Question

I’d like to create a map of a space system from a computer game.

I understand that you can use the Google Maps API to render your own map with custom tiles and placemarks etc (which I’ve done successfully), but I’d really like to be able to see hierarchical place names in the same way that you see New York, Brooklyn, Manhatten, Queens etc when viewing New York from this zoom level, and Chinatown, East Village, Hudson Square when viewing New York from this zoom level.

I’ve also had a look at Google Fusion tables, but they appear to be restricted to Earth locations only.

I suppose ideally I’d like a modified version of the google.map.Marker object that displays the name of the marker next to the marker itself and allows specification of the text-size and at what zoom level the marker text appears. But that feels like a hack.

Is this possible using the Google Maps API, or another browser-based mapping system?

EDIT:

D’oh, should have kept Googling. Someone’s basically done what I was looking for here.

Answer 1

Self-answering the question so it doesn’t keep coming up as unanswered.

I’ve used the code from Uncle Tomm’s blog to solve the problem.

I just need a good algorithm for displaying nearby placenames without them overlapping… but that’s another question!