MapRace

About

MapRace is a social game that is designed for small to large sized groups and involves at least one or two members per team. If automobiles are used there should be at least one navigator and one driver per team. There can be any number of players.  The goal for each player is to get within 10 feet/3 meters or an option of 10 yards/10 meters of each marker located on the map. The first player to reach all markers (or more than all the other players) is the winner or optionally collect the most points before time runs out.  There is room for creativity with this game. For example there can be items, money or treasures hidden at various locations designated by the markers. MapRace has three apps.  The one app is to create maps and races and the other two apps are to play the game and are available at no cost.  The only difference between the Organizer and Player apps is the Organizer app has the ability to start a race. 

Be creative and see how much fun this can be but remember it is your responsibility to use good judgment when playing this game.  If the competition supersedes safety and responsible behavior then MapRace is not the game for you.

Rules

There are three modes of play in MapRace.  These three modes are Creator/Supervisor, Organizer and Player.  The only difference between the Organizer and the Player is the Organizer has the ability to start the race.  All three apps have the option to play the game but only the Creator/Supervisor can create a race.

The Creator is responsible to create, set up and monitoring the race.  The creator has the option to setup a race so that the players compete against each other to find the most markers in the least amount of time OR to compete for the most points.  The markers have four different colors each worth different points.  The creator will place the markers at locations using the MapRace app.  The markers can be placed in any outside area such as parking lots, parks, schools, churches, homes, etc. Due to GPS limitations the markers should not be placed in buildings.  Unless all the teams have access to boats the markers should be limited to land areas.  Also, common sense and safety precautions should be used therefore markers should not be placed on roads, intersections or highways. Other than this there are no restrictions to where the markers can be placed.  The creator can place as many markers as desired.  The markers can be one of four colors (green, blue, yellow, magenta) and assigned a label that briefly describes the marker if desired.  A sequence can be setup to find each marker in a sequence of your choice or randomly generated for each player (note that if the sequence is randomly generated for each player then there is a different sequence for each player).   When a marker is pressed the distance will be displayed from the current location to the marker in the desired units.  Press the markers info box and additional comments will be shown if there are any assigned.  When the map is created the creator will set a time period for the race.  The time period for the race can range from 1 minute to 30 days.  This gives a broad range of options for the creator/supervisor of the race.  The race is designed to be used at small locations such as parks, camps, churches, etc or spread out across large land masses such as the entire country.

The creator may choose to place “treasures” to find during the race to enhance the racing experience marked by the various marker colors. For example a $10 bill is located at all green markers, $20 bill is located at the blue markers, and $50 or $100 bill is located at all the yellow markers, etc.

The markers can be placed by clicking on one of the four marker buttons at the bottom of the screen (M1-M4). Press & hold M1-M4 to place a marker at the current location. Press M1-M4 to select the marker and then click on the screen to place a marker with that color. Press any marker on the screen and if ME is set the distance to ME will be shown in the info box. Press the info box and the option to remove the marker or to add a comment will be shown. You may also click on the colored square and zoom to that marker location at two different zoom levels. Do not use the ME (red) marker as a pin location for the race.

Once all the markers are placed the creator will assign a name and password to the race.  The creator should provide the name and password of the race to each player.  Once the race and markers have been saved and the race created and all the players notified of the name and password the race can begin.  The players can all begin at a predetermined location or differing locations.  The MapRace app will keep the devices synchronized with a timer that provides the amount of time remaining in the race.  After the creator/supervisor presses the “Begin Race” button all the players should press their "Start Race" button.  The device will make a sound to mark the beginning and end of the race.  A red marker will show the player’s current location and an option for the camera to track the current location (ME marker).  To keep the race fair for all players it is recommended that the MapRace app be the only navigational tool used in the game. This is why if automobiles are used then at least one member should be designated as the navigator.  Once a marker is found the marker will turn a different color (brown) and the device will make a sound indicating the marker has been found.  The status bar will show the time it took to find the most recent marker and the option of showing points accumulated and the total points available if the race was setup to use the point system.  The status bar will also show how many markers have been found and how many total markers are in the race.  If the race is setup to collect the most points rather than fastest time the M1, M2, M3, M4 buttons will show how many points each marker is worth according to color.

There are a number of different ways that the MapRace app can be used…be creative and see how much fun this can be!

Commands

- Press & Hold ME for Options Menu
- Press the ME marker to go to the current location
- Press M1-M4 or ME to select then click on screen to place marker
- Press & Hold M1-M4 to drop a marker at the current location
- Press & Hold anywhere on the map where there is no marker to zoom to all markers
- Double click anywhere on the map to zoom in
- Press any marker and the distance from ME to the marker will be shown
- Press the info window to add a comment or remove the marker
- Press a marker to add a comment or remove the marker
- click on the colored square in the remove window to zoom to that marker
- Press & Hold the colored square in the remove window to move the marker to exact Latitude and Longitude values or to an address, etc
- Press the Markers Found info box on the status bar to hide the markers found
- Press on the units status window to change the units of the distance
- When FollowMe is off click on the screen to show the distance to the ME marker (red)

When Race is Running

- Press the Yellow button to zoom to the closest unfound marker
- Press the Green button to zoom to all markers

When FollowMe is On

- Pressing the current location on the status bar will make the camera track the ME marker.
  Press it again and turn tracking off
- If ME marker is set press ME again to zoom in to the ME marker at level 1
- If ME marker is set press ME again to zoom in to the ME marker at level 2 

Q: How to setup the race?

A: The process to start the race is as follows:

1. Ensure that each device has its data and GPS/Location services turned on (and specifically turned on for the MapRace app if an Android device is used).

2. Set all the markers either by clicking on the screen or physically going to a location and press & hold the M1-M4 buttons.  This will drop a marker at the current location.  The markers should be set at locations that have a stable GPS signal.  If the marker is clicked a comment can be added to each marker such as how much this marker is worth ($5, $10, $50, etc).  The markers can be setup for sequential play by typing in the number 1 for the first marker and 2, 3, 4, etc for each additional marker, however, MapRace can generate a random order for each player. During a sequential race the player must find the markers in sequential order or the random order assigned at the beginning of the race. The marker to be found next will show up in the color that it was saved with. An additional comment can be added to each marker by placing a comma after the number (for example: 1, $20). During a sequential race the sequence will not be updated for the all the players but only for the device that finds the marker.  If a marker is dropped by physically going to the location the map should be saved in order not to loose the location.  The markers can be retrieved at any time by clicking on the "Select Race" button from the Options menu (press & hold ME button for options menu). 

3. There are two levels of zoom that the player can use during the race to zoom in to a marker for closer viewing.  When the race is running pressing the ME button will cycle through two levels of zoom and center the map at the ME marker.  The two levels of zoom can be adjusted by going to the Options->More Options->Zoom Levels.  These two zoom level settings should be adjusted by the Creator/Supervisor to reflect the nature and scale of the race but can be altered by the player.    The Creator/Supervisor can test these zoom levels by pressing on any marker and clicking the "Goto" button two times.  During the race the Yellow button will zoom to the closest unfound marker and pressing the Green button will zoom to all markers.  To turn FollowMe on press the Options->FollowMe button and ensure that it turns red.  When FollowMe is turned on the camera tracking will be turned on as well but can be turned off/on by pressing on the current location coordinates in the status bar.  The default units should also be set to reflect the scale of the race because the two levels of zoom and the units selected will be stored with the race and passed along to each player when the race begins.  These two settings can be changed by the player once the race begins.

4. Once all the markers have been placed, the zoom levels set and saved the Creator/Supervisor should create the race by assigning a name and password to the race.  This information should be provided to all the players. 

5. The Creator of the race should go to Options->Select Race and select the race they want to play.  Then go to Options->Race Options->Create Race and type in the required information which is the Player password, Supervisor password, the time limit for the race, and a few other options.  Next, the creator should press the "Create Race" button which locks in the information.  The players will not be able to join the race until the creator pressess the "Create Race" button.  Once the "Create Race" button is pressed the button will change to "Begin Race".  As soon as the creator presses the "Begin Race" button a sound will play marking the start of the race.  As soon as each player hears the noise they should press the "Start Race" button on their device and they can begin the race.

6. On the player app a window will pop up prompting the player to enter the name and password of the race.  If this message does not show up then the player can go to Options->Play Game and fill in this information.

Q:  What should I do if the app crashes during the race?

A:  This should not be a problem, however, if this does happen just start the app again and the race will continue right where you left off and the countdown will continue.  All the devices will show the same time to within seconds.   It is best to set the screen time for your device to not shut off for at least 10 minutes of inactivity.

Q:  How do you move a marker to a precise location?
 
A:  Each marker can be moved to precise locations by clicking on the marker which displays the info window.  Then click on the info window which will display the marker window.  Press & Hold the "Goto" button.  This will provide a list of options that the user can use to move a marker to exact locations such as an address, lattitude/longitude coordinates, current location or from a list of stored points of interest.

Q:  What is the Goto button used for?
 
A:  There are two Goto buttons in the MapRace app.  The first one which is located under Options->More Options->Goto is used primarily for navigation.  By selecting this option the ME marker will be moved to the selected location and the distances to all the other markers will be updated to reflect the distance to the ME marker.   The second Goto button is found in the Marker window when a marker or its info window is clicked.  When this button is clicked the camera will cycle between whatever the two levels of zoom are set at.  These zoom levels can be set to very close or very far away.  During a race it is usually preferable to set these zoom levels to zoom in closer to the marker which gives the players a better view of where the marker is located.

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