Update of map core (2019)

[michaelbechtold]

TXs Menion.
I understand zoom lock. But to get to the 70% in the first place, fiddling with this jumping threshold is annoying.
Why not allow a general scale factor below 100% - all needs met. Usage up to the taste of the user.

[Viajero Perdido]

My main impression:  I wish the + and - buttons still locked to the next nearest 100%.  Because vector map text at 80% is much smaller than 130%, it's nice to reset the text size with a simple tap-to-zoom, after accidentally zooming to some random factor.  I also assume rendering is more efficient (is it?) at an even 100%.

Overall, things seem to work well, both with LoMaps/LoThemes and OAM+EleThemes, a mix of V3 and V4 with OAM.  (Are there particular maps & themes that would be better for testing?)

The 3rd Alpha did crash once (disappeared quietly) when I was zooming a map, and crashed again on restart, but on the next attempt it started up OK.  (The system's take-crash-dump option was greyed out, though I thought I'd enabled that some time ago.)

Occasionally when zooming, a rectangular section of the vector map won't render, or takes long enough that I don't wait for it.

The long-standing bug of empty vector tiles not rendering at least a background (due to a sparse map; nothing mapped) seems to be gone.   

[john_percy]

I have reworked my Voluntary & Velocity themes for the Locus new map core alpha release. Download the attachment, unzip it and add to your Locus themes directory. You should find two new themes appear for v4 maps: Voluntary Mapsforge Alpha and Velocity Alpha. They are intended to be as similar as practicable to my previous Voluntary and Velocity themes.
They are aware of the change to tile size and scaling and the zoom level at which map items appear. However they will not be totally consistent across screens with different resolutions. Locus enhancements are naturally absent and sore missed.

Edit: The latest development version of my themes has moved to the beta topic  here.

[Menion]

@michaelbechtold
hmm so your request: allow "Maps > Advanced features > Increase map resolution" select values below 100% right? I've just tested it and it seems to work. Anyway, I'm personally not a big fan of this. 50% scale means 4x more map tiles = slower map, slower app, lower battery. Is there any particular map that needs some special scaling? Every online map has own scale factor, so it is possible to rescale a single online map individually to be "same" as other maps.

@Viajero Perdido
you are not the first, so implemented. Zooming by buttons will try to catch 100% scale levels. Performance effect won't play role I believe, but agree that maps at 100% may look shart and consistent.

@john_percy
perfect, thanks.
I can imagine, once this bigger task will be completed, I may try to add support for some special tags (previously used by my own MF version) directly into V4 maps over official MapsForge library. We may discuss this later.

[Viajero Perdido]

Thanks for the quick 100% fix!

I've noticed some glitchiness with cut-off text labels.  Using John's latest VolUK alpha theme (also thanks!), an OAM V4 ML map, and text scaling at 200%, and zoom at various levels including 100%:

• Pan map to a new area, let it render
• Notice a cut-off text label.
• Zoom out (-) and in (+).  (Or: pan away* and back again.)
• Label is now completely rendered.

(* Even panning just one pixel past where the missing-text area disappears from view, it magically appears when you pan back.)

It'll be wonderful to see this finally fixed - which I'm pretty sure we're about to see happen. 

[Menion]

Hmm to be true, I see no simple solution here.
The current system as is, is itself a lot better than was before. Anyway, in these cases, when the text that appears in the second tile should be drawn over already visible map tile, it is a problem. For now ...

[michaelbechtold]

@michaelbechtold
hmm so your request: allow "Maps > Advanced features > Increase map resolution" select values below 100% right? I've just tested it and it seems to work. Anyway, I'm personally not a big fan of this. 50% scale means 4x more map tiles = slower map, slower app, lower battery. Is there any particular map that needs some special scaling? Every online map has own scale factor, so it is possible to rescale a single online map individually to be "same" as other maps.

Thank you Menion. Currently I am manually working with 70%, which is only a factor of 2. Driver for this is a proper balance between World Map and Vector Maps.
If there would be an "own scale factor" for world map, like for the online maps, that would do as well.

[john_percy]

Hmm to be true, I see no simple solution here... Anyway, in these cases, when the text that appears in the second tile should be drawn over already visible map tile, it is a problem. For now ...

I thought Mapsforge had a solution to this, involving a separate text layer and iterating around the active tile for the truncated text. I guess it's not the fastest process.

Sent from my moto g(6) plus using Tapatalk

[michaelbechtold]

Hi Menion, just installed the latest alpha on a M5 tablet.
Scaling below 100% is not there. At the same time - other than before - a manual adjustment is now only possible down to 80%, then it jumps to lower ZL and crazy % >100%. But then, when I tap "+", it jumps to 133%, regardless of the scale I adjusted manually. I.e. User has lost control.

[Viajero Perdido]

I think the latest version is now the freshly-released beta (via the usual beta channel), which would render the alpha obsolete.

Haven't tried it yet.

[Menion]

@john_percy
mapsForge itself probably has a solution for this, but it is not so easy. MapsForge is not just "draw a single map tile" library, which needs Locus Map. MapsForge itself is a complete system that takes care of everything, not just drawing a map tile. And because of this, it is complicated to use it in apps like Locus Map. Locus Map now uses so-called DirectRenderer which is the result of this discussion, but as you see ... still not 100% perfect. I'll look at it if I do not miss anything.

@michaelbechtold
as I wrote previously, I'm not big fan of downscaling maps, so it is not included in Beta version.
Not sure what maps you use, but for me it is possible to scale manually to 71% with any vector maps. Anyway jump to 133% is interesting. Which map should I try, may I get it somehow? Thank you!

@Viajero Perdido
ah thanks, I wanted to notify here this information. Yes, this is correct. I've decided to publish version now over the regular Beta channel. It should be stable and usable enough for tests. It is then easier to update and also version itself should be half the size of the supplied APK file.

[michaelbechtold]

Well, my understanding was that you personally would not employ <100% scale. Which does not imply you deny that to everybody else ...
The map is the W1-10MBT from OAM, used as world map.
I also got the PlayeStore update on my LG G5.
Here I can manually reach 70%, but a "+" jumps to 100% rather than 70% with the next ZL.
In any case, a scale definition for the world maps would help.

[Menion]

Nono, I'm always trying to think "globally" .

I personally (in this case) feel this "less than 100%" thing, like a too big hack to be true. Maybe anyone else with an opinion on this "map scale settings" less than 100%?

Michael, really, if the only map you think that need this setting, then maybe it should worth to regenerate this world map instead of adding unnecessary settings into the app? Also, such settings consume more power and make the map slower ... definitely not what we (as users) wants.

I'll anyway try this map as well.

@Viajero Perdido, @john_percy
hmm I think I found something about these map labels ...

[john_percy]

@menion Good!

Also. I spent some time today adding 54 POIs to Locus and the map redrawing got slower and slower and sometimes whole tiles were missed out until I moved the map back and forwards. Restarting the phone didn't improve matters but hiding all the points then displaying them again speeded things up to normal speed and full display. Is this possible?

[michaelbechtold]

Hi Menion, you know my "addiction" to Lucus since years, but we have to admit there are other people who use other apps in addition or instead.
When testing ANY raster map with Locus and with Orux you notice factors between the scales. For the same map you need a 4x magnifying glass in Orux. And I do not propose a discussion who is right or wrong here.
Alos, for raster maps, the battery argument does not hold, I suppose. Displaying images is highly optimized by Smartphone architecture, more or less tiles do not really matter, hence the scaling below 100% does not hurt. Yet, rendering vector maps is the real battery power burden.
So, to make all ends meet, I propose you give the overview map its own scaling factor, hence vector processing in higher ZLs will not be affected by a scale down.