Rendering Order

Prolific nitpicker 77topaz pointed out that subsector names render on top of borders. That's not new, but I agree it's not ideal given that the subsector name is less critical than the world details at large scales. Sector and subsector names used to render at the same "layer". I've split them up.

Here's the new order, starting at the "back":

• "nebula" background (Candy style only)
• "galaxy" background (spiral arms)
• pseudo-random stars
• rifts (which black out the pseudo-random stars snd backgrounds)
• "macro" borders
• "macro" routes
• sector grid
• subsector grid
• parsec grid (hexes)
• subsector names
• "micro" borders
• "micro" routes
• sector names - which need to be on top of borders/routes to be legible at relevant scales
• "macro" capitals/home-worlds
• "micro" government names
• worlds

Changing the order is pretty straightforward so suggestions are welcome.

Note that individual words are rendered a hex at a time. In the future I'd like to do this in multiple passes, so that for example all zones are rendered, then all names so that zones don't overlap long names of neighboring hexes.

Unrelated: thanks to cubiq.org if you visit the touch map on an iOS device you'll now get a pop-up letting you know you can add it to your home screen as an application.


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Cursors and Glyphs

More To-Do items To-Done:

• The mouse cursor over the map is once again a crosshair. When you start dragging it will change to a drag-hand.
• Per discussion in a previous post, base symbols have been overhauled and the legend has been updated. Following precedent in paper publications from the CT and MT eras, there is no attempt to make map symbols universally unique. For example, non-Imperial naval bases all use red stars ★ regardless of allegiance (Vargr, Aslan Tlaukhu, Solomani, Federation, K'kree, Droyne...). I've tried to follow established precedent wherever possible.
• In addition to Research Stations, symbols are now rendered for Imperial Prisons (code: Pr), Imperial Reserves (code: Re) and Exile Camps (code: Ex), following the Spinward Marches Map symbology.

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Base Codes

Hey folks, I need your help.

Base codes need some work. Here are some of the issues:

• Droyne base codes P and Q don't have unique symbols
• Solomani Naval bases (code F per David Pulver's updated Solomani Rim data) should have a red star to match Supplement 10
• Generic naval base (classic code J) doesn't have a unique symbol
• Generic scout base (classic code V) doesn't have a unique symbol

I put together a spreadsheet of base codes and symbols showing what the map uses today, what it should use, and what needs to be sorted out, as well as precedent from previous publications. Can you help suggest additions or corrections? Additional symbols can be used, although I'd prefer to mix/match the existing orthography and normal/highlight colors (i.e. white/red for poster style). Nothing crazy.

The "Pattern" column may merit some explanation. It is used to match Xx.B where Xx is the allegiance code and B is the base code. Symbols * and ? are wildcards (matching anything or one character, respectively), so A? is "any Aslan", V? is "any Vargr", and * is "anything". A suffix of >CD means that code B decomposes into two additional codes, for example code A in classic files is handled by the pattern Im.A>NS meaning "if allegiance is Imperial and code is A, that's really an Imperial Naval Base and Imperial Scout Base". Newer files may encode this as NS directly, so this is only needed in parsing older files.

Anyway... suggestions/corrections appreciated.

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Rendering Refactor and Custom Jump Maps

One commonly requested feature is now live: Custom Jump Maps

Just as the Poster API supports HTTP POST, the JumpMap API now supports the same capability and there's a demo page that lets you upload files or copy/paste your own sector data into a form. Note that neighboring sectors appear empty if your jump map is extends past the edge of a sector.

I've also done some substantial refactoring of the guts of the rendering and styles code, which may help site stability a little bit. I found/patched a bug in the PDFSharp rendering library along the way. Ideally this hasn't changed anything, but please let me know if something suddenly renders differently (color, position, style) or has disappeared - it's not intentional! 

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Making a Dent in the To-Do List

I had a little bit of time today so I decided to make sure the To-Do List was updated on Trello. This should cover everything that's been mentioned in comments here and sent in private email. If I missed anything let me know - or even better, sign up to Trello and I can let you add it to the list yourself.

I knocked off a handful of easy items:

• Subsector names will once again show by default at 64 pixels/parsec (although dimmer than before)
• Subsector names will NOT show by default for Poster.aspx-generated images, although this can be turned on via options
• Decoding of "packed" base codes (2 = N+S, A = N+S, B = N+W) now handles per-allegiance specific packing: Vargr: H = C+G, Aslan: U = R+T, Hiver: F = L+M
• Allegiance code "--" doesn't render. (Perhaps it should show as "Na" so it isn't assumed to be Imperial, but -- is usually only used far away from the Imperium so I don't think it's an issue.

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