The Visualization Tool provides easy data verification as it offers the option to visualize your customized COALA data on a map. In this page you can select different data layers to display on a tile of your choice on Earth's surface. The default tile shows the Area in which our offices in Berlin, Germany are located.

Tile Selection

We have already established that COALA is built on the assumption that Earth's surface is split in Areas (or Tiles/Chunks) depending on a value called Zoom Level. The default Zoom Level for COALA is 14 but COALA also functions for Zoom Level 15 and 16. You can change this value in the request line. The Areas are all indexed through X and Y values, which you can also manually enter in the request line.

Another way to move around different Areas is to use the directional arrows around the map screen.

Tip: if you change the Zoom Level, you also need to adjust the X and Y indexes if you wish to view the same location on Earth under different Zoom Levels. For Zoom Level 15 you need to double the Zoom Level 14 indexes and for Zoom Level 16 you need to quadruple them.

Using Longitude and Latitude

Alternatively, you may also use the more popular Longitude and Latitude values to navigate to a specific location in the Visualization Tool. Doing so will display the Area the selected location belongs to under the current Zoom Level value. The exact real-world position you entered is then marked with a red dot.

To use Lon/Lat values instead of X/Y you need to change the last part of the request line from "&tile_x=35188&tile_y=21499" to "&lat=52.501929&lon=13.296057" and enter the desired Longitude and Latitude values. You can find these from other sources, such as Google Maps.

Layers Visualization

Next to the map you can check which Data Layers you wish to be displayed on the map.

Cells

Each Area is always split into 2025 Cells (45 on each axis). In the Contexts page we have already defined our desired ProjectTags which are applied on Cells when their conditions are met. Clicking on any of the Cells in the map will provide an overview of which ProjectTags it is "filled" with, their Weight (Priority), and information on how frequently each of these ProjectTags are encountered in that Area. The Cells are also indexed in each Area; the top left Cell is 0/0 and the bottom right 44/44.

By checking the CELLS checkbox each Cell on the map will be colored. A Cell's color depends on its ProjectTag with the highest Weight. You can change the colors for each ProjectTag by clicking on Set Debug colors for GameTags.

On this screen you can use either the RGB code of a color or a color name.

Tip: Don't forget to increase the project's data version after changing the colors so your changes are applied

POIs

In the POI page of the Back-end we have defined which Points of Interest we wish to have automatically generated in our app. By checking the POI checkbox we can view all POIs that exist in the selected Area.

Similarly to Cells, you can change each POI's display color by clicking on Set Debug colors for POIs.

On this screen you can use either the RGB code of a color or a color name.

Tip: Don't forget to increase the project's data version after changing the colors so your changes are applied

Streets, Buildings, Water