03-20-2021, 07:51 PM
Thanks for the suggestion and I have tried multi-point directions which may work better over much shorter distances but not really for what I want to do.
I have created multi-point routes (so from point A to B to C and so on) and then Google My Maps directions has worked out a route between each point. Due to Google's rules/method by which the algorithm decides which roads will be used (which is based primarily on speed and which roads get you there the quickest and are the most direct route), it seems to really restrict where you can drag the road.
For example I have been trying to create a map based on the Deloitte Ride Across Britain route which goes from Land's End to John O'Groats https://www.rideacrossbritain.com/route/classic-9-day/ It is divided up into 9 stages and so I have created a My Maps map with each stage set as 9 points on the map (or 9 sets of directions). I am then comparing my map with the Deloitte map and dragging the generated route to use the roads that the Deloitte map uses.
This is proving almost impossible as for some reason I get a certain way along the map with reasonable success in forcing the map to use specific roads and then suddenly it just stops working. I try to drag a section of the road somewhere else and it just snaps back to it's original position. This continues on for the rest of the route, even though I was able to drag previous sections perfectly fine (well, relatively fine, it still wouldn't let me drag to some roads but overall it would).
I have tried using driving, cycling and walking routes but the same problem occurs, after a while I am no longer able to drag parts of the route where I want it to go. Here is a link to the map I am trying to create: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?m...sp=sharing
Hopefully if the link works, you will see there are sections where the road just won't move to where I want it to go. I have created a layer with the Deloitte route imported in as a KML file, this is highlighted in red with the Google created route in blue. The route seems to stop being draggable from around Bodmin onwards. I only imported the first two sections of the Deloitte route, so after section C, there is no more red route layer as I just wanted to test with the first few sections to see if it would work.
The problem with not being able to drag the route after a while also occurs when using the drawing function to create directions by clicking on a point on the map and then literally drawing along which roads you want to use before finishing at the end by double clicking the final point. The map's routing is constantly trying to go where it wants to which is fine as I can always drag the road elsewhere but after a while it just stops working and I can't manipulate the route anymore.
As I said in my previous post, I don't think this is anything to do with VZFit and is just a limitation of using Google's My Maps but being able to make truly custom maps is really difficult if not impossible. I have lots of ideas for doing long-distance rides and would love to be able to create fully custom maps (as long as they stick to using Google Street View covered roads) but that is just not possible with the limitations of the My Maps system.
The Deloitte Ride Across Britain site provides links to mapping of each stage using the Ride With GPS app/route planning software. This is great as it can exported to lots of different file formats such as GPX and KML but unfortunately I can't just import these direct into the game (via the VZFit Ride Upload site as normal). Nor can I import them into Google My Maps and export them as KML files for use in the game as they don't contain the directions data required. Hence the reason I was attempting to use them as an overlay to then create my own custom route with directions over the top but this too has proven to not be possible.
For now I think I will have to just make do with whatever routes I can create in My Maps or in the game and get used to the fact that customisation is very limited and I probably be best sticking to whatever route Google comes up with (even if it means miles of boring A-road sections with not much to look at other than lots of traffic).
I have created multi-point routes (so from point A to B to C and so on) and then Google My Maps directions has worked out a route between each point. Due to Google's rules/method by which the algorithm decides which roads will be used (which is based primarily on speed and which roads get you there the quickest and are the most direct route), it seems to really restrict where you can drag the road.
For example I have been trying to create a map based on the Deloitte Ride Across Britain route which goes from Land's End to John O'Groats https://www.rideacrossbritain.com/route/classic-9-day/ It is divided up into 9 stages and so I have created a My Maps map with each stage set as 9 points on the map (or 9 sets of directions). I am then comparing my map with the Deloitte map and dragging the generated route to use the roads that the Deloitte map uses.
This is proving almost impossible as for some reason I get a certain way along the map with reasonable success in forcing the map to use specific roads and then suddenly it just stops working. I try to drag a section of the road somewhere else and it just snaps back to it's original position. This continues on for the rest of the route, even though I was able to drag previous sections perfectly fine (well, relatively fine, it still wouldn't let me drag to some roads but overall it would).
I have tried using driving, cycling and walking routes but the same problem occurs, after a while I am no longer able to drag parts of the route where I want it to go. Here is a link to the map I am trying to create: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?m...sp=sharing
Hopefully if the link works, you will see there are sections where the road just won't move to where I want it to go. I have created a layer with the Deloitte route imported in as a KML file, this is highlighted in red with the Google created route in blue. The route seems to stop being draggable from around Bodmin onwards. I only imported the first two sections of the Deloitte route, so after section C, there is no more red route layer as I just wanted to test with the first few sections to see if it would work.
The problem with not being able to drag the route after a while also occurs when using the drawing function to create directions by clicking on a point on the map and then literally drawing along which roads you want to use before finishing at the end by double clicking the final point. The map's routing is constantly trying to go where it wants to which is fine as I can always drag the road elsewhere but after a while it just stops working and I can't manipulate the route anymore.
As I said in my previous post, I don't think this is anything to do with VZFit and is just a limitation of using Google's My Maps but being able to make truly custom maps is really difficult if not impossible. I have lots of ideas for doing long-distance rides and would love to be able to create fully custom maps (as long as they stick to using Google Street View covered roads) but that is just not possible with the limitations of the My Maps system.
The Deloitte Ride Across Britain site provides links to mapping of each stage using the Ride With GPS app/route planning software. This is great as it can exported to lots of different file formats such as GPX and KML but unfortunately I can't just import these direct into the game (via the VZFit Ride Upload site as normal). Nor can I import them into Google My Maps and export them as KML files for use in the game as they don't contain the directions data required. Hence the reason I was attempting to use them as an overlay to then create my own custom route with directions over the top but this too has proven to not be possible.
For now I think I will have to just make do with whatever routes I can create in My Maps or in the game and get used to the fact that customisation is very limited and I probably be best sticking to whatever route Google comes up with (even if it means miles of boring A-road sections with not much to look at other than lots of traffic).