Facebook

Login

Support Sailonline

If you haven't already - join the SAILONLINE YACHT CLUB!

Please also consider making a donation - all amounts are greatly appreciated!

Board » Technical Support » Ideas for SOL development

Page: 1 2 3 Next

Posted by
Karri


Users avatar

Posts
42
Registered at
2012-11-12 13:17:29
2014-01-30 13:57:41 - Ideas for SOL development
Here a few ideas, more like food for thought as I know we are operating on limited voluntary resources:

1. Create a search engine for sailonline.org, and especially the forum. This could possibly be done with tools provided by Google

2. Add a possibility to see all races one has participated in SOL. Now you can see 30 last races in ranking, but it would be nice to see all, possibly sortable by date, race, position. This could be a part of Profile page

3. Chat development: Currently we have numerous instances of chat ongoing, one possible development direction would be to integrate them all so that regardless in which race you are, you see all chatting. This chat could also be accessible even if you are not in a race.

4. Make key information and tools available at SOL site. For noobs it is difficult to find all of the tools and info (e.g. polars, wind GRIBs etc. available on brainaid’s site) This would partially also serve marketing to lower the threshold of starting and learning. Maybe even start a wiki where everybody can contribute e.g. based on forum discussion

5. Improvements to gameplay: Extend weather slider in client to past, also show boat location at points in history

6. Improvements to gameplay: Include boat course and speed indication when pointer hovered over boat (now only displays name and rank)

If there is a thread for ideas for SOL development, I did not manage to find it despite some considerable effort. Thus I started a new one, if one already exists, this can be merged to that.
My opinions may have changed, but not the fact that I'm right.
Posted by
WIN


Users avatar

Posts
349
Registered at
2009-07-09 23:32:07
2014-01-30 19:56:30 - Re: Ideas for SOL development
Ciao Karri

congrats for your success in Leg two of Timed Races Championship .

As SOL Coordinator I think you should be thanked first of all for supporting SOL with ideas , and in that role I wish to give you here the very short and very very preliminary answers ...( mainly because your idea span through various skills needed and I do ot have half of them ! ;) )

1- I think SOL is already well up in search engine Google ...I do not know if forum threads are , but think so ...will suggest that some experimenting is done ...

2- Your input carries the need for a much more powerful and flexible DB ..The profile thing seems to me much easier and closer in time than the interaction and sorting capabilities you mention , but both could be looked at .

3- The idea of chat being independent from acual race window is good ; it is today linked to race registration though , and some software development would be needed there too I guess.

4- What you refer to is property of third party ...linking is easy ...embedding is not ...but it could happen one day ..It needs to be discussed with Brainaid as an example ....

5- It is a nice idea ..I have no clue as to feasibility . In actual facts you suggest to make the beginning of a grib file at zero plus 12 hours ( as an example ) and basically keep in client the 12 to 18 hours previous to now ....other thing is to ask client to record boat position in the past and be able to show it on demand ...we would need Aaron for that ;((

6- This is simple answer : NO ! ...one of the fundamental rules of SOL ( see manual ) is that no one player knows navigation data of competitors ) ..This rule is already broken by some tools available to solers , that I have more than once declared I am opposing to....now you suggest instant full information on competitors by pointing of mouse ...well it may happen , but not with my vote ! LOL

Once again ...THANK YOU

I am sure that those who serve SOL as volunteers have already started to think !!!

ciao

Piero
;))
Posted by
kroppyer


Users avatar

Posts
347
Registered at
2010-02-05 15:25:55
2014-01-30 21:52:14 - Re: Ideas for SOL development
Adding some points, some of which have been previously discussed.

7. CLIENT: Improve "boathandling": increase the accuracy of the shown boat position. See here and here

8. CLIENT: Show "new course"-line when manually entering a heading (possibly only for COG, or TWA when delay is not checked).

9. CLIENT: store dashboard display mode in local memory, so that I don't have to alt-click every time I reload the client.

10. new performance loss system (see this thread)

11. include performance loss in predictor line calculation

-----

Clarification on point 1: I think karriv meant a search bar on the sol website, to search the forum, or the whole site.

To all points mentioned, except 4 and 6, I vote a clear yes :) It's just that someone has to eventually realise it.. and that might take a while. But still nice to have a list.

About point 4 (including external tools in the sol website): It's not that simple... I think I would agree with some part of this, and disagree with other parts. And I know I have a different opinion than many others. There are many different opinions.

About point 6 (showing heading of competitors): I think I understand both sides. At this point the data about other boats (heading+position) is public, but for most only viewable via hmm's sollog and via the client. I don't think it's right to try to hide this data. But I agree that it could make the game a lot more interesting to limit the amount of information about the competitors. THOUGH: competitors in sight (within 10nm or so) should always be visible. This should be thought about well. There probably some technicalities here too. Meanwhile, I think we shouldn't change anything on what data is available about the competitors.

--- Last Edited by kroppyer at 2014-01-30 21:57:24 ---
Posted by
hmm


Users avatar

Posts
118
Registered at
2011-11-03 13:35:22
2014-01-31 09:22:49 - Re: Ideas for SOL development
Thanks for starting a good thread, most of the ideas are of course not new but it's good to have a list in public for discussion.

From Karri's list, I'll here comment on things which I think should be pretty easy to do:


1. Google search engine for sailonline.org
- I'm not expert in web technologies but I believe this is easy and also I think that someone could pretty easily do it without access to the code. When it's done it can be added to the web page.

2. List all users races in one page
- This is pretty easy to do, let's see what I can do about it.

3. Without changing the clients and with pretty small changes to backend we could have "global" and "race" chats. That would be that the global chats would be shared for all races and race chats would be for that race only like they are now.

So basically we could add global chatrooms for each language to the client.

4. Bringing the 3rd party tools to SOL site is of course doable, easy way to do this would just create x.sailonline.org domain name for them. I.e. brainaid.sailonline.org, agage.sailonline.org.

The gameplay things are harder to do as they need changes to the client and for history also the server api has to return that data.
Posted by
kroppyer


Users avatar

Posts
347
Registered at
2010-02-05 15:25:55
2014-01-31 12:00:06 - Re: Ideas for SOL development
This userscript adds a searchbar to the sol website.
- search engine is registered on my name
- I only did placement, layout isn't very pretty right now.

preview

[userscript works local, nothing has changed on the website itself, it's you browser that (if you install the script) changes the appearance]

--- Last Edited by kroppyer at 2014-01-31 12:06:18 ---
Attachments
Posted by
Tyger / Robert Neilson


Users avatar

Posts
108
Registered at
2012-05-28 15:07:00
2014-01-31 12:17:06 - Re: Ideas for SOL development
hmm said @ 2014-01-31 09:22:49:
1. Google search engine for sailonline.org
- I'm not expert in web technologies but I believe this is easy and also I think that someone could pretty easily do it without access to the code. When it's done it can be added to the web page.
---
There is a facility here to generate the code to embed Google search into a website: Google Custom Search

You can insert into the whole website or just a particular part ie. SOL Forum.
Probably best that someone with the authority to do so (Markku) ticks the boxes and agrees to terms.

“We may have arrived on different ships, but we are all in the same boat now!” Martin Luther King Jr.
Posted by
Rod


Users avatar

Posts
392
Registered at
2010-06-24 22:30:48
2014-02-03 02:44:17 - Re: Ideas for SOL development
They say that Half of sailboat racing is Starting.
The Second Half is the strategy of sailing the course in relation to the wind.
The Third Half is knowledge of and obedience to the Racing Rules of Sailing.
While SOL deals with the Second Half exceedingly well, it completely neglects the First Half (Starting) and the Third Half (which covers Right of Way and the Rounding of Marks).
Please, in any planned development of the SOL program, give serious consideration to the First and Third Halves.
If it breaks, it's not strong enough--if it doesn't, it's too heavy.
Posted by
kroppyer


Users avatar

Posts
347
Registered at
2010-02-05 15:25:55
2014-02-03 10:06:01 - Re: Ideas for SOL development
Rod, I would classify that is very close to impossible. With over 200 boats starting, hopefully increasing to 500 or even more, it's not really desirable to start with collisions/RRS enabled. Besides, it makes it impossible to sail on DCs. There's also that it invites unfair play: others could ram someone to slow him down and let their friend win. IRL there are all sorts of collision detectors, but on SOL, that's a bit hard, because we're not on our boat 24/7.

My opinion: SOL is a NavSim, the game is choosing the best route to the finish.

--- Last Edited by kroppyer at 2014-02-03 10:06:51 ---
Posted by
Karri


Users avatar

Posts
42
Registered at
2012-11-12 13:17:29
2014-03-02 20:10:40 - Re: Ideas for SOL development
kroppyer, how do you install that search thing you made? Would it be possible to get that running on server side?
My opinions may have changed, but not the fact that I'm right.
Posted by
kroppyer


Users avatar

Posts
347
Registered at
2010-02-05 15:25:55
2014-03-03 00:21:49 - Re: Ideas for SOL development
installing a userscript

Firefox:
1. install greasemonkey (plugin for firefox)
2. click the link to the userscript, and a window should pop up that let's you install the script

Chrome/chromium:
1. download and save the file
2. go to menu->tools->extensions (or go to chrome://extensions/ directly)
3. drag the file in the browser

Internet Explorer:
1. get another browser
2. get instructions for that browser

Other:
Use a search engine of your preference to look for instructions

--- Last Edited by kroppyer at 2014-03-03 10:48:02 ---

Page: 1 2 3 Next

Please login to post a reply.

Races

Next Race: 00d 00h 00m

Current Races:

Regata dell’Accademia Navale 2025

Welcome to Sailonline’s first partnership with the City of Livorno, in cooperation with the local yacht clubs and the Italian Navy, to offer you the online opportunity to race the Regata dell’Accademia Navale. 630nm in length, starting and finishing in Livorno, the race takes you the length and breadth of the Tyrrhenian Sea via Porto Cervo and Capri. Online, you will be sailing a Class 40, which should keep you well in with the top of the real-life fleet which we will be tracking on screen!
Race #1902
INFO by brainaid.de
Class 40 PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: SYC
Race starts: Apr 26th 10:00 Registration Open!

▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Gulf of St Lawrence 2025


The Gulf of St. Lawrence, with one of the largest and deepest estuaries in the world, will be the site of a completely new race in SOL. Our Melges 40 will take us 950 nm from Bathurst in Baie des Chaleurs around the islands of Anticosti, Pelee and Prince Edward admiring beautiful landscapes along the way. Fair winds.
Race #1910
INFO from brainaid.de
Melges 40 PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking:
ARQ2 - ARCH - SUPSOL – SYC
Race starts: Apr 21st 17:00 Registration Open!
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Transat à Deux 2025

Above you see a single-handed sailor semi-foiling his Beneteau Figaro III to the horizon. It is in fact Ireland’s Sailor of the Year and the overall winner of last year’s Solitaire du Figaro, Tom Dolan. Somehow, we got our hands on a polar for the Class, and rather than trying to surreptitiously track Tom and his mates in the 2025 edition of the Solitaire, sailing rather-short, single-handed legs across the Celtic Sea and Biscay, we thought we’d see how our virtual craft would fare on the Class’s double-handed 3900nm Trans-Atlantic, from somewhere in Brittanny to somewhere in the Caribbean via somewhere in the Canaries. Allez, mes braves!
Race #1901
INFOby brainaid.de
Figaro III foil PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: SYC
Race starts: Apr 20th 11:00 Registration Open!
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Gladstone Ports Corporation Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht Race 2025


Sailonline is thrilled to partner with the Queensland Cruising Yacht Club for the 2025 Gladstone Ports Corporation Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht Race. This 308 nautical mile offshore classic takes our fleet from Brisbane to Gladstone along Australia's stunning east coast. Racing in high-performance Cookson 50s, SOLers will face shifting winds and tactical decisions at every turn. It’s time to test your skills in one of Australia’s most iconic yacht races. See you on the start line!
Race #1904
INFO by brainaid.de
Cookson 50 PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: SYC
Race starts: Apr 18th 01:00 Registration Open!
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Bahamas and Back TIMED Race 2025

Welcome to sunny South Florida for this race that has us crossing the Gulf Stream twice. We depart from Palm Beach for a short run over to Freeport, Bahamas then it’s on to Miami before heading to the finish line back in Palm Beach. This is a TIMED race, so you may RE-REGISTER HERE to try again, after finishing a run. You will have 13 days and 11 hours to test your skill and decision making after the race opens.
Race #1911
INFO by brainaid.de
Santa Cruz 70 PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking:
TRQ2 - TRCH - SUPSOL - SYC
RACE CLOSE: Saturday,
26 April at 23:00 UTC
Race starts: Apr 13th 12:00 Registration Open!
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Sinbad by Balloon 2025 - Toamasina to Baia de l'Oiseau


You may recall that when last we visited Madagascar in the company of Sinbad, the Sultan commanded our intrepid inspirator to seek out fabled islands where in Summer the sun barely set. We did and we returned but the Sultan wasn’t happy with Sinbad’s report, so here we go again, now by SOL Balloon instead of sailing vessel. Expect to be in the air for at least 2100nm and depending on how the wind brings us, anything between two weeks and two months before we shall descend at the Sultan’s given coordinates!
Race #1884
INFOby brainaid.de
SOL Balloon PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: SYC - SBB
Race starts: Apr 09th 11:00 Registration Closed
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Valparaiso to San Francisco 2025

Get ready for an exhilarating new challenge as we set sail on the fourth leg of the 2025 Ocean Championship Series! Following in the 19th century footsteps of Isabel Allende's heroine, Eliza Sommers, 'Daughter of Fortune', this all-new route takes us across the vast eastern Pacific, from Valparaíso, Chile, to San Francisco, California - a 3500nm journey of endurance, strategy, and pure sailing adrenaline. This leg will be raced aboard the powerful Rapido 60, pushing sailors to their limits as they navigate the open ocean. Do you have what it takes to conquer the Pacific? Join us and put your skills to the ultimate test!
PRIZE: SMPF
Race #1900
INFO by brainaid.de
Rapido 60 PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: OCQ2 - OCCH - SUPSOL - SYC
Race starts: Apr 07th 11:00 Registration Closed
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Melbourne Osaka Cup Double-Handed Yacht Race 2025

Welcome once again to what these days is Sailonline’s almost annual virtual Melbourne to Osaka Yacht Race. In real life, this double-handed 5500 nm race between these two sister cities, one deep in the southern hemisphere, the other high in the northern hemisphere, is run every four to five years, and this year is such a year. So, this year’s online version is in sync with the Melbourne Osaka Cup 2025 organised by the Ocean Racing Club of Victoria (ORCV), and the Sandringham (SYC) and Osaka Hokko (OHYC) yacht clubs. We’ll be racing the well-known First 40, a popular size of boat which should be a good match for many of the boats entered in the real race. With the doldrums unavoidably lying across our course, you can expect to be at virtual sea for at least a month!
Race #1669
INFO by brainaid.de
First 40 Particulars
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: SYC
RACE CLOSE: Wednesday,
April 23 at 2300 UTC.
Race starts: Mar 16th 06:00 Registration Closed

▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Go to race archive

SYC Ranking

  1. Sailonline Yacht Club Member WRmirekd
  2. Sailonline Yacht Club Member Patrick70119
  3. Sailonline Yacht Club Member KaSToR
  4. Sailonline Yacht Club Member CriticalHippo
  5. Sailonline Yacht Club Member vida
  6. Sailonline Yacht Club Member FreyjaUSA
  7. Sailonline Yacht Club Member rafa
  8. Sailonline Yacht Club Member bonknhoot
  9. Sailonline Yacht Club Member Kipper1258
  10. Sailonline Yacht Club Member rumskib

View full list

Series

Mobile Client

SYC members have the benefit of access to our mobile/lightweight web client!

The mobile client