So standing at the pier at Tradewinds, this guy was splashing around in a Baby Sloop II. Yes, splashing around. It really looked as if he could need som help. I watched the "fight" for a while, and then I asked... knowing from experience that it takes a grown man to say yes... To my joy I was invited on board.
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| The Baby Sloop II |
The introduction went pretty smooth. I said "Hi, I'm Noodle". He answered "Hi, I'm Rich", and I swiftly responded "and I can cook". I don't think he got it - being so immersed in the sailing challenge and all, so I just smiled and started talking bout the boat.
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| The arrows are the sheets! |
Turns out my new friend knew sailing from way back sometime, but he wasn't really used to the virtual sailboats. It's usually rudder on the horizontal arrows, sheets on the vertical arrows and off you go. Unless you are in one of those silly "boats" that are really driven like cars. Now, there is a special challenge with virtual sailing and that is: You can't feel the wind! So where is it coming from?
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| Looking for clues |
There's really no indication of wind direction anywhere. Many boats come with their own wind system built right in, so there's no looking around for clues. The BWind engine usually starts with an easterly wind, and that's why Rich was having trouble at Tradewinds. He was pushed into the Marina, and there was quite a few boats there, so it was kinda hard to beat out from there.
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| That's more like it |
He is excused. Absolutely. The boat whispers the wind directions once when you sit down on it. From there on there's only a few few clues. The mast-top wind-vane does not indicate wind direction. It flaps a bit but nothing useful. Somehow Rich had managed to switch off the hud. It is ugly but it is very handy on a boat like this. In fact there was only one clue left... the sails... if they luff the sheets are too loose. Those reefing lines in the sail also works like telltales. It's a bit weird, so I can understand why it's overlooked.
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| Smooth sailing |
With the hud back on it was easy. It changes colours with the trim, so keep it in the green and the boat moves. I don't like the hud much. It's an unnatural solution to an unnatural problem: The unfelt wind. Besides, it's green text floating mid air. Talk about breaking the bubble. You can do without it, once you get the hang of it. Then it's a nice sailboat, and it does come with the BWind II engine, which is much more immersive than the version 1. Incidentaly, the recently freebied Ten comes with that same sail engine. Go get one and get out there...
In case you are interested, here's more on the
BWind sail engine, and here's more on the
Baby Sloop. Wanna see the latest BWind engine in action? Get the Ten from Manul. Scroll down to see it or
click here.
SL Sailing is fun, the sailing community is large, friendly, and has many types, just like real life sailing. There are many pretty boats in SL, some easier to sail than others. The Fizz is a superb boat, and comes closest, in my opinion to the race dinghy experience. It requires a bit of the real sailor, or a lot of trial and error to figure it out. But even this most excellent boat lacks in feel. There is little to no real indication of wind direction, and no real luffing on the sails. No tell-tales. If you want these on a computer sim, then check out Stentec's Sail Simulator 5 (free demo with a single-handed Laser) It even has wind generated waves. It has network play, but alas the community is much smaller than SL, so it is good if you tend toward a hermit's life but really dig realistic sail sims. If, however, you want to hang out with the sailors, and talk and have fun racing with a dynamic crowd. SL is hard to beat, especially the Fizz races!
ReplyDeleteActually the Fizz has working telltales and a windstrument showing the winddirection plus the sails luff. But that's just the Fizz. But you are right. We need more windicators, and I have been chasing the boatbuilders for years to make them add windvanes and stuff.
DeleteNoodles, the trouble is 1. the environment is limited in this area and the primitives do not easily support such cool features without a great amount of work, and then they are essentially comparable to the Fizz. Do you recall my attempt to create and script a reasonable actual wind driven flag? 2. The perceived benefit as seen by the ship/boat builders is too small for the effort. SL is a visual realm, and the really cool boats (regardless of the true sailing mechanics) are more popular. Creating a J-class classic sail boat that looks great generates more revenue than a correct sailing boat. God luck with your continued attempt to get boat builders to make correct sailing boats. I believe the Fizz is about the top of the line for what you will see in SL. Mind you it is an excellent boat! But if that does not scratch the itch, you've got true sailing blood running through those veins, and Stentec's solution may suit you better.
DeleteTrue. It's way too much work to make even a small thing look alive. It has to do with the nature of the windsystem. It doesn't make sense to put a full windsystem in each and every flag on the grid. I still have that flag and several new ones. So is Stentec the best sail simulator? There seem to be quite a few around besides Virtual Skipper...
DeleteI have Virtual Skipper. Lots of boats, good racing community. But like SL sailing it lacks some realism in the sailing aspect... in short, I found Virtual Skipper on par with the SL sailing. This actually says something about Mothgirl Dibou's statement of 2009 (With a little help and joined effort I am convinced we can make SL the best Sailing Simulator available.) as VIrtual Skipper is VERY popular, and considered a good sailing game. Stentec's system really shows the sailing aspect, actual sails that flap, and luff at various parts of the sail, actual tell-tales. Wind generated waves. Crew weight balancing. There is no cruising in Stentec's game, I'd love to have Stentec's realistic sail boats in a larger world and poke around a bit... call me a gunk-holer! They focus mostly on racing. The demo has a laser dinghy, and it is pretty accurate... (the local RL sailing club has lasers now, what a fun little boat!) Let's say, with their laser, it IS possible to sail by watching the sail. I mention this aspect of Stentec's simulator to you specifically because I think you would enjoy it. They do have some chat capability, but not the swarms of people that SL has. Like the Fizz, they boats can be largely automated, so that all you are doing is steering the boat. But turn off all the automations and you have a realistic boat, so you can choose the difficulty, and 'grow into' using the simulator. I have not tried many others. The Stentec demo is free. If you like it, purchase on the actual program is fairly cheap. (now I sound like and advert.) Happy sailing!
Delete--you know I can't figure out how to edit the response once I go to preview... perhaps I missed something... ask Bea what she thinks of Stentec's simulator, if you are hesitant.
DeleteNote: my copy of Virtual Skipper is an older copy (version 3) which is 10 years old. You may want to look at it again. The graphics that I am seeing are really cool. Back several years ago, Stentec beat out on individual boat details, the realism of the feel of sailing, especially the dynamic sail. Virtual Skipper had cool graphics, and good sailing inputs, but the sails were essentially flat, or stiff curves (what you see in SL) I think I'll take a look at the Virtual Skipper 7 demo, and see what has improved (aside from the graphics, which are amazing!) I am not seeing a lot of immersive sail simulators out there. Virtual Sailor is no longer supported (last update in 2005!) You said there were tons, what have you seen?
DeleteI better take a look at Stentec... I dunno the names of the sail simulators, but a few years ago I googled the subject and found at least a handfull... Then I got stuck in SL :-D
DeleteDid I tell you they do wind shadows in Stentec's Simulator? I was racing my son, and when he passed windward of me, my wind dropped off a bit. Also, I noticed when downwind of a small island in the demo course, the wind is weaker... better keep that in mind when choosing your course. Better watch the shallows too, there are strange currents there that interfere with the boat, and make sure to pull up the dagger board, lest you run aground. Grounding the boat will kill your speed very quickly. ;)
DeleteBTW: to edit you post that you are previewing, enter the magic number and press tab. Then the edit link appears to take you back to edit mode.
DeleteYou are aware that the Fizz / WWC combination has windshadow and windbend, currents that change with the depth plus the ability to make the wind less on the backside of a small island?
DeleteLinden Labs has released a beta version of the SL viewer that supports Oculus Rift Goggles. (VR headset for 3D gaming) I wonder how that works with the FIZZ/WWC.
DeleteThis morning I raced against 5 other sailors using Stentec's simulator: 1 from Austria, 1 form Australia, 1 from France, 1 from the Faroe Islands (Danish protectorate?), and my son. Both my son and I are from the US. Not much chatting in the group. A good race, while I only took 3rd, I got my best time on the course, so I was pleased.
DeleteOculus Rift in combination with a really good boat such as the Fizz would probably be interesting...
DeleteYes Jim. I "play" Stentec's Sail Simulator 5, the best simulator for me ever.
ReplyDeleteTwo different things with SL.