Minecraft Map of BRITAIN 22 billion Blocks used to Create Interactive Map
The Minecraft map of BRITAIN: 22 billion blocks are used to build the virtual world that includes famous landmarks
Ordnance Survey used 22 Billion Blocks from the game of building
The interactive 3D map covers the UK mainland and the islands surrounding it.
Each block is 50 square metres and the map covers the equivalent of 220,000 square kilometers
By Victoria Woollaston
Published at 10:02 EDT on 30 October 2013
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The most played building game Minecraft lets users create their own worlds. However, a new 3D gaming map allows them to explore the UK and even build new settlements in their virtual backyard gardens.
Minecraft Britain was built using Ordnance Survey UK maps as a base. It was built with 22 million Minecraft building blocks.
It covers around 86,000 square miles of the British mainland and islands surrounding it. Each block is approximately 50 square metres.
Ordnance Survey used 22 billion blocks from the popular game Minecraft to create the 3D interactive map of mainland UK and its surrounding islands. The OS Minecraft world covers the equivalent of 86,000 square miles. This image depicts the Minecraft version of Stonehenge in Wiltshire
This is how Stonehenge in Wiltshire looks in real life
To assist players in navigating the world of interactive, Ordnance Survey has also released an index of coordinates for various UK markers such as Stonehenge in Wiltshire.
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The map was created using OS OpenData - maps and mapping tools that Ordnance Survey lets developers use to create alternative maps.
They can then explore different terrains, such as caves, mountains, and forests.
Players can also fly in the air to get an aerial view of the landscape.
Although the original game was intended to be played on the PC There are now versions for mobile and Xbox 360.
For each 100x100 km grid square, developers from Ordnance Survey used height information for various landmarks and buildings.
The left-hand picture shows Snowdonia as it appears in Minecraft. The right-hand image shows how North Wales' mountain ranges look in real reality. Developers have scaled down a number of landmarks and buildings in the UK to fit Minecraft's height limit.
Minecraft launched in 2009. Taking An Image At the beginning of the game, players are put into a 'virtually infinite game world.' The player is then able to explore the world and construct towns and cities. The game was initially developed for the PC but there are now Xbox 360 and mobile versions available, as seen below.
HOW TO INSTALL THE MAP ON MINECRAFT
Players will need to have a licensed copy Minecraft and 5GB of disk space on their computer.
The world has a total of 3.6GB uncompressed and needs at least 4GB of memory.
Players must download the MinecraftGB.zip archive to install the map
Save the archive in a temporary folder. Open the readme.html file in browser and follow the installation instructions.
Then they loaded images from the OS VectorMap District files of all UK locations.
Each 20 x 20 pixels of the map was analysed so the developers could select the right material, colour and size of block.
The raw height data was stored in metres. This meant that developers had to scale down their heights to fit within Minecraft's 256-block height limit.
Ben Nevis, for instance is a mountain that's 2,500m in height. It was later converted into 128 blocks.
Ordnance Survey stated in a blog post that, despite exaggerating the height of the real world, it is able to preserve low-lying coastal features, such as Bournemouth's Cliffs, adding interest and beauty to the landscape.
Developers used diamond blocks for motorways, emerald blocks to build A roads and pumpkin blocks for B roads. Forests, water and built-up areas were created using the standard leaves, water, and brick blocks.
After this 32 x 32 pieces were made and then reassembled as regions. Ordnance Survey said the whole process took around seven hours.
The image is of the River Thames in East London Ordnance Survey stated that the entire mapping process took seven hours. Each 20 x 20-pixel portion of the map was examined so that developers could select the appropriate material, colour and size of the block.
These images show a bird's-eye view of Minecraft London with the River Thames flowing through the centre left and a satellite view of the same area of the Thames right.
