UESPWiki talk:Oblivion Map Design

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Feel free to discuss any comments, suggestions or bugs encountered when using the Oblivion Map or Shivering Isles Map.

Contents 1 Suggestions 1.1 New Marker Types 1.2 Map Edits 1.3 Need to be Deleted 2 Potatoes 3 Links back to the wiki? 3.1 Links from the wiki 4 Adding Map Types 5 Praise 6 Missing icon 7 Oops... 8 Better than I thought. 9 Locations from Official Mods 10 Not working on Mac? 11 Map Comment 12 What was the map made with? 13 Red Ruby Cave 14 acent moth church/monastary 15 Unmarked places 16 Missing Tile 17 Missing Oblivion Gate On The Map 18 Note to editor 19 Map Improvements 20 Morrowind Map 21 Map does not work properly for me 22 Map features or symbols I don't find a definition for. 23 Amazing Map!!! 24 moths! moths everywhere! 25 Crystal Chests 26 dead links 27 Idea to enhance Interactive Maps 28 Missing Nirnroot

[edit] Suggestions

• Have it so that you could get directions from one place to another.
  • Possible to have basic compass directions/Bearings? (i.e. NE of Kvatch/Bearing of 45°)
• Make it so that your search will only show you the icons in the window you are viewing, or the ones that are closest. For example, I have been using the map to find Nirnroot, but since there so many, it only shows 50 of them spread out around the map, and I have to go through five or six tabs to actually see the ones I want when I am searching around the Imperial City and other high Nirnroot volume areas.
  • This feature is already part of the map. If you zoom in to the maximum setting, the nirnroots in that region will automatically appear (as long as you don't have any active searches).
• Show markers for major cities at low zoom levels. (All that is shown at low zoom levels is a terrain map, it is difficult to orient yourself) (Done)
• Make the map downable to use when offline
  • very important on the ps3 internet browser it only shows the top left corner of the map this is a big problem for anyone that wishes to use the ps3 browser for the map please help
  • Not too likely, as it would require a complete rewrite of all the code.
• Make the map printable
• Make water a 'blue' color (it looks like desert currently)
  • It is VERY confusing with the color the water is! i can't tell where water ends
• Clean up map image artifacts from the CS
• Copyright license
• Proper marker types for all locations
• More marker types? (guilds, store types)
• Distingish between door and map markers (eliminate map markers?)
• Wayshrines, ayleid wells, doomstones, and runestones
  • All have been added to map; they just need more appropriate marker types
• Proper caching of locations when zooming/panning the map (no need to reload locations still in the map area)
  • Map was made smarter and keeps locations in the common area and only updates any areas currently without location data.
• Map types for displaying only certain information (like all Nirnroots)
• Map markers displayed only at certain zoom levels. (Done)(
• Zoom control should only display the valid zoom levels.
  • Looked into this and while its possible there is no easy way of doing (looks like you have to create a custom zoom control).
• Next/prev buttons for editing consecutive locations.
• Link back to a wiki page for each location (accessible via popup or on the sidebar).
  • Added links back to the Wiki for each location in the popup window when the location is clicked. Initial value for the wiki link is the location name.
• Option to display no locations.
• Locations from official plugins.
• Add Morrowind to the North East.
  • Not likely. The two maps are at very different scales, and are thus not likely to be compatible. However, making a Morrowind map separate from the Oblivion map would be a good idea.
• Add one-of-a-kind items such as Fin Gleam. (Done)
• It would be great with a grid showing the border between exterior cells.
• Zoom in/out linked to mouse scroll wheel.
• Add locations of the Ectoplasm Most ectoplasm comes from random creatures; eventually a map will be added to Oblivion:Ectoplasm, but not to the oblivion map
• A co-ordiante grid, which could be turned off, to help modders find wilderness areas without spending ages
• How about adding the name Ruin (perhaps in parenthesis) to the name of ruins so they will all come up in a search?
  • Not really practical, especially since doing so would break all of the links from the wiki to the map, and all of the links from the map to the wiki.
• Adding the underwater marker to Veyond Black Waters
  • It's already there: link
• Higher detail map of cities
• a 3d map and dungeon types in () like atatar (necromancer)
  • Adding dungeon types to the Oblivion map is pretty unlikely. Many dungeons don't have a single easy-to-identify "type". And other readers are going to be interested in other details. There's no way to add the entire wiki page to the Oblivion map; the link to the wiki page is there so that readers can find all the details.
• Put in locations of Unique Landscapes. Just a general spot inside each landscape...you don't have to draw the boundaries of each.
  • Items from unofficial mods don't go on the map.
• Make an alternative appearance button. This would be like Google Maps where you can change between the satellite appearance and just the roads. Perhaps using the in-game map as the alternative?

[edit] New Marker Types

The following is a potential list of new marker types which may be needed (16x16 icons would be needed for each one)

• Wayshrine
• Ayleid Well
• Doom Stone
• Rune Stone
• Guild
• Weapon Store
• Armor Store
• General Store
• Alchemy Store
• Spell Store
• Nirnroot
• Other plant locations (use inventory icons)?

[edit] Map Edits

At the moment the zoom levels at which various places show up appears to be:

• cities 10
• daedric shrines 12
• forts 13
• mines 13
• caves 14
• ayleid ruins 15
• oblivion gates 15

I'd prefer to move ayleid ruins up to 13 (comparable importance to forts), and move mines down to 14. Any objections or should I just starting tweaking?

I'm digging up the info for ayleid wells, doomstones, runestones, wayshrines in the CS. To add them, though, will require some new "types". And since these don't appear on the in-game map, there are no predesigned markers. For now I might just start entering them under general, to get the info in the database, then details can be worked out later.

--Nephele 14:37, 13 August 2006 (EDT)

The current zoom level settings are pretty much arbitrary...I just guessed at reasonable values. Play with the zoom levels as you wish and see what works better. New types are easy to add...just need a 16x16 icon image basically. The current ones are just taken from Oblivion. -- DaveH 15:07, 13 August 2006 (EDT)

Is there any easier way to scan through all the markers... for example could "next" and "prev" buttons be added to the edit box, to make it easy to just sequentially look at the settings for each marker? --Nephele 15:27, 13 August 2006 (EDT)

Just to avoid duplication of efforts: I'm in the process of adding the runestones and doomstones. I'm just putting them in the general type for now; I figure that can quickly be fixed later. I've also added one ayleid well and one wayshrine (both near Mackmenatain); if I don't run out of steam I'll do the rest of those, too. --Nephele 16:02, 13 August 2006 (EDT)

All runestones, doomstones, ayleid wells, and wayshrines have been added (including a couple of non-functioning wayshrines). Also, I've gone through the map and tried to set up the zoom levels as follows (many of these match what was previously done, just making it consistent):

• 10: cities
• 12: daedric shrines
• 13: city gates, forts, ayleid ruins
• 14: caves, mines, guilds, taverns, quest-related campsites
• 15: oblivion gates, ayleid wells, wayshrines, runestones, doomstones, most campsites
• 16: all entrances to forts/ruins/caves (and made sure that the entrances have the correct map type)

One consequence is that until you reach maximum zoom level, only one map marker should show up for any site. I think these zoom levels work fairly well; I hope everyone else agrees! --Nephele 18:20, 17 August 2006 (EDT)

Shrine of Molag Boll doesn't show!!!! ^{—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 216.161.216.11 (talk • contribs).}

Probably because there is no Daedra named "Molag Boll" and therefore there is no "Shrine of Molag Boll". You were probably looking for the "Molag Bal's Shrine", which is right where it's supposed to be on the map. --Nephele^Talk 19:26, 28 May 2007 (EDT)

The Oblivion gate slightly northeast of Bravil doesn't show... I just now ran into it too. ^{—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 70.231.37.175 (talk • contribs).}

It's right where it's supposed to be when I look, assuming you mean the gate immediately northeast of the main gate to Bravil, i.e., the gate that you need to close for the Allies for Bruma quest. It shows up right in the middle of this map. --Nephele^Talk 22:29, 31 October 2007 (EDT)

There is a Nirnroot just SE of the lady stone / NW of the Anvil Lighthouse that has a red dot as if it had been marked to recieve an icon but never did.

[edit] Need to be Deleted

Just came across a few spurious entries: two for the bloated float tavern deck (ID 409, 410; worldspace Bloated Float at Sea), one for Rythe Lythandras' house (ID 418; worldspace The Painted World). The correct entries for each already exist (IDs 137, 138, 139 for bloated float, 555 for Rythe). These spurious ones are evidently the markers for other maps. I don't know whether it makes sense to delete these entries, or keep them but prevent non-Tamriel worldspaces from showing up. --Nephele 18:27, 13 August 2006 (EDT)

I deleted those mentioned and there still may be a few more I noticed that belonged to other exterior namespaces that might not be valid. -- DaveH 11:33, 14 August 2006 (EDT)

I found some more: Serpent's Trail (ID 916, worldspace Pale Pass) Mouth of the Serpent (ID 917, worldspace Pale Pass), Henantier's Dream (ID 912, worldspace test of resolve), Test of Courage (ID 918, worldspace grotto of courage), Frostfire Cave (ID 624, worldspace Frostfire Glade) --Nephele 03:40, 17 August 2006 (EDT)

Fort Wooden Hand has two icons at the same spot. VERY nice job though. ^{—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 209.30.169.152 (talk • contribs).}

Nearly all locations have multiple icons on the map: one for the location of the map marker (i.e., the one that shows up on the in-game map) and one for the location of the door. Unless you are searching on the location's name, the icon positioned at the door will only show up when you are at the highest zoom level. Fort Wooden Hand has those two standard icons, both of which are supposed to be there, and which are not actually at the same spot. --Nephele^Talk 12:14, 26 September 2007 (EDT)

[edit] Potatoes

I could not find the location of ANY potatoes. This deeply saddens me and I wish I could find them. ^{—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 63.19.139.71 (talk • contribs).}

Try the article on potatoes. Individual plants like potato plants are not going to get added to the Oblivion Map, given that there are at least 20,000 plants in the game. --Nephele^Talk 17:01, 14 June 2007 (EDT)

[edit] Links back to the wiki?

I seem to recall it being possible to attach a tooltip with a link to a point in the map. If so, it would be great if each location could list the page(s) or quest(s) it relates to. Garrett^Talk 23:33, 13 August 2006 (EDT)

Ah yes, I was going to add a Wiki link to each location but forgot (at least those locations that have a link). -- DaveH 11:34, 14 August 2006 (EDT)

Done, the link shows up in the popup when a location is clicked. Initial value for the link has been just set to the location name which works for most locations. It can be edited to be different as needed. -- DaveH 23:33, 23 August 2006 (EDT)

I was just experimenting with trying to set the wiki name to a correct link and it wasn't working. I took a Sidri-Ashak Rune Stone (ID 1413 to be precise) and edited "Wiki Page" to read "Magical_Stones" (the wiki page is Magical Stones). But when I hit save location, what seems to happen is that the "Wiki Page" entry gets saved to the "Name" field, and the Wiki Page doesn't get updated... so the result is that the item appears on the map as "Magical_Stones" and still doesn't have a wiki link.

So then I wanted to fix the entry. I figured if I typed "Sidri-Ashak Rune Stone" instead of "Magical_Stones" in the "Name" field everything would go back to how it was. But editing the "Name" field and hitting save doesn't do anything... I had to edit the "Wiki Page" entry again. So I'm guessing that the fields on the map editing page aren't tied to the right database fields right now. --Nephele 11:14, 24 August 2006 (EDT)

Good catch...now fixed. -- DaveH 13:18, 24 August 2006 (EDT)

[edit] Links from the wiki

I've also been wondering about links in the other direction: from wiki pages to the map. I've experimented with a couple of links, for example on the Magical Stones page, by using the search parameter, i.e. reman rune stones. This works fairly well when you want to see all of Tamriel (other than having to type in such a long URL). But I don't think it works as well for individual places, e.g., Tidewater Cave doesn't even show up on the map. If the user then clicks on the place name the map does recenter, but that seems awkward and confusing. Would there be some easy way to get the map to automatically be centered on the requested place (without knowing its google lat/long)? --Nephele 22:55, 17 August 2006 (EDT)

You can center directly on a known Oblivion coordinate like this. I think I'll make it easier to zoom directly to a location though by adding a new parameter, something like this (won't work currently). -- DaveH 13:17, 21 August 2006 (EDT)

Yes, having a centeron parameter would be really useful. I've played with using lat/lng parameters rather than the oblocx/oblocy paramters, but neither works too well when trying to set up automatic links within a template. Thanks, Daveh.

One other minor point that I just noticed. I changed the map link at Oblivion:Oblivion Gates#Locations, so it now pulls up the oblivion map with the locations of all the oblivion gates. However, the map will only show 50 (out of 99) at a time. Would there be a way to get it to just show all the locations without listing them? Or else, would it be possible to have the "Next"/"Prev" button show up at the top of the list, so it's more obvious how to see the other locations? --Nephele 13:41, 21 August 2006 (EDT)

Its limiting to 50 just to reduce the amount of bandwidth and time needed to transfer locations (I may actually reduce it to 20 or 30). I can easily add Prev/Next links at the top of the list to make it easier to browse. -- DaveH 14:36, 21 August 2006 (EDT)

Update: I've added the 'centeron' parameter to the map, for example. The default zoom level is 15 and you can specify a custom zoom level if you wish. You may also specify search terms depending on how you want other locations to show up. -- DaveH 13:46, 23 August 2006 (EDT)

Thanks! I've gone ahead and taken advantage of centeron, by adding a link into the template used on most of the place pages, and it seems to be working really well. I even tested a few more difficult names, e.g., Fathis Aren's Tower, and they worked, too. So the map may start getting a few more hits, now that there are a few hundred new links to it! --Nephele 01:13, 24 August 2006 (EDT)

In order to allow a map search for Daedric Shrines, I've added (Daedric) to all the shrine names. It does make the names kind of long, but I didn't see any other obvious way to make this possible. Is there any way to do a search based on icon type? Or does anyone have some other ideas on how to make it easy to pull up a map with all the daedric shrines? --Nephele 13:36, 8 September 2006 (EDT)

[edit] Adding Map Types

With all the possible locations that can be displayed it might be better to add several map types to display specific information (like the Map, Satellite, and Hybrid types on the Goggle Maps).

• Search -- Shows locations that the user specifically searched for.
• Markers -- Shows map markers for locations as exported from the game as well as other important locations (runestones, shrines, wells, etc...).
• Doors -- Shows all 'doors' as exported from the game data.
• Flora -- Nirnroots and other plant locations (exported from the game data) again.
• Other -- Are there any other locations that should or could be displayed? NPCs, quest specific, and items come to mind as possibilities.

In the end there are a lot of different locations that could possibly be included in the map. The problem is not whether the map can handle them (it can) but exactly how best to organize and present those locations. Even if we don't have a specific location type at present, we may wish to add them later on. We also also have to consider possibly expanding the map further for other areas of Tamriel (Morrowind and Daggerfall for instance). -- DaveH 11:44, 14 August 2006 (EDT)

Adding locations added by official plugins (e.g. The Vile Lair, The Orrery) or even popular mods might be useful. Since that's fairly spoiler-ish they could perhaps be a separate type. Adding Morrowind and Daggerfall locations would be great, but the problem is how to handle their significantly different scales. Daggerfall is also the odd one out as far as satellite-style maps go. Garrett^Talk 22:07, 14 August 2006 (EDT)

I was thinking much longer term in creating an overall Tamriel map although it might be best to make it seperate even if uses the same map code. I would scale things appropriately to make things match the general Tamriel scale. Adding locations by plug-in is also a good idea I hadn't considered. -- DaveH 09:04, 15 August 2006 (EDT)

Yeah, considering that some of the map information is not consistant between games, it would probably be best to keep them all seperate. (Location of Ebonheart, for example, or the fact that Solstheim doesn't exist on older maps.) Another feature that might be interesting to add would be roads, like Google maps has. Not that you can't see the roads already, but having them color-coded so when you're up close you know which road you're at would be helpful. (Especially since all of the named roads in Oblivion already have a color to go with them.) Not sure how those are entered, whether it's a bezier spline object of some sort, or just another image that overlays the map. Might be something to look into. --TheRealLurlock 09:40, 17 August 2006 (EDT)

[edit] Praise

• I wanna say I love it. Thanks for the work you have put into the interactive map! I would like to have a separate table for description of the markers and possibly alphabetized lists with coordinates for all map locations, implementing a map grid so finding (multiple) locations might be easier (just an idea). --FMan 09:58, 13 August 2006 (EDT)

• This may not be very relevant (in terms of improving the map), but I think it's deserved that people are able to show their praise for this map - it is truly brilliant! Well done to all who contributed, I'm sure it'll come in handy for many people.--Naylor182 17:27, 14 August 2006 (EDT)

• Yes, thank you all so much for your hard work on this. It has been an indispensable tool. --The wizzle 05:19, 15 August 2006 (EDT)

• I love this map! My favorite feature is "Link To This Location". I've gotten a lot of people hooked on it just by using those links in forum posts when I'm referencing a certain location in the game. It rocks! --Dev akm 08:54, 25 November 2006 (EST)

• Thanks for the awesome map, it's been a great help!

[edit] Missing icon

Love this map! I use it all the time. A quick note -- in the village of Bleaker's Way, everyone's house is marked with an icon except Nivan Dalvilu's house (who is one of the targets of the Mephala Quest).

Awesome Job! --Hoggwild5 03:43, 6 October 2006 (EDT)

Fixed --Nephele 04:28, 6 October 2006 (EDT)

Great job on the map! But could you please put a marker for Dive Rock (the place where you find the Uderfrykte Matron)?

It's there: [Dive Rock]. It just doesn't show up until Zoom-Level 15, like most minor locations. --TheRealLurlock ^Talk 18:51, 3 May 2007 (EDT)

bigorangemachine - I'm running around trying to find what gates I can. I typed in 'A gate to oblivion' and it finds most of them. However, that search overlooks the gate near Inn of Ill Omen

Again, to repeat myself for the umpteenth time, it's already on the map. Just follow the map link that you yourself posted, and it shows an Oblivion Gate right there on the map next to the Inn of Ill Omen. Also, see the response at #Missing Oblivion Gate on the Map. --Nephele^Talk 00:59, 27 March 2008 (EDT)

bigorangemachine - Sorry, I deleted after I posted. Guess you replied after I deleted.

[edit] Oops...

I think I broke it. Was going all over getting links for a page, and all of a sudden, it just displays white, no matter what. Refresh doesn't work, closing browser and reopening didn't work. Haven't tried a full reboot yet, but it doesn't look good. (Regular Google Maps works fine, though, so it's not a script it's suddenly rejecting, or a bad network connection on my side.) Have I over-abused my privelages and pulled too much bandwidth from the map section, or what? --TheRealLurlock 16:24, 12 October 2006 (EDT)

Seems like something that's happening just to you... I'm still able to pull up new maps, both using the standard link and the cartographer-only link. --Nephele 16:34, 12 October 2006 (EDT)

It happened again. Seems if I scroll too fast, it gets completely flustered, and then refuses to work until I reboot the entire computer. Quite annoying it is... --TheRealLurlock 14:28, 17 October 2006 (EDT)

[edit] Better than I thought.

It was better than I was exepting, I found every place that I was looking for and MORE... nirnroots and other stuff. It was brilliant. Thanks ;) ^{—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 88.112.241.196 (talk • contribs).}

[edit] Locations from Official Mods

I just added markers for a handful of map locations that have been added by the official mods, for example Deepscorn Hollow and Priory of the Nine. All that has been added is the map marker; the map itself has not been modified so the markers generally appear in the middle of nowhere. Some questions are:

• Should these map markers even be included?
• Should the map be updated to show the features that corresponds to these map markers (for example, to show the buildings that get added by the Priory of the Nine)?
• Should a different color be used for these markers to make it clear that they are not standard features? Or is there some other method that should be used to distinguish these markers from standard markers?

Does anyone have any thoughts? --Nephele 21:02, 2 December 2006 (EST)

I think that these should be added but possibly with different color markers to distinguish them. I also think that the map should be updated with the new buildings and all; with the different color markers it should be obvious that the areas are added by the official mods. I think the benefits to those who have the mods outweighs the possible slight confusion for those who dont. --Z-95 11:03, 13 January 2007 (EST)

[edit] Not working on Mac?

I'm having a major problem with the map for some reason. I'm using an iMac, which I doubt is the problem, and the map just simply won't show up. Instead, it says, "Found no locations to display." I have never been able to use the map (I've tried many many times since I got Oblivion, so could it be because I am using a Macintosh computer? --Werdnanoslen^Talk 19:38, 27 January 2007 (EST)

I am by no means an expert on what they are doing here, but I would say its more likely your browser that's causing the problem. Also, does google maps work? 24.66.94.141 19:00, 29 January 2007 (EST)

Google maps is working just fine for me. --Werdnanoslen^Talk 19:04, 29 January 2007 (EST)

Google Maps works fine in Safari, so I'm not sure why this doesn't. It does work in Firefox for the Mac though.

I'm not sure what the problem is since I don't have access to a Mac for testing. It is most likely related to the custom JavaScript code created for specifically for this map. If you have a JavaScript console in your browser you can try opening it and see what errors/warnings are created when you view the map. -- Daveh 15:17, 9 February 2007 (EST)

Ok, I have safari and that's what I always use; I'll try using it with firefox and see what happens. I know a wee bit of coding for javascript, but I have no idea how to open the console, could you give me a hint? --Werdnanoslen^Talk 16:40, 9 February 2007 (EST)

Not sure what it is on Safari, but in Firefox on Windows it is just Tools-Javascript Console. -- Daveh 11:15, 14 February 2007 (EST)

The only thing I can find related to Javascript on here is the option to load Javascript or not (which I do allow) when it appears on a page. Again, Google Maps works fine, and I've used another site's Oblivion-Google hybrid map, and it works too. Is your map any different from Google Maps in coding or is it just what the map is of? If I get the time, I might start a topic on a Mac help forum to see if that gets anywhere. EDIT - Ok, I just tried this on firefox on my Mac, and that does work, so maybe it's just not compatible with Safari. I'll have to download firefox onto my profile on the Mac, but it would still be much more convenient if someone would be able to tweak it to make it work on Safari. --Werdnanoslen^Talk 18:35, 14 February 2007 (EST)

Wouldn't surprise me much. There are a LOT of sites that are not compatible with Safari. It's the most common complaint about that browser. All the Mac people I know run Firefox specifically for that reason. (I don't recommend Explorer for Macs, I've heard that's dreadful.) I think it's just a matter of the old market share again - most people who make websites usually have Explorer and Firefox to test things on, but rarely have access to a Mac running Safari, so whatever it is you need to do to make websites run correctly in that browser, nobody knows because they can't test it. Firefox is cross-platform, and the Mac and PC versions are virtually identical, so if something works in Firefox on one machine, odds are it'll work anywhere. (Only exceptions I've ever found are things on Microsoft's own sites, which I've always suspected are specifically programmed to screw up if you're not running Explorer.) --TheRealLurlock ^Talk 23:52, 14 February 2007 (EST)

Alright, thanks everyone for helping me clear all this up; I'm going to download Firefox on my profile tonight. Btw, IE was never that great on any platform =D. --Werdnanoslen^Talk 16:07, 15 February 2007 (EST)

yes it works fine with Firefox on the Mac, but interestingly it does show warnings about

Warning: Error in parsing value for property 'height'. Declaration dropped.

Source File: http://www.uesp.net/oblivion/map/obmap-standalone.css Line: 45

and similar for lines 46 and 53.

given the map appears in safari, and then quickly disappears, i think its just handling these warnings differently and hence not displaying the content.(would also explain why googlemaps works fine under safari but not this map) (Technobear, 4 May 07)

Definitely helped me out a load. Thanks for the suggestions. :)

The map works in the new Safari 3 beta now downloadable for mac OSX and Windows (XP and Vista) [1]

The problem appears to be three CSS statements that use the IE-only "expression" statement to dynamically calculate height and width. Since it's only supported by IE, it's ignored by Firefox (but produces the above-mentioned warnings). It's possible that Safari just gives up instead of ignoring the statements.

Given that the statements aren't being used by Firefox but yet the appearance in FF is fine, I'm experimenting with just leaving out the statements altogether. This also appears to basically be the prevailing web wisdom: many websites strongly recommend never using expression statements in CSS. For now, the experimental version of the map is only being used by the MW map. I'll check with some Safari users to see if that helps and I'll also do some IE checks. If IE really needs the expressions, then we can go to platform-specific css files, but I'd prefer not to get into that if possible. In any case, over the next couple of weeks, the OB and SI maps should be migrating over to the new map setup, so any fixes that are developed will eventually show up on the OB/SI maps, too. --Nephele^Talk 00:49, 15 June 2008 (EDT)

Amazing, you fixed it, Nephele! On a first look, MW maps now work like a charm on Safari. --Benould^•T•C 01:12, 15 June 2008 (EDT)

And how about now? I had to change things one more time, probably after you got it to work (because IE really does need the expressions, so I had to do the dreaded platform-specific css). You have to do a hard refresh (ctrl-F5?) to force it to load the updates. --Nephele^Talk 01:24, 15 June 2008 (EDT)

Hard refresh killed the map :( I can move around now, but it gives the dreaded "no locations found" error. I forwarded your findings to the Safari team, not sure whether they will take it up or when. --Benould^•T•C 02:58, 15 June 2008 (EDT)

Well, I waited a little bit then went back to tweaking other things, which means that when you tried again it's possible (if you had bad timing) that it was while something else was broken. Might be best to wait for more Safari testing until I'm less actively messing with the code.... --Nephele^Talk 03:06, 15 June 2008 (EDT)

[edit] Map Comment

It should be a mod in the game

---

Excellent work to the people that put this together! Both the wiki and map are incredible! If only such a thing existed for all video games. This is easily more helpful then any regular players guide could ever be! Kudos! --Soundfx4 18:57, 10 March 2007 (EST)

[edit] What was the map made with?

What did you make this map with, I've been looking for a program that creates custom maps with google maps. I've found a lot of programs that let you plot points on the map of the earth, but I need my own textures. ^{—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 67.187.14.125 (talk • contribs).}

Information on how this map was made is all provided in the main article here, i.e., UESPWiki:Oblivion Map Design. --Nephele^Talk 15:58, 1 July 2007 (EDT)

I love it. It's really helpfull and fun to play around with!

[edit] Red Ruby Cave

There's no link to Oblivion:Red Ruby Cave on the map. --DrPhoton 04:05, 9 August 2007 (EDT)

What do you mean? Its on the map when I just checked now and the link to the map on that page works (unless someone just added them). -- Daveh 08:39, 9 August 2007 (EDT)

Actually, the link from the map to the wiki was missing for one of the two Red Ruby Cave icons, actually for the one of the two that shows up when you're zoomed out (map ID 1182). So I just added that link to the map icon. --Nephele^Talk 12:30, 9 August 2007 (EDT)

Why are there two icons? If there's only one entrance to the cave, shouldn't there be only one? --DrPhoton 03:40, 10 August 2007 (EDT)

[edit] acent moth church/monastary

in the mountains there is a large church (Ancient moth or something)about south-west of Azura's shrine ^{—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Ghost 998 (talk • contribs).}

I'm guessing that you're talking about Temple of the Ancestor Moths, which is already shown on the map (map). Other than the fact that it is northeast of Azura's shrine, not southwest, it matches your description. --Nephele^Talk 00:48, 2 September 2007 (EDT)

[edit] Unmarked places

Just wondering if a map marker should be added on the online map to go with each of these places. Some of them already have a map marker on the online map, but most of them don't at the moment.--Willyhead 10:38, 8 October 2007 (EDT)

I subscribe to this, actually I've stumpled upon one of these places myself and when I've tried to check on it on the map it simply wasn't there... ----Thrax 02:28, 12 August 2008 (EET)

[edit] Missing Tile

This tile seems to be missing. I've never noticed it before but I'm also fairly sure it's not my PC as I've done all the obvious cache-cleansing stuff. Could a cartographer take a look please? --Rpeh^Talk 04:04, 9 October 2007 (EDT)

I can confirm that I get a nice ugly gray square in the middle of the map when I pull up the link ;) But I can't do much to fix it. Cartographer privileges are limited to changing the markers that appear on the map. Daveh is the only one who can change the actual map tiles. --Nephele^Talk 19:09, 14 October 2007 (EDT)

Since my last post, I have been given the ability to fix map tiles... or at least I can upload new map tiles if someone is willing to provide them.

The culprit is tile 36-37 (in google map coordinates). If I'm reading the map page correctly, that means that in CS coordinates it's cell [-28,22]. Hopefully that's enough info to start the tile-making process... --Nephele^Talk 17:18, 11 June 2008 (EDT)

As far as I'm concerned, this seems to be the zoom level at which you see the nasty gray square: zoom level 15 not 16. It is also always visable on the mini-map in the bottom right corner, assuming you have it showing. Also note, that the gray square (according to my study) is visable at every zoom level except level 16. --L1ke 20 N1njas 17:37, 13 July 2008 (EDT)

Yes, because shortly after my previous post we found the missing tile at zoom 16 and uploaded it. However, updating the other zoom levels ultimately involves replacing every tile on the map. Before proceeding to do such a major revamp, we decided to address some other issues first (such as cleaning up construction set artifacts). Basically, it's safe to infer from the previous discussion that we've identified the source of the problem and are working on it already, so there isn't really any need for more research. --Nephele^Talk 19:39, 13 July 2008 (EDT)

Just out of curiosity, why is it necessary to replace ALL the tiles? Seems to me like it should be possible to only replace the ones with the problem at each zoom level. (Should be no more than 4 images per zoom, or as few as 1, depending on where the tile edges are.) I'm sure there's some technical reason why I'm wrong, but I'm just wondering, not that it's a priority or anything, as there's absolutely nothing of interest within that square. (Is it even accessible in the game? I can't see where the edge-of-map invisible wall is, but it looks like it's pretty close to it.) --TheRealLurlock ^Talk 00:05, 14 July 2008 (EDT)

Because of the zoom levels. Zoom 15 only needs 4 tiles, but zoom 14 needs 16, zoom 13 needs 64 and so on, until you need the whole lot. And yes, the tile is accessible. –Rpeh^{•T•C•E•} 00:54, 14 July 2008 (EDT)

[edit] Missing Oblivion Gate On The Map

There's one that occasionally spawns on the City Isle, past the Arcane University. --Merco 08:19, 2 November 2007 (EDT)

None of the Oblivion Gates are missing from the map. The one on City Isle is clearly visible at this location. If you're not seeing a gate or any other feature where you expect to see one, first make sure to click "Reset Search". If you have an active search, then the map will only show the icons associated with that search. Also note that links such as this one that do a search for Oblivion Gates only show 50 icons at a time, whereas there are 99 gates in all. That should be pretty apparent when you first pull up the map, given that half of the map contains no icons. Or from the text in the search box that says "Results 1-50 of 99 matching locations for gate to oblivion." To see the other 49, you need to click on the "Next" link at the bottom of the list. Please try using a little common sense instead of immediately assuming that there's a bug with the map. --Nephele^Talk 11:51, 2 November 2007 (EDT)

[edit] Note to editor

If you search for the Ayleid ruin "Hame" and then manouver to the right a bit there appears to be some sort of mark or deforimty very similar to a Swastika on your map. Either this is a bug, or someone made a very bad joke.

On a map of this size I'm surprised there aren't more things like this. Of course it's not intentional - it's just the sort of area markings that the construction set adds in. Eventually we're going to try to remove those as we did for the Shivering Isles but it's a long process. --Rpeh^{•T•C•E•} 02:41, 11 December 2007 (EST)

[edit] Map Improvements

I now have the ability to help a lot more with improving both the Oblivion and SI maps, so I wanted to get some feedback on what can be done and also recruit some help. There are already a fair number of ideas at #Suggestions, but I wanted to prioritize them and flesh a few of them out. There are a few natural groups that ideas fall into:

• Updating map tiles, in other words changing the primary map image (separate from the map markers and labels that get superimposed on the image). I'm counting on others (hopefully Timenn and Rpeh; anyone else is welcome to volunteer!) to create the tiles. I'll help mainly just by transferring the tiles to the server. In roughly decreasing order of priority:
  • Merge city interior maps (i.e., the more detailed maps) with main world maps. Done for SI
  • Remove artifacts from maps. Done for SI
  • Blue water
  • Create a second set of Oblivion map tiles that includes all updates from official mods? Just an idea, but I think it would be nice

• Adding/deleting/tweaking locations on map. In other words, the markers and names that appear on the map.
  • As far as I know, the Oblivion map is in pretty good shape. Also, the site's other cartographers have the ability to make these types of changes already.
  • I'm the only person at the moment (other than Daveh) with the ability to alter the SI map locations. If anyone knows of missing locations, incorrect locations, or ones that need to be deleted, let me know and I'll work on them. When I get a chance, I'll also try scanning the map for issues.
  • I also need to give the other cartographers access to do this.

• Improving map markers. I'd appreciate both feedback on what markers to add/modify and help with creating the markers. I can then get them added to the server and get them displayed for appropriate places.
  • One list of potential markers already exists at #New Marker Types: they just need to be created ;)
  • We probably also need a better miscellaneous marker (right now the "default" is a door icon, but that's not the best default for items like Fin Gleam).
  • In addition, there are possibly SI-specific markers (for example, Obelisks of Order and Crystal Chests)
  • Another question is whether to have a second set of markers in a different colour (but same image otherwise) that are specifically used for mod-related places

• Other changes will require modifying the code, and that's not something that I'm too keen on tackling right now. For example, a printable option or an option to add a cell grid. I'd prefer to stick to data changes rather than software changes ;)

--Nephele^Talk 01:07, 12 January 2008 (EST)

OK, I did some revamps of the SI map markers today, as detailed at Data Updates. Although many of the tweaks were straightforward, a few probably need a bit more explanation:

• I disabled all doors that are in the "Mania Garden" and "Dementia Garden" worlds. These two areas are essentially "invisible" at the top level map. They don't have low-resolution approximations that appear on the general map, and where they supposedly exist (based on x/y coordinates), there is regular map terrain, that can be accesssed if you explore outside New Sheoth. The upshot of which is that all of those doors appeared completely out-of-place on the SI map. So I eliminated the confusion by disabling them (the info is still in the database, but it will never appear on the map, even if you search on the place names).
• I experimented with map markers for houses that have multiple doors. Previously, the New Sheoth maps were just chaos, especially at zoom=15 but also at zoom=16, because of all the overlapping labels. Now by default only one map marker appears for each building. At zoom=15, only the stores appear. At zoom=16, the house entrances are also shown. Although only one door marker appears on this map, all of the other markers are still in the database. So, for example, if you do a search on Rendil Drarara, both of her house's doors appear. The way this was done was by setting DisplayLevel=17 for the upstairs door (i.e., saying that by default the door only shows up when you increase the map zoom level to 17). Since the maximum allowed zoom is 16, it's impossible to zoom in far enough. But when you do an explicit search, all relevant map markers appear, regardless of the zoom level.

I've used this DisplayLevel=17 zoom trick throughout the SI map; I'd be interested in hearing feedback on whether it seems to work reasonably well. If it seems popular, then I'll probably also apply it eventually to the Oblivion map (for example, all of the Skingrad houses that have upstairs balconies). If it doesn't seem to work, there are probably other ways to tackle excessive labels, although the other options probably require software tweaks. --Nephele^Talk 00:28, 14 January 2008 (EST)

• If it will be of any assistance, I can have a look at some of the code not data changes - I spend a fair portion of my working life writing javascript and have played with the Google maps API before (although not in-depth, I admit). I'm relatively new here so I'm a little unsure of the protocol - apologies if I'm stepping on anyone's toes.Basiclife

[edit] Morrowind Map

I've posted some examples and questions about the above on here. Please can people take a look and let me have their thoughts. –Rpeh^{•T•C•E•} 07:07, 27 January 2008 (EST)

[edit] Map does not work properly for me

Hi there!

I am running Firefox 2 on Windows Vista, and have a problem with the map. It opens and then displays just the text on the map, ie Skingrad Imperial City etc, but there is no terrain and instead i get this message all over the place: No Data Avaible.

Could this be a firewall related problem? If so why does the normal google maps work as well as some other API implementing pages?

I would be gratefulf or any advice.

Thanks Jerome

What link specifically are using to access the maps? There are a couple of different possible URLs that can lead to the Oblivion maps, so knowing which one you're using would be helpful. --Nephele^Talk 14:09, 3 March 2008 (EST)

I am using this link http://www.uesp.net/oblivion/map/obmap.shtml thanks for teh quick answer!

Hmmm... I'd thought that there were some other possible links you could try but two of them are actually just redirects, so you'd end up at the exact same link (obmap.uesp.net and maps.uesp.net if you're curious). And a couple of other options I'd thought you could try to help pinpoint what's going on won't work either.

Which leaves me basically with the standard types of suggestions. You may want to try emptying out your cache. And then try using the map during the week (rather than the weekend) to make sure there isn't a problem with the site just being overloaded when you're trying to access the map images. In theory, yes, it could be a firewall problem, although it isn't one that's been previously reported. I'm not coming up with any other ideas at the moment. --Nephele^Talk 23:06, 3 March 2008 (EST)

Ok cache did not work, basically the situtaion is as follows, im at Uni in a Student residence hall, no one else here can open the map either(checked with a couple of friends), so therefore i assume that somhow the connection that gets the image data and icons from your server is blocked, does it use any special ports? if so is there a way to hange the ports or circumvent the blockage?

I just tried from work and get exactly the same problem. The main map page loads almost immediately and then sits there doing nothing - occasionally a "No Data Available" tile appears and eventually (after about 2 mins) the page stops loading. During this time, FireFox is trying to load from content1.uesp.net according to the status bar. A quick play hasn't found an obvious solution. I know it all works from home so I'd guess something is being firewalled. –Rpeh^{•T•C•E•} 08:09, 4 March 2008 (EST)

If you find out how to work around this or what is being blocked, please let us know because the map would be very helpful for me.cheers for the help so far

Image data is retrieved from our image server http://www.uesp.net:81/ which uses the non-standard port of 81, which is possibly why you aren't seeing anything. I'll think about possible solutions to get around this and see if any work when I get some time to play with it. -- Daveh 11:52, 27 March 2008 (EDT)

FWIW, I believe some FF versions have a bug in javascript which causes it to ignore proxy config rules when using AJAX - it's possible the requests to update the map tiles are not being routed through the uni servers properly. Of course, Daveh's solution is more probable, but it's a thought - does it work in other browsers? Basiclife 15:50, 20 April 2008 (EDT)

Map does not work for me, either, and I have tried it many times over several months. I have tried it both with the latest beta of Firefox, and with a current version of IE. I get the same thing, titles, but no map in the background. I, too, am trying to access it from work (during the week), and am behind a firewall. (I don't have the password for the firewall, so opening a non-standard port is not an option here. Could anything be done to make the data available on a more commonly used port?) ^{—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 69.15.164.226 (talk • contribs).}

[edit] Map features or symbols I don't find a definition for.

There are four specific items that I have been unsuccessful in finding a definition of.

The first is at the site "Temple of the Ancestor Moths". There are a number of red rectangular outlines at this location. I would like to know what they represent.

The next is a series of yellow rectangular outlines that show up in "many" places throughout the map. They don't seem to be at or over any single type of feature that I can see.

Third is a number of very tiny pink colored marks that appear to be roughly a "v or Y" shape. They are very tiny even at maximum magnification. Most of them are single marks but I have seen places where there are 5 or 6 in a straight row close together.

The last is a very distinctive symbol that is located just to the NE of Bruma. It is cleaarly a "created" symbol and not an accident of graphic symbology. It has some features similar to an Oblivion Gate but I am not able to identify it.

If any of the folks who put the map together could tell me about the meaning of these items I would be grateful. At the same time hats off to the same people as this is a superbly useful map tool.

oldwest 19:46, 4 March 2008 (EST)

All the maps are exported from the construction set and most of the lines, boxes and spots on the map are things like patrol areas and creature locations. The thing NE of Bruma is the Siege Crawler. If you don't recognise it, I'm not going to spoil the surprise! At some point we hope to go through and remove the boxes and lines but it's a big task. –Rpeh^{•T•C•E•} 02:00, 5 March 2008 (EST)

[edit] Amazing Map!!!

Thank you so much for making this! I could find all the Nirnroots I was trying to find for the Seeking your Roots quest. I also can find anything I was trying to find by walking around on the map. I didn't find any glitches or mistakes with it so great job! Thanks again for all your hard work!

[edit] moths! moths everywhere!

The Ancestor Moth sanctuary is swarmed with red boxes that represent the trajectories of swarming moths. The red stain is visible "from space" and looks like lava. Could it be removed on the pixel level?Temple-Zero 21:27, 29 July 2008 (EDT)

Rpeh has put together some tools to automatically remove most of the construction set artifacts from the map tiles, including artifacts such as these red boxes. At some point hopefully we'll have a chance to upload a complete new set of "clean" images for the Oblivion map. --Nephele^Talk 23:47, 29 July 2008 (EDT)

[edit] Crystal Chests

I'd like to disable the inaccessible Crystal Chests on the map - the list of accessible ones has been updated at Shivering:Crystal Chest. Once that has been checked, it seems silly to include the ones you can only access using console cheats. –Rpeh^{•T•C•E•} 14:50, 14 August 2008 (EDT)

Makes sense. --Nephele^Talk 11:17, 16 August 2008 (EDT)

Done. I've disabled the chests that aren't accessible. –Rpeh^{•T•C•E•} 03:11, 22 August 2008 (EDT)

[edit] dead links

http://www.econym.demon.co.uk/googlemaps/custommap.htm for the map tutorial is dead, and it links to this page:

http://www.econym.googlepages.com/index.htm which is also dead.

I did find an archived version which I changed the link too. Travb 22:43, 12 September 2008 (EDT)

http://econym.googlepages.com/index.htm works, with no www. I changed the tutorial link to this web page. Travb 22:55, 12 September 2008 (EDT)

[edit] Idea to enhance Interactive Maps

OK, I was thinking that it might be possible to mimic the "Street View" feature of Google maps (seeing as the Interactive Maps are already based off of Google software) by walking a character down roads, paths, enterances to dungeons & settlements, etc., and meanwhile, about every 15-30 in-game ft., taking a screenshot with view boundries set to maximum (if possible, to create a 360-degree image that might be able to be used to "wrap around", allowing viewers to seamlessly and indefinetly rotate the "camera", like in Street View). I realize that a feature like this would require extremely large amounts of server space (for images), time/effort (set-up, programming, picture-taking, implementation, de-bugging, as well as other tasks associated with the process), and organization (getting each picture to correlate correctly with the map), however, despite these possible obstacles, I think the feature would be immencely valueable as it would allow users to get a representation of the area from a perspective that one could relate to. It would also allow for phenominally more detail directions, allowing for the use of definate lankmarks, rather than something like, "look SE and walk forwards until you see a fallen log on the ground to your right and a cluster of rocks that resembles a turtle", which is basically the directions from the official Oblivion guide for the hidden wilderness stash connected to the note at Fort Coldcorn. As you might have guessed, these directions are very obscure, personally causing me to have to spend over five minutes looking for that one stash. With piture directions, however, one could give much more detailed directions, saving people time and frustration. Additionally, having this as an online feature allows people to check directions or locations without having to start up an application, which can't be looked at at the same time they are editing or contributing in some fashion. The same goes for console gamers, who additionally have the problem of their computers often being out-of-sight, or in a completely different room, from their console. Sorry for the long post and thank you for taking the time to read it, as I definately think you should consider all the possibilities surrounding this purposed addition, as well as how we as a community at UESP could accomplish this goal, even if it requires thinking "outside of the box" or personally requesting permissions from where they might be needed. Once again, thank you for reading, and please respond back with a message as detailed as your schedual allows for and as soon as your schedual allows for. Thank you, and have a great day! -Adoring Fan 00:14, 15 September 2008 (EDT)

While the ability to view individual screenshots is something I've been considering for a while, the idea of a full 360 degree view is way, way over the top. The game map is (very roughly) 16 miles on each size. I'm not even going to work out just how many images that would need because there is no way it's ever going to happen. –Rpeh^{•T•C•E•} 01:06, 15 September 2008 (EDT)

[edit] Missing Nirnroot

There is a Nirnroot just SE of the lady stone / NW of the Anvil Lighthouse that has a red dot as if it had been marked to recieve an icon but never did. ^{—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.182.163.56 (talk • contribs) on 16 September 2008.}

All the nirnroot are on the map. If you look at your search results you'll see that you're on page one and that there is another page. Alternatively, zoom in. –Rpeh^{•T•C•E•} 00:44, 16 September 2008 (EDT)