Nemo sailing

The Nemo keeps getting better and better. There were a few things I missed in Nemo2, but with the Nemo3, currently in beta, the list is much shorter. It is becoming a really nice boat. I won't do a detailed test. The boat is in beta, and preferences are often a matter of taste. This is just what I experienced during a short sail.

The Nemo 3

A few days back I mentioned the Nemo sailed half submerged, and it did. This time the servers were fresh and the Tradewinds waters were too. So no diving. The Nemo3 sails nicely, reacts promptly and the feedback is pretty good. First thing to notice is sailshaped sails. Woohoo. And they luff too. I like that. It creates just the right feeling of a tack.

Upwind

There are no telltales or windvane, but there is a colour coded trim indicator, which also - visually - displays boom angle, wind angle and speed. The "tell-button" works well, and it's great with mouselook sailing as shown below. What I don't get is, why they didn't put in a compass.

Trim in green, windangle is blue, boom is red, speed is black

Really! Any boat seriously meant for racing must have a compass. The Nemo3 needs a compass even more, since the wind is actually imported real world wind. There is no way to predict the shifts, but since they are real shifts from the real world, it makes sooo much sense to have a compass and track them.

Downwind

It's pretty stable on the rudder. Upwind or downwind, there's very little need of course corrections, except those due to windshifts. The balancing is automagic, so nobody is yelling "hike harder". You are simply put in the best possible hiking position. That's too bad. The hiking should really be up to the skipper, but the animations sure look good.

Hike harder

Besides the luffing sails and the accompanying sound, there is also a sailing sound. It's nice, but it doesn't seem to give much feedback on the speed. Now, that can be fixed, I am sure. Now that we're in fix-mode let's have some waves too. It sails like a train on rails. No ups and downs or sideway rolls. At all. While we're at it, it seems there is no concept of current either.

Going for a picnic

It's also a little too slow reacting on the rudder and gusts for my taste. I miss more livelyness. Perhaps it is because it is a keeler. I dunno. The livelyness can probably be tuned a bit. One really nice thing though, is the winddrift and the steering. At low speeds the steering becomes slower, and drifting backwards the rudder still works as expected on a real boat, in reverse. That's a nice touch.

Going south looking for that picnic island

The Nemo3 is definately on the right track. It sails well, and it looks great, and it has many lovely details.  Did you notice the bent mast? Still, it appears to me as a boat meant for picnics and day cruises. Nothing wrong with that, but why not add a few features and have a really great racing boat?

Here's a few shots of the Nemo2.

Sailing the Nemo

I finally got to testing the Nemo2, but alas, - I was too late. Seconds after the Nemo2 was rezzed and ready, a message arrived announcing a new version; There was also a box containing the brand new demo Nemo, the Nemo3 beta. So, - these shots are probably the last ones I'll ever take of the Nemo2.

Flyby

Since the Nemo3 has a few major improvements over the Nemo2, it doesn't make much sense to go into boatly details. It sails nicely, but I didn't find the sailing to be exceptionally better or less laggy than other quality  boats available. That was rather disappointing. The Nemo is being touted as a low lag boat with all new technology inside. However, the wind system is interesting. I am sure most SL sailors are aware of this.

Views from the Nemo2

Non SL sailors might find it interesting to know, that the Nemo imports actual wind data from the real world.  Many virtual sailors have dreamt this dream, myself included. The Nemo makes this dream come true on a per boat basis, and that's next to fantastic.

Yes, the planes are still there

However, all Nemos see the excact same wind where ever they are. Luffs, lulls, lifts, shifts... all boats see them simultaneously; Thus endeth the dream. Also, the Nemo has no current and no waves. The Nemo wind system is indeed interesting, but the question  remains unanswered: Is real wind or synthesized wind best suited for virtual sailing?

More on virtual sailing in What's in a virtual boat and New fanatics start here.