/items/etc?

 

Something as simple as a line drawing with a real-time GPS identified "You Are Here" arrow to maybe as fancy as an incorporation of Google Maps (for those with unlimited data access).

 

On the Colorado, I don't see this as an issue as (I assume) one can move between Wherigo and the Mapping side of the GPS.

 

When I test walked my tour - having a screen with an area map and a dot indicating where my GPS thought I was in relation to the zone I was walking to would really have helped seeing as the red arrows didn't always point the right direction to walk.

[+davidloew]

Seeing as this is based on old adventure games, and with the possibility of tours offered for areas, is it possible to somehow include a primative map of where a player is in relation to visible zones/characters/items/etc?

 

Something as simple as a line drawing with a real-time GPS identified "You Are Here" arrow to maybe as fancy as an incorporation of Google Maps (for those with unlimited data access).

 

On the Colorado, I don't see this as an issue as (I assume) one can move between Wherigo and the Mapping side of the GPS.

 

When I test walked my tour - having a screen with an area map and a dot indicating where my GPS thought I was in relation to the zone I was walking to would really have helped seeing as the red arrows didn't always point the right direction to walk.

Don't I wish!!! On the PPC a google map is not an option because of the non-connected nature of the device. And, even if the device is connected, the performance might not be good. A radar type map would be cool, one that shows a grid, a drawing of the zones that are active and visible and you. The arrows on the PPC are fully dependent on a good gps signal while walking because they totally use the gps data. On a device with an electric compass, that's a whole different story.

 

David.

[Ranger Fox]

I don't know about real-time maps, but you could always do a zoomed-out screen shot of Google maps and offer that as a map of the playing field. Perhaps the player could receive a new map at the beginning of each task? When the player needs to know where to do, s/he can pull up the map from inventory and view it. The previous completed task's spot and the next task's destination can be shown.

 

As for the Colorado, I'll have an answer for you when those come out. I'll purchase one, construct a test cartridge, and play it through on the GPSr. I don't know if you can switch between the maps. I'm assuming you can, but I doubt the zones will be colored as they are on the Emulator's map.

[+NevadaWolf]

I was hoping for a "You are here" vs a "You should be here" - but I'll take what I can get.

 

I'd already considered the graphical map with directions - I'll see about incorporating those into my route...

 

Oh, but to dream!

[Ranger Fox]

At the moment, I don't know if they'll be able to get the streets on it, but perhaps they'll be able to draw a graphical map representing the dimensions and positioning of all active zones relative to others and the user. Would that be closer to what you want?

 

I just don't know about the road overlay, though, whether that will happen any time soon. And I wonder how hard it will be draw this in Lua or else manipulate a graphic predrawn in .Net.

 

I'm musing here, speculating what people might want/need versus what could be provided in the foreseeable future. I can easily see how maps will help people to visualize where they need to go.

[+frigschneck]

I don't think that something as fancy as google maps is necessary, but a basic mini-map showing the current position (and orientation, if available) and the active zones in relation to each other imho is a MUST, unless you want to restrict yourself to places with excellent GPS reception. With such a mini-map, you have a good chance to get to your zone even with bad reception, while just with the arrow you rather get frustrated soon.

 

Btw, it doesn't seem to be possible to switch to map display on the Colorado while playing a cartridge - ok, you could save your game, exit the player, switch to the map - then you will see where you are, but still not where you ought to be.

[Ranger Fox]

I don't think you'll ever be able to see the zones on the Colorado's map. From what I understand, the cartridge runs in its own environment and cannot access anything else on the Colorado. I think this was mentioned with the example of saying the player can't access the Colorado's waypoint list.

[+frigschneck]

As I understood, this applies to the lua script - i.e. you cant access other GPS features from within your cartridge. This seems reasonable to me as your cartridge is supposed to be platform-independent (despite some internal format issues handled by the compiler)

 

However, the map feature I am thinking of should be part of the Wherigo-player software. I see no reason why the player shouldnt provide additional functionality depending on the device it's running on. And this software, as any other software on the Colorado, should have access to the needed functions.