What's going on with OpenTopoMap?

[Mgellis]

Some of you may have heard that OpenTopoMap is going to be retired. Or something like that. Here are the details...

https://a.tile.opentopomap.org/about

What does this mean for Command? Will the OpenTopoMap layer just stop working at some point? Will anything be replacing it?

For my own part, I don't use the OpenTopoMap layer very often for playing, but it is tremendously useful for scenario design. Having a map layer that clearly shows individual buildings, etc. (so I can just add facilities, etc. onto their exact real world location) is really nice. There are other ways to do this, but they're a bit more complicated.

Has anyone heard anything else about this?

[Dimitris]

Yes, it will stop working. We are looking at possible remedies.

[BDukes]

Yes, it will stop working. We are looking at possible remedies.

Bummer. I used this all the time. Hope something similar can be found to replace it. Cheers to the OTM team for keeping the free service running as long as they did.

Mike

[Blast33]

Ohh it was so useful

[FifthDomain]

Open Steep Map is pretty decent if that can be used instead, i think it is licence free as long as you credit them from what i can tell.

[thewood1]

I think the main problem is hitching CMO to any "open source" mapping system or GIS will just be a cycle of having to replace year over year. These open source places need a critical mass of funding to operate and that can only be free for so long.

[Nikel]

Finally not closing?

https://opentopomap.org/about#roadmap

[Correcaminos]

​That implies they are likely transitioning to vector tiles to survive, rather than shutting down completely as feared back in November. It is great news for those of us who rely on those detailed layers for scenario building (placing facilities on specific buildings is a pain without it).
​Hopefully, this 'survival mode' or the new roadmap format remains compatible with how CMO fetches the map data, or at least gives the devs enough time to adapt the API

[Dimitris]

We are looking at a number of options, incl. ways to reduce our vulnerability to such events.

[boogabooga]

I really liked Stamen the best.

Would you consider accepting the paywall and making access to tiles a paid add-on like Tacview? What would the cost be to the end-user?

[Dide]

I really liked Stamen the best.

Would you consider accepting the paywall and making access to tiles a paid add-on like Tacview? What would the cost be to the end-user?

Same

[Dimitris]

Tell us what exactly appeals to you in the Stamen layer, and we'll tell you if what we are exploring will provide it.

[JFS737]

I would like a map that is simple, neat and clean. A bit more than the present Relief /Bath layer in terms of roads and cities/towns. It does not need as much detail as Open TOPO although it's not a bad thing. O-TOPO's inclusion of airports and ports is nice and it's included topo info is great, but every little road is not needed at this point as ground combat is not that detailed (yet).

The problem with 0-TOPO and Relief / Bath layers is the color of the water in many shallow locations is the same as the color of the BLUE side make units and light colored range circles almost disappear. Simple answer is to make the BLUE side Magenta or another color?

Simple, detailed land / sea delineation and WITH TOPO info, plus Major/minor highways with some secondary roads, some railways maybe, maybe major bridges and city/town names. Possibly add in airports, ports maybe.

Below is a simple, but neat/clean map.... just needs ocean Bath features. More may be better but I think we can open our browsers for some things and realize we can't have it all in the game.

Map for CMO.jpg (1.17 MiB) Viewed 383 times

[Dimitris]

Nice relief, where is that from ?

[JFS737]

It is from Garmin Pilot... website , but was presented as an example of what one person might want, not a candidate itself. Not sure the where they get it, or if it's available at reasonable cost.

Regards

[boogabooga]

Tell us what exactly appeals to you in the Stamen layer, and we'll tell you if what we are exploring will provide it.

I use these to build realistic-ish facilities during scenario creation, so my list is:
-Shows individual buildings, especially at airports, ports, bunkers, etc. (Both OpenTopo and Stamen are good)
-Color scheme that does not interfere with the icons (The OpenTopo ocean color is unfortunately about the same shade of blue as friendly icons)
-Place names are in English instead of the native language (good with Stamen but not OpenTopo)

2c