Offline low res map data

Hello everyone,

This question is initially focused at using OSM data, but I’m source agnostic in the grand scheme of things.

I’m writing an application in Qt that draws a map on the screen, along with airports, air nav data, fix locations etc.; the application is to enable route planning for a flight simulator.

The map is only really for visual feedback so that the user can view the route, so I’m not that interested in high-fidelity map data. A simple 2 tone rendering of water/land would suffice. However having some OSM data, such as town and roads would help for pilots who wish to plan a route using VFR (Visual Flight Rules - flying based on what you see out the window).

I’m new to mapping so I wanted to ask:

  • Is it possible to download and use, very low res map data from OSM?
  • As an extension question, does OSM provide raster data or is it all vector based?

Thanks and apologies if my questions seem a bit vague, I’m still trying to work out what questions I need answered in order to implement this map!

Regards

Catch_0x16