The Multi-level Conundrum
Can we ever map multi-level buildings, tunnels, hobbit houses etc
MT: Bryan Posted: 15 November 2010, 1:42 PM
How do others map 3-D on a 2-D map?
eg covered walkway crossing a gully with multiple features under it - bush, paths, large concrete area
- is there a precedence? Hard to decide when both levels could be useful for navigation. - does the lower or upper level override the other? A bridge symbol shows only the upper level and no detail underneath. However, a bridge or building overhang high in the sky means the Orienteer may not even see these features.
What have others done?
MT: R2 Posted: 21 April 2012, 9:10 PM
try this link for an intersting way of mapping a multilevel building and parking lots http://maprunner.blogspot.co.nz/2012/04/westfield-orienteering.html
MT: Alistair Posted: 3 February 2014, 11:22 PM
Jamie, a few years ago I ran a sprint on a map which used a lot of underground car parks, the intuitive way the mapper (Erik Sundberg) solved the door problems was great. He used a small line where the door was, if the door could be opened it was a fairly bright green. If it was locked it was red. And if it could be opened in one direction it was a double line, green on the side it could be opened from and red on the other side.
The other great fun thing about this event was it was run on 2 levels, the bottom level being the underground (single level) car-parks. He mapped the car-parks in black and white with green/red for the doors, and then printed the outside as a normal sprint map with the same green/red doors on overhead-projector plastic! Then he taped the underground map to the above ground map along one edge of the map. You could thus just flip over the outside map when you went in a door…
This was one of the best sprint events I have ever done, and really complex as Borlänge has 5-6 irregularly shaped underground car-parks with quite a lot of one-way doors. A short leg from one car-park to another involved working out which doors you could get in and out of as well as the best route from the different doors above ground.
MT: Jamie Posted: 4 February 2014, 11:04 PM
That does sound fun. Thanks for the answer. I have used a blue for a training map for this week but will use green and red as you describe in the future.
I have got a couple of planned indoor projects. I think there is some potential there for fun to be had.
MT: Michael Posted: 16 March 2014, 5:12 PM
While you're all forced inside by Lusi (or the threat of Lusi) you might like to ponder on the multi-level conundrum, mentioned above. Yes its outside our current limits but I'm curious. Some solutions work only for a limited range of situations.
First the multi-level building which has the same shape on each level. It would seem that multiple numbered plans might work with a symbol like a coloured dot to represent vertical passage. Need three colours or symbols, can go UP here, DOWN, and BOTH. Ramps are harder, but maybe a ramp on level X is shown by a stub of path/road ending in the coloured dot? Who has tried mapping carparking buildings?
Another situation is what I will call the “Hobbit House”. This has an undulating ground shape with other levels (eg inside the house) but you possibly transition without obviously climbing/descending. There is no easy way of describing levels here, and I think we may need to say that the main map is the one visible from the sky, to prevent the ambiguities evident in the Norwegian example. I've experimented with a small arrowhead to indicate places where you can transition to the lower level. (The hobbit's front and back doors). Then there's a separate plan of the lower level (ie inside the HH) with the rooms and opposite arrowheads where you can transition back to the main level (the doors). I can see it working for two levels anyway. A challenge is that the underground shape is not the same as the overground shape so relating the two maps is tricky.
Common to all multilevel systems is the course marking problem. Yes we can readily mark circles on the appropriate level, but joining lines???
Just a geekquest, but I've got actual places in mind for each of these:-))