Maps are an item in the video game Minecraft that by holding in
a players hand automatically map the surround area. The image above
is an example of what holding a map looks like in game.
This map is at 1:4 scale which means that for every one square on
the map it represents 4 blocks in Minecraft. Each Minecraft
block represents 1 meter in real life.
This map shows an idealized example of what a map looks like and represents
in Minecraft. If you hover over a feature you can see what block is being
represented. This map is at 1:1 scale meaning every square on the map is
one block in Minecraft. Instead of showing actual imagery, Minecraft maps
show a classified raster. The raster isn't classified very well however
as multiple blocks that are similar colors or share a common type tend to
have the same color on the map. If you hover over either gray patch, for example,
it will say "Stone and Gravel" as both blocks are the same color on the map.
In reality the leftmost patch is stone and the rightmost gravel.
This reference image allows us to use ground truthing to determine
what detail is lost in the map. This image is taken from what is
at the bottom of the map looking north. You may start to see how
Minecraft maps represent features like topology and water depth.
They show hills by adding darker and lighter shading on either
side. For water depth the darker the blue, the deeper the water.
For the function maps in Minecraft serve, this is all the detail
that is necessary, but what if you could could make a map of a real
area look like this?
This is an example of what a real place may look like if it
where classified like a Minecraft map. You can see how it is far from
perfect for many reasons. This was made using one of many Minecraft Maps
created by Mattias Brennecke on his website called Minecraft Earth Map.
The area on the map shown is around the city of Tillamook on the Oregon Coast.
The satellite image was taken from Sentinel 2. The Minecraft Map I used
is at 1:500 scale meaning that there are 500 meters in real life for every
one square on the map.