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OGF Blue Book

February 2021

OpenGeofiction Blue Book, created by Eklas, version 1, revision 5 (published 01 February 2021)

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OpenGeofiction Blue Book

assembled by eklas

version 1 with data valid as of January 31, 2021

Disclaimer: The author of this document is a member of the OpenGeofiction admin team,

however, the contents have not been reviewed by all other admin team members and as such it

does not represent official positions of the admin team as a whole if in any way biased. The

creation of this document has been motivated by the ongoing technical problems with the

OpenGeofiction wiki, where most information about rules of the website is exclusively stored, and

whose accessibility is currently limited. The rules listed in this document on pages 5–7 and 16–22

are valid as of the date of publication and are mirrored from the respective wiki pages. In case of

any discrepancy between this document and the wiki pages, the wiki version has priority.


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Table of contents

Table of contents 3 Quick contact reference 4 About OpenGeofiction 5

Rules 6 Other terms and conditions 7 How to sign up 7

Getting started 8 Overview of the map data 8 Map editing software 9 Setting up JOSM for OpenGeofiction 9 Useful JOSM plugins 10 Useful JOSM keyboard shortcuts 10

First edits 11 Frequently asked questions 11 Making your first changeset 12 Editing the coastline 13

Territories 14 Territory rules by region 16 Universal rules for territories 21 Starting your first country 22 Blue territories 24 Collaborative projects 26 Vandalism and misplaced edits 29

Other website features 30 Community 31

Private messages 31 Wiki 31 Forum 31 Other ways of communication 32

Mapping 101 33 Making city names appear on the map 33 What to map and what not to map 33 69 basic features 34 Relations 36 Coastline maintenance, maritime borders and shipping lines 41 Exporting map data 41

What if I have other questions? 42


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Quick contact reference

OpenGeofiction, www.opengeofiction.net

[email protected]

A project by Thilo Stapff (@thilo) and Johannes Bouchain (@joschi81).

Responsible for the website content:

Thilo Stapff

Niddertalring 7

61137 Schöneck

Germany

OpenGeofiction is based on the software of the OpenStreetMap project.

Licensing:

All map data: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License (CC-BY-NC-SA

3.0) unless otherwise noted. All other content (logo, texts, layout):

© Opengeofiction 2012-2014.

The text above was taken from opengeofiction.net/contact/, © Opengeofiction 2012-2014.

Admin (manager) team

home continent member timezone

Antarephia eklas (temporarily) UTC +1

Archanta wangi UTC +0

Tarephia BMSOUZA UTC -3

Uletha (east) eklas UTC +1

Uletha (west) wangi (temporarily) UTC +0

Note: inquiries about territories should be sent to the admin account.

http://opengeofiction.net/message/new/admin


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About OpenGeofiction

OpenGeofiction (OGF) is a collaborative platform for creating fictional maps based on the

OpenStreetMap software platform, which means that all map editors and other tools suitable for

OpenStreetMap can be used to build OGF's fictional world.

The world is set in modern times, so it doesn't have orcs or elves, but rather power plants,

motorways and housing projects. But also picturesque old towns, beautiful national parks and

lonely beaches.

If you'd like to help create this world:

• Create an account at https://opengeofiction.net/user/new. After verifying your email, you

can start mapping right away.

• Start mapping in one of the blue countries on our map (image below, further

information on page 24). These countries are free for all users to edit. Look at various

towns and cities and try building one yourself.

• Stick to the rules! They are listed on the next page.

Blue (public) territories

and their languages

https://opengeofiction.net/user/new


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Starting a personal project

You may request a private country (also called a green country) by following the specific rules for

each continent (see page 14).

Joining a collaborative project

You may request to participate in a collaborative country (also called a purple country) by

contacting its coordinator (see page 26).

Note: You can have a private, participate in a collaborative, and edit a public territory all at the

same time. Requests for personal territories are handled by the admin team and should be sent to

the admin account. Before starting work in the territory you have selected, you must wait for

confirmation from an admin.

An interactive territory map is available on the wiki.

Rules

• Be realistic. No fantasy, science fiction, joke countries, etc. See page 11 for more details.

• Be original.

o No imports from OSM. No copying trademarked maps. Doing these things may get

you banned.

o No extensive copying of real world geography. Try to avoid using well-known

place names, real or fictional. No real world companies or organizations.

o All images on the wiki — photos and artwork — must be free to use, and must

contain a link to source and/or copyright info. All wiki text must be your own writing.

o No copying others' mapping, without their permission.

• Be respectful.

o No mapping in others' countries or moving the borders of others' countries without

their permission. No writing about others' countries in the wiki without permission.

o Respect the open seas by following the rules for sea borders, island building, and

shipping lines (pages 22 and 41).

o Do not extend your country beyond its original shape. For borders with unclaimed

neighbor countries, keep them within 10 km of the original line.

o No sockpuppets. Only one account per user.

o No vandalism. No offensive or insulting content. Consult admin before forming any

OGF-related group off-site.

o No "empires of paper" in the wiki - avoid overwikification.

• Be active. After a prolonged period of inactivity, we may mark your territory for withdrawal.

Then, if still no activity happens or we don't otherwise hear from you during the following

several weeks, we'll mark the territory as free for other users to claim, and close your

account.

Please be aware that violating the rules may result in suspension or termination of your account.


https://wiki.opengeofiction.net/wiki/index.php/OGF:Territories#Overview_Map


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Other terms and conditions

By participating in OGF you agree to release your contributions under the Creative Commons

Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License (CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0). Of course you are free to

choose a more permissive CC license as well.

We can't take any responsibility for data backup. Snapshots of the data set are created at regular

intervals and can be downloaded from https://opengeofiction.net/backup. Each user is advised to

do this frequently.

OGF is an experiment, and we don't know if it will work in the long run. We believe that the most

important factor for success of this project will be the readiness of all participants for cooperation

wherever that's necessary. Also, keep in mind that we still regard this site as a private homepage

rather than a public service. Which means that ultimately we (the admin team) will have the final

say about everything. But we really hope to never have to use that power.

How to sign up

Click here.

Comment

The text above was pulled from the OGF:About page on the OGF wiki. Please allow me to

rephrase the second-to-last paragraph: OpenGeofiction is a relatively small online

community where members know each other quite well. This allows for a higher level of

mutual trust and relying on common sense rather than following strict guidelines and

rules. Even this document leaves some potential grey areas. So far, we have trusted our

users to just not be jerks, and for the most part, it worked out. We hope it can remain that

way for some more time.

—Eklas

https://opengeofiction.net/backup

http://opengeofiction.net/user/new


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Getting started

Overview of the map data

Terminology

OSM (and OGF) map data distinguish between three basic types of objects (also called

elements): nodes (singular points), ways (from 2 up to 2,000 nodes connected in an oriented line;

when enclosed, a way is called an area), and relations (describing the relations between some

specific ways and nodes).

Nodes describe smaller features, such as trees, mail boxes or water fountains. Unclosed ways are

used when you can distinctly tell the start and the end, for example with roads, railways or rivers.

Areas, as the name suggests, are for features whose area can be calculated, such as buildings,

gardens etc. Relations often group together objects with some common quality – for example, one

type of relation is the set of all borders of a country (relations are further explained on page 36).

Each object has a set of tags. Tags describe the properties of the object and define how it will be

rendered on the map. Each tag composes of a key and a value. For example, a way which has

the following tags:

key value

highway residential

maxspeed 30

name Kenrich Terrace

oneway yes

is the way of a one-way residential street named Kenrich Terrace, and will be displayed on the

map as a thin white line with arrows pointing in the direction of the line (from its start to its end).

See for yourself.

Explore all of the available tags here or see page 34.

Rendering styles

The supply of tags is limitless, but not all tags change how the objects look on the map. To

highlight relevant features, there exist multiple rendering styles. On the main page, you can

switch between styles in the Layers menu on the right side panel.

OGF has three main rendering styles: the Default style, which is roughly equivalent to the style of

OpenStreetMap and displays the most tags; the TopoMap, which displays elevation contours and

natural features; and the style by user Histor, a legacy style mostly using the older

OpenStreetMap design. The fourth style in the menu is a scan of a hand drawn map and is only

available around the country of Roantra.

https://opengeofiction.net/way/7924531

http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Map_Features

https://opengeofiction.net/#map=8/45.153/28.680&layers=R


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Changesets

A changeset is the bundle of data uploaded to the server by a user. It contains information about

the objects that were moved or had their tags or nodes changed.

Map editing software

In most cases, OGF users edit the map through JOSM (see below), an opensource Java-based

software. Some users tend to prefer the iD editor or Potlatch, both of which are in-browser and

can be accessed from the Edit button on the main page, require no setup, and are more beginner-

friendly (as they lack some more advanced features). However, you may use any other editor of

your choice, as long as it can be configured to connect to our server.

Setting up JOSM for OpenGeofiction

1. Download JOSM from the official website: https://josm.openstreetmap.de

Note: On the JOSM website, there are many useful resources and tutorials related to the

software. When in doubt about a JOSM-related topic this document doesn’t mention, visit the

official website.

2. Launch JOSM and go to Edit – Preferences – Connection settings. Fill in the

parameters as shown below.

After this step, you are technically able to download from and upload map data to the OGF server.

OGF currently does not support OAuth; please make sure you have the box Use Basic

Authentication checked.

Copy the server URL from here: https://opengeofiction.net/api

https://josm.openstreetmap.de/


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3. In the Preferences tab, go to Imagery preferences. Click the +TMS button on the

right to add the OGF map to your List of selected entries. Fill in the following

parameters (each line is one separate entry):

Field 2. Field 5.

https://tile.opengeofiction.net/osmcarto/{zoom}/{x}/{y}.png OGF Default style

https://tile.opengeofiction.net/topomap/{zoom}/{x}/{y}.png OGF Topomap

https://tile.opengeofiction.net/tiles-histor/{zoom}/{x}/{y}.png OGF Histor-style

You may leave field 3 empty. Field 4 is automatically generated. After this step, you will be able to

display the OGF map as the background imagery in the workspace (by selecting it from the

dropdown menu under Imagery) as well as in the download map dialogue (by selecting it from the

dropdown menu on the top right). After finishing step 3, the setup is complete.

A video tutorial is also available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3rshhFs_7A (please note

that the URLs mentioned in the video use the older http:// version, which is no longer valid).

Useful JOSM plugins

Plugins can be installed from within JOSM, under Edit – Preferences – Plugins.

Some of the most popular plugins among OGF users include:

• FastDraw, allowing to draw objects with fewer clicks

• Measurement, which shows you the length, area etc. of any object selected

• PicLayer, used for displaying image files as the background of the JOSM workspace

• ShapeTools, which can be used to rotate objects by a precise amount and align them

• Splinex, used for drawing various curves and splines

• Terracer, used for splitting a rectangle into a given amount of even parts (useful for

making row houses).

Useful JOSM keyboard shortcuts

• Hold Ctrl+Alt and drag a selected object to resize it

• Hold Ctrl+Shift and drag a selected object to rotate it

• When drawing a line, double press A and right click another line segment to make the

line you’re currently drawing snap to positions parallel, perpendicular etc. to the other

line

• Press Shift+B to align selected nodes (points) to position them evenly in a line

• When drawing a line that has two or more successive nodes in common with another

line, press F to automatically extend the line to the next point of the other one

• Press O to make selected objects circular

• Press Q to make selected objects orthogonal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3rshhFs_7A


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First edits

Frequently asked questions

Can I map in any language?

In private territories, yes. In blue territories, you should respect the language of the existing

mapping. 4 blue territories don’t have a specified language – these are Commonia, Mecyna,

Midistland and Rhododactylia.

I have drawn a map elsewhere. Can I bring it into OGF?

If your map is fully original and doesn’t show a real world place, yes. Maps saved as image files

can be traced in JOSM using the PicLayer plugin.

Can I import from OpenStreetMap?

No. Firstly, it is necessary to attribute OpenStreetMap when using their map data, which is not

possible on our website. Secondly, OGF is about creativity and personal invention, and copying

existing real world maps is not creative at all. Users copying from OpenStreetMap or any other

map server risk being banned and having all of their mapping deleted.

What does good mapping look like?

It is widely accepted that one of the most important goals of mapping on OpenGeofiction is

realism, in other words, you should try to draw places that look like they could exist in the real

world (but don’t). Good mapping, although a subjective term, will in the opinion of most users be

such mapping that has the correct dimensions, is feasible from a technical (physical) point of view,

and is named appropriately (see next section).

However, while it is good to try your best, keep in mind that the real world has been formed

through series of extremely complex processes over millions of years, and it is virtually impossible

for a human artist to replicate these effects with absolute perfection. Drawing fictional maps takes

some practice too, and beginner mappers will gain a lot of skills in just a few months.

How to make sure my mapping is realistic?

• Make sure your objects are the proper size. Use the OGF scale tool to compare the

OGF map and OpenStreetMap and measure distances. Notice the shapes and

proportions of objects you are trying to draw.

• Use JOSM (see page 9), it features a scale bar and can be extended by the

Measurement plugin, which shows you the length, area etc. of any selected object.

• Plan ahead. Many users prefer the following approach: first they imagine the terrain and

natural features of a place (since nature existed before humans did), then they think of

how that influenced the man-made infrastructure. This can be applied on any scale:

when planning out your first country, you should think about topography and climate

first. When planning out a city, you should consider the terrain before you plan the

street grid.

http://tile.opengeofiction.net/util/map_scale.html


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• Check out the tutorials published on the wiki. (Note that the wiki is currently

experiencing technical difficulties and loading the pages will take approximately several

minutes).

• Name objects responsibly. While it is fun to hide some references and easter eggs into

the names of places in your mapping, it should not be all there is to it, and it also

shouldn’t be obvious. The same way you shouldn’t deliberately use well-known real

world names, unless they’re extremely generic. Cue the following example:

While there is a city named Long Beach in the USA, it is okay to name a place Long Beach

on OGF as well, as it is a very generic name. The same way it is okay to name an OGF

place Santa Monica. However, it is not okay to place Long Beach and Santa Monica next to

each other, because then it becomes an obvious reference to the Los Angeles area.

You should also avoid using trademarked company names (again, assuming the companies

are well-known).

Making your first changeset

If you are a new user, make sure you have opened the editor inside of a blue (public) territory (see

page 5).

1. Open an editor. The following text will explain the process for the recommended JOSM

editor. Other editors are accessible from the upper panel on the OGF main page once

you zoom in sufficiently.

2. (JOSM only) Download map data. Click the Download icon on the upper panel. In the

pop-up window, select the area you want to download by click-dragging the mouse and

press Download. Note that you can only download a relatively small area at a time.

3. Draw or edit objects. In JOSM, activate drawing mode by pressing A or selecting the

corresponding icon from the left side panel. Click to add a node. Click elsewhere to add

another point to a line. Click again on the final node to finish drawing.

4. Tag objects. Press S to enter selection mode and select objects. Tag them either way

through the Presets menu, or by manually assigning keys and values using the Add

button in the Tags / Memberships window on the right side panel.

5. Once you’re done, upload your changes. Click the Upload icon. In the pop-up

window, provide a concise overview of the changes you have made in the upper text

field. You may leave the other field (asking about data source) blank.

JOSM will warn you about mistakes in the mapping. Most of the time these are trivial

warnings, e.g. about a street not having a name, or two ways overlapping each other. You can

safely proceed with the upload in such case. However, pay close attention when modifying

coastlines, because making mistakes there can lead to unfortunate consequences (as described

in the next section).

https://wiki.opengeofiction.net/wiki/index.php/Category:Tutorials


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Editing the coastline

Coastlines are ways tagged natural=coastline, which are used to draw islands in the open sea and

continents. The coastline update and rendering process is separate from the process that renders

the rest of the features, which is why changes to a coastline generally take longer to show on the

map. It is advised that only experienced users modify them. Even then, it is important to keep in

mind some important rules, as explained in the infographic below.

Coastlines follow the general OSM drawing logic, i.e. the area on the right in the direction of a way

should be lower in terms of elevation than the area on the left side. This means that for proper

rendering, coastlines should always have the land on their left and sea on their right.

Coastlines also always have to be connected to other coastlines through both of their end nodes.

In other words, one island can be drawn using multiple coastline ways, but they always have to be

connected and follow the same direction.

Mappers are welcome to add detail to the coastlines in order to make them interesting and more

realistic, however, it is also good if the actual coastline ways stay relatively simple. The best way

to draw lagoons, gulfs etc. is using the tag natural=water on an area.

• Coastlines should never be used on inland water features (such as lakes) or man-made

constructions (e.g. piers and breakwaters). The area on the right side of the coastline

should always belong to the open sea.

An automated report of broken coastlines is regularly generated here. Experienced users are

encouraged to help fix them (see more on page 41).

http://tile.opengeofiction.net/util/coastline_info.html


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Territories

The OGF world is divided into 8 continents, of which 4 are currently fully active (Archanta,

Antarephia, Tarephia and Uletha). Ereva, Kartumia, Orano and Pelanesia, also collectively called

the western continents, are currently closed with the exception of several island territories

owned by two users, and the admin team has no plans to open them in the foreseeable future.

Every continent is divided into territories. Territories may be sovereign countries or regions within

a collaborative project (see page 26). Each territory has a territory code, which consists of the

first two letters of the continent name (AN, AR, ER, KA, OR, PE, TA or UL), a two- or three-digit

number, and optionally a serial number or letter. However, on the map, names of countries are

usually displayed rather than the codes.

In most continents, the number and serial letter has no specific meaning. In the continent of

Uletha, territories are grouped into 33 sectors (numbered 01–33) based on common natural and

cultural characteristics. A territory code in Uletha consists of the prefix UL, the sector number and

a serial letter.

Each continent has its regional admin, also called a regional manager, who is mainly responsible

for handling local territory requests, withdrawing inactive territories and moderating local

collaboration. The continent of Uletha is divided into two administrative regions, each with

a different manager. The western continents are managed by the admin team as a whole. The

admin team members and the regions they manage are listed below.

Continents of OGF


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Admin (manager) team

home continent member timezone

Antarephia eklas (temporarily) UTC +1

Archanta wangi UTC +0

Tarephia BMSOUZA UTC -3

Uletha (east) eklas UTC +1

Uletha (west) wangi (temporarily) UTC +0

on a temporary leave thilo UTC +1

Note: inquiries about territories should be sent to the admin account.

The rules for granting and withdrawing territories are different in every administrative region

(continent) and are described on page 16. The rules for editing territories are universal and are

described on page 21.

Types of territories

Territories can be divided based on their status. The colors and terminology are derived from the

interactive territory map hosted on the wiki. The full list of all territories can be found under the

same link.

status color meaning

public blue Territory where any user can edit, managed by an admin or a volunteer

group (see page 24)

collaborative purple Territory where multiple mappers cooperate, more users can join after

contacting the project coordinator (see page 26).

active (private) orange Territory privately owned by a user or group of users, only the owners or

mappers with the owners‘ permission are allowed to edit there.

marked for withdrawal

yellow Privately owned territory scheduled to be taken back soon

because its owner has been inactive for a long time.

available green Territory currently waiting for a new owner.

For information on how to apply for a green territory, see page 16.

reserved grey Territory currently not open for new edits. Managed by the regional admin.

archived dark grey Territory with preserved mapping by former OGF member(s), usually

assigned an experienced user (or admin) who manages it.




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Territory rules by region

Antarephia

Regional manager: thilo (currently substituted by eklas) Please send queries about territories to the admin inbox, making sure you name the territory by its code, e.g. AN000a, in the

subject line.

Rules for new users' first territories: New users may request their first territory after 7 days of

mapping in one of the blue territories. It will be granted no-questions-asked provided the user has

no history of rule-breaking (vandalism, sockpuppeting, etc.) and the territory being requested is

classified as beginner (see information on the interactive map). For more advanced territories,

please write a short text describing your plans.

Rules for exchanging, upsizing, or downsizing territories: There are no special rules. Send

a request to admin naming your current territory and what you'd like to do. If you want to

exchange for a territory in a different admin region, apply for the new territory with the other

regional manager at their region's rules. You will lose ownership of the old territory once the

exchange is done.

Rules for additional territories: Additional territories are held to strict standard. The currently

mapped territory must be at least 40% full and show realism, completeness, and creativity

(although these are admittedly subjective standards). A project plan for the new territory is

expected to be presented.

Rules for purge of owned territories: Users who are inactive for more than 90 days will receive

a notification message. A deadline will be specified after which ownership of their territory will be

revoked. Wide latitude will be granted for leaves-of-absence in the event these are negotiated

ahead of time.

Archanta

Regional manager: wangi Please send queries about territories to the admin inbox, making sure you name the territory by its code, e.g. AR000a, in the

subject line.

For transparency, the status of applications can be tracked on the wiki.

Rules for new users' first territories:

• Beginner territories: New users may request their first territory after a short period of

mapping in the blue territories. It will be granted no-questions-asked provided the user

has no history of rule-breaking (vandalism, sockpuppeting, etc.) and the territory being

requested is classified as beginner; these are generally smaller than 10,000 km2 in size.

These include:

• Sub-territories within the Lorotoban (AR001b) collaborative territory, a low

GDP tropical island with poor infrastructure and specific language

requirements

• Counties within the Massodeyas states of the Federal States


https://wiki.opengeofiction.net/wiki/index.php/OGF:Archanta

https://opengeofiction.net/#map=8/4.064/115.021

https://opengeofiction.net/#map=9/-35.4797/150.0925&layers=H


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• AR050-nn or AR099x territories - these have much less stringent

requirements on theme, language and culture but as such should be largely

considered a proving ground, not a location of long term country development

The user is only clearly requesting one territory. This rule exists because there is

a frequent problem of users requesting multiple territories before admin has a time to

respond - have patience.

For new users who feel up to taking on more than a Beginner territory, they should

follow the same procedure as outlined below, Other territories.

• Other territories: New users may request their first territory after building up

experience on OGF, and is subject to the following points:

• No history of rule-breaking;

• Users may be asked to undertake a project to demonstrate their readiness to

take on the territory;

• Outline a plan for the territory (culture, language, climate), appropriate for the

continent and neighbouring territories;

• No other territory request in process.

Rules for exchanging, upsizing, or

downsizing territories: There are no special

rules for exchanging, upsizing or downsizing

territories. Send a request to admin describing

the change you would like and this will be

handled on a case by case basis.

Rules for additional territories: Additional

territories are held to strict standard. Currently

mapped territory must be at least 50% full and

show evidence of realism, completeness, and

creativity. Likewise there should be a well

considered plan for the requested territory.

Rules for release of owned territories: Users

who are inactive for more than 3 months will be

notified and territories released after the given

deadline, unless editing resumes. If users are

not making visible progress on existing

territory, and/or cannot provide a long-term

plan, they may be asked to downsize, either by

subdividing their territory and abandoning part,

or by moving to a new, smaller territory. Users

are also expected to be flexible for ongoing

rationalisation of the continent, to increase

realism.

Wide latitude will be granted for leaves-of-

absence in the event these are negotiated

ahead of time.

pictured above: Themes of territories in Archanta

https://opengeofiction.net/#map=7/-24.072/166.289



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Tarephia

Regional manager: BMSOUZA Please send queries about territories to the admin inbox, making sure you name the territory by its code, e.g. TA000a, in the

subject line.

Have in mind Tarephia is something like Latin America + Africa. So, nothing about superpowers,

different cultures, etc.

Rules for new users' first territories: Have in mind the climate in Tarephia is something like

Africa and Latin America. But it does not mean you can create a snowy territory based in snowy

Kilimandjaro, hehehe. Subtropical, wet tropical, dry tropical, things like this, only. Please, when

asking for a territory, explain your ideas: history, culture, language, landcover, as much details as

possible. This way, the admins can help you with suggestions where your country can fit well in

Tarephia.

Rules for exchanging, upsizing, or downsizing territories: Please, send a message explaining

why. The continental coordinator will be happy to talk about it.

Rules for additional territories: Usually this option is open only to advanced users, but we can

talk. Your first territory needs at least 50% full mapped and show evidence of realism,

completeness, and creativity.

Rules for purge of owned territories: Users who are inactive for more than 3 months will be

reminded of their possession. Users who are inactive for more than 6 months will be evicted.

Users who are not making visible progress on existing territory, may be asked to downsize, either

by subdividing their territory and abandoning part, or by moving to a new, smaller territory.

Uletha (east)

Regional manager: eklas Please send queries about territories to the admin inbox, making sure you name the territory by its code, e.g. UL00a, in the subject

line.

For transparency, the status of applications can be tracked on the wiki.

Rules for new users' first territories: Users can apply for a territory in East Uletha as long as

they meet the following criteria:

• They have spent at least 14 days mapping in a blue territory and can provide examples

of original rural and urban mapping they have made;

• They don't have a history of rule-breaking on this website;

• They present a plan setting out the basic characteristics of the territory. The plan should

include an overview of climate, topography and landscape of the country (preferably in

the form of a sketch), as well as a description of the intended culture, language and

political system. East Uletha is broadly based on Eurasia, which means applications

based on European or Central and East Asian themes are more likely to be accepted.

See continent wiki page or interactive map for detailed information.

https://wiki.opengeofiction.net/wiki/index.php/User:Eklas/Administration

https://wiki.opengeofiction.net/wiki/index.php/User:Eklas/Sandbox/Uletha



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Rules for exchanging territories: Users moving into East Uletha are asked to follow the

instructions for getting a first territory, excluding having to spend 14 days in a blue zone. Users

moving out of East Uletha are asked to follow the rules set by the moderator responsible for their

new territory. Users looking to move within East Uletha are asked to notify the regional manager,

who will assist with choosing a new territory and moving the existing creations.

Rules for upsizing and requesting additional territories: Users looking to expand their territory

need to present 50 km2 of land mapped in moderate detail for every 1,000 km2 requested. Owners

of very small territories (under 10,000 km2) need to have 50% of their current area mapped in high

detail regardless of the area requested. When asking for an additional territory, these users follow

the instructions for getting a first territory, excluding having to spend 14 days in a blue zone. The

area of a territory can be calculated using the online relation tool.

The acquisition of more territory is subject to approval of the regional manager. Quality of existing

mapping and history of behavior on the site will be taken into consideration.

Note: A location is mapped in moderate detail when there are basic natural features

(such as forests or rivers) and infrastructure (primary and secondary roads, towns) in

place. An example of what would be considered moderate detail can be seen here.

Rules for downsizing and splitting territories: Users looking to downsize their territories or

divide them into several smaller ones are asked to notify the regional manager before doing so.

Withdrawal of inactive territories: After 90 days of inactivity, users will be sent a reminder

message. If they don't respond by the date specified in this message (usually 30 days later), their

territories will be withdrawn. Users may also be asked to confirm their activity by uploading an

amount of new mapping (as specified by the moderator) in order not to have the territory

withdrawn. In cases of repeated inactivity, deadline times are shortened. Users may keep their

territory during a specified time of absence, if they notify the regional manager. The maximum

time a territory can be paused for is one year.

pictured above: Sectors of East Uletha and their illustrations (click on image to open the continent wiki page)

https://tile.opengeofiction.net/util/relation_area.html





20

Uletha (west)

Regional manager: unassigned (currently substituted by wangi) Please send queries about territories to the admin inbox, making sure you name the territory by its code, e.g. UL00a, in the subject

line.

West Uletha is similar to real-world Europe, as well as parts of the Middle East. This means that

West Uletha is the place from which most languages have spread throughout the OGF world,

including Ingerish (English), Franquese (French), Castellanese (Spanish), Mazanic (Arabic) etc.

To keep the cultural coherence of the continent, possible cultures for requestable territories can

be found by clicking on them on the interactive map, as well as maps with geohistorical guidelines

on the wiki - however we're open for other proposals, including conlangs for example.

West Uletha is meant for more advanced users or users with a background in fictional

cartography, who can map more individually, at their own pace. This doesn't mean that

collaboration between neighbors is not wished - to have smoother transitions between West

Ulethan territories, neighbors should collaborate in border regions in terms of topography,

hydrology, culture etc.

Rules for requesting territories: Users can request territories in West Uletha if they meet the

following criteria:

• For new users: The user has mapped for at least 7 days on a blue territory of his

choice, showcasing his mapping style and skill in both urban and rural mapping;

• The user has no history of rule-breaking (vandalism, sockpuppeting, etc.);

• The user plans on basing his mapping on European or Middle Eastern cultures (or, in

special cases, has created an isolated culture which would fit into the cultural landscape

of West Uletha) - see the wiki page for culture suggestions for available territories;

• The user uses the JOSM editor (in special cases this can be neglected).

When requesting a territory, the message should include a short description of language, culture

and preferred climate of the territory, as well as OGF codes (e.g. UL00x) of territories which would

come under consideration. If the proposal fits in West Uletha and the user meets the

requirements, it will be accepted directly. If not, it will be followed by counter proposals from the

regional manager.

Rules for additional territories: For additional territory requests, you generally must present

a realistic, original and contiguous zone of high detail in each territory you own, covering 10% of

your territory's area. For advanced users and users with potential, this rule could be neglected.

Rules for exchanging, upsizing, or downsizing territories: If you want to exchange your

territory or move it to West Uletha, as well as within the continent, you need to follow the

instructions given in the territory request segment above. If you want to exchange your territory or

move it away from West Uletha, contact the admin responsible for the area you want to move to.

They will provide you with information on how to proceed.

Upsizing territories in West Uletha generally works under the same rules as additional territory

requesting, see the segment above. Adjacent territories can be united with the approval of the

regional manager. Downsizing or splitting up territories does not have any requirements except

the approval of the regional manager.


https://wiki.opengeofiction.net/wiki/index.php/OGF:West_Uletha



21

Rules for purge of owned territories: Users who have not/barely made any edits in 5 months

will be reminded of their possession. If they remain inactive for one more month, they will be

evicted. Territories of advanced West Ulethan mappers will be marked for withdrawal after one

year of complete inactivity. Users who don’t make a visible progress in mapping their territories or

struggle managing it as a whole will be asked to either downsize or move their mapping to

a smaller territory.

Universal rules for territories

The following rules mostly concern the editing of territories and are observed in all continents.

For more specific rules about blue and purple countries, see pages 24 and 26, respectively.

Rules for splitting and merging territories: Due to administrative reasons, users are obliged to

consult the admin team when planning to split their territories into several smaller ones, or merge

neighboring territories into one.

Note: One country might be composed of multiple territories, but one territory can not be more

than one country.

Also note: In East Uletha, splitting territories is currently strongly discouraged because of the

ongoing efforts to reduce the number of territories in the region.

Rules for modifying the boundaries of a territory: Boundaries of collaborative and private

territories may be altered, especially in order to make them more detailed, as long as the new

borders are within the 10 km range of the original shape, and the total area of each territory

affected by the changes remains close to its original area. It is considered polite to ask the owners

of the other affected countries for permission first. Within the mentioned limit, admin permission is

not necessary.

pictured above: Sectors of West Uletha (click on image to open the West Uletha wiki page)



22

• Modifications where borders are moved by over 10 km and/or the total areas

change are considered territory expansions and follow the rules of the continent.

Rules for modifying the coastline: Users are allowed to modify the coastlines of public,

collaborative and private territories especially in order to make them more detailed as long as the

coastline doesn’t expand by more than 10 km into the sea, the total land area of the territory

doesn’t change and they follow the coastline modification rules listed on page 13. In these cases,

admin permission is not necessary.

• Modifications where coastlines are moved by over 10 km and/or the total areas

change are considered territory expansions and follow the rules of the continent.

Rules for drawing islands: Users are allowed to expand collaborative and non-beginner private

territories by drawing shoreside as well as offshore islands. In cases where the islands are less

then 100 km away from the shore and the territory land area (see page 39) is expanded by less

than 1%, no admin permission is necessary. In other cases, the procedure for territory expansions

is followed.

• Drawing realistic-looking islands requires a considerable degree of skill and

precision, which is why drawing islands should be reserved for experienced users.

• After an offshore island is created, sea boundaries of a country have to be updated

(see page 41).

Note: It is never acceptable to create a new territory by drawing an island on the open sea.

Rules for drawing international ship lines: It is necessary to consult the owner of the country of

destination and owner of any other country the line passes through first (see page 41).

Starting your first country

This tutorial is intended for users who are planning to start their first private country.

1. Select an available territory of your choice. This is best done on the interactive map

(may take a few minutes to load, please be patient). Pay attention to the contents of the

pop-up boxes: they contain information about the territory code as well as additional

information about the expected climate, culture etc.

Note: When unsure about which territory to choose, send the admin team a message titled

Territory request - recommendation wanted, where you describe your plans. A territory will be

selected for you.

2. Send an application message to the admin team and wait for confirmation. Format

the message as written in the rules of the continent (see page 16). Receiving

a response may take a while: members of the admin team are all volunteers and have

private lives outside of the website. We kindly ask for patience.

These were the steps required to get a country. You may want to continue with some other

recommended basic steps:



23

3. Make your country name appear on the map. This can be done by downloading and

selecting one of your territory borders. One of the side panel sections will display

membership of the way in relations and the relation name. Open the relation titled

Administrative boundary Current-display-name-of-your-territory. Change the value of

the name key to the new name of your territory. Ignore the other tags. An illustrated

guide on how to do it in the iD editor is available on the wiki. Naming your country right

away is not necessary (you can think of a good name first).

Note: The relation containing the boundaries of your territory is likely the first relation you meet on

the server. For more information on how relations can be used, see page 36.

4. Start planning your country. When starting a country, you should always think of the

natural features first. Imagine the climate, the distribution of mountains and rivers and

how that influences where people live. Contrary to what most new territory owners do, it

is better to start with mapping smaller, local projects first, and move on to larger ones

(such as drawing your capital city or the motorway network) later, when you have

gained more skill.

You can also take a second look at some of the tutorials on the wiki. Especially

recommended are: Making realistic countries, Making realistic rivers and Making

realistic cities. If you don’t want to wait, stop the loading after a few seconds and read

the plain HTML version.

What should I do if there is already something mapped in my territory?

If you claim a territory where the previous owner has already mapped something, it's your choice whether to delete it, modify it, or include it in your own work. The only exception is for large international geographic features, such as major deserts and rain forests that span multiple countries. You can modify these features, but we ask that you preserve them. When in doubt, feel free to message the admins.

What should I do if I see somebody editing in my territory?

Please see page 29.

Can I let other people edit in my territory?

Yes. You should give the usernames of the people to your local admin, in order to avoid people mistaking their edits for vandalism.

https://wiki.opengeofiction.net/wiki/index.php/OGF:Adding_your_country_name_to_the_map

https://wiki.opengeofiction.net/wiki/index.php/Category:Tutorials

https://wiki.opengeofiction.net/wiki/index.php/OGF:Making_realistic_countries

https://wiki.opengeofiction.net/wiki/index.php/OGF:Making_realistic_rivers

https://wiki.opengeofiction.net/wiki/index.php/OGF:Making_realistic_cities

https://wiki.opengeofiction.net/wiki/index.php/OGF:Making_realistic_cities


24

Blue territories

Other names for blue territories include public territories or community territories, but the term blue

is the most widely understood one. Blue territories are open to edits by anybody, but it is good to

keep some etiquette rules in mind, as explained later in this section.

As of February 2021, there are 14 blue territories on OpenGeofiction:

Continent Code Name (link to map) Theme recommendations

Archanta

AR008 Drull Free State Historically a Dutch-themed territory

AR026 Mecyna

AR045-02 Sainte-Agnes Part of the Ardencia project, French collonial

theme, preferred language: French, limited English

AR045-09 Wiercie Part of the Ardencia project, Polish theme,

preferred language: Polish

AR120-31 Michisaukee Part of the Federal States project, USA-themed,

preferred language: US English

AR900 Commonia

AR901 Rhododactylia

AR902 AR902 Preferred languages: Javanese in the Northwest,

Tagalog in the Southeast

AR922 AR922 Preferred languages:

Kannada in the North, Tamil in the South

AR923 AR923 Preferred language: Malaylam

AR924 AR924 Preferred language: Chinese

AR925 AR925 Preferred languages: Taiwanese Hokkien,

Bantu languages in the south

AR926 AR926 Preferred language: Chinese

East Uletha UL26a Midistland Please note that this blue territory is scheduled to

be shut down / reorganized later in 2021.

Note: Territories AR045-02, AR045-09 are parts of the multi-territory collaborative project

Ardencia (see page 27), territory AR120-31 is part of the Federal States project (see page 28).

While these territories remain open to all, mappers should follow the set theme recommendations.

Blue country etiquette

The following text was written by former member Isleño and is intended primarily for users who

have been or plan on editing in the blue territories for a longer time period.

Although blue territories are free for anyone to edit, the experience is more pleasant when people

are polite and respectful. We realize that new users are unlikely to see this page, but the

information here may benefit 'regulars' in the blue territories. So with that in mind, please:
















25

Have patience

• Wait it out. Most people map in the blue territories for only 7 days, so if someone's

mapping is bothering you, and it's not damaging or totally implausible, the best strategy

is often to just ignore them until they leave.

• Give people their space. Try not to act like the 'owner' of any part of a blue country.

Defend the right of all to participate. If you want to own territory, request a private

territory from admin. You can even use JOSM to copy your mapping there.

• Communicate in a friendly way. If someone is making edits that you don't like, send

a friendly message to see if you can sort it out. Be nice and always assume the best in

others. In extreme cases different visions can even be resolved by copying an area to

different locations so that different mappers can take it in different directions.

Map thoughtfully

• Think about context. Blend well with the existing mapping. This applies to patterns of

style, scale, language, natural features, etc.

• Set a good example. Experienced mappers should pay careful attention to realism and

detail. Observe OSM standards such as avoiding abbreviations like "Ave." or using ALL

CAPS.

• Balance motorways with other roads. In the US for example, the Interstate Highway

System represents only about 1% of the total road length. So for every kilometer of

motorway you draw, try drawing 100 km of other roads. Realistic mapping is a tiny

amount of "big stuff" plus a huge amount of "little stuff."

Preserve quality work

• Show mapping appropriate respect. The degree of respect depends on the quality and

recency of the mapping. Higher quality mapping should generally be preserved

regardless of its age — improving it, moving it, or otherwise adjusting it if necessary,

rather than deleting it. Lower quality mapping should be respected while the user is

actively working on it, but may be reworked or deleted once they have moved on to their

own territory.

• Refrain from changing or deleting quality work just because you have a different vision.

It's fine to fix mistakes, rework implausible things, clean up sloppy mapping, help blend

areas with those nearby, etc. But don't change or delete someone's hard work merely

because you happen to prefer something different.

• Relocate quality work rather than deleting it. If someone has drawn something great in

a bad location, move it somewhere else.

Do the right thing

• Fix your mistakes. When you make a mess, the polite thing to do is clean it up.

• Provide useful and polite edit summaries. "Fixed airport runway lengths" may be

a useful edit summary. "You guyz are soooo DUMB!!" is not.

• Respect the site rules. If someone is unambiguously violating OpenGeofiction rules,

send them a friendly note linking to this document. If that fails, contact admin.


26

In summary: The points above are merely etiquette, not rules. But repeatedly ignoring the

etiquette may be considered a violation of OGF's Be respectful rule. In such cases a user may be

asked to stop the behavior, to move to a private territory, or even to leave OpenGeofiction.

Collaborative projects

Collaborative projects on OGF can have two forms. The more common form is a purple territory,

where the cooperating users work on the whole territory together. The other form is a multi-

territory collaborative project, which is a country that consists of multiple territories with various

statuses. In both types, all mappers follow the general theme of the project.

Keep in mind that before starting your edits in a collaborative project, you must wait for

confirmation from the project coordinator (contact person) as listed in the following tables.

As of January 2021, there are 24 collaborative projects:

Multi-territory projects

Code Name (map link) Contact Theme

AR001b Lorotoban admin Low GDP tropical island, SE Asian languages

11 territories (see page 28)

AR045 Ardencia admin Polish and French ex-colonial

40+ territories (see page 27)

AR120 Federal States admin USA

90+ territories (see page 28)

UL16 Suria admin Soviet-themed confederation

10 territories (see page 29)

Standalone purple territories


AN124 Ohesia sude Mix of European and fictional cultures

AN399 Southern Islands admin Cold, barren Antarctic islands

AR060 Deodeca Tito_zz Latin American

AR335 Arecales Brunanter Overseas territory of the Federal States

KA077 Wahakea Toadwart; Turnsole80

English overseas territory theme KA078

Moonshine Islands

TA111 Tara histor Mix of European colonial cultures

UL02b Mazan Aash Arabic and Middle Eastern

UL03f UL03f RicardoNolazcoC Spanish ex-colonial

UL03g Jarcón jjrc1996 Spanish ex-colonial





https://wiki.opengeofiction.net/wiki/index.php/OGF:Ohesia


https://wiki.opengeofiction.net/wiki/index.php/ES:OGF:Deodeca

https://wiki.opengeofiction.net/wiki/index.php/OGF:Federal%20States/Overseas%20Territories/Arecales

https://opengeofiction.net/#map=8/-52.471/-140.603




https://wiki.opengeofiction.net/wiki/index.php/Mazan




27

UL05a Gobrassanya wangi English ex-colonial and Hawaiian themes

UL05b Lonowai

UL08f UL08f Mtejku222 Italian

UL11h Lentia Squizie3 Dutch

UL15c Zalivnia tule00 Serbian

UL24k Viljanni mstr City state with a Finno-Baltic theme

Paused collaborative projects

AN160d January Islands Deltanz; Luciano Disputed remote cold islands

TA018 Albalad Siriun admin Maghrebian and Spanish ex-colonial themes

TA027 Dematisna louis_walker Mix of Middle Eastern themes

UL33a Niulatan-Riu admin South Asian tropical islands

Note: in the descriptions of blue and collaborative territories, real world names (such as Spanish

etc.) are used. These names are not used explicitly on the OGF map, as there isn’t (and shouldn’t

be) any country named Spain. Instead, the OGF community has developed alternative names for

some of these cultures:

Frequently used alternative names

Real world OGF OGF origin Real world OGF OGF origin

English Ingerish Ingerland Portugese Florescentan Florescenta

French Franquese Franquia Russian Surian Suria

German Kalmish Kalm Spanish Castellanese Castellan

Polish Lechian Lechia Turkish Turquese -

Please avoid referencing real-world countries or cities in your mapping.

Ardencia (AR045)

Ardencia is a collaborative project in South Archanta. It is not directly based off of any real world

country, but uses a combination of French, Polish and Native American languages. More

information can be found on its wiki page.

Ardencia is divided into 12 provinces, of which 2 are blue territories (Sainte-Agnes, AR045-02 and

Wiercie, AR045-09), 4 are purple territories (AR045-06, 08, 11, 12), 1 is reserved (13) and the rest

are further divided into smaller territories. These second subdivision territories are called

municipalities (or Polish powiaty) and are available for private ownership. View Ardencia in detail

on the interactive map.

• The coordinator of collaborative territories within Ardencia is wangi. Requests for private

territories follow the standard process as listed on page 16.













https://wiki.opengeofiction.net/wiki/index.php/OGF:Ardencia



28

Federal States of Archanta (AR120)

The Federal States of Archanta (FSA) are a collaborative project in South Archanta intended for

users who want to map in an American style. It uses American English and, to an extent, Native

American languages. More information about the project can be found on its wiki page.

The country is divided into 64 states, 1 of which is blue (Michisaukee, AR120-31), 7 are purple

(listed below with contact information), 3 are reserved (AR120-26, 32, 33) and the rest are

available for private ownership. View the FSA in detail on the interactive map.

• The main coordinator of the FSA is TheMayor. However, requests for private territories

follow the standard process as listed on page 16.

Purple territories in the FSA


AR120-01 Capital Region Ernestpcosby;

histor Federal capital city

AR120-11 New Carnaby BMSOUZA;

Easky30 Northeastern US, inspired by New York state

AR120-19 Delenshire

Islands whateversusan Northeastern US, inspired by New England

AR120-25 Eustacia Infrarrojo;

Fluffr_Nuttr Roughly inspired by Southeastern US

AR120-53 Walkegan TheMayor;

Ernestpcosby Great Lakes rural and industrial

AR120-84 Cosperica wangi;

oneofbeatlefan Southwestern US, Southern California

AR120-91 Alormen ruadh;

newflanders Southwestern US, Texas and gulf states

Lorotoban (AR001b)

Lorotoban is a collaborative project in North Archanta. It is a relatively poor tropical island, which

used to be a colonial trading post, and is based mostly on the real world island of Timor. The

official language is Tetunn (real-world Tetum) with influences of Portugese and Indonesian. More

information can be found on the project‘s wiki page.

Lorotoban is divided into 12 provinces, most of which are beginner territories available for private

ownership. View Lorotoban in detail on the interactive map.

• The coordinator of Lorotoban is wangi. Requests for private territories follow the

standard process as listed on page 16.

Suria (UL16)

Suria is a loosely coordinated group of territories in Central West Uletha. It is a confederation of

republics, and is meant to resemble the former Soviet Union in some aspects. Suria is made up of

10 republics, and each republic is represented by one territory. 9 are available for private

ownership, Chara Republic (UL16b) is collaborative and managed by user stjur. View Suria in

detail on the interactive map.

https://wiki.opengeofiction.net/wiki/index.php/OGF:Federal_States


https://wiki.opengeofiction.net/wiki/index.php/OGF:Lorotoban




29

• Surian republics are meant for more advanced users. Requests for private territories

follow the standard process as listed on page 20.

Vandalism and misplaced edits

Some new users start editing in places where they’re not allowed. Most of the time this happens

because they haven’t made themselves familiar with the rules, in other words, they edit in the

wrong place mistakenly – they make misplaced edits. There are also rare occurrences of people

doing so deliberately, often drawing controversial or offensive things, which is vandalism.

When you encounter one or the other whether in your territory or elsewhere, this is what you

should do:

1. Reach out to the user. Send them a polite private message explaining what they did

wrong and point them to this document. If you notice they are also breaking some other

rules (e.g. about not using real world names, etc.), you mention it in the message as

well. Sending messages is explained on page 31.

2. If they ignore the message and continue breaking the rules, report them to the

admin team.

3. Locate their edits and find out how much damage they have done. If they have

only been creating new things without editing existing objects, you may go ahead and

safely delete them. If there has been existing mapping affected, reach out to the admin

team for help.


30

Other website features

Besides the map of the fictional world, there are several more features accessible from the main

page at https://opengeofiction.net/. The following text will list and describe them from top left to

bottom right of the screen.

OpenGeofiction logo: returns you to the front page (map) from wherever you are.

View: highlighted in red by default; map viewing mode.

Edit: becomes available once you zoom in sufficiently, opens the iD online editor (default) or the

last opened online editor. Potlatch online editor is available in the dropdown menu accessible

under the triangle icon on the right of the edit button. Functionality of the Remote control button

has not been tested.

History: loads a list of the most recent changesets in the area viewed on the map.

User Diaries: one of the means of communication; a feed of public posts by various users.

Currently, it is not advised to make new posts in the User Diaries, as they have become the main

means of communication between the admin team and new users.

About and FAQ: opens pages on the OGF Wiki which roughly correspond to the text written on

pages 5–7 and other in this document.

Wiki: opens the main page of the OGF Wiki (see page 31).

Forum: opens the official OGF Forum (see page 31).

Contact: displays the text from page 4 of this document.

Search box: allows to search for objects based on their name. The Where am I? button displays

the geographical coordinates of the center of the map.

Profile picture and name: reveals a drop-down menu with several options. Option My Messages

opens the user’s message inbox (see page 31). My Profile opens the user profile, where some

statistics, a status message and a friend list is shown. The profile picture and status message can

be edited in the My Settings menu, along with personal information and the default location on the

map which is displayed after clicking the Go to Home Location button. The Log out option logs the

user out.

Zoom in and zoom out: used for increasing or decreasing the zoom level. Different rendering

styles have a different number of zoom levels (Standard and Histor style 19, Topomap 17,

Roantra 14 levels).

Layers: allows to switch between rendering styles.

https://opengeofiction.net/


31

Map key: (available for Standard layer only) displays a list of objects and the ways they’re

rendered.

Share: allows the user to get a variety of links to or a PNG image of the map section currently

displayed.

Add a note to the map: adds a comment to the map. This feature is frequently used on OSM,

where it is used to address errors in mapping. On OGF, it lacks practical function.

Query features: when zoomed in sufficiently, after selecting this button and clicking in the map,

a list of nearby objects and relations enclosing the click coordinates is displayed.

Community

This section describes ways to get in touch with other community members.

Private messages

Private, also called direct messages are the default form of user-to-user communication which is

built directly into the website. A new message can be sent by opening the following URL in your

browser:

opengeofiction.net/message/new/USERNAME

Where USERNAME is the username of the user you want to contact. For example, when sending

a message to the admin team, the URL is .../new/admin. Distinguish between uppercase and

lowercase letters. You can also message a user through the link on their profile. The usernames

of territory owners can be found on the interactive map of territories.

Wiki

OpenGeofiction has its own Wikipedia-like site hosted at wiki.opengeofiction.net. Users with a wiki

account may create and edit articles about their countries and more. You may request a wiki

account by contacting a member of the admin team.

Please note that the accessibility of the OGF Wiki is currently limited due to a technical problem,

which means average loading times of pages are now around several minutes long (however, you

can usually read the plain HTML version of the page if you quit loading it after a few seconds).

The admin team recognizes this issue and hopes to resolve the problems soon.

Forum

OGF has an official forum where users can exchange ideas and information. Unfortunately, due to

the fact that it is hosted on the wiki, it is facing the same technical difficulties. To be able to

contribute to the OGF Forum, you must also have a wiki account.


https://wiki.opengeofiction.net/

https://wiki.opengeofiction.net/wiki/index.php/Special:WikiForum


32

Other ways of communication

Some users have put up other contact information on their profile pages. There are also some

OGF-related groups on social media and instant messaging servers. While their use is certainly

not forbidden, it is important that all necessary and official communication regarding collaborative

projects etc. stays on opengeofiction.net, where it can be archived and remain visible to all.

Therefore, the offsite platforms should be used for informal discussions or topics involving a small

number of users.


33

Mapping 101

The following section addresses the most often asked questions about mapping techniques and

standards. Readers should be familiar with pages 8–13 of this document.

Making city names appear on the map

Just like anything you see on the map, place names are made by an object with the correct tag. In

this case, it is a node with the following properties:

key value

name name of the place

place type of place (see below)

The key place can be used with a variety of values describing different types of places. Some of

the values are: city, town, village, suburb, neighbourhood. Each combination appears on the map

at a different zoom level in a different font size.

On Standard layer zoom levels 4–7, you can see nodes tagged place=city rendered as a black

circle with the name next to it. Some cities are rendered as black circles with a black dot in the

middle, which is done using the following tag:

key value

capital yes

The tag capital=* in this context means that the city it describes is the capital city of an

administrative unit. For capitals of countries, capital=yes is used in combination with the tag

admin_level=2.

You may also notice that some cities have bigger circles than the others. That is decided by the

value of the population=* tag. The value is the population count of the place. When the population

is over 200,000, the circle is rendered bigger.

What to map and what not to map

Besides features that go against the rules of realism and originality, it is generally advised that

mappers don’t map things that wouldn’t be mapped on OpenStreetMap, i.e. vehicles and other

moving or moveable objects and features that no longer exist. In general, you should use the tags

as described on the OpenStreetMap Wiki.

• However, notably for the purposes of decoration, some users intentionally go against

these rules when they for example map airplanes on an airport apron, and tag them as

https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Map_Features


34

buildings. The use of tags and objects, when not explicitly against the general rules of

OGF, is not regulated, and depends exclusively on the taste of the mapper.

69 basic features

Nature

Feature Object Key Value Note

body of water area natural water Specify what kind of body by

water=*, e.g. water=lake

cliff way natural cliff The lower side should be on the

right side in the way direction

forest area landuse forest Do not confuse with

natural=wood, which is a forest untouched by human activity

mountain node natural mountain Use ele=* to specify elevation in

meters

river way waterway river The way direction should match

the direction of the flow

sand area natural sand Often used where deserts are

shrubbery area natural scrub Wild bushes

stream way waterway stream The way direction should match

the direction of the flow

Cultivated landscape

field

area

landuse farmland

garden leisure garden

industrial zone landuse industrial Marks the area where industry is,

not individual buildings

landfill landuse landfill

park leisure park

pasture landuse meadow

residential area

landuse residential Marks the area where homes are,

not individual buildings

quarry landuse quarry

Road infrastructure

highway

way highway

motorway .

trunk road trunk

road

primary

secondary

tertiary

street residential

pedestrian street pedestrian Use as area with area=yes for

paved areas, plazas


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pavement way highway

footway E.g. surphace=asphalt to make the road render as a broken line,

but with longer segments bicycle road cycleway

Buildings

buildings area building any value Describe the building type

train_station Rendered in darker brown

Places of interest

bank node

amenity

bank

cinema node cinema

fire station node fire_station

hospital node or area hospital

library node library

museum node museum

police station node police

post office node post_office

religious building

node or area place_of_ worship

Use with religion=* and building=*

school node or area school

town hall node town_hall

zoo area tourism zoo

Transport

bus stop node highway bus_stop

bicycle parking node amenity bicycle_ parking

car parking node or area amenity parking

car wash node amenity car_wash

gas station node amenity fuel

ferry line way route ferry

ferry terminal node amenity ferry_terminal

railway way

railway

rail

railway station node station Stations have multiple tracks

railway stop node halt Stops have just one or two tracks

subway way subway

subway station node station* In combination with

station=subway

tram line way tram

tram stop node tram_stop


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Shops and services

bar node amenity bar

coffee shop node amenity cafe

hotel node tourism hotel

mall node or area shop mall Combine with building=* to

display as a building

pub node amenity pub

restaurant node amenity restaurant

shops node shop any value Specify type of shop in value

(e.g. supermarket, bakery etc.)

Sport

field or pitch area

leisure

pitch Use with sport=* (type of sport)

golf course area golf_course

gym node fitness_centre

stadium area stadium For the stadium area, combine

with sport=* (type of sport)

Details

bench node

amenity

bench

fountain node fountain

mailbox node post_box The collection box for mail owned

by the postal service

recycling node recycling Use with recycling:type=container

for recycling bins

toilets node toilets

Relations

Relations are a type of objects. The main difference between relations and nodes or ways is that

while those describe the properties of a single location (e.g. this is where a supermarket is, this is

a field where corn is grown), relations are a set of objects with some common characteristics (e.g.

this is all corn fields in the country). Each relation contains members, which are the nodes, ways

or other relations that belong to the relation, and each member has a member role. In addition,

a relation has its own tags, which describe the type of relation and what it represents.

Multipolygon relations

Of all relation types, the multipolygon type is the most common. As the name multipolygon

suggests, they are used for features with multiple interacting polygons (shapes). This can for

example be: a building with a courtyard (has walls facing the streets, and other walls facing the

yard, which is not part of the building itself), a forest with lakes (again, has an outer line where it

ends, and the lakes inside are also not forest, because they’re water).


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The specialty of multipolygons is that they don’t have to be composed only of areas (closed

ways), they can also be made of simple ways that are connected end-to-end to form a shape. This

is why multipolygons are used to create administrative boundaries, such as country boundaries:

a country usually borders several other countries. The boundary with each country, a simple way,

is a member of the first country’s boundary relation, as well as a member of the boundary relation

of the corresponding country on the other side of the border.

Members of multipolygon relations have two main types of roles: outer and inner. The role outer

represents the largest extent of the area, its external boundary. The role inner is used for internal

discontinuity, in other words, for holes.

Let’s visualize it:

We have three relations: A, B and C (we can imagine each one represents a single country). B is

the most simple, it has three members: the light blue border, the dark blue border and the medium

grey one. All of these have the role outer, because once you cross them going from inside of the

country, you’re outside of country B.

However, the blue borders are not only members of relation B. The dark blue one also belongs to

relation C, and the light blue one belongs to relation A. Similarly, relations A and C contain the

orange border and one of the other grey ones with the role outer, because they are their external

boundaries.

Country C has an exclave (outlying area) which is an enclave of country A (it is completely

surrounded by it). The border of this area (in red) belongs to relation C as the role outer (because

it is outside of the main chunk of land), but to relation A as inner, because it is an internal hole in

the country which is surrounded by it, but doesn’t belong to it.

Also note how most of the borders are drawn as simple ways which connect in groups of three at

the nodes marked as black circles. Country B can not (or should not) be drawn as one area,

because that would mean you would have to duplicate its borders with A and C, and duplication of

boundaries goes against the general rules of mapping relations. The red border can be an area,

because it is the border between two of the same countries in its entire course.

With the theory explained, here is how you draw a multipolygon relation in JOSM:

1. Draw the outlines. Decide whether they should be multiple ways connected to each

other, or whether they will be areas. Keep in mind that a way is a member of the


38

assigned relations in its full course, so you will need to split it for each combination of

relations.

2. Select the ways which belong to one relation.

3. In the Presets menu, go to Relations. Choose the appropriate type of relation.

• Choose between the first two options on the list. Multipolygon is the most

widely used one for all kinds of natural features, buildings etc., Boundary is

for boundaries of administrative units. Contrary to the logic, do not select

Building or Area.

4. In the pop-up window, click the New relation button. You can fill in the other fields (if

there are any) later.

5. In the Edit relation window, assign roles to relation members. You may select

multiple members with the same role and mass-apply roles to them through the button

on the bottom. Remember: outer for borders on the outside, inner for holes in the inside.

6. Add more tags. The tag type=* is predefined and describes the type of the relation you

selected in step 3. But unless more tags are added, the relation won’t render as

anything on the map. See below on how to tag different kinds of multipolygon relations:

Administrative and other boundaries:

Type=boundary relations act the same as other multipolygon relations, except they represent an

area where more types of land use are represented. For example, while there is only forest inside

of a landuse=forest type=multipolygon relation, there can be residential, industrial, commercial

areas etc. within the boundaries of one city.

Administrative division relations should be tagged as follows:

key value

admin_level number from 2 to 10

boundary administrative

name name of the unit

type boundary

The tag admin_level describes the importance of the administrative unit – the lower the number in

the value, the more important the unit. For example, admin_level=2 describes a country,

admin_level=4 a federal state, 6 could be a district, 8 a municipality... Number values lesser than

2 or larger than 10 are not rendered and their use is discouraged.

Remember: do not duplicate borders. When for example dividing your territory into states or

districts, use the existing territory borders, just splitting them where necessary.

Relations can be members of other relations. For example, when you divide a country into states,

you can add all the state relations to the country relation with the role subarea. Especially on

OpenStreetMap, this helps keep the countries organized and users to find out which

administrative unit a place is located in.


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Not all boundary relations are purely for the purpose of governmental administration:

key value

boundary protected_area

name name of the area

protect_class number

protection_title type of protected area

type boundary

A relation tagged like this describes a type of nature reserve. More information about the tags can

be found on the OpenStreetMap wiki.

Note: On OGF, type=boundary relations are also used to denote individual territories, which is

why it is important not to create new boundaries with admin_level=2, or, in the case of

collaborative projects, with other levels used to distinguish between territories in the project.

• Territories with a coastline are represented by two relations. The type=boundary relation

represents the entire territory area and where the territory borders on a sea, the

border is drawn 22 kilometers away from the land (see page 41). Where crossing a

lake, it usually goes through the middle of it, in an approximately equal distance from

the shores of all countries involved.

• The second relation is a land area relation containing the borders on land, coastlines

and islands. This relation is tagged type=multipolygon and land_area=administrative.

Because it’s not visible on the map, territory owners often forget to update it, which is

why a lot of them are broken or incomplete. It can however be easily fixed (following the

same logic other multipolygon relations do).

When a relation is created, it receives a serial number, which can be found either way in the Edit

relation window in JOSM or using the Query features tool on the main page. Once you know the

relation number, you can enter it in the relation area calculator to find out the area of the

multipolygon.

Buildings: In the Tags cell of the Edit relation window, add tag building=* where the value

describes the type of the building. You can make buildings with yards even quicker by drawing

a building as a regular area (and tagging it), then drawing the courtyard (untagged), selecting both

and pressing Ctrl+B.

Other multipolygons: Tagging follows the same rules regular areas do. After assigning the roles,

click OK to exit the Edit relation window. Double click inside of the relation area to select it. Pick

the preferred preset from the Presets menu.

Public transport relations

Public transport lines are mapped as relations with type=route. This type is used for other routes

as well, e.g. for bicycle routes or international road routes, but on OGF, these currently can’t be

viewed in any way. More information about routes in general is on the OpenStreetMap wiki.

https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tag:boundary%3Dprotected_area

https://tile.opengeofiction.net/util/relation_area.html

https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Relation:route


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According to the current standards, a public transport line should be mapped as a minimum of two

relations:

• The route=* relation, one for every direction or variant of the line’s course, which

consists of all ways and stops used in the direction

• The route_master=* relation, which consists of all individual route=* relations

In cases where the line runs in just one direction, it is possible to omit the route_master relation.

The tricky part in this case is that the route_master relation is not available from the Presets

menu. Simply create a different relation and change the type=* tag.

The values for the route and route_master keys are the type of vehicle that serves the line, e.g.

bus, tram, train, ferry etc. In addition, more tags with information about the line can be set. The

following is an example of a bus line route (one directional):

key value

type route

route bus

colour #0CB8FC

from Riverside Terminus

name 16A Riverside Terminus –

Airport

ref 16A

to Airport

You can see it’s line reference number 16A, which starts at the Riverside Terminus and ends at

the Airport. Notice the colour=* tag. You can set a hexadecimal color as its value. This is

convenient because it will make the line appear this color on the Public Transport Viewer,

courtesy of user austinhuang (on regular map layers, public transport lines are not rendered).

Members of public transport relations and their roles:

• In route=* relations, members are all ways (roads, rails etc.) the vehicle drives on.

These do not have any role assigned. Instead, they are ordered in sequence from the

start of the route to its end.

• In addition, it is recommended to add stops and stations to the route=* relation, also in

sequential order, with the role stop, stop_entry_only or stop_exit_only based on their

character.

• If you have mapped platforms at stops, add them also with the role platform.

• In route_master=* relations, members are all the route=* relations of one line. They do

not have any roles assigned.

https://austinhuang.me/ogf-route-relations.html?map=C/3/30.90222/90.17578


41

Coastline maintenance, maritime borders and shipping lines

Readers are expected to be familiar with pages 13 and 22 of this document.

Repairing broken coastlines: An automated report of broken coastlines is regularly generated

here. Experienced users are encouraged to help fix them. Please note that while repairing

coastlines, you should try to delete or modify as little other mapping as possible.

Maritime borders of territories: Borders of maritime territories should not follow the coast, but

should be drawn in the sea 22 kilometers from the coast, to mark the exclusive economic zone of

the territory. Borders on the sea shouldn’t follow every single detail in the coastline, they should

be smoothed out. Maritime borders around small islands should be circular. An illustrated version

of these rules can be found on the wiki.

Don’t forget to update the borders of your territory after modifying your coastline in a

major way, and where necessary (e.g. when creating islands offshore), don’t forget to

update the territory relations.

Drawing international shipping lines: Before a shipping line is drawn, permission of owners of

all territories the line passes is necessary. When drawing lines from/to blue territories, permission

is not necessary, however, these should be used only sparingly.

Other rules for drawing shipping lines are mainly aesthetic and include:

• Making sure the ships take the shortest or most convenient way between the two places

and that curves of the lines are reasonably wide and detailed enough;

• Making sure the ships don’t pass through swamp, tidal land or islands, and that they

avoid them by a wide enough margin;

• Making sure lines serving the same port don’t overlap.

An illustrated version of these rules can be found on the wiki.

Exporting map data

The export files which are generated for the map update process are available for download at

https://opengeofiction.net/backup/ (the whole world is saved as one file). Alternatively, you may

download map data through JOSM and then export them from there.

These files are also useful if you want to create custom maps from the data, e.g. with the

Maperitive rendering software.

http://tile.opengeofiction.net/util/coastline_info.html

https://wiki.opengeofiction.net/wiki/index.php/OGF:Rules_of_the_sea

https://wiki.opengeofiction.net/wiki/index.php/OGF:Rules_of_the_sea

https://opengeofiction.net/backup/

http://maperitive.net/


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What if I have other questions?

This document discusses the most important and frequently requested topics, but their list is

obviously far from exhaustive. In case there are any further questions, feel free to contact the

admin team through a private message.

Happy mapping!



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