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Board » General Discussion » Game Feature Suggestions

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Posted by
StuArt


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2008-11-15 22:03:54
2010-01-07 22:03:50 - Re: Game Feature Suggestions
Hi Jakob and Kalle,

Happy New Year and another load of patients with this bunch of addicted SOLists...

Some suggestions about usability of the playground aka main screen:

In google earth/maps I can doubleclick on the map and it is centering there and zooming in. Nice feature.

In Photoshop (for example) the screen is scrolling, when I reach the edges with the tool. Would be helpful when I use the ruler, for example.

What I don't want: a VMC-tool. Would makes thing too easy, I think.

Again, thanks for this lovely game.


Stu/Berth
Posted by
HenryB


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2008-03-06 16:50:11
2010-01-08 00:40:13 - Re: Game Feature Suggestions
A Happy New Year to all SOLists.

I am a little bit at a loss. Please bear with me - exactly what is a VMC? We all use these acronyms but sometimes they mean different things to different people! Stu/Berth felt providing them would make things too easy; I don't see how anything would be easier.

I already take all the polar data, interpolate all the velocities, work up to 24 hours ahead of my present position, download wind forecasts from two sources, compare my progress with all the boats around me, and find that none of this helps. To do well I have to be online during as much of the race as possible.

The single biggest determinant of my success is how much time I can spend online.

Thanks for the best virtual sailing on the Internet - and I'll have it as easy as you can make it.

ehenryb
Posted by
jakob


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2007-09-04 10:05:30
2010-01-08 05:46:50 - Re: Game Feature Suggestions
Thanks for suggestions. We put them on our list. One of the problems with VMC though is that I have still not heard any good definition of VMC that would be meaningful to our average user...
...one of the guys behind the game...
Posted by
Gilles


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2009-07-18 11:05:22
2010-01-12 07:51:41 - Re: Game Feature Suggestions
dear Crew,
I do not know if the point was already addressed or not.
The boat icon appear very big, I understand that a bigger boat can identified better which is yours, BUT, in close tacking in a channel or during fine pointing around a corner sometime the boat is bigger then the point you want to go and make this difficult, may be a slightly bigger boat respect to the surrounding but not so enorm huge will fill the scope.
Just a suggestion from my side.
Best regards
Gilberto
Posted by
Incognito


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2008-12-06 13:43:52
2010-01-12 10:03:01 - Re: Game Feature Suggestions
I second Gilles on that. A suggestion perhaps would be to show the big boat in a corner of the race screen. Or perhaps below the polar.

I have not yet fully tested it. Does the big boat also show up when manually typing a command? That would be helpful, as it would probably avoid '+' and '-' errors.
Posted by
jakob


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2007-09-04 10:05:30
2010-01-12 10:56:20 - Re: Game Feature Suggestions
I agree that it is not optimal but it was an attempt to make things more understandable for new users. (We suspect that the complicated steering is hard for some new users to understand) /J
...one of the guys behind the game...
Posted by
NZL_PaulR


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2008-07-22 12:21:30
2010-01-12 17:39:25 - Re: Game Feature Suggestions
Perhaps then an option to turn OFF or ON as required with a default of ON for NEW sailors.

Perhaps the option should only be for SYC members = more encouragement to join SYC.
If it breaks, it's not strong enough!
Posted by
Schakel


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2008-12-19 09:19:00
2010-01-13 08:36:09 - Re: Game Feature Suggestions
Gilles said @ 2010-01-12 07:51:41:
<quote>The boat icon appear very big,<unquote>

Not only that, it has a bug as well. At maximum zoom, the extending line disappears.

Philip
Posted by
AGage


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2008-12-27 10:31:57
2010-01-14 14:49:05 - Re: Game Feature Suggestions
Schakel said @ 2010-01-13 08:36:09:
Gilles said @ 2010-01-12 07:51:41:
<quote>The boat icon appear very big,<unquote>

Not only that, it has a bug as well. At maximum zoom, the extending line disappears.


Philip
=========================================
Yes I have noticed the same, also that it changes lengths with differeing zoom levels, but isnt that big an issue as to make SOL unplayable.

Jakob, I can only think of a definition for VMC as viable when heading for a waypoint with no land between your boat and it. But even if there is, a good definition might be, "The rate at which your DTG is decreasing"?
Or more specifically to multiply your boatspeed by the cosine of the angle between your heading and a line directly to the waypoint. So if you are heading straight for the next waypoint (goal) at 10 knots, then your VMC is 10 knots. I really cant think how else it could be defined, so dont really understand the ambiguity of the term. Am I missing something? Please inform if I am...
I mean, if VMG is cos(wind direction - heading), wouldnt VMC be cos(waypoint direction - heading)??
Thanks.
I help develop the client interface for the best online ocean racing sim there is... __/)/)_/)__
Posted by
HenryB


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2008-03-06 16:50:11
2010-01-14 19:55:14 - Re: Game Feature Suggestions
I have not experienced any changes in the length of anything but have noticed differences in the width of paths at different levels of magnification.

How does one specify and hang on to a waypoint between sessions? I made a suggestion above that I thought could be used for that purpose - but never really got a response!

As I see it VMG is 'Velocity Made Good' directly to windward; whereas, VMC is also a velocity made good, but to where? If it is to the destination, then it assumes that one is taking a direct great-circle path to the nearest point about which one has to turn. As well most sailors know, that isn't necessarily optimal.

In my youth I raced a Tornado and often found I could beat the competition, to a downwind mark, by tacking downwind - the boat was so fast on a broad reach that it got to a downwind mark much more quickly NOT heading straight for the mark.

If there is a way of leaving waypoints on one's maps, across sessions, please tell me how.

ehenryb

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