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 » General Discussion » SOL - 3D Version

Page: 1 2 3 4 Next

Just a question,just curious...

Will SOL ever try to have a 3D version like SailX.com?

Is it possible?

I would definitely become a paying member if SOL went 3D.
St. Lucie - Jupiter Ocean Racing Association (SJORA)

Poll: Would you like to see SOL in 3D?

You need to be logged in to vote.
To CKH: I have been hinting, cajoling, promulgating, asking----you name it----for just such a development in SOL. I have been using as an example of what can be done, the free downloadable program "Virtual Sailor" by Ilan Papini. While his program is not suitable for a large number of racers, and it pretty much confined to part of the Aegean Sea, it does have good visuals, with waves and weather, land scenery and ports,manual as well as autopilot steering, as well as manual and auto sail adjustment. The weather and wind, however are exactly the same across the entire map (adjustable by user), and are not linked to NOAA.
I have been using it in 20 boat races, with the other 19 controlled by the computer.(Unfortunately I can always win because [as we all know] computers are not very imaginative.)
However it does show what can be done, if we want.
I think it is clear that if a more visual and realistic racing program was to be developed, the present SOLers would change over to it 'en masse'
I attach a view.
p.s. You also get the chart, with boat positions and tracks.

--- Last Edited by Rod at 2011-04-15 14:38:54 ---

--- Last Edited by Rod at 2011-04-15 17:11:54 ---
If it breaks, it's not strong enough--if it doesn't, it's too heavy.
Attachments
I for one would Not prefer that this idea is adopted wholesale.

Why ?

I think it would jeopardize the free aspect of this site and would require significant overhead both on the server & client side.

Those of us who have slower internet access and/or less capable computers, would be squeezed out of future participation.

I therefore affirm the schematic approach to this elegant presentation
None so blind
The price for the down-loadable Virtual Sailor 4 is about $35 Canadian, which sis just about the same for the "Sailonline Yacht Club" membership, (which I am not a member of) so the two things are comparable. The VS4 program contains a great number of things which would not be needed for SOL, like freighters, submarines, guided missiles, fish, dolphins, seagulls, etc etc. The cost would be less than VS4, and would be payable only once.
I am not trying to sell VS4 in any way--it has its frustrations and is not at all suitable for what SOLers would need--it just demonstrates what can be done if we want.
If it breaks, it's not strong enough--if it doesn't, it's too heavy.
You wouldn't even have to go as far as virtual sailor. look at SAILX.com.
This is also a free sailing site.
You can pay for membership just like here in SOL.

take a look... www.sailx.com

O wonder if this is possible
St. Lucie - Jupiter Ocean Racing Association (SJORA)
Took a look at SailX and was not particularly impressed by its degree of realism. Little boat outlines running around at impossibly high speeds, while the controls are "suggestions to the actual skipper"---Are we back to rich men and paid crews?---anyway, to cut a long litany of derogatory comments to one....NO.
The degree of realism is just one step above SOL---you can actually see the boat's wake!!!!
p.s. Has anyone actually looked into the """FREE""" Virtual Skipper program to determine just what you actually can get??

--- Last Edited by Rod at 2011-04-16 18:16:07 ---
If it breaks, it's not strong enough--if it doesn't, it's too heavy.
you actually clicked on the 3d button? becasue there is 2d and 3d option. It is a simple 3d, compared to Virtual sailor. I think virtual sailor is great, but too much. I think the sailx 3d is just right, simple and easy, and still free.

The controls in sailx have a slight learning curve, but then again, if you sail in real life there is always that learning curve when controling a boat, that is what makes it so much fun and so challenging.
Not that SOL needs that sort of control, but the #D would make it a bit more exciting and REAL.
3D FOR SOL!
:)
St. Lucie - Jupiter Ocean Racing Association (SJORA)
Will try 3D and see. When I did before I got only an overhead view of one boat "model" with a mast and a mainsail. I couldn't find the control to shift to a panoramic view, and I couldn't find a plan of the racecourse.
I will persevere, but the list of different controls is so long (2 pages) that I don't know how you memorize. Also, can you slow it down to "real" speeds
p.s. I do like your "SLIGHT learning curve"

--- Last Edited by Rod at 2011-04-17 14:18:23 ---

--- Last Edited by Rod at 2011-04-17 14:20:07 ---
If it breaks, it's not strong enough--if it doesn't, it's too heavy.
guys,
this is simply not feasible (from a technical point of view), nor desirable.
It is not possible to synchronize the operation of such a large number of users (SOL averages 300 to 400 but can go up to 700) in different part of the world, with different connection/bandwidth, computational power etc. I think it would be difficult even on a MultiGBit LAN where everyone is sitting near to his opponents.

Virtual Skipper, SailX etc. are arcade games which are good for short races and a very small number of participants. Nice to have fun for a couple of hours hoping that you don't loose sync 100m from the finish line.

While we wait for ultra-reliable TeraBit connections I guess we have the choice:

1) good graphics, waves, even wife throwing buckets of iced salt water on our face ->> VSK & co
2) essential graphics, but a large number of simultaneous users (we can still have wife with the iced water bucket during updates) ->> SOL

The two worlds cannot mix at the moment.
But again, we have the choice

a.
One small correction---Virtual Skipper is in no sense an "Arcade Game". There is NO GAME. It is just an environment in which you have access to several types of boats, ships and planes, an ocean upon which to sail, land, airports, harbours and towns,----and from there you do what you wish. I use it for racing sailboats, others for torpedoing freighters, some explore the sea bottom and some just sail or motor around from port to port, some even fly aircraft. It is all contained within your own computer, so contact with other users is essentially the same as in SOL and would probably have about the same server load.
p.s. I am in no way suggesting that VS be used as a replacement for SOL, but instead that SOL can add similar features to the SOL programming to provide a more up-to-date and imaginative racing/sailing experience for the SOL user community

--- Last Edited by Rod at 2011-04-18 16:40:50 ---
If it breaks, it's not strong enough--if it doesn't, it's too heavy.

Page: 1 2 3 4 Next

Please login to post a reply.

Races

Next Race: 00d 00h 00m


Current Races:

Valdes Peninsula TIMED Race 2026

October finds us on the Argentina coast for the Valdes Peninsula race. A UNESCO World Heritage Site the peninsula is a breeding ground for southern right whales. Sail the luxurious blue water Delphia 47 around a 160 nm course in an attempt to turn in the fastest time.
This is a TIMEDrace so you may RE-REGISTER HEREto try again after finishing a run. You will have two weeks to test your skill and decision making after the race opens.
Race #2066
INFOby brainaid.de
PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking:
TRQ4 - TRCH - SYC
RACE CLOSE: Saturday,
24 October at 23:00 UTC
Race starts: Oct 11th 12:00 Registration will open soon
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Roma Giraglia Regata 2026

Our eighth race of nine to celebrate all things Mediterranean - fickle winds, history and olive oil – is another buddy-up; this one with the Circolo Nautico Riva di Traiano . Founded in 1984, as the new Traiano yacht Harbour neared completion, the Circola since then has developed into one of the major yachting competition centres in Italy, and next to the 450nm Roma per Tutti (which SOL buddied earlier in the year), the Roma Giraglia Regata is its other headline offshore event. First raced in 2005, the 210nm course takes competitors from Traiano to a rock on the inside of the Ile de la Giraglia off the northern tip of Corsica and back to the Italian mainland for a finish in the bay of Santo Stefano. We’re racing this one in our Class 40!
Race #2058
INFO by brainaid.de
Class 40 PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: MED - SUPBUD - SYC
Race starts: Oct 08th 16:00 Registration Open!

▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Arctic Tern - Greenland to Antarctica 2025

Welcome to the fifth leg of our MIG series. Now it's time to race the Arctic Terns, on their migration from Greenland to Antarctica, 8300 NM. This is also part of our monthly Ocean Championship, and as such the first race of OCQ4 2026. This race will be sailed in our Maxi Trimaran. Race #2061
INFO by brainaid.de
Maxi Trimaran PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230 Ranking:
OCQ4 - OCCH - SYC - MIG
Race starts: Oct 05th 11:00 Registration Open!
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Cross the Convergence 2026 - Masirah to Chagos


Having crossed, re-crossed and re-re-crossed the Convergence Zones of the Pacific and the Atlantic, we now face our second crossing of the Convergence Zone of the World’s third great equator-spanning sea, the Indian Ocean, taking us from the channel between Masirah Island and the Oman mainland to the Chagos Archipelago. It’s 1900nm and we’ll be sailing our very fine Archer 78, and won’t mention that both locations (of departure and arrival) are heavily militarized and the why’s and what next’s concerning that – mindful as always of SOL Netiquette.
Race #1988
INFOby brainaid.de
Archer 78PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: CCZ - SYC
Race starts: Oct 02nd 18:00 Registration Closed
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Go to race archive

SYC Ranking

  1. Sailonline Yacht Club Member KaSToR
  2. Sailonline Yacht Club Member CriticalHippo
  3. Sailonline Yacht Club Member WRmirekd
  4. Sailonline Yacht Club Member rafa
  5. Sailonline Yacht Club Member Panpyc
  6. Sailonline Yacht Club Member rumskib
  7. Sailonline Yacht Club Member cdhinman
  8. Sailonline Yacht Club Member rthinman
  9. Sailonline Yacht Club Member BRENTGRAY
  10. Sailonline Yacht Club Member Sax747

View full list

Series

Mobile Client

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

The mobile client