Which map api would best support fictionally defined maps?

Question

I am researching the feasibility of setting up a mapping tool for my alliance in an online game. The game is not based in the real world so I am not interested in the content of the map tools available, just the functionality.

Minimally, I would like the map to display information about where allied cities are located in the world. Ideally, I'd like to be able to display information about desired trades, levels of development, and military actions. All this should be editable by the map users.

I've been looking at the google maps API and it appears that I could use it to serve my ends by using my own map tiles with a custom defined map object and some custom overlays, but it looks like it would be a lot of work to set up.

Is there another tool that would be better suited to this task?

Answer 1

Wouldn't defining your own overlay with a KMZ file in Google Maps work?

Answer 2

A List Apart has an article from the creators of EveryBlock.com. They use a full open-source stack (client side library, tile cache, map generator) as an alternative to Google Maps. That sounds like it has exactly what you need.

Answer 3

There is a google map implementation of the Oblivion gameworld - this might serve as a reference.

Answer 4

I would argue that the Goole Maps API approach is not as difficult as you imagine. The API provides a very nice interface to define custom tilesets to render your own maps.

This interface is actually quite simple to use. There is a detailed description of it here. When you create a GMapType object you can specify a vector of urls to your own image tiles, label images and fundamentally change the display paradigm.

There are quite a few examples of this on the web:

• George R R Martin's Game of Thrones. I found the javascript they have written pretty clear.
• The Oblivion Gameworld (as Matt mentioned).
• World of Warcraft Gameworld

I reckon this is a really powerful way of implementing your own maps on the web.