Scottish locations given Minecraft makeover as Ordnance Survey unveil new interactive map

Locations across Scotland have been given a Minecraft makeover in a new interactive map.

Government mapping service Ordnance Survey (OS) are attempting to break a world record by creating the largest real-world place to ever exist in the Minecraft universe, by mapping out locations from across Britain in the popular video game format.

Glasgow, Edinburgh and the Scottish Islands, comprising of the Western Isles and Shetland, feature among 15 areas across Britain on Minecraft.

Ordnance Survey content manager Robert Bull said: “The geography of Edinburgh with Arthur’s Seat dominating above makes it a great city to visualise in Minecraft. Ben Nevis is iconic for British geography and an absolute must to include. There’s a great contrast with the mountain and Fort William below.

“We also selected Glasgow to ensure players can build on a mix of detailed natural and urban landscape around Scotland in the game.

“From a cartographic standpoint, it’s also been a thrill to see the Western Isles and the Shetland Islands brought to life. The beaches, vegetation, islands and sea have turned out to look really impressive in Minecraft.”

Inspired by the new A Minecraft Movie which launched in cinemas last week, the map was put together by OS using its own detailed mapping data.

This blocky version of Britain features motorways and roads, vegetation, meadows, dense ferns, forests, woodlands, lakes, rivers, sand beaches, railways and islands.

OS has placed over 100 billion blocks which form the foundations of the country. At a rate of a block per second, it would take a single player 28,000 years to complete this project.

The interactive representation of Britain brings geography and mapping to younger generations keen to explore and learn about these islands, and to seasoned gamers as well.

Due to the size of the worlds that OS is creating, they have decided to initially release 15 areas of the country first: London, Manchester, Cardiff, Ben Nevis, Cornwall, Isle of Wight, Bristol, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Scottish Islands (The Shetlands and the Western Isles), Hampshire, Cumbria, Glasgow, Newcastle and Snowdonia.

The new Minecraft worlds were developed by OS experts who processed the map at OS headquarters in Southampton.

Robert added: “We are particularly excited to see how gamers and younger generations interact with the world. It’s great to bring geography and OS data into this community and we hope the mapping layer provides a base for gamers to build some stunning projects.”