The Minecraft map of BRITAIN 22 billion blocks are used to build the virtual world that even includes famous landmarks
Ordnance Survey used 22 Billion Blocks from the game of building
The interactive 3D map covers the UK mainland and its surrounding islands
Each block covers 50 square metres and the map covers 220,000 square kilometres
By Victoria Woollaston
Updated 5 March 2014
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The popular building game Minecraft lets users build their own worlds, however a new 3D gaming map allows them to explore the entire UK and build new settlements in their virtual backyards.
Minecraft Britain was built using Ordnance Survey UK maps as a foundation. It was built with 22 million Minecraft building blocks.
It covers approximately 86,000 square miles of mainland Great Britain and the surrounding islands, and each block is 50 square metres.
Ordnance Survey used 22 billion blocks from the game of building Minecraft to create the interactive 3D map of the mainland UK and the surrounding islands. The OS Minecraft world covers the equivalent of 86,000 square miles. This is the Minecraft Stonehenge in Wiltshire.
This is how Stonehenge in Wiltshire appears in real life.
To help users navigate the world of interactive, Ordnance Survey has also made available an index of coordinates for various UK markers such as Stonehenge in Wiltshire.
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This map was constructed using OS OpenData, maps and mapping tools that Ordnance Survey allows developers to create maps using alternative methods.
They can then explore different terrains, including forests and caves.
For a bird's-eye view of the landscape, players can also fly high in the air.
The game was initially developed for the PC but now there are Xbox 360 and mobile versions available.
For each 100x100 km grid square, developers from Ordnance Survey used height information for various buildings and landmarks.
The left-hand image shows the Minecraft version of Snowdonia and the right-hand image illustrates how the North Wales mountain range looks in real life. Developers have scaled down a number of landmarks and buildings across the UK to meet Minecraft's height limits.
Minecraft was first introduced in 2009. The game's launch was in 2009. The player can then explore the world and create cities and towns. The game was initially made for the PC but there are now Xbox 360 and mobile versions available, as shown
HOW DO I INSTALL THE MINECRAFT MAP
Players must have a licensed copy Minecraft and approximately 5GB of disk space on their computer.
The world has around 3.6GB of uncompressed information and calls for a minimum of 4GB memory.
Players must download the MinecraftGB.zip archive to install the map
Save the archive in a temporary folder. Open the readme.html file with an internet browser. Follow the instructions for installation.
Then, they loaded images from OS VectorMap District files for all UK locations.
Each 20x20-pixel portion of the map was analysed by the developers to determine the appropriate colour, material, and size of each block.
The height data in the raw format was stored as meters. This meant that developers had to scale down their heights to fit within Minecraft's 256 block height limit.
Ben Nevis, for example, has a height of approximately 2,500 meters and was transformed into 128 blocks high.
Ordnance Survey said in a blog post: 'Although this overstates the actual height, it helps preserve low-lying coastal features like the cliffs in Bournemouth, adding interest to the landscape.'
Developers used diamond blocks for motorways, emerald blocks for A roads and pumpkin blocks for B roads. The standard water, leaves and brick blocks were used to create water, forests and built-up areas.
After that after that, 32 x 32 chunks, referred to as regions were created and assembled together. Ordnance Survey said the whole process took about seven hours.
Pictured is the River Thames in East London Ordnance Survey said the whole mapping process took seven hours to complete. Each 20 x 20-pixel area of the map was analysed to allow developers to choose the appropriate colour, material and size of the block.
These images show a bird's-eye view of Minecraft London with the River Thames flowing through the middle, left, and a satellite view of the same region of the Thames, right.
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