Welcome Hirlonde!

This race is a bit of an anomaly with such intense navigational demands to hit all the roundings. The race committee tries to maintain a balanced schedule of short and long races

On ocean crossings, you can usually get away with leaving your boat on delayed commands for longer periods - though you still need to plan around windshifts. No getting around at least one update while you should be sleeping though! Of course, this makes it much more fair for a worldwide userbase than setting up one or two updates per day to the advantage of one region, and it makes the racing much more interesting.

I agree!

Hi,
discovered virtual sailing on VR at the VVORG (113th) and ended up pretty addicted, although often frustrated not to be able to manage full races without leaving laptop for a few days therefore messing up good positions. Eventhough VR was friendly to the user I also found that the squares, the 12 hours delays in weather and massive numbers of participants were taking a lot away from reality. I found SOL without really looking for it and had a go before christmas... really enjoyed my first race... SOL has always a race on or one coming... these races are short which suits a busy schedule, the dc system really allows good night sleep, I really like the dynamic weather evolution and the fact the races are of "human" size with 300-600 participants. Must say I have not been back on VR since mini transat (4th by the way). I dont race much anymore but must say I enjoy a race once in a while and SOL defo suits great. Keep up good work

Thanks a lot

/Jakob

I appreciate this comment too! I enjoyed my first and only sail on SOL. I soon got used to its format and liked the frequency of the racing. Much easier to log on, too!

Virtual Regatta has improved and still is improving. That's where my ' virtual' friends are. Most importantly, longer races are more in tune with my real-world schedules. I'll probably stay there, going forward.

I really am impressed with Jacob's ombudsmanship, however. And finally, when competitors are critically assessing the way a regatta - or any other sport/game - is managed, I always pay attention to their ranking on the leader boards. In this case, I find myself well below most skippers commenting on this thread!

Enough said!

Seeing as the last post on this was over two months ago, I may be shutting the stable door ....!
I've been v sailing since Jan this year, so am a comparative newcomer. I try not to take it TOO seriously, but do enjoy the challenge.
There are many differences between VR and SOL, the main ones to me, being cost and accuracy.
Cost - both games are free to enter but VR sells add ons such as auto sails and waypoints which are free with SOL. I did like the fact that the free VR version has 2 sail choices which adds a bit of interest. Similarly, I like the delayed commands in SOL which allow you (after a bit of working out) to plot a course which MAY take you somewhere near where you want to go!
I only bought the "extras" in VR once and it turned out that the race was totally unsuitable for everything but the pro-sails (worth half a knot extra speed )
I think the 35 Euros fro SOL membership is a bit too high, given that all it gives you is a rankings number.
To be honest, I'm surprised that SOL has so few participants compared to VR. However this can be a good thing as long as it doesn't lead to becoming a few personal friends forming a clique (or appearing to).
Accuracy -
Although the "land" is made up of straight lines in SOL, you can rely on the accuracy of the lines to allow you to sail microscopically close and not run aground. This is NOT the case with VR and is the subject of much debate and complaints. The boat positions change every minute and you can actually see yourself racing, which is very good. At the moment all boats are on screen simultaneously, which is good, but could get difficult if membership grows.
The 'live' winds and the scale/duration of the wind forcast is excellent! Far superior to VR. I find it disappointing that the more computer 'savvy' skippers seem to still need external tools to give them an "edge" - even in SOL!
Finally, I would like to support SOL in financial terms but feel that a lower starter fee (say 20 euros) would encourage more people to become members.
The forum should be used more, as it fulfils a far different need than the "chat" which everyone seems to use instead.
Regards
Danny
(I should really change my user name from Gina - its an old joke anyway!)

--- Last Edited by Danny at 2010-07-25 21:31:06 ---

--- Last Edited by Danny at 2010-07-25 21:52:52 ---

--- Last Edited by Danny at 2010-07-25 21:53:43 ---

Thanks for keeping this thread alive, Danny. I enjoyed my single SOL race. I think I like the graphics. I disclose I am much more of a sailor than a gamer. I am much more experienced with MP's VR software, and especially the extras which have recently been vastly improved. I am also familiar with the characters and adversaries I encounter there. I do not find anything negative to say about SOL. Far from it!

Hi!

My name is Antonio, my friends call me Toño. This is my opinion between the two platforms and from the point of view of someone who has been sailing IRL pretty much its entire life. I'm not involved in any way, shape or form with SOL or it's creators, I'm just a fellow player. English is not my native language so please bear with me.

I discovered Sailonline on December 2008 (wow, how time flies!). At the time I was playing the VR's VORG and Vendee Globe, and started searching for a MAC OS software routing program so I could plan my routes better for VORG and Vendee Globe (Windows users had plenty of tools but MAC OS users were definately at a disadvantage). That search lead me to Sailplanner, which I used to some pretty good results. I followed the links from Sailplanner to SOL and joined the start of the third leg of the Sailonline Ocean Race (SOR). I thought I could get away with checking my boat twice a day (as in VORG) boy was I wrong! I soon discovered that the SOL game engine was so superior to VORG's that it required A LOT of time if you wanted to sail competitively. Since I was already doing VORG and have a life and a job, I continued to sail on the SOR but with lousy results since I did not devote a whole lot of time to it, and all of my friends were playing VORG.

What I really liked about SOL was that everybody had the same "game tools", you didn't have to spend money for game options that gave you an edge. Everybody had the same sails, and everybody had the ability to schedule DC's.(Delayed Commands). At the time there was only one Chat room so joining the chat was a little bit daunting since tons of people were speaking in different languages and following a conversation was really hard (at least to me). VR's simple "Boat to Boat" communications seemed a more efficient way to talk to your buddies, and I still think this is something SOL sorely needs. The communications have certainly got better with the addition of multiple chat rooms, but there are times you just don't want to talk to an audience, just to your buddy.

Sailing wise SOL's game engine is so superior and "lifelike" that anybody with IRL sailing experience stands a MUCH better chance of performing better than somebody who doesn't have sailing experience. On that front, VR's poorer (maybe for the sake of simplicity to make the game more attractive for a wider audience) game engine levels the playing field a little bit between sailor and non-sailors. In SOL you can make adjustments and watch how they play out in real time, you don't have to wait x amount of minutes for the outcome. In SOL you ALWAYS know where you are EXACTLY. If for some reason you were not "in sync" with VR's 10 minute cycle well then most of what you're watching on screen is garbage. Sailing close to shore in VR is very risky (if not impossible), and once you are aground in VR... well good luck in trying to get your boat going again!! And clearing or rounding a waypoint close in VR was always an adventure.

Since SOL is such a good simulator, those who have access to IRL sailboat routing sofware (comercial programs or developed in-house) will have an edge over those who don't. In VR IRL routing software doesn't work as well (beacuse it doesn't resemble the way boats sail at all!!) but there were plenty of tools (software) developed to suit VR's poorer game engine. In SOL if you have prior sailing experience, be it as a tactician or navigator and KNOW what you're doing you also stand a pretty good shot of performing well just with a calculator a pad and a pencil. The amout of time you put into SOL is directly proportional to how well you will perform.

On the communications level (customer support, etc.) since SOL isn't a "Cash Cow" like VR, SOL is run mostly by volunteers with the help of the game creators (the creators have other jobs too!) These volunteers communicate mainly through the Chat room of each active race because lets face it, very few SOLers use the forum. So the "appearance" or resemblance of a clique on the chat might well be those few hard working volunteers trying to communicate with fellow SOLers. I've had it both ways on the chat. Most of the time I've been treated with the utmost respect, and I've been "grilled" too, a bit unfairly if you ask me (but that's been settled). If a newbie asks a question on the chat people are more than willing to help. The few times I've asked stuff on the forum the game creators have quickly replied.

As far as the membership fee is concerned, in VR you pay more than 35 EUR for the extras if you sail in more than two races in a year. What do you get in return for 35 EUR? Well you don't "need" to pay the 35 EUR because you can play for free, or pay the 35 EUR just "to get your boat in the rankings". You should pay the 35 EUR/year to ensure to continued existence and further development of a VASTLY SUPERIOR GAME PLATFORM, PERIOD!

This is just my very humble opinion.

Regards,

Antonio

PS I'll edit this from time to time as I see fit. Cheers!

I'll read Toño's comment in a minute. First I will have to post my extreme displeasure at MP-VR's crash in the Solitaire du Figaro race. The software shut down in the middle of the night and then resumed hours later. I was in 100th place. Now I am in 13,500th place, having crashed. I am just too .... out of sorts at the moment to comment further.

I have to thank Toño for a GR8 comment! I'll make two responses:

1. MP-VR has improved their game controls considerably since the VORG days. Give them credit. OTOH, it may have been too much, too soon of late. Last night's crash was maybe the next-to-last straw for me.

2. Please correct me, if I am wrong about SOL. In SOL one can't be AFK too long, compared to MP-VR? That's my recollection from one very fun race some time ago? That format doesn't work well for my life style.

3. What does SOL charge for each race?

(sorry: 3 points)

--- Last Edited by Doc Häagen-Dazs at 2010-07-28 13:12:57 ---