DESCRIPTION: Dystopia is the Center for Homeland Defense and Security’s virtual environment for games and simulations.  It is a multi-layered data-driven sloppy map built using Mapnik, Tilecache, and OpenLayers.   It uses the OpenStreetMap schema and, when coupled with software like CityEngine, is capable of placing structures in building footprints based on height data.

I was in charge of the Dystopia Project and took it from tabletop to digital age.  The initial hand-drawn table-top map was 1/10 the size and needed expansion for upcoming exercises.   I researched the needs and wrote a proposal for a jump from single scale table top map to database driven slippy map.  It took several months of learning SQL, figuring out schemas, formats, and scripting for server-side apps…but in the end: Dystopia was live, data-driven and scalable.  I designed and built around 75% of the Dystopia GIS infrastructure and terrain, made all the database hooks for our software to update the information, and wrote all the scripts for the map tile generation.  Dystopia is open and shared with other departments at NPS for scenario backdrops.

TOOLS USED: Postgres SQL, Mapnik, OpenStreetmap, XML, Tilecache, Photoshop, Illustrator, Maptiles