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Question about offline maps

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KingKai
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Feb 25, 2012 12:18 am

Question about offline maps

Post by KingKai »

Hi,

I just got AlpineQuest and was thinking of adding offline hiking maps for the northeastern US.

My problem is that MOBAC doesn't seem to support any decent map sources US topo maps. I tied version 1.8 after seeing it mentioned in an older thread. While it shows many more map sources, these sources don't seem to be available anymore.

Good hiking maps (USGS Topo and OSM Cycle) are available as off-line maps and I could make sure I look at all the map areas I need before heading out, but that seems to defeat the purpose of being able to load off-line maps.

Do you know why MOBAC's map support is so limited?

Kai
KingKai
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Feb 25, 2012 12:18 am

Re: Question about offline maps

Post by KingKai »

Never mind the MOBAC map limitations. Its explained here: http://sourceforge.net/apps/phpbb/mobac ... =1&start=0

That's a real bummer for AlpineQuest, as it does limit the types of offline maps that are available. Would it be possible for AQ to cache maps at a high resolution for an area marked on the screen?

Kai
Psyberia-Support
Site Admin
Posts: 6407
Joined: Wed Apr 14, 2010 9:41 pm

Re: Question about offline maps

Post by Psyberia-Support »

Hi, and thanks for posting your feedbacks here.
Yes you're right since version 1.8 (as far as I remember), and due to copyright reasons, MOBAC only supports OSM maps (the developer received a lot of complains about the owners of the maps).
As you noticed, you can use OSM Cycle and USGS maps in AlpineQuest (one is built-in the other in community maps), but you must display every area you want to save for offline use.
I know this is not as handy as what MOBAC did, and if I have time I will try to do something easier to use.
However I would like to say:
- AlpineQuest should be primarily seen as a map displayer, not a map creator, that's why this feature is not on the top of priorities;
- Being able to save large areas make extensive use of the remote servers, and not every areas are usually used. Even OpenStreetMap did not recommend bulk download of maps and used to blacklist applications doing so. That's why we must be careful.

But as I said I will try do add a feature like that in the future.

Finally, note that you may use map layers to cache online maps: each layers will be simultaneously saved (ex Google Earth + USGS).

Best regards.
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