Uno Sguardo nel Buio - Contributi utente [it]

Pagina principale/en

Magnus — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 09:26:46 GMT

Magnus: /* History */

{{RightSideToc}}
<div class="banner_in"> </div>
This is the official website of the «'''''Fellowship of the Impossibles'''''», and the Expansion Kits they have developed for the role play game «'''''The Dark Eye'''''».

<div align="justify">
=Welcome=
''A brief introduction ...''

Many years ago a small group of role playing and fantasy fans, played for a long time ''The Dark Eye'' and decided to change some game rules in order to overcome several limitations and to extend it to introduce new characters, places and improve playability and to some extent, realism.
After using for several years such new features, three of them gathered all changes in a number of expansion kits that they printed and used to consolidate those changes that had proven most valuable and balanced.

Today, thanks to the tools that the network makes available to us, two of the three original authors have decided to convert all the material developed as a wiki, so they can share with other italian (and not italian) players, also hoping to further extend and complement it with the help of other players.

The result is in your browser and is the wiki of «The Dark Eye».

=The Dark Eye=

''What is «The Dark Eye»...''

''Uno Sguardo nel Buio'' (The Dark Eye) is the Italian edition of a role playing game created in 1984 by germans Werner Fuchs and Ulrich Kiesow, whose original name is Das Schwarze Auge (often abbreviated to the acronym DSA).

==History==
''How the game evolved, all versions: original, English and Italian ...''

The game was born in Germany in 1984, from an original idea by Ulrich Kiesow and Werner Fuchs, and was subsequently enriched with system modifications, expansions, adventures by many other authors and, of course, with the contribution of many players and fans. A detailed description of the history of this role play can be found in the section «[[La Storia di DSA|The History of DSA]]».

=Expansion Kits=

''What are they and their purpouse...''

The [[Kit:Introduzione/en|Expansion Kits]] are thematic dossiers collecting what was conceived and made by the [[La Compagnia degli Impossibili|Fellowship of Impossibles]] to expand and improve the game.

They were built originally as a true paper-based files, such as manuals to integrate the Master tools. In this wiki we are going for their restructuring to make them navigable, creating the required pages, but the full version chapters to browse and print them will always be available. The pages of the kit are marked by a colored border that echoes the color of the cover.

[[Image:Cover_kit1.gif|60px]] [[Image:Cover_kit2.gif|60px]] [[Image:Cover_kit3.gif|60px]] [[Image:Cover_kit4.gif|60px]] [[Image:Cover_kit5.gif|60px]] [[Image:Cover_kit6.gif|60px]] [[Image:Cover_kit9.PNG|60px]]

==Support Material==

''How to use...''

In [[Materiale_di_Supporto:Introduzione|this section]] we have collected and concentrated all the information "ready to use" and the tools to play: forms, tables, glossary of terms (with the corresponding terms of the original game), cartography, armorial, etc.

[[Image:Cover_kit7.gif|60px]] [[Image:Cover_kit8.gif|60px]] [[Image:Cover_kit3s.gif|60px]] [[Image:Cover_kitT.gif|60px]] [[Image:Cover_kitS.gif|60px]] [[Image:Cover_kitC.gif|60px]] [[Image:Cover_kitR.gif|60px]]

==History==

''How were developed and by whom...''

[[La Compagnia degli Impossibili|The Fellowship of the Impossibles]] started playing at The Dark Eye in Italy virtually since the output of the first Italian edition (1986) and has done so continuously for more than twenty years, varying over time the players number and composition.

During this period we introduced new rules and amended some of the old, we extended and complemented the setting, we solved and explained some inconsistencies. This set of home rules are the result of our experience over many years of play and adventures and, in fact, have become a real Italian expansion of the original game. They are battle proven! Belive us!

=Links with DSA=

''Duplication and possible inconsistencies with the latest versions...''

The Italian version of the game is stopped at '''DSA1''' and from that set of rules were born the [[Kit:Introduzione/en|Expansion Kits]]. However, we are checking how much and what material can be used with various versions of the rules and we will use a classification system to see what you can bring in new rules and what should be changed.

=Copyright=
[[Immagine:Flag-it.png]] Il marchio ed i contenuti di DAS SCHWARZE AUGE sono utilizzati per gentile concessione dell'editore [http://www.ulisses-spiele.de/ Ulisses Medien & Spiel Distribution GmbH]. Copyright © 2007 by Significant GbR per il marchio DAS SCHWARZE AUGE (testo ed immagine), by Alpers, Fuchs, Kramer, Neigel per il contenuto.

[[Immagine:Flag-gb.png]] Using the brand and content from DAS SCHWARZE AUGE with the kind permission of [http://www.ulisses-spiele.de/ Ulisses Medien & Spiel Distribution GmbH]. Copyright © 2007 by Significant GbR for the mark DAS SCHWARZE AUGE in word and image, by Alpers, Fuchs, Kramer, Neigel for the content.

[[Immagine:Flag-de.png]] Verwendung der Marke und Inhalten von DAS SCHWARZE AUGE mit freundlicher Genehmigung der [http://www.ulisses-spiele.de/ Ulisses Medien & Spiel Distribution GmbH]. Copyright © 2007 by Significant GbR für die Marke DAS SCHWARZE AUGE in Wort und Bild, by Alpers, Fuchs, Kramer, Neigel für die Inhalte.

[[Categoria:Pagine in inglese]]

</div>

Pagina principale/en

Magnus — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 09:20:17 GMT

Magnus: /* Welcome */

{{RightSideToc}}
<div class="banner_in"> </div>
This is the official website of the «'''''Fellowship of the Impossibles'''''», and the Expansion Kits they have developed for the role play game «'''''The Dark Eye'''''».

<div align="justify">
=Welcome=
''A brief introduction ...''

Many years ago a small group of role playing and fantasy fans, played for a long time ''The Dark Eye'' and decided to change some game rules in order to overcome several limitations and to extend it to introduce new characters, places and improve playability and to some extent, realism.
After using for several years such new features, three of them gathered all changes in a number of expansion kits that they printed and used to consolidate those changes that had proven most valuable and balanced.

Today, thanks to the tools that the network makes available to us, two of the three original authors have decided to convert all the material developed as a wiki, so they can share with other italian (and not italian) players, also hoping to further extend and complement it with the help of other players.

The result is in your browser and is the wiki of «The Dark Eye».

=The Dark Eye=

''What is «The Dark Eye»...''

''Uno Sguardo nel Buio'' (The Dark Eye) is the Italian edition of a role playing game created in 1984 by germans Werner Fuchs and Ulrich Kiesow, whose original name is Das Schwarze Auge (often abbreviated to the acronym DSA).

==History==
''How the game evolved, all versions: original, English and Italian ...''

The game was born in Germany in 1984, from an original idea by Ulrich Kiesow and Werner Fuchs, and was subsequently enriched with system modifications, expansions, adventures by many other authors and, of course, with the contribution of many players and fans. A detailed description of the history of this role play can be found in the section «[[La Storia di DSA|The History of DSA]]».

=Expansion Kits=

''What are they and their purpouse...''

The [[Kit:Introduzione/en|Expansion Kits]] are thematic dossiers collecting what was conceived and made by the [[La Compagnia degli Impossibili|Fellowship of Impossibles]] to expand and improve the game.

They were built originally as a true paper-based files, such as manuals to integrate the Master tools. In this wiki we are going for their restructuring to make them navigable, creating the required pages, but the full version chapters to browse and print them will always be available. The pages of the kit are marked by a colored border that echoes the color of the cover.

[[Image:Cover_kit1.gif|60px]] [[Image:Cover_kit2.gif|60px]] [[Image:Cover_kit3.gif|60px]] [[Image:Cover_kit4.gif|60px]] [[Image:Cover_kit5.gif|60px]] [[Image:Cover_kit6.gif|60px]] [[Image:Cover_kit9.PNG|60px]]

==Support Material==

''How to use...''

In [[Materiale_di_Supporto:Introduzione|this section]] we have collected and concentrated all the information "ready to use" and the tools to play: forms, tables, glossary of terms (with the corresponding terms of the original game), cartography, armorial, etc.

[[Image:Cover_kit7.gif|60px]] [[Image:Cover_kit8.gif|60px]] [[Image:Cover_kit3s.gif|60px]] [[Image:Cover_kitT.gif|60px]] [[Image:Cover_kitS.gif|60px]] [[Image:Cover_kitC.gif|60px]] [[Image:Cover_kitR.gif|60px]]

==History==

''How were developed and by whom...''

[[La Compagnia degli Impossibili|The Fellowship of the Impossibles]] started playing at The Dark Eye in Italy virtually since the output of the first Italian edition (1986) and has done so continuously for more than twenty years, varying over time the players composition.

During this period we introduced new rules and amended some of the old, we extended and complemented the setting, we solved and explained some inconsistencies. This set of home rules are the result of our experience over many years of play and adventures and, in fact, have become a real Italian expansion of the original game.

=Links with DSA=

''Duplication and possible inconsistencies with the latest versions...''

The Italian version of the game is stopped at '''DSA1''' and from that set of rules were born the [[Kit:Introduzione/en|Expansion Kits]]. However, we are checking how much and what material can be used with various versions of the rules and we will use a classification system to see what you can bring in new rules and what should be changed.

=Copyright=
[[Immagine:Flag-it.png]] Il marchio ed i contenuti di DAS SCHWARZE AUGE sono utilizzati per gentile concessione dell'editore [http://www.ulisses-spiele.de/ Ulisses Medien & Spiel Distribution GmbH]. Copyright © 2007 by Significant GbR per il marchio DAS SCHWARZE AUGE (testo ed immagine), by Alpers, Fuchs, Kramer, Neigel per il contenuto.

[[Immagine:Flag-gb.png]] Using the brand and content from DAS SCHWARZE AUGE with the kind permission of [http://www.ulisses-spiele.de/ Ulisses Medien & Spiel Distribution GmbH]. Copyright © 2007 by Significant GbR for the mark DAS SCHWARZE AUGE in word and image, by Alpers, Fuchs, Kramer, Neigel for the content.

[[Immagine:Flag-de.png]] Verwendung der Marke und Inhalten von DAS SCHWARZE AUGE mit freundlicher Genehmigung der [http://www.ulisses-spiele.de/ Ulisses Medien & Spiel Distribution GmbH]. Copyright © 2007 by Significant GbR für die Marke DAS SCHWARZE AUGE in Wort und Bild, by Alpers, Fuchs, Kramer, Neigel für die Inhalte.

[[Categoria:Pagine in inglese]]

</div>

Uno Sguardo nel Buio:AventuriaMap/en

Magnus — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:32:57 GMT

Magnus: /* The implementation */

{{RightSideToc}}

One of the wiki related projects is Aventuria Map. This is the Aventuria map management based on the Google Map API, so the user can browse the map and (in the future) he will be able to position the cities, the most important places and adventures routes.

For a more efficient and convenient usability of Aventuria Map we decided to create a subdomain, ''ad hoc''. Thence, to access the current version of Aventuria Map is sufficient to go to http://maps.usnb.it.

You can select a city from the list and center the map with Go! button, a click on the town marker will show the wiki page of www.usnb.it.

You can link the page focusing on a town or city:

<code>http://maps.usnb.it/index.html?citta=Vinsalt</code>

or on a specific point:

<code>http://maps.usnb.it/index.html?lat=30&lng=5</code>

at given zoom level too:

<code>http://maps.usnb.it/index.html?citta=Vinsalt&zoom=7 <br>
http://maps.usnb.it/index.html?lat=30&lng=5&zoom=9</code>

== The implementation ==
The project completion, at present, required some basic operations, which we shall see in detail, including:

* scanning and acquisition of original maps
* combining all maps
* defining the tiles
* writing the javascript code to implement the map with Google Map API
* implementing all the necessary server components

=== Maps acquisition ===
We purchased the official Kartenset 1 and 2, the ones related to the South and the Central region of the continent. The third Kartenset was not found, so it was necessary to find each single map.

The acquisition was done at 300 dpi, a good compromise between quality and file size, the original files in TIFF format were then converted to PNG format because it provides good compression without losing quality.

=== Combining maps ===
This was one of the more expensive step. In many cases, because of the huge size of files we obtained, it was not possible to work with the entire map file; so we had to cut it into two or more smaller images.

This last aspect has led to a significant work on the original maps to have the borders matched. At the moment, however, no serious action to solve the color problem was performed and this is the cause of the presence of boxes of different shades on the overall map.

We immediately noticed that:

* ''maps were not all the same color rendering'', perhaps because they were realized at different times by different authors or printed with different techniques. Standardize the colors soon proved a task of some complexity, therefore we preferred to defer accepting the idea of having panels with different colors. The largest discrepancy in colours was undoubtedly the island of Maraskan.

* ''contiguous maps did not overlap'', again probably because they are made at different times and not with the idea to combine them (an idea that probably came later, as the most recent maps were combined quite well). In this case, maps were properly rescaled to make up to match the rivers and roads, in some cases it was necessary to repaint border areas to move rivers or roads.

In the end all the maps have been recombined in frames 4096 x 4096 pixels for the implementation of the tiles in the next step.

=== The Tiles ===
As you know, the Google Map API are expected to manage layers obtained by combining squares (''tiles'') of 256 pixels per side. As you set the zoom level, each tile is identified by two serial numbers (row and column).

In particular, at level 0, the whole world is mapped by a single piece, at level 1 there are four and so on. Basically, stated the level number N, the number of tiles required is given by 4<sup>N</sup>. Note that in each level, the tile coordinate (0,0) is placed "in the top left" that is, its upper left corner is located at coordinates Lat. 90° N, Lng. 180° W.

For the cutting of the square maps of 4096 pixels per side was used and modified the software Tile Cutter, made in C # by Anatole Golovco. The changes included the ability to automate the process (cutting all maps within a sub-folder according to a specific numbering), to create, from a given layer, a new layer at lower zoom level, to set the image quality of the pieces in terms of level of JPEG compression (which as we know it is with loss of information).

=== The Google Map API ===
The first problem to be solved was the choice of the type of projection. Basically, the Google Map API expects to handle maps made with the Mercator projection, which tend to enlarge the maps at Poles. You can verify this by opening any map on Google and checking on the scale indicator without changing the zoom level and moving to the north, you'll notice that the indicator shows progressively larger scales.

In the case of our maps, it was assumed that the designers have worked on "flat" maps, i.e. Euclidean projection type. The design does not take into account the fact that you are projecting on a flat surface that is the development of a sphere.

This observation has implicated the first two interventions on the javascript code: the creation of a custom Scale Control, which does not take into account the latitude, but the level of zoom only and a custom Projection that implement custom Euclidean projections.

Another set of interventions have been about the customization of the interface. Here we adopted a library (ExtInfoWindow) that allow customization of default Google Info Window and then we made the images to compose the custom marker.

=== Server side components ===
The georeferential data are stored in a MySQL database: only pinpoint objects, namely those represented by a simple marker, are currently managed. For those objects are stored: the name, latitude and longitude, and the name of wiki page that contains information about the referred object.

As you know the Google Map API are based on AJAX, and in particular for server calls they use XMLHttpRequest object that does not allow calls to a different host, to avoid cross-scripting. Thus, to populate the ExtInfoWindow with the proper wiki page it was necessary to create a PHP script that receives the request from the client and make the actual page request to the wiki. This PHP script also allows you to perform some processing on the page to be forwarded to the client to remove/modify some items.

Another PHP script provides the XML file with all the data requested by the client. These informations are used, for example, to populate the combobox for searching cities.

=== Placing Aventuria ===
Whilst we could, in effect, put the map, or their tiles, assuming any starting meridian/equator reference, we preferred to place the map accordingly to some information provided by official sources:

* a first fact is that the base meridian pass through the city of Vinsalt, this means that the reference to the longitude is fixed: Vinsalt is at longitude 0°.

* More problematic is the definition of the equator position, since the known informations state only that the equator passes south of the continent.

Now, to correctly position the map the geographical coordinates of at least two points are required, or alternatively the coordinates of a point and the distance in kilometers between two points. In fact, with a single point you can get the positioning of the map, but not the zoom level.

== To do list ==
* I should realize an interface to allow authorized users from inserting objects on the map;
* Aventuria map must be integrated into the wiki so that we can get the map from the pages that require it, so, for example, on each page of the city must be a link that opens Aventuria Map centered on the city itself;
* polylines must be managed in encrypted format to avoid excessive loading and repaint time.

== Tools ==
For acquisition we used a AGFA A3 scanner with its software.

Graphic editing were made with open source software GIMP and Paint.NET. The latter has proved very useful for its ability to handle very large maps in memory. GIMP was used for all editing operations such as recovery of the slight deformation created by the acquisition, borders removal, images scaling, the redesign of rivers, roads and other boundary elements in order to obtain border matching.

The javascript code testing has been made both on IE7 and on Firefox 3.0.14, both with the plugins needed to debug javascript and CSS.

== Links ==
* [http://www.gimp.org GIMP] is a open source graphics software used especially for cleaning up the maps and align any distortions caused by the scanning process;
* [http://www.getpaint.net/index.html Paint.NET] is an open source graphics software, very useful for the process of assembly of maps, handles well large images, even on 32 bit;
* [http://econym.org.uk/gmap/ Google Map Tutorial] is a tutorial by Mike Williams on Google Map: a good starting point, it sets out clearly all aspects of Google Map, rich with examples and guidance on the choices to take to achieve goals;
* [http://code.google.com/intl/it-IT/apis/maps/documentation/index.html Google Map Documentation] is the official documentation on the Google Map API, rich and comprehensive, has now also the new API version 3;
* [http://googlemapsapi.blogspot.com/2007/12/extinfowindow-10-ajax-powered-css.html ExtInfoWindow] is the extension used to customize the information windows with our CSS;
* [http://php.net/index.php PHP] is the language used to implement the server components;
* [http://www.mysql.it/ MySQL] is our database engine.

Uno Sguardo nel Buio:AventuriaMap/en

Magnus — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:21:30 GMT

Magnus: /* The implementation */

{{RightSideToc}}

One of the wiki related projects is Aventuria Map. This is the Aventuria map management based on the Google Map API, so the user can browse the map and (in the future) he will be able to position the cities, the most important places and adventures routes.

For a more efficient and convenient usability of Aventuria Map we decided to create a subdomain, ''ad hoc''. Thence, to access the current version of Aventuria Map is sufficient to go to http://maps.usnb.it.

You can select a city from the list and center the map with Go! button, a click on the town marker will show the wiki page of www.usnb.it.

You can link the page focusing on a town or city:

<code>http://maps.usnb.it/index.html?citta=Vinsalt</code>

or on a specific point:

<code>http://maps.usnb.it/index.html?lat=30&lng=5</code>

at given zoom level too:

<code>http://maps.usnb.it/index.html?citta=Vinsalt&zoom=7 <br>
http://maps.usnb.it/index.html?lat=30&lng=5&zoom=9</code>

== The implementation ==
The project completion, at present, required some basic operations, which we shall see in detail, including:

* scanning and acquisition of original maps
* combining all maps
* defining the tiles
* writing the javascript code to implement the map with Google Map API
* implementing all the necessary server components

=== Maps acquisition ===
We purchased the official Kartenset 1 and 2, the ones related to the South and the Central region of the continent. The third Kartenset was not found, so it was necessary to find each single map.

The acquisition was done at 300 dpi, a good compromise between quality and file size, the original files in TIFF format were then converted to PNG format because it provides good compression without losing quality.

=== Combining maps ===
This was one of the more expensive step. In many cases, because of the huge size of files we obtained, it was not possible to work with the entire map file; so we had to cut it into two or more smaller images.

This last aspect has led to a significant work on the original maps to have the borders matched. At the moment, however, no serious action to solve the color problem was performed and this is the cause of the presence of boxes of different shades on the overall map.

We immediately noticed that:

* ''maps were not all the same color rendering'', perhaps because they were realized at different times by different authors or printed with different techniques. Standardize the colors soon proved a task of some complexity, therefore we preferred to defer accepting the idea of having panels with different colors. The largest discrepancy in colours was undoubtedly the island of Maraskan.

* ''contiguous maps did not overlap'', again probably because they are made at different times and not with the idea to combine them (an idea that probably came later, as the most recent maps were combined quite well). In this case, maps were properly rescaled to make up to match the rivers and roads, in some cases it was necessary to repaint border areas to move rivers or roads.

In the end all the maps have been recombined in frames 4096 x 4096 pixels for the implementation of the tiles in the next step.

=== The Tiles ===
As you know, the Google Map API are expected to manage layers obtained by combining squares (''tiles'') of 256 pixels per side. As you set the zoom level, each tile is identified by two serial numbers (row and column).

In particular, at level 0, the whole world is mapped by a single piece, at level 1 there are four and so on. Basically, stated the level number N, the number of tiles required is given by 4<sup>N</sup>. Note that in each level, the tile coordinate (0,0) is placed "in the top left" that is, its upper left corner is located at coordinates Lat. 90° N, Lng. 180° W.

For the cutting of the square maps of 4096 pixels per side was used and modified the software Tile Cutter, made in C # by Anatole Golovco. The changes included the ability to automate the process (cutting all maps within a sub-folder according to a specific numbering), to create, from a given layer, a new layer at lower zoom level, to set the image quality of the pieces in terms of level of JPEG compression (which as we know it is with loss of information).

=== The Google Map API ===
The first problem to be solved was the choice of the type of projection. Basically, the Google Map API expects to handle maps made with the Mercator projection, which tend to enlarge the maps at Poles. You can verify this by opening any map on Google and checking on the scale indicator without changing the zoom level and moving to the north, you'll notice that the indicator shows progressively larger scales.

In the case of our maps, it was assumed that the designers have worked on "flat" maps, i.e. Euclidean projection type. The design does not take into account the fact that you are projecting on a flat surface that is the development of a sphere.

This observation has implicated the first two interventions on the javascript code: the creation of a custom Scale Control, which does not take into account the latitude, but the level of zoom only and a custom Projection that implement custom Euclidean projections.

Another set of interventions have been about the customization of the interface. Here we adopted a library (ExtInfoWindow) that allow customization of default Google Info Window and then we made the images to compose the custom marker.

=== Server side components ===
Georeferentialed datas are stored on MySQL database: at the moment, only
I dati georeferenziali sono memorizzati all'interno di un database MySQL: al momento sono gestiti i soli oggetti puntiformi, cioè quelli rappresentabili con un semplice marker, per i quali vengono memorizzati il nome, la latitudine e longitudine, il nome della pagina wiki che contiene le informazioni relative all'oggetto inserito. The georeferential data are stored in a MySQL database: only pinpoint objects, namely those represented by a simple marker, are currently managed for which stores the name, latitude and longitude, the name of wiki page that contains information about the inserted object.

As you know the Google Map API are based on AJAX, and in particular for server calls they use XMLHttpRequest object that does not allow calls to a different host, to avoid cross-scripting. Thus, to populate the ExtInfoWindow with the proper wiki page it was necessary to create a PHP script that receives the request from the client and make the actual page request to the wiki. This PHP script also allows you to perform some processing on the page to be forwarded to the client to remove/modify some items.

Another PHP script provides the XML file with all the data requested by the client. These informations are used, for example, to populate the combobox for searching cities.

=== Placing Aventuria ===
Whilst it could, in effect, put the map (i.e. or their tiles) in everywhere regardless any coordinates, we preferred to place the map accordingly to some information provided by official sources:

* a first fact is that the base meridian pass through the city of Vinsalt, this means that the reference to the longitude is fixed: Vinsalt is at longitude 0°.

* More problematic is the definition of the equator position, since the known informations state only that the equator passes south of the continent.

Now, to correctly position the map the geographical coordinates of at least two points are required, or alternatively the coordinates of a point and the distance in kilometers between two points. In fact, with a single point you can get the positioning of the map, but not the zoom level.

== To do list ==
* I should realize an interface to allow authorized users from inserting objects on the map;
* Aventuria map must be integrated into the wiki so that we can get the map from the pages that require it, so, for example, on each page of the city must be a link that opens Aventuria Map centered on the city itself;
* polylines must be managed in encrypted format to avoid excessive loading and repaint time.

== Tools ==
For acquisition we used a AGFA A3 scanner with its software.

Graphic editing were made with open source software GIMP and Paint.NET. The latter has proved very useful for its ability to handle very large maps in memory. GIMP was used for all editing operations such as recovery of the slight deformation created by the acquisition, borders removal, images scaling, the redesign of rivers, roads and other boundary elements in order to obtain border matching.

The javascript code testing has been made both on IE7 and on Firefox 3.0.14, both with the plugins needed to debug javascript and CSS.

== Links ==
* [http://www.gimp.org GIMP] is a open source graphics software used especially for cleaning up the maps and align any distortions caused by the scanning process;
* [http://www.getpaint.net/index.html Paint.NET] is an open source graphics software, very useful for the process of assembly of maps, handles well large images, even on 32 bit;
* [http://econym.org.uk/gmap/ Google Map Tutorial] is a tutorial by Mike Williams on Google Map: a good starting point, it sets out clearly all aspects of Google Map, rich with examples and guidance on the choices to take to achieve goals;
* [http://code.google.com/intl/it-IT/apis/maps/documentation/index.html Google Map Documentation] is the official documentation on the Google Map API, rich and comprehensive, has now also the new API version 3;
* [http://googlemapsapi.blogspot.com/2007/12/extinfowindow-10-ajax-powered-css.html ExtInfoWindow] is the extension used to customize the information windows with our CSS;
* [http://php.net/index.php PHP] is the language used to implement the server components;
* [http://www.mysql.it/ MySQL] is our database engine.