I need to create about a 9-level deep SLIPPY map of the world from OSM data (for offline use). So I cannot use the MapQuest, CloudMade, etc. servers). The projection must be EPSG4326 (LL84) which is another reason I cannot use them. The viewer is Leaflet which I have working fine with EPSG4326 tiles (currently I am diced the NASA Blue Marble to 9 levels).
I like the look of the mapquest tiles the best: http://otile{s}.mqcdn.com/tiles/1.0.0/osm/{z}/{x}/{y}.jpg
but I could deal with others. The main reason I like MapQuest is the worldwide english labeling (with foreign subtitles) and the look of the topographic terrain (useful in regions with no roads).
Tools that I have at my disposal include FME Professional (my favorite), QGIS, PostGIS 2.0, and GDAL. I am working on a large Windows 7SP1 box.
I cannot use cloud services like like mentioned in the following article at OSM.org:
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Deploying_your_own_Slippy_Map
- See Switch2Osm.org for more information on serving your own tiles.
- Tiledrawer is a free, quick-start, out-of-the-box renderer and server using the standard OSM toolchain for Amazon EC2, other virtual servers, and fresh installs of Ubuntu on any hardware.
Best Answer
I would suggest you to use mapnik (uses style XML) to pre-render map tiles from osm data stored in postreSQL(postgis) using gdal and these rendered tiles can be accessed using openlayers.
If you need details I can help you out to configure all :)