I'm creating a map editor where the maps are suppose to be quite big, all 2D. It is to be used for path finding experiments also, so i need to be able to view some info on top of the landscape/background.
I've been using BufferedImages, one opaque as background where i draw the landscape, and then layering other transparent BufferedImages on top of that with additional information. I'm only drawing things like 10x10 3D rectangles in different colors for different kinds landscape (rocks/grass). Now when the maps get bigger, i see that this will not work. My map editor runs out of memory just trying to draw the background image on big maps :)
Now i have to use some other method of creating the graphics, but I'm not sure what would be the best way to go. I would like to be able to zoom in and out on the maps, so vector graphics would be a good idea, but as i have no experience in 3D computer graphics and not sure what OpenGL implementation should be used in Java I'm not sure what is the best way to go.
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