[VTM] Mapsforge themes compatibility!

[Emux]

VTM has Mapsforge themes compatibility!

We're happy to announce that VTM has Mapsforge themes compatibility (#100) thanks to really nice work by @Longri.

See attached image with VTM rendering OpenAndroMaps maps with Mapsforge Elevate theme.

There are still some rules to check like symbol positioning (now have 'above' + 'below'), but all the basic things are working.

So now can use VTM to open all popular Mapsforge maps + themes.
Please report any feedback to improve more the compatibility.


Additionally VTM also supports:
- Line symbols (#124)
- Line stroke dash array (#131)

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Emux

[Emux]

Cruiser (Android + Desktop) with latest VTM was released.

Cruiser GL can now read Mapsforge / OpenAndroMaps themes!

In screenshot OpenAndroMaps map + Elevate theme ("city" style) opened in Cruiser GL.

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Emux

[SBR]

Thanks for the work.

I have made a comparsion with Cruiser and Cruiser GL. Here my feedback:

In VTM the streets are wider. On the other hand small lines around areas are dotted.
Text and symbols are smaller.
I think with same theme this should be in sync.

No changes below level 17? :(

Categories on area, line, caption, circle, pathText, linesymbol does not work.

Btw in Cruiser GL I can't move the map with the mouse.

[Emux]

Thanks for the feedback.

The themes define all those things. e.g. Elevate theme has small sizes
So need to compare the exact same theme in both Mapsforge and VTM to be sure.

Also OpenGL is different than software rendering, so someone wouldn't expect exact screen copies.

> No changes below level 17? :(

What do you mean?

> Categories on area, line, caption, circle, pathText, linesymbol does not work.

It's a work in progress. :)

But that's strange since directives are parsed like in VTM themes, will check it.

> Btw in Cruiser GL I can't move the map with the mouse.

What OS and graphics card / drivers?

(have tested on Windows, macOS, Linux without issues)

This would be more appropriate to discuss in Cruiser forum.

Also if you're a developer and can test VTM Desktop samples to see if having the same behavior, could help us.

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Emux

[SBR]

It is ok that it does not look identical but I wish that it looks similar. So that there is no need to maintain two themes (I'm a theme developer).

I could be that this a device/app issue (Windows 10).

>> No changes below level 17? :(
>What do you mean?

Every rule with zoom level 18, 19. 20 will be ignored.

At zoom level 18-20 level 17 will be shown.

[Emux]

> So that there is no need to maintain two themes

OpenGL has extra directives which cannot work in software rendering (like fading or tessellation).

Essentially someone wanting the "best" theme for the engine would need to use some of them.

> Every rule with zoom level 18, 19. 20 will be ignored. At zoom level 18-20 level 17 will be shown.

See #216, that depends now on how client handles the map file tile source.
VTM default implementation is to do Mapsforge data extraction until zoom 17.
Of course any app can select otherwise, 18, 19, 20 or more.

Also situation will be improved more when #393 is resolved.

> I could be that this a device/app issue (Windows 10).

What graphics card and driver?

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Emux

[Emux]

I fixed VTM map scaling in #401.

Indeed we had larger than normal lines!
Now map should be similar to Mapsforge and much more readable.

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Emux

[Emux]

New Cruiser (Android + Desktop) was published with the improved VTM OpenGL rendering (similar to Mapsforge).

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Emux

[mtbiker]

Hi together,
i played a bit with cruiser to see how VTM works.
It is really fast as hell on every device.

I also tested the new mapsforge/openandromaps theme function.
Looks good so far.

Is there a reason why the building are flat and not rendered in 3D when using mapsforge?

Thanks in advance,
mtbiker

[Emux]

Mapsforge themes compatibility is not complete, there are still some issues to check and improve existing rules.

> Is there a reason why the building are flat and not rendered in 3D when using mapsforge?

The 3D buildings are enabled in VTM themes via special rule, which of course not exists in Mapsforge themes.

We could enable it "anyway" for Mapsforge themes, but that wouldn't then be user selectable.

Also Mapsforge land and sea require GL tessellation directive to display properly.


I'll push more of those improvements soon - regarding VTM missing theme rules and Mapsforge compatibility!

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Emux

[mtbiker]

Thanks for the fast answer.

We could enable it "anyway" for Mapsforge themes, but that wouldn't then be user selectable.

maybe something like that.

I'll push more of those improvements soon - regarding VTM missing theme rules and Mapsforge compatibility!

Sounds good.

Best wishes,

mtbiker

[Emux]

Oneways with the improved line symbol rule at the screenshot.

(working likewise in VTM and Mapsforge themes)

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Emux

[Longri, Andre Höpfner]

Very nice!

I hope that I will soon find time to support you here again.

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[Emux]

New Cruiser was released with all the latest Mapsforge themes compatibility in VTM improvements.

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Emux

[SBR]

I've found another scaling issue.
The stroke-width of a line on different zoom level is depends on if you use stroke-dasharray or not.

The highway border have the same width. When you zoom in the borders with stroke-dasharray disappear.

[Emux]

Thanks for the report, will need to check.

For reference, in OpenAndroMaps forum here Tobias has also mentioned that dasharray doesn't perform similarly per zoom.

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Emux

[Maki]

Il giorno domenica 8 ottobre 2017 13:45:50 UTC+2, Emux ha scritto:

For reference, in OpenAndroMaps forum here Tobias has also mentioned that dasharray doesn't perform similarly per zoom.

Hi,

trying Cruiser GL on a LG GPad 8.3 with Android 4.4 here.

It's incredible to see such a fluid real-time pan and zoom from a Mapsforge map!

On the negative side I too see incorrect line width and dash-arrays. Using OpenAndroMaps with Tiramisù the contour lines are almost invisible, and the dasharray of track's core is very compressed.

Another thing, that may very well depend on the single device, it's painfully slow to load. Something like 30 seconds of blank screen when first loading the map or when changing style.

I also don't really like the 3D buildings, but that's just me.

Congratulations anyway, that's a huge step forward for MapsForge.

Thanks,

Maki

[Emux]

Hi Maki,

Mapsforge themes compatibility would need some improvements, thanks for the feedback!

> Another thing, that may very well depend on the single device, it's painfully slow to load. Something like 30 seconds of blank screen when first loading the map or when changing style.

It's not the map, it's the theme parsing, which can be slow for very large themes:

- Mapsforge engine uses kXML2 a pull parser for the themes
- VTM engine uses a regular sax parser, i.e. wait for whole theme to build up

We'll have to add a pull parser in VTM too.

3D buildings rendering is handled and can be changed via the themes.
Now only VTM compatible themes provide such rules, for Mapsforge themes we show an optional default rendering.

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Emux