Minecraft Map of BRITAIN 22 Bn Blocks used to Create Interactive Map
The Minecraft map of BRITAIN: 22 billion blocks are used to create the virtual world that even includes famous landmarks
Ordnance Survey used 22 billion blocks from the popular building game
The 3D interactive map is interactive and covers the mainland UK and the islands surrounding it.
Each block represents 50 square metres and the map covers the equivalent of 220,000 square kilometres
By Victoria Woollaston
Updated 10:59 EDT, 5 March 2014
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The well-known building game Minecraft already lets users create their own worlds. However, the latest 3D gaming map now lets them explore the whole of the UK and even build new settlements in their back gardens.
Minecraft Britain was built using Ordnance Survey UK maps as a base. It was built with 22 million Minecraft building blocks.
It covers the equivalent of 86,000 square miles of mainland Great Britain and the surrounding islands. Each block covers 50 square metres.
Ordnance Survey used 22 billion blocks from the game of building Minecraft to create the interactive 3D map of mainland UK and the islands surrounding it. The OS Minecraft world covers 86,000 square miles. This image illustrates the Minecraft version of Stonehenge in Wiltshire
This is how the Stonehenge landmark in Wiltshire looks in the real world.
Ordnance Survey also published a list with coordinates to different markers across the UK including Stonehenge, Wiltshire, to aid players in exploring the interactive world.
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The map was built using OS OpenData - maps and mapping tools that Ordnance Survey lets developers use to create maps that are different from the ones they currently have.
They can then explore various terrains, including forests as well as caves.
Players can also fly up in the air to get views from a bird's-eye perspective of the scenery.
Although the original game was originally designed for the PC There are now mobile versions and Xbox 360.
For each 100 x 100 km grid square, developers from Ordnance Survey used height information for various buildings and landmarks. Minecraft Servers
The left-hand image depicts Snowdonia as it appears in Minecraft. The right-hand picture shows how North Wales' mountain ranges look in real reality. Because the elevation of many landmarks and buildings in the UK is higher than Minecraft's built-in height limit, developers reduced them so that they would fit
Minecraft launched in 2009. At the start of the game, a player is put into a 'virtually infinite game world.' They can then walk around and construct cities and towns. The game was initially made for the PC but there are now Xbox 360 and mobile versions available, as seen below.
HOW DO I INSTALL THE MAP on MINECRAFT
Players must have a licensed version of Minecraft and around 5GB disk space on their computer.
The world is covered by 3.6GB uncompressed, and requires a minimum 4GB of memory.
To install the map, players need to download the Minecraft-GB.zip archive.
Save the archive in a temporary folder. Open the readme.html file using an internet browser. Follow the instructions for installation.
They then loaded images of all UK locations from the OS VectorMap District files.
Each 20x20-pixel area of the map was scrutinized by the designers to determine the correct colour, material, and size of each block.
The height data in the raw format was stored in meters which means that developers were scaled down to fit within the 256-block height limit in Minecraft.
Ben Nevis, for instance is about 2,500m high. Minecraft Servers It was converted into 128 blocks.
Ordnance Survey said in a blog post: 'Although this exaggerates the actual height, it preserves low-lying coastal features such as the cliffs in Bournemouth, adding interest to the landscape.'
Developers employed diamond blocks to construct motorways with emerald, pumpkin and emerald blocks for A roads and emerald blocks on B roads. Forests, water and built-up areas were created using water, leaves and brick blocks.
After that after that, 32 x 32 chunks referred to as regions were created and put together. Ordnance Survey said the whole process took around seven hours.
The River Thames in East London is pictured. Ordnance Survey said the whole mapping process took about seven hours to complete. Each 20 x 20 pixel region of the map was analysed so the developers could select the correct color, material and block size.
These images show Minecraft London from above, with the River Thames running through its center. A satellite view of the same area is shown to the right. Minecraft Servers
