TOPO! 3D is Out!

“OK, maybe I'm way behind the times, but a buddy emailed me and mentioned that he just picked up the 3D "expansion pack" for TOPO!. [Question: if you have a proper name that includes an exclamation point as part of the name, and the name ends a sentence, do you put a period after the exclamation point?]

This is the stuff that they showed us at the focus group I went to several months ago. You can look at oblique views and even do "fly-throughs" to get a better sense of the topography. Oh, and they added all the street names, too.

$19.99 - my pal got it at REI.”

“I picked it up from REI a few weeks ago. It's a very nice thing. Played for hours with it.”

“I have MapTech's Pennsylvania set and have on order sets for West Virginia and Maine. The 3D views are awesome, but the vertical exaggeration is skewed. You can adjust it on MapTech.

I have a Topo set of 1:100,000 for the entire US. I guess if $20 will add 3D for that, it will be worth it.

For the nautically inclined, MapTech also offers sets of Nautical charts. These are more expensive than the topo maps for land, but worth it if you spend any time out at sea along the coast.”

“I guess it would be nice if I weren't so fricking cheap and I would buy myself nice toys like this.”

“You can change the vertical exaggeration on the Topo update too Geo.”

“Yeah, when a shallow valley looks like the Grand Canyon, you've got a problem.

I'll pick it up after the holidays, assuming I remember.”

“That sounds really cool.
So is this just a plug in that you can use with any TOPO map?”

“Ok found it.
Looks like it'll do what I was thinking.

Cool.

OH TREEBAIT DARLING!!
http://www.rei.com/product/47895101.htm?vcat=REI_SSHP_BOOKS_MAPS_TOC”

“OK, I picked this product up yesterday. It was miserable trying to load it onto my home machine, but a breeze on my much newer, faster machine at work. It is awesome!! The 3D fly-through feature is very cool, and I've been downloading updated USGS quads all morning. It's also great having the street names (and newer streets!) on the maps. Wow!”

“I have thought about getting the new TOPO. If I understand correctly it does not come with any USGS maps. Those are pretty big downloads aren't they?

How are the trail markings? Does it have the Ozark Highland Trail in Arkansas?”

“The "new TOPO!" is an add-on to State Series maps you already own. It's basically an updated version of the software, but you have to already own one or more map sets. You can only download new maps if you already own the old ones - in fact, it prompts you to insert your CD's of the area where you're downloading so it knows how current the maps you have are.

It doesn't add anything to the trail markings beyond that which are on USGS maps, but it does add some 4WD roads from the street name part of the software if they are more updated than the USGS quads.
last edited: 12/29/04 10:32:49 AM”