Outerra forum

Anteworld - Outerra Game => Tech demo, support, updates => Topic started by: nealius on March 15, 2013, 04:17:13 pm

Title: Lat/Long coordinates not working
Post by: nealius on March 15, 2013, 04:17:13 pm
Maybe it's buried in here somewhere, but I was unable to find anything. This is on the most recent demo version. The Lat/Long coordinates are really buggy. Most coordinates for places in Japan work, but every coordinate I tried inputting for the United States would put me either in the Himalayas or in China. Except Honolulu...that one put me in the middle of the Pacific with no land in sight.

Let's say I want to go to Mt. McKinley. Coordinates are: 63*04'10"N 151*00'27"W. If I put the N coordinate in latitude and the W coordinate in longitude, as they should be, it puts me in Siberia. If I reverse it and put the W coordinate in latitude and the N coordinate in longitude, it puts me off the coast of southern California. At least I'm in the right continent now, but still no where near Mt. McKinley.

Is this a known bug or am I inputting the coordinates incorrectly?
Title: Re: Lat/Long coordinates not working
Post by: cameni on March 15, 2013, 04:50:06 pm
I entered the coordinates directly as you wrote them, got this:

(http://i.minus.com/jmWRAL8KdQcDX.jpg) (http://minus.com/lmWRAL8KdQcDX)
Title: Re: Lat/Long coordinates not working
Post by: nealius on March 15, 2013, 05:12:19 pm
It must be a format issue then. If I input the coordinates according to the default format I end up in Siberia:

(http://i.imgur.com/SYT6G8Tl.jpg) (http://imgur.com/SYT6G8T)
Title: Re: Lat/Long coordinates not working
Post by: cameni on March 15, 2013, 05:24:14 pm
But that's not the right format. When you do not specify W or E after the longitude angle (or S/N for latitude), you must use the correct sign to differentiate between the half spheres. In your case, it should be -151
Title: Re: Lat/Long coordinates not working
Post by: nealius on March 15, 2013, 05:33:19 pm
If that's not the right format then why is it the default format?

Anyway, at least it's sorted now. I wish GPS coordinates had one standard format instead of having seven (according to Wikipedia).
Title: Re: Lat/Long coordinates not working
Post by: cameni on March 15, 2013, 05:45:41 pm
What do you mean by that it's the default format? That the western hemisphere has a negative sign?
Wikipedia says this:

Planetocentric longitude is always measured positively to the east, regardless of which way the planet rotates. East is defined as the counter-clockwise direction around the planet, as seen from above its north pole, and the north pole is whichever pole more closely aligns with the Earth's north pole. Longitudes traditionally have been written using "E" or "W" instead of "+" or "−" to indicate this polarity. For example, the following all mean the same thing:
    −91°
    91°W
    +269°
    269°E.

So you have to use either the W suffix or the minus sign when you want to address points on the western hemisphere.
But yes, it's often a point of confusion.
Title: Re: Lat/Long coordinates not working
Post by: nealius on March 15, 2013, 06:15:17 pm
I missed that part in the sea of difficult-to-understand technobabble on the Wiki article  ;D