Map Updates again, tonight / tomorrow

So after testing a bit more with the maps of yesterday, even though the routing worked over longer distances, the major feature of the openmtbmap - to guide you to the nicest ways was more or less lost. I went back to the style-files that I used when first offering maps on here (they had quite good routing AND worked over longer distances) and reworked the rules from ground up.

Even though technical routing based on grades and scales would provide the nicest routing, I have backed back and give preference to bicycle and mtb routes. The maps of 10.05 were the most extreme leaning towards technical assesination only, and well routing over 5km often didn't work. It's sad, but Garmin algorithms will not work if there are no more or less straight ways or at least ways leading towards the destination with high priority.

Setting up the routing parameters will be even more vital for the maps of the next updates. I figured out the following useful settings (go on and experiment further...)

  • MTB scenic - don't route over too long distances - well mapped area (this includes mtb:scale and/or mtb routes)
    Car/Motorcycle, no avoidances, move slider 1 or 2 steps to prerfer highways, faster time
  • MTB general
    Car/Motorcycle, no avoidances, leave slider in the middle, faster time
  • MTB Downhill and Hiking (maybe better settings possible)
    Car/Motorcycle / Bicycle / Pedestrian, shorter distance, no avoidances, leave slider in the middle
  • Bicycle scenic
    Car/Motorcycle / avoid toll roads / leave slider in the middle or move towards prefer highways. Attention the more towards prefer highways you set it, the more efforts are done to reach a cycleroute
  • Bicycle quick
    Car/Motorcycle / avoid toll roads / shorter distance.
  • Bicycle quick - other possibility
    Bicycle / shorter distance / avoid toll roads not activated.

In General routing works now over as long distance as yesterdays update, but detours are smaller and in general nicer ways are chosen. If Routing fails and you need to get somewhere whithout being able to set via points, you can try with "shorter distance" caculation which should autoroute even through heavily mapped cities (actually the better a region is mapped, without sufficient bicycle/mtb routes the more difficult it is for the routing engine to get over longer distances, Enabling "shorter distance" instead of "Faster Time" gets you to your destination quite well (though then also big streets are chosen quite often). Due to the way the maps are setup, setting your GPS to "shorter distance" should generate routes that are much quicker. "Faster Time" calculates nicer routes, but will take much more time.

Setting "Avoid Toll Roads" when using the GPS for bicycling is not so important in cities, you might find that routes are better with it off. Once you route outside of cities, escpcially into mountaineous regions, you will have to activate it, in order not to be guided from one summit through the valley to the next summit....

Essentially in most regions first the nice ways are mapped, now autorouting will work very nicely, as people start to map ways just to get them into the map but not because they find them nice to use, the routing calculation gets more difficult.

Oneway streets are still disrespected.

Deutsch:

Uebersetzung kommt wenn das ganze so bleibt, und ich nicht wieder alles umkrempel.

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