Find locations for Smashes, Billboards, Jumps, Shortcuts, and more (a visual FAQ, if you will) in this Burnout Paradise map as seen in video game Burnout Paradise, now available for your XBox 360 or PlayStation 3. You can also use Google Earth's KML to specify your own locations. To learn how, check out the help page.
The following links are direct links to map locations sets available from within the map interface to make it easier to share among friends. Clicking these links will instantly load the locations into the map when the map first loads in the page.
You can also use custom links that load a custom set of map features, specify a view, and/or mark a point or draw lines. These are handled through a series of URL query variables that are added to the end of the http://www.senocular.com/burnout/ URL. These variables are as follows:
Variable
Description
latitude
The x position of the map view expressed as a single number value.
longitude
The y position of the map view expressed as a single number value.
A collection of two comma separated numbers specifying a location to place a default marker. The first of the two numbers represents longitude (y) and the second, latitude (x) following the convention used to specify coordinates in KML.
Ex: http://www.senocular.com/burnout/?Point=600,800
A collection of space separated point coordinates specifying a closed path to be drawn on the map using the default line style. This is much like LineString except that a line is drawn from the last point back to the first.
Ex: http://www.senocular.com/burnout/?LinearRing=600,800 550,850 600,900
Polygon
A collection of space separated point coordinates specifying a stroked, filled shape to be drawn on the map using the default line and fill styles. This is much like LinearRing except that the resulting shape contains a fill.
Ex: http://www.senocular.com/burnout/?Polygon=600,800 550,850 600,900
load
Links to a URL that contains the KML file to be loaded into and read by the map. Notes: To access remote KML files, a crossdomain.xml file must be present in the remote domain granting access to the domain *.senocular.com (or *) so that the file can be securely read by the map. If used with Point, LineString, LinearRing, or the Polygon parameters, load will be ignored.
Ex: http://www.senocular.com/burnout/?load=http://www.senocular.com/burnout/demo/railways.xml
feed
Links to a URL that contains an RSS (2.0) feed of a collection of maps to be used in the maps location dialog. Each channel item represents a map where the title is the map name and the link is a link to the KML file related to that map. Note: To access remote KML files and RSS feeds, a crossdomain.xml file must be present in the remote domain granting access to the domain *.senocular.com (or *) so that the file can be securely read by the map.
Ex: http://www.senocular.com/burnout/?feed=http://www.senocular.com/burnout/demo/events.xml
Additionally, at the bottom of the map there is a View URL that links to the map defaulting it to the current view (not accounting for locations loaded into the map).
Change List
The following accounts the changes made to the map and this site. For more information on the current progress being made on the map, refer to the burnoutaholics senocular blog.
April 11, 2008:
Unfortunately, I've been consumed with work lately, and haven't even been able to play Burnout! As a result, map updates are also few and far between. Certainly let me know if you have your own map or additions to existing maps that you want me to include. I can do that with little effort :)
April 03, 2008:
Locations specified in URLs can now be used in conjunction with loaded maps allowing you to override the map's LookAt definition if it contains one (before the map's LookAt would override any URL-specified locations)
March 31, 2008:
New event system implemented in main map. For the most part this is transparent, but you should at least see more consistency working between the Locations lists and selecting icons on the map (now, for instance, selecting an icon on the map will highlight the menu item in the Locations dialog associated with that icon)
Placemark descriptions are now editable. This includes name, description as well as location. Just close the dialog to have the changes take effect. This lets you dynamically change icon locations on the screen without editing the KML
New KML generator implemented. KML in the KML dialog is now generated dynamically based on the current state of the map rather than just outputting the last KML loaded in. I haven't tested this thoroughly, so there might be some hiccups here and there, but in doing this, it's a lot easier to edit locations and directly get the related KML
Added a "switch" icon for indicating places where you can jump lanes on the I-88 map
I branched the PSP version of the codebase into a separate line so that I can minimize it further. Dropped a couple of K off the current version (mostly as a result of using native system fonts rather than embedded)
After implementing the new KML generator, you could have experienced some unexpected results when interacting with icons and KML generated would be invalid. This all stems from the HTML support added to descriptions and has been fixed (descriptions can still support HTML 1.0)
Status update: Lately I've been working on a few things. One of which was the PSP version which was released yesterday. That required hacking around the existing map coebase to make it compatible with the PSP Flash Player which is version 6 (originally the map was targeting 7 which is what the PS3 uses) as well as a few interface modifications to make it work with a smaller screen. On top of that was the path finding feature. This required a lot more effort given that, outside of just making the pathfinder algorithm work, the map base code needed to be rewritten in some areas to handle a new event model to make it possible to use. That, for a large part, is complete (no easy task given the map contains over 3000 lines of code across 50 files). A lot of what remains is creating the GUI for the path finder and hooking it all in. The GUI, currently, is still up in the air. I'm still not sure how to approach the implementation, but I'll figure something out, I'm sure. Similarly, there has been some interest around creating custom maps. So along with the new event model, I should be able to include another, similar "tool" which should make it easier to create custom maps/races. This would include dynamic map manipulation with instantly updated KML which can be copied and saved for future use. A lot of these features take time, so don't expect immediate results. This is also a free-time thing for me, so the amount of work that I can get done in the time I get is limited. Thanks
March 29, 2008:
Want to use the map on your PSP? Now you can! Check it out here: http://www.senocular.com/burnout/psp.php. Given the limitations of the PSP, unfortunately you will find some features are missing and that the map resolution has been reduced, but at least it's something!
Additionally, the PSP map has a new navigation feature where holding down the mouse (PSP X button) + using the Arrow keys (PSP control pad) will let you scroll the map. This will eventually be added to the existing full size map as well once it's updated to use the newer code base (the PSP version actually uses a newer version of the map code)
March 25, 2008:
Added a preliminary I-88 map (load: i88.xml). Some of it is from memory, so it may not be completely accurate or complete. I also have some placemarks that are specific to locations where you can jump from one level of the highway to the other (when split). The locations are set, but you can't see it because there is no icon and I can't easily add an icon because the local copy of the map is jacked from work being done to try and support a path finding tool. I will update it as needed. Feel free to send me suggestions or corrections
March 19, 2008:
The Adobe Fireworks KML helper files kit has been updated with a new map bitmap. Apparently the map originally contained within it was the wrong diminsions, though I only figured that out just now
A prototype path finding example (Firefox only) is now available. It's very early and mostly just a proof of concept at this point. This will ultimately be integrated into the main map... somehow
March 18, 2008:
Added Lewis Pass railroad entrances in railroads map
March 17, 2008:
An older map locations set was being loaded into the map when first loaded. This has been fixed and the updated set should now be seen
March 16, 2008:
A new small information dialog appears at the top of the screen for custom maps showing the feed title and source link
March 14, 2008:
Added scrollbars for text content such as descriptions and map KML
March 13, 2008:
Added a new Load dialog. This takes the KML/map loading away from the KML panel and also includes a feed loading option
The Load dialog will dismiss itself upon a successful load. If unsuccessful, it will remain open and display an error
Included a Defaults button in the Load dialog to load in the default map set (if a different feed has been loaded in)
Fixed some issues with location list scrollbars when scrolled and then populated with new content
Fixed an issue where after the implementaion of RSS feeds, except in rare cases, a map would not be loaded from a load URL parameter
March 12, 2008:
Corrected some misspellings in the drive thrus map (drive through -> drive thru, junk yark -> junkyard)
Created a map outlining a path to get all drive thrus quickly starting from the initial junkyard where you start the game. I'm not sure if this is the best route, but the best of about 8 I entertained (load: drivethrusroute.xml)
Location icon descriptions now show their location in the description dialog (far right of the name) when selected
Now, non-icon locations (paths and shapes), when selected in the locations list, will navigate to the first point in their geometry (and this is the location used for the location seen in the description dialog)
RSS Feeds for map collections are now supported! Have a bunch of maps you would like to share as a collection? Do so through an rss feed. That feed will be used to populate the locations dialog listing out all your maps. It works the same as loading in a custom map except RSS is used to identify maps, and a new URL parameter, feed, is used to specify the feed. Example (loads just events maps): http://www.senocular.com/burnout/?feed=http://www.senocular.com/burnout/demo/events.xml
The default map locations collection now uses a feed allowing for new maps to be more easily integrated into the interface (I no longer have to recompile the map, just edit the feed rss)
The load and feed URL parameters now correctly parse escaped URLs (all URLs used should be URL encoded)
RSS feed items can now link to the map loading the XML file rather than the XML file directly. This way as people are viewing the feeds in readers, the item links won't produce just an XML file, but instead can be loaded directly into the map. For this to work, you need to add the prefix http://www.senocular.com/burnout/?load= to your XML URLs in your feed. Only that prefix can be used (i.e. http://senocular.com/... will not work). So for example, instead of using a link value of http://www.example.com/mymap.xml, you would use http://www.senocular.com/burnout/?load=http://www.example.com/mymap.xml for the feed link. This way, the feed can still be read by the map and the links in your feed can be used to individually load each of those maps
March 11, 2008:
Added a missing intersection and included the intersections in the map interface
The Write KML field no longer reverts back to its the last valid KML data when invalid KML is applied causing an error
Relinked the districts map. Somehow that got lost among other updates
Released some tools to help with KML generation using Adobe Fireworks. These are available on the help page
March 10, 2008:
Fixed View URL in map. It had a misplaced ampersand (&)
Added a help page (Using the map) with some basic information about the map and usage
March 9, 2008:
Added a new railroad entrance to the west portion of the elevated rail in Palm Bay Heights
March 7, 2008:
Finishes link was broken; now fixed (load: finishes.xml)
Added most, if not all of the street intersections (load: intersections.xml). The best way to find an intersection is through the list on the right in the locations dialog. Street intersections are listed in alphabetical order, so if you know of two streets to find the intersection of, look for the street of that intersection that comes first alphabetically
March 6, 2008:
KML: Added $intersection icon
KML: Support for basic HTML formatting in placemark descriptions. When using HTML, sure to put your description in a CDATA block
March 5, 2008:
Changed the Locations dialog. You now have two scrolling lists. The left list contains available map sets (events maps, billboard maps, smashes maps, super jumps maps, etc.). Selecting a map in that list will then populate the right list with all of the locations within that map. Click on a location to center on it and bring up its information
Moved the location description panel to the bottom of the screen so that it could more easily be read when going through locations
Before the map wouldn't load if you used the address http://senocular.com/burnout/. Now it does
Added a print button in the lower right. This will print the map with transparency effects retained (so black boxes aren't seen around map icons) and without the any of the HUD/menu options unlike the results you would get if printing from the right-click context menu
You can now flag locations on the map through the description dialog (a checkbox just left of the location name). This will help you keep track of discoverables. The implementation may be a little iffy, but it should work ok. The only problem would be if locations are moved. Associations are made by location so if a map is updated and a location is moved, the flag (check) could be lost
Added an additional railroad entrance off of N. Rouse Drive - the railroads map is now also listed with the other map links
Note: Some of the more recent map sets won't be seen in the main interface as I'm currently reworking how that is handled a little. They won't be added until that is done.
March 3, 2008:
A map of Paradise City's railways is now available (load: railways.xml). This has no real practical use as of yet. A ridable rail map is coming soon.
Added a checkbox in the Locations dialog (was Display dialog) that allows you to prevent a new map from changinng your view once loaded. This way you can get new map data but not lose your place on the map. At the moment, this only works for location sets within the Locations dialog
Added railroad locations (load: railroads.xml). This was based on a quick run I did yesterday, so it's quite likely I missed a few entrances/exits.
I went to a forum today that automatically converted URLs posted there to be linked titles of the URL. So instead of showing the URL text, it inserted the title of the page the URL linked to and then linked that text to the URL. This annoyed me to no end, so I modified this page a little to compensate for such deviousness. Now, different combinations of URL parameter usage will result in different titles in the HTML. For example, the default title is: Burnout Paradise™ Paradise City Interactive Map - FAQ, Hints, Cheats, Smashes, Billboards, Jumps, Locations, Shortcuts and More!. But if you specify a latitude, longitude, and say a Point location, the title will change to: Burnout Paradise™ Paradise City Interactive Map - A custom location within Paradise City with dynamic content. This way, looking at just the title you can get a better feeling of what you're in for and not suspect the link to be [as] spammy in nature
Changed the location coordinate display from x, y to just their values in the form of y,x or more specifically, longitude,latitude to make it easier to write custom URLs since that is the format for Point, etc. coordinates. Similarly, I made the text a gray color so you can see it better when selected (at which point it becomes white)
March 1, 2008:
Updated drive thrus with their proper icons (junkyard, gas station, repair shop, and paint shop)
KML: Added support for the IconStyle property scale. This will allow you to display icons at a scale beyond their original size
Whoops! Just noticed I was missing a parking garage. Just added it.
February 29, 2008:
Default arrow icon, though added yesterday, was not displaying; this has been fixed
Reduced the default style's line width from 6 to 4
Set the Display dialog (only) to automatically close when a selection is made. Map Data will continue to remain open for error messages and experimentation
Close buttons have been added to the Display and Map Data dialogs to be consistent with the description panel used for placemark descriptions
The Display dialog has been updated with the event location information
February 28, 2008:
Added 3 more HTML parameters, latitude (x), longitude (y), and range (zoom). These allow you to set a default view for the map when loaded. Unlike the Point, LineString, and LinearRing parameters, these will work with the load parameter when loading a remote KML file. However, if that file specifies it's own view (via a LookAt tag), then the KML view will be used instead. For an example, here is the football stadium: http://www.senocular.com/burnout/?latitude=424&longitude=651&range=600
Added a url field at the bottom of the interface to indicate the url for the current location and zoom level (Note: this does not retain other map information, just the location and zoom)
Renamed "zones" to more appropriate "districts"
Added labels for city districts
Added dialog in the top right for displaying an icon's name and description when clicked. Note: most of the icons have limited if any descriptions. They will be updated in the future
Increased some of the icon sizes slightly
KML: Polygons now support more than one LinearRing inside of innerBoundaryIs
Added hidden areas: Quarry, Airfield, and Racetrack (load: hiddenareas.xml)
Added new icons: $enteronly, $exitonly, and $enterandexit (some seen in the hidden areas map)
Added a new default icon: $arrow
February 27, 2008:
Rearranged the display list menu from top right to top left
Added a Clear Map Data button in the display dialog to remove any map data currently on the screen
Added a new Map Data menu which contains fields for custom KML. You can either load a remote file (from another server, not from your computer) or type KML directly into the Write KML field to modify existing or create your own map data
Added error information for custom KML
In addition to load, three new HTML parameters have been added: Point, LineString, and LinearRing. Each of these can be set to equal a shorthand list of coordinates (in the format of [y-location],[x-location]) which will be dynamically drawn on the map using default styling. This will allow you to convey simple information through links without having to rely on external KML. Example: http://www.senocular.com/burnout/?Point=600,800
As in KML, strings of coordinates are separated by spaces. No more than one each of Point, LineString, or LinearRing can be used in a given url though they can be used together. If load is used with any of these, load is ignored
February 26, 2008:
Parking locations were added yesterday, but there was no icon (so they couldn't be seen). That has been fixed
Added drive thru locations. Icons specific to type will come shortly (load: drivethrus.xml)
Added some car codes and information about licenses on the right
KML: Changed AARRGGBB color model to KML's AABBGGRR
KML: Rearranged x and y in coordinates to map to KML's longitude and latitude order (longitude = y, latitude = x)
Corrected issue where location icons were incorrectly scaling with the map following the implementation of improved KML support
February 24, 2008:
Linked all smash locations within the interface in the Display list
Incorporated more KML support including line and polygon support and support for tags like the LookAt tag for KML documents allowing for a start location and zoom when the map is loaded. More information can be found in the KML Support page
Added all smash locations (smashes) for Silver Lake area (load: silverlakesmashes.xml)
Confirmed that the map does work on the PS3 browser (with convenient zooming via control pad)
February 21, 2008:
Added most, if not all, billboard locations (load: billboards.xml)
Added most, if not all, super jump locations (load: superjumps.xml)
Added ability to load external (server-hosted) KML
Icons are supported for the following Placemark names:
billboard
superjump
smash
event
Using this site url plus ?load=<your-KML-URL> will load this page directly with that KML data (as seen with billboards and superjumps links above)
(Note: to host your own files, you'll need to set up a crossdomain.xml file)
February 20, 2008:
Added location indicator (currently in pixels)
Added control box for content display (non-functional, shows Billboards only)
Added basic support for reading KML for showing map data such as billboard locations
Added some billboard locations
Double-clicking on a location will center the map at that location
February 19, 2008:
Navigation controls in place
Mouse Click and Drag: Move the map
Keyboard UP ARROW: Zoom in
Keyboard DOWN ARROW: Zoom out
Location control pad arrow buttons: Left click to move map
Zoom control pad arrow buttons: Left click to zoom map
