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I've added a custom Google Maps mod to the forums allowing you to share your location and see which SMS Power people you live near. Just click on Membermap to see where people are, and edit your profile to add yourself to the map.

Note that the map doesn't always update right away. Try refreshing your browser's cache of this XML file to solve that.

Report any problems in this thread. You need JavaScript turned on in your browser for any of it to work.

Oh this is cute, and kinda gives an interesting demographic of users, and I like the snail icon on the pin. It'd be interesting if each user could use a custom icon for the pin-head.

I might add custom icons later. Feel free to design some, keeping to the same size and Sega 8-bit theme.

It works almost fine for me, but I can't see the messages when I click on a marker, is it a bug on my end?

Maxim wrote

I might add custom icons later. Feel free to design some, keeping to the same size and Sega 8-bit theme.

What are the size, filetype, or other specifics.

All map markers should be the same size, roughly. Here's what I made:

based on the presumption that a small marker will reduce map clutter. I think it'll be hard to find many 8x8 images to use so you might need to expand it a bit, but then you'll need some way of making the smaller ones not get swamped by the bigger ones.

The shadow matches the image, it's the same pixels painted black, sheared and scaled and set to 50% transparent. I found it looks better without blurring, but I didn't figure out how to make a gradient blur which might be better.

Edit: If all the images are the same size, and pin/shadow intersect at the same place, it makes my life a lot easier. But avoid huge transparent areas.

Tom wrote

It works almost fine for me, but I can't see the messages when I click on a marker, is it a bug on my end?

Do you mean you don't see any popup, or the message text is missing? Ctrl+F5 on http://www.smspower.org/forums/markers.xml and if you see it in there, it ought to be on the map.

Ive had no problems with the map but if you make your text box greeting to big it doesn't fit in the box, but I guess theres not much we can do about that.

It ought to expand, I think it is a bit dodgy when the text is only just too large.

Ive added me.

Maxim is exactly between me and Bock, in a big sms fanboy sandwich.. eew.

Non-ASCII text is quite broken for messages and probably names too. I'll try to fix that soon.

Edit: Wow, I fixed it already! Now we can all go nuts with és and çs and ßs and 汉字 etc.

For my next trick, I'll try making the XML into KML that works in Google Earth. Sometime.

He he, neat feature =)

Well, since the snail actually is bigger than 8x8 (by a pixel or two) I think that a limit of 16x16 (plus the 16x8 for the pin) may suffice. Replacing the pin, one can effectively use a 16w 24h image, commonly found with a lot of game main character sprite. Btw, how should I handle transparency? The shading picture should be easy to do.

I also want a save state of a part of Phantasy star that has all 4 characters in party, I seem to have disposed of many save states.

The snail itself is 8x7 pixels, I added a black border because it didn't stand out against the map enough to make it 10x9 and then added the pin base from a stock Google map pin. I'm worried over-large map pins will clutter the map. I mocked up the attached image (16x24 Alex Kidds with 7px pins) - does it seem too much? Normally maps with a lot of pins use smaller images. With more sprites in use, the overall effect may be more chaotic.

clones.png (14.63 KB)

How come the text in my text box still doesnt fit?

I dunno. Notice how my message text fits fine - just change your message a bit if it's getting cut off like this. It's something in the Google code that I can't do much about.

Maxim wrote

Normally maps with a lot of pins use smaller images. With more sprites in use, the overall effect may be more chaotic.

Would it be possible to change the image used according to the zoom factor? When the zoom is set to show a lot of stuff, use smaller default images; when you zoom in, switch to bigger and/or custom images.

Also, I see that there is no mark from Japan yet, perhaps we should post an announcement in the Japanese forum? I'd do that but my Japanese isn't really good.

Anything's possible but I want to keep things simple. I was rather hoping an 8x8 constraint would promote some lateral thinking and hence some nice results, but thinking of what you get in a single 8x8 tile, it's going to be hard... bullets, Columns jewels, single font characters, The Ninja throwing stars, really far away Out run palm trees... not exactly inspiring. Maybe I can be convinced if someone makes some nice graphics, especially if they're more inspired than just main character sprite rips. 16x16 might be a reasonable compromise.

Sadly we don't get many Japanese visitors, hence why the Japanese section is so quiet. Maybe they're all on 2ch or something. Thanks for the thought though.

Yeah, I was thinking Choplifter gun turrets, or the rock/paper/sissors from Alex Kidd and other 'little' things that get missed in many of the SMS library.

Besides, a Ghostbusters logo would just be too cool :P

Riceballs anyone....

Update: I overhauled the code a lot, added a Google Earth KML option, and made the search feature work better. There's also tooltips on the snail icons now.

Maxim wrote

Update: I overhauled the code a lot, added a Google Earth KML option, and made the search feature work better. There's also tooltips on the snail icons now.

Cool work there Maxim, its scary looking at it through google earth, you get to see the colour of peoples house roofs, mines bright orange :P

A few years back I signed up with a "guestmap" service doing much the same thing, which is still hanging around here:

http://www.mapservices.org/myguestmap/showguestmap.do?id=smspower

I just spent a few minutes importing (most of) the locations from there, so some people will find that they're now on the map. Hopefully everyone was using their real names...

If you don't like it, or it's in the wrong place, edit your profile. Delete the latitude/longitude fields to remove yourself, or use the map to edit your location by drag/drop. Clear your browser cache if your change doesn't seem to be reflected in the map page.

All I've really done is to copy the data from a third party to our own database (with the intention to delete the third-party one soon) so it's actually making your data more secure. Honest. Apologies to anyone who is bothered by this, PM me and I can help sort you out.

Author	Message
Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14991 Location: London	[Forums] Membermap Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 8:21 pm
	I've added a custom Google Maps mod to the forums allowing you to share your location and see which SMS Power people you live near. Just click on Membermap to see where people are, and edit your profile to add yourself to the map. Note that the map doesn't always update right away. Try refreshing your browser's cache of this XML file to solve that. Report any problems in this thread. You need JavaScript turned on in your browser for any of it to work.

AtariRaccoon Joined: 24 Sep 2007 Posts: 99 Location: Canada - NB	Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 8:35 pm
	Oh this is cute, and kinda gives an interesting demographic of users, and I like the snail icon on the pin. It'd be interesting if each user could use a custom icon for the pin-head.

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14991 Location: London	Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 9:37 pm
	I might add custom icons later. Feel free to design some, keeping to the same size and Sega 8-bit theme.

Tom Joined: 16 May 2002 Posts: 1381 Location: italy	Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 9:59 pm
Tom Joined: 16 May 2002 Posts: 1381 Location: italy	It works almost fine for me, but I can't see the messages when I click on a marker, is it a bug on my end?

AtariRaccoon Joined: 24 Sep 2007 Posts: 99 Location: Canada - NB	Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 1:31 am
	Maxim wrote I might add custom icons later. Feel free to design some, keeping to the same size and Sega 8-bit theme. What are the size, filetype, or other specifics.

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14991 Location: London	Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 6:55 am Last edited by Maxim on Tue Jan 22, 2008 8:13 am; edited 1 time in total
	All map markers should be the same size, roughly. Here's what I made: based on the presumption that a small marker will reduce map clutter. I think it'll be hard to find many 8x8 images to use so you might need to expand it a bit, but then you'll need some way of making the smaller ones not get swamped by the bigger ones. The shadow matches the image, it's the same pixels painted black, sheared and scaled and set to 50% transparent. I found it looks better without blurring, but I didn't figure out how to make a gradient blur which might be better. Edit: If all the images are the same size, and pin/shadow intersect at the same place, it makes my life a lot easier. But avoid huge transparent areas.

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14991 Location: London	Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 8:07 am
	Tom wrote It works almost fine for me, but I can't see the messages when I click on a marker, is it a bug on my end? Do you mean you don't see any popup, or the message text is missing? Ctrl+F5 on http://www.smspower.org/forums/markers.xml and if you see it in there, it ought to be on the map.

Jacko Joined: 01 Feb 2004 Posts: 1464 Location: Sunny ol Tamworth, New England NSW AU	Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 8:13 am
	Ive had no problems with the map but if you make your text box greeting to big it doesn't fit in the box, but I guess theres not much we can do about that.

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14991 Location: London	Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 8:22 am
	It ought to expand, I think it is a bit dodgy when the text is only just too large.

james costello Joined: 17 Dec 2005 Posts: 537 Location: England	Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 12:46 pm
	Ive added me. Maxim is exactly between me and Bock, in a big sms fanboy sandwich.. eew.

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14991 Location: London	Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 1:03 pm
	Non-ASCII text is quite broken for messages and probably names too. I'll try to fix that soon. Edit: Wow, I fixed it already! Now we can all go nuts with és and çs and ßs and 汉字 etc. For my next trick, I'll try making the XML into KML that works in Google Earth. Sometime.

FluBBa Joined: 21 Jul 2005 Posts: 412 Location: GBG	Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 5:03 pm
FluBBa Joined: 21 Jul 2005 Posts: 412 Location: GBG	He he, neat feature =)

AtariRaccoon Joined: 24 Sep 2007 Posts: 99 Location: Canada - NB	Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 7:11 pm
	Well, since the snail actually is bigger than 8x8 (by a pixel or two) I think that a limit of 16x16 (plus the 16x8 for the pin) may suffice. Replacing the pin, one can effectively use a 16w 24h image, commonly found with a lot of game main character sprite. Btw, how should I handle transparency? The shading picture should be easy to do. I also want a save state of a part of Phantasy star that has all 4 characters in party, I seem to have disposed of many save states.

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14991 Location: London	Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 7:42 am
	The snail itself is 8x7 pixels, I added a black border because it didn't stand out against the map enough to make it 10x9 and then added the pin base from a stock Google map pin. I'm worried over-large map pins will clutter the map. I mocked up the attached image (16x24 Alex Kidds with 7px pins) - does it seem too much? Normally maps with a lot of pins use smaller images. With more sprites in use, the overall effect may be more chaotic. clones.png (14.63 KB)

Jacko Joined: 01 Feb 2004 Posts: 1464 Location: Sunny ol Tamworth, New England NSW AU	Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 1:29 pm
	How come the text in my text box still doesnt fit?

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14991 Location: London	Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 2:28 pm
	I dunno. Notice how my message text fits fine - just change your message a bit if it's getting cut off like this. It's something in the Google code that I can't do much about.

Tom Joined: 16 May 2002 Posts: 1381 Location: italy	Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 7:04 pm
Tom Joined: 16 May 2002 Posts: 1381 Location: italy	Maxim wrote Normally maps with a lot of pins use smaller images. With more sprites in use, the overall effect may be more chaotic. Would it be possible to change the image used according to the zoom factor? When the zoom is set to show a lot of stuff, use smaller default images; when you zoom in, switch to bigger and/or custom images. Also, I see that there is no mark from Japan yet, perhaps we should post an announcement in the Japanese forum? I'd do that but my Japanese isn't really good.

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14991 Location: London	Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 7:44 pm
	Anything's possible but I want to keep things simple. I was rather hoping an 8x8 constraint would promote some lateral thinking and hence some nice results, but thinking of what you get in a single 8x8 tile, it's going to be hard... bullets, Columns jewels, single font characters, The Ninja throwing stars, really far away Out run palm trees... not exactly inspiring. Maybe I can be convinced if someone makes some nice graphics, especially if they're more inspired than just main character sprite rips. 16x16 might be a reasonable compromise. Sadly we don't get many Japanese visitors, hence why the Japanese section is so quiet. Maybe they're all on 2ch or something. Thanks for the thought though.

AtariRaccoon Joined: 24 Sep 2007 Posts: 99 Location: Canada - NB	Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 9:19 pm
	Yeah, I was thinking Choplifter gun turrets, or the rock/paper/sissors from Alex Kidd and other 'little' things that get missed in many of the SMS library. Besides, a Ghostbusters logo would just be too cool :P Riceballs anyone....

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14991 Location: London	Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2008 11:47 pm
	Update: I overhauled the code a lot, added a Google Earth KML option, and made the search feature work better. There's also tooltips on the snail icons now.

Jacko Joined: 01 Feb 2004 Posts: 1464 Location: Sunny ol Tamworth, New England NSW AU	Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2008 1:12 pm
	Maxim wrote Update: I overhauled the code a lot, added a Google Earth KML option, and made the search feature work better. There's also tooltips on the snail icons now. Cool work there Maxim, its scary looking at it through google earth, you get to see the colour of peoples house roofs, mines bright orange :P

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14991 Location: London	Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 1:43 pm
	A few years back I signed up with a "guestmap" service doing much the same thing, which is still hanging around here: http://www.mapservices.org/myguestmap/showguestmap.do?id=smspower I just spent a few minutes importing (most of) the locations from there, so some people will find that they're now on the map. Hopefully everyone was using their real names... If you don't like it, or it's in the wrong place, edit your profile. Delete the latitude/longitude fields to remove yourself, or use the map to edit your location by drag/drop. Clear your browser cache if your change doesn't seem to be reflected in the map page. All I've really done is to copy the data from a third party to our own database (with the intention to delete the third-party one soon) so it's actually making your data more secure. Honest. Apologies to anyone who is bothered by this, PM me and I can help sort you out.

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