Desktop Cruiser 5.2 with VTM theme

[dnesbitt61]

I downloaded the latest Cruiser 5_2 and am running it with VTM (java -jar cruiser.jar vtm). When I try to load a VTM theme (e.g., biker.xml) it pops up an Error: Unknown element style-line.

[MotoUKRider]

@dnesbitt61 The VTM/OpenGL engine is not part of Cruiser v5.x so that type of theme won't work.

Thankfully, I have merged the "biker" theme into the Mapsforge format, so you can still enjoy its styling with the current version of Cruiser, see this thread for screenshots and link to the XML which you can load into the App/Desktop. This theme is not part of Cruiser itself but has been produced alongside the current "Light" and "Dark" themes which I help maintain.

We spent a lot of time getting the behaviour of these themes right, so the Light/Dark are essentially identical but with different colours, the same goes for the "biker" theme - it behaves in the same way, just with its familiar colour-scheme (more like OpenStreetMap).

You may find the "Layers" menu helpful, as not every object/feature is visible by default - and, of course, you can edit the XML if you wish 🎨

[DolomitesTom]

I find the answer unhelpful and I'm sure that not having VTM will put off many users and deprive Cruiser of the opportunity to expand further. Why not think about making Open GL OPTIONAL again? Kurviger also works with VTM/Open GL ES3.0 without any problems. Why can't Cruiser do that?

[MotoUKRider]

@DolomitesTom I would also like the 3D to return - it offers a greater viewing area (particularly for my use in landscape) and I really think that type of viewing experience is an entry requirement for a "navigation" application. That said, I'm managing reasonably well with what we have now and I honestly haven't found a more suitable App with such a vibrant support environment.

Previously I used CoPilot - and gave the latest version a try (in trial mode) over Xmas but couldn't test anything useful without paying them, so I uninstalled it. The big one for me was the Trip List; no way to sort it, totally random so if you had 50 routes ready to go there was no way of telling where in the list it would appear (yes, really). I had zero success with any of the support requests I sent to Trimble over 2yrs of use.

I'm not sure I'd want to re-write the old VTM theme to fully support what we have now within the Mapsforge rendering or if it's even possible. Having just had a look at it, I would think writing it from the ground up would be the way to do it (rather than juggle the existing lines around)... eg: start with land, sea and motorways, then style them and work in further features/objects sequentially.

That's my position, and my aims have been to make the Mapsforge map as best it can within the framework allowed: Good road identification for planning/navigating, POI toggle, land features etc.

Please spare a thought for @devemux86 who has largely not had to worry about the map style aspects for the last 7 months apart from helping me with syntax and checking my (sometimes frequent!) errors in Light/Dark. It may be that development and coding of the App itself would be considerably behind where it is now had that also been on the plate... 👏

[DolomitesTom]

I'm` not sure I'd want to re-write the old VTM theme to fully support what we have now within the Mapsforge rendering or if it's even possible. Having just had a look at it, I would think writing it from the ground up would be the way to do it (rather than juggle the existing lines around)... eg: start with land, sea and motorways, then style them and work in further features/objects sequentially

I am using your theme in V 4.02, it works without any issue.

[MotoUKRider]

@DolomitesTom Yes, aside from a few visual rendering glitches (pixels, lines etc) it works.

As I said, there are a number of "behaviour" improvements, many user contributed, so that things appear when they should and in a way that works for the majority of scenarios, eg: we made a number of improvements to the "Layers" menu, so if "Tracks" are your thing, they are there in better detail with a tickbox.

I can probably answer questions on the theme XML if you need pointers, but I would have to re-install v4 on the spare phone to test significant edits if there was anything major you wanted to change.

[DolomitesTom]

Please spare a thought for @devemux86

If I may say it so openly, that's exactly the tragedy, the best developer is "stripping" his own app without need or without checking/reviewing the decision. The decision may have been the right one for a while. I still think it's worth thinking about whether the decision is still the right one or whether you should perhaps open up to VTM again. I am absolutely convinced that this would bring many new users. I would then also advertise it a lot more among my own circle of friends.

I dare to believe that the further development/improvement is not lost, but can be reused or adapted. I certainly have no idea how much effort that would mean, but my opinion is that it is worth it.

[MotoUKRider]

@DolomitesTom I've seen a few developer threads on the topic and words like "ANGLE" and "VULCAN" but I don't know in coding terms if they are possible in Cruiser or whether they could emulate the OpenGL engine. I'm confident that if a relatively simple and reasonably future-proof solution could be put into Cruiser, it would happen - perhaps with some behind-the-scenes testing that remains private until a decent working build is ready (like how v5 rolled out).

I'm not an Android coder - I did try but it wasn't a pleasant experience and couldn't believe ~10GB of data was removed when I uninstalled it. I've previous experience with BASIC, VB, C++ and little bits of PHP, but the actual nuts+bolts of coding an Android app isn't for me. It's easy to merge a 3rd-party project into your App and call it like an API, eg: map.rotate(90), but somebody has to write all the maths to draw the pixels.

Mapsforge is open-source, so anybody that can write a solution to the 3D requests is welcome to contribute. I just wish it were me!

[devemux86]

It's easy to merge a 3rd-party project into your App and call it like an API, eg: map.rotate(90), but somebody has to write all the maths to draw the pixels.

• mapsforge/mapsforge@b2016f2 authored by @devemux86

[ToToGSARider]

Passiert da gerade was mit 3D? Oder warum wurde hier ein Link gesetzt nach Mapsforge?

Is something happening with 3D? Or why was a link to Mapsforge placed here?