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 » Realism

I attach a number of images from a sailing program called VirtualSailor7 which is entirely contained within my own computer. It includes a chart of the land and the Aegean Sea, with tracks etc of other boats.May I suggest that this concept be explored for use in the SailonLine program, to add to the realism of the sailing program. While VS7 has limitations to 24 boats only and cannot be used for a many boat racing experience as extensive as SOL, it shows what can be done to make SOL a more versatile racing program.
If it breaks, it's not strong enough--if it doesn't, it's too heavy.
My attachments didn't attach--- but here now. Is there something that blocks attachments when you start a new thread?
If it breaks, it's not strong enough--if it doesn't, it's too heavy.
Attachments
Im not sure that is really the point of SOL (VSK has similar graphical POV), but I did recently have the idea of creating a 3D boat model and animating its sails etc (maybe even some waves?) based on current SOL data, and allowing user to pan and zoom etc, to provide a life like view of your boat in SOL.

Thing is nothing that you mention adds any realism in terms of the simulation - only graphically...
I help develop the client interface for the best online ocean racing sim there is... __/)/)_/)__
VS7 has vastly more versatility. I can fly like an aircraft, wander around among the buildings of the town of Rhodes or Piraeus, stand on the railing of a light house, submerge beneath the seas in a submarine, drop the sails and anchor in many different harbours, stand on the bridge of a freighter, examine my surroundings by radar, the depth with a depth sounder, take sun and star sights to calculate my position.... and race with 23 other sailboats over a course with mark boats and way points. The ports and the topography are a bit 'generic', but correspond largely with reality.
All of this is downloaded once, but I can alter all the waves and weather at will. (you want snow, thunder and lightning, rain, fog, sunshine? You got it)
The point is that it CAN be done, and the realism of sailboat racing can be extended well beyond just the calculation of navigational commands.
Because all of this is a downloaded program, it allows the server to update only the boat positions and all the weather and currents. This will greatly reduce server load, probably to about what it is now.
If it breaks, it's not strong enough--if it doesn't, it's too heavy.
but the steering wheel is drawed as a polygon only…

;) Bernd
True, but I can take it off auto-pilot and turn the wheel by the mouse pointer, as I can the main and jib sheet winches. I can adjust the sheet winches separately to change weather helm, and hold course entirely manually. I can partly lower the sails to 'reef' in heavy winds, I can sail wing-on-wing or raise the spinnacker. I can even have water over the deck or in the cockpit. And it addition, there is a chart of boat positions and tracks. It can be done, which is my main point, not using VS5, but extending SOL to the same capabilities.
If it breaks, it's not strong enough--if it doesn't, it's too heavy.
VS7 has vastly more versatility.
I want comparing the 2 programs other than the graphical 1st and 3rd person POVs...

This will greatly reduce server load, probably to about what it is now.

So what is server load being reduced from exactly if it will be reduced to current levels?

What you are proposing would have absolutely no effect on server load anyway, as it is all client side graphical detail. Which would likely detract from the routing/tactical nature of the game.

Anyway, it you can do all that in VS7 (why would you want to fly in a sailing game?) why do you also want it in SOL?

And how much did you pay for VS7?

Actually it is entirely possible to create a new client without any support from sailonline.org (all the data and commands are via public http), so go ahead and write one...
I help develop the client interface for the best online ocean racing sim there is... __/)/)_/)__
Ah musta kicked yo' daw'ig.
If it breaks, it's not strong enough--if it doesn't, it's too heavy.

Please login to post a reply.

Races

Next Race: 00d 00h 00m


Current Races:

Africa by Sea - Abidjan to Swakopmund


Our exploration of Africa by Sea continues. Next, it’s off to Swakopmund, on the water’s edge of the Kalahari desert. It’s a wind-blasted coast, and a venue of choice for those seeking to set wind-powered sailing records. More likely than not, we’ll have to beat into it in our Steinlager II, to find some shelter behind the walls of Platz am Meer where there is a marina of sorts. Only 2200nm!
Race #1856
INFOby brainaid.de
Steinlager II PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: SYC - ABC
Race starts: May 14th 17:00 Registration will open soon
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Newport to Annapolis 2025


The Newport to Annapolis race, first held in 1947, is one of the most historic and well-known US East Coast blue water races. Linking two seaports dating from the US nation's birth, Annapolis and Newport, the race contrasts the country's largest estuary, the Chesapeake Bay, and the Atlantic Ocean. Since 1969, the route has run from Annapolis through the Chesapeake Bay to Newport. The SOLers will sail 470nm in their Carkeek40s in the original direction from Newport to Annapolis, including the Chesapeake, which is such a daunting challenge that the 1997–98 Whitbread Round the World Race for the Volvo Trophy added it to the course, as did the Volvo Ocean Race in 2002 and 2006.
Race #1912
INFO from brainaid.de
Carkeek 40 PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0245 / 0845 / 1445 / 2045
Ranking:
ARQ2 - ARCH - SUPSOL – SYC
Race starts: May 12th 17:00 Registration Open!
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Channel Islands TIMED Chase 2025

Join us in Saint Peter Port, Guernsey for a race around the Channel Islands in the J-109, a recent addition to the Sailonline fleet. The course takes us around the islands of Alderney and Jersey finishing back in Saint Peter Port. 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 #1915
INFO by brainaid.de
J-109 PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking:
TRQ2 - TRCH - SUPSOL - SYC
RACE CLOSE: Saturday,
24 May at 23:00 UTC
Race starts: May 11th 12:00 Registration Closed
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Elephant Island to Marquesas 2025

Prepare to test your limits as we launch into the third leg of the RWW Series and the fifth leg of the 2025 Ocean Championship Series—an epic voyage from Elephant Island to the Marquesas in the heart of French Polynesia. This 4,700-nautical-mile challenge is a true test of endurance, strategy, and raw sailing adrenaline. Aboard the high-performance Volvo 70v4, competitors will face fierce headwinds as they round the legendary Cape Horn and make the thrilling transition from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Do you have what it takes to conquer the Pacific? Join us, and put your skills to the ultimate test.
PRIZE: SMPF
Race #1909
INFO by brainaid.de
VO70_v4 PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: OCQ2 - RWW - OCCH - SUPSOL - SYC
Race starts: May 05th 11:00 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 CLOSE: Thursday,
May 15 at 2300 UTC.
Race starts: Apr 20th 11:00 Registration Closed
▶ 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 CLOSE: Sunday,
May 18 at 2300 UTC.
Race starts: Apr 09th 11:00 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 CriticalHippo
  4. Sailonline Yacht Club Member KaSToR
  5. Sailonline Yacht Club Member FreyjaUSA
  6. Sailonline Yacht Club Member rafa
  7. Sailonline Yacht Club Member Kipper1258
  8. Sailonline Yacht Club Member vida
  9. Sailonline Yacht Club Member bonknhoot
  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