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Board » General Discussion » SOL - 3D Version

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Having recently rec'd an "invite" to the VOR Closed Beta version, I appreciate this thread. I was lucky enough to come upon SOL first, so I have no basis for comparison BUT it seems clear that I would be disappointed with any other sim.
I am still intrigued with LiveSailor (after reading several thoughtful blogs by Schakel) but I don't have the time to devote right now. I have enjoyed watching SOL evolve, even in the short time I have been involved. Vive la différence!!
Nobody seems to have picked up on the point that the entire Virtual Sailor is a free downloadable program that is entirely run in your own computer, but it does have internet connectability so that a small number of other players can cooperate. The only things that need to be communicated are the boat positions and the chat facility. It would not require even as much data interchange as SOL. To work, the program would need to be paid for at the start, but this is about the same as the SOL YC fee.
As it is now the VS program would be totally unworkable as a rival to SOL, or any other program, but---someone is going to do it, why not SOL?
If it breaks, it's not strong enough--if it doesn't, it's too heavy.
let me restate with an example.
PlayStation online gaming engine, namely the PSN, allows users to share the game environment. This is a completely dedicated environment with highly demanding QoS issues. The game runs on the individual consoles but data is exchanged over the net in order to synchronize the experience. Data overhead is not more than few kB/sec so bandwidth should not be considered as a limit. On the other hand a single glitch in the communication, even a higher delay in the route from the various clients, can disrupt the game completely.
So the issue is not where the simulation runs but how we can guarantee that synchronization is kept between all the players. IMHO the only technical opportunity we have now is a client-server scheme so, on our computers, what we can have is a client that mimics the calculations held on the server side.

In Italy we say that the world is nice because of its differences. So if you like fancy graphics and fewer boats you can stick to the reality of VSK, but if you like the strategy and weather planning against hundreds of boats then SOL is THE choice.
The issue I have with all free virtual sims is that they are PC only! It sucks in a severe way when Macs are being left out although they are increasing their market share at a blinding pace!

3D racing would also look unrealistic if boats are allowed to ghost through each other like in SOL. Collision detection would kill FPS immediately.

chksix

--- Last Edited by Pierre at 2011-05-18 08:36:41 ---
On Virtual Sailor, collisions result in violent changes of course, or you can set it so that the collided vessels sink
If it breaks, it's not strong enough--if it doesn't, it's too heavy.
WHOA.... back up a minute!! I wasn't aware of the Mac issue. Was planning to change from a Dell to Mac Air with my next upgrade (hopefully later this year) but I would rethink the timing if I can't SOL-along as I do now. I thought Macs could run anything PC runs... or is it the way the client is written? I don't know those finer details.

I may have to just keep the old PC as SOLo unit (God... I LOVE how many ways you can work SOL into the conversation :>)))
SOL is mac compatible since it runs in the web browser.

All 3D sailing sims are PC only however :(
I wish SOL was iPad compatible. I would buy one if it was, but the powers that be have ruled Flash off limits for iPads.

Wouldn't it be nice, though, to SOL on the go?
just a smooth transition to HTML5?

;)
Only reason I didn't buy an IPad was "no Flash = no SOL".
I told this to the sales person at the Apple store and she asked "Is SOL that important for you?"
and I repplied,
"Yes, it is"

Antonio (zero)

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