How to use the new Somnium Map Explorer

Somnium Space has launched a new Map Explorer that gives unparalleled insights into the state of the Somnium VR world and its 5000 parcel assets.

Somnium Space Map Explorer

It is not an ordinary 2D explorer, but one that presents parcel data such as sale prices in extruded shapes (bars) on top of Somnium’s map, enabling users to get instant insight into parcel status and prices, Somnium’s hottest areas, parcel ownership and more.

Our reporter Chris Bell made an excellent video that explains how the new Map Explorer can help you when searching for parcels. Read on for a detailed, step by step how to.

Parcel Price Heatmap

Upon opening the Explorer, parcel data is retrieved from OpenSea. While this happens you see Somnium’s well-known loading screen.

When all parcel data has been retrieved, the Explorer opens and shows you the map with parcels.

The Explorer allows you to select different views (from the upper right menu). The one that renders by default is the ‘Parcel Price Heatmap’, which shows you all parcels for which there is a closed sell order on OpenSea. The higher the transaction price was, the higher the bar and the ‘hotter’ the color (from yellow to orange, red and purple).

Navigation

Before diving into the different views and some of the filtering possibilities, let’s have a look at basic map navigation.

Hold down left mouse button (LMB) and drag – pan the map

Hold down right mouse button (RMB) and drag – change the pitch and rotation of the map

Mouse wheel – zoom in and out of the map (a more fine-grained zoom is also available in the Filter box).

Using these basic controls you can view the map from any distance and angle.

View from the north, looking at the islands in Deep Oasis Lake.

Parcels

As you can see, parcels are represented by bars with different heights and colors. Some parcels are ‘flat’.

The flat parcels are shown in three different colors:

White – Owned by Somnium Space

Red – Owned by users, not on sale

Yellow – Owned by users, on sale

What parcels will be extruded (represented by a bar of a certain height) depends on a couple of things:

What view you have chosen in the menu (upper right corner of the UI) – not all views are the same. Some show parcels currently on sale, others show parcels that have been sold.

The Views menu allows you to select a view. My parcels is a special view that shows your parcels only.

The filter settings – the filter (at the bottom right of the UI) has some common filters that apply to every view. For example, you can choose what parcel sizes (S, M, XL) and parcel locations (waterfront, roadside, inland) the map should show. You can also control minimum and maximum values (what value means depends on the view you have chosen).

The filter dialog allows you to apply additional filtering

Views

My Parcels – Shows the parcels you own. If you are not logged into Metamask the Explorer will prompt you to do so. Note that the Explorer will search for parcels that are owned by the currently selected address in Metamask. The height of the extruded parcels is determined by the amount you paid.

Recently listed (last 14 days) – Shows parcels that were listed within the last 14 days. The height of the extruded parcels is determined by the price. Note that only parcels listed for ETH or WETH are shown at the moment.

For parcels listed in Somnium Cubes use the ‘Parcels listed in Cubes’ view.

Recently sold (last 14 days) – Shows parcels for which a completed sell order exists within the last 14 days. The height of the extruded parcels is determined by the transaction amount. Note that only parcels sold for ETH or WETH are shown at the moment.

Parcels on sale – Shows all parcels that are currently on sale. The height of the extruded parcels is determined by the price.

Note that this view only shows parcels listed for ETH or WETH. For parcels listed in Somnium Cubes use the ‘Parcels listed in Cubes’ view.

Also note that bundles are not shown.

Parcel Price Heatmap – Shows all parcels for which a sell order exists on OpenSea. The height of the extruded parcels is determined by the transaction amount. Note that only parcels sold for ETH or WETH are shown at the moment.

Land Owners – A special view that shows all parcels that have been sold at least once. The height of the extruded parcels is determined by how many parcels the owner has.

What is special about the land owners view as well is that the colors are not determined by the value (number of parcels in this case), but the owner address. In other words, each owner gets its own color on the map. Be aware of the fact that if many owners are shown, the colors can be quite close to each other (the color map consists of around 250 colors).

Parcels listed in Cubes – This view is similar to the ‘Parcels on sale’ view, but shows parcels that are listed in Cubes instead.

Parcels that were obtained by early backers and transferred to them by Somnium Space do not have transaction details on OpenSea. Such parcels will not be extruded on the ‘Recently Sold’, ‘Parcel Price Heatmap’ and ‘Land Owners’ views.

Filters

Zoom Level – Not a filter, but with the Zoom level slider you can zoom in and out of the map. You can also zoom with your mouse wheel, but the difference is that the slider allows you to zoom with smaller increments.

Parcel Height – Not a filter, but the parcel height slider allows you to increase/decrease the height of the bars that represent parcels. Does not affect already assigned colors.

Scale/Range – The Scale/Range Sliders act as filters by default. For example, if you have selected the view ‘Parcel Price Heatmap’, only parcels are shown that were sold for amounts between the minimum and maximum values as set by the sliders. Also, all available colors on the color palette (from yellow to orange, red and purple) are mapped within the set range. So if you selected 2 as minimum value and 20 as maximum value, 2 ETH will be represented by yellow and 20 ETH by purple. Anything between these values will be mapped to a color on this gradient scale. Note that the same applies to the height of the extruded bars. Parcels sold for 20 ETH will be highest. Parcels sold for 2 ETH will be lowest. This means that by using the Scale/Range sliders you can create more or less contrast. Changing the maximum value for example will cause extruded parcels to be higher or lower and change color (because all parcels will be remapped to the new range)

Show All – By checking the ‘Show All’ checkbox you disable the Scale/Range Slider’s filtering. Let’s say you set the sliders to 2 and 20. Only parcels sold between 2 ETH and 20 ETH will be displayed. But if you check ‘Show All’ all parcels will be shown, those that were sold for less than 2 ETH and those that were sold for more the 20 ETH. Note however that the colors and heights are not affected. This means that parcels sold for less than 2 ETH will all show up as yellow and have the same height as parcels sold for 2 ETH. Those sold for more than 20 ETH will all show up as purple and have the same height as the parcels that sold for 20 ETH.

Parcel Size/Location – These check boxes act as filters allowing you to find exactly those parcels you are interested in.

Parcel info and pinning parcels

If you click on a parcel, an info card will popup.

From here you can jump to OpenSea or pin the parcel. Pinned parcels show up at the bottom left of the UI. If you add more than 2 parcels, the pane turns into a carousel where you can flip through all pinned parcels.

When a parcel has been pinned, moving your mouse pointer over the parcel image will cause the extruded bar on the map to change color to blue (in this way you can quickly check where the parcel is on the map).

The parcel turns blue when moving your mouse over the image in the pinned parcel.

Click ‘Owner’ on the pinned parcel to see what other parcels that owner has.

To remove a parcel from the pinned parcels simply click the little ‘x’ in the lower right corner.

Searching Parcels

To search for parcels, click the Info button in the upper left corner.

In the input field type the parcel number (a number from 1 to 5000) and press enter. The parcel will be pinned to the pane at the bottom and be extruded on the map.

Searching for parcel 521.

Opening Explorer via OpenSea

If you open the Explorer via OpenSea (link ‘View on Somnium Space VR’) the Explorer will initialize with the parcel you want to view already pinned at the bottom of the UI.

Move the map until you find a single (purple) extruded bar. That’s the requested parcel.

You can always return to this parcel (regardless of whether it is pinned or not), by using the ‘Requested Parcel’ view.

Mobile friendly

Somnium’s new Explorer is mobile friendly so you can keep an eye on the status of Somnium while you are on the go.

Examples

Example 1

Waterfront XL parcels that were sold for more than 5 Ether.

View: Parcel Price Heatmap

Filter: Uncheck checkboxes S and M, uncheck roadside and inland. Set Scale/Range Min slider to 5. Find a good value for Scale/Range Max slider for optimal contrast. Increase Parcel height slider for desired result.

Example 2

Roadside Medium and Small parcels for sale for max 5 Ether.

View: Parcels on sale

Filter: Uncheck XL, uncheck waterfront and inland. Set Scale/Range Min slider to 0. Set Scale/Range Max slider to 5. Increase Parcel height slider for desired result.

Example 3

Parcel owners who own 5 to 10 parcels.

View: Land owners

Filter: Set Scale/Range Min slider to 5. Set Scale/Range Max slider to 10. Increase Parcel height slider for desired result.

In this view each distinct color represents a different owner. For instance, all parcels represented by a yellow bar belong to the same owner.

Example 4

What other parcels does the owner of that great island parcel own?

View: Any view

Filter: Click the parcel so you get the parcel’s info card. Click ‘Pin parcel’. On the pinned parcel, click ‘Owner’. The view will change and show you all parcels this owner owns.

Note that the height of the extruded bars depends on the purchase amount.