Virtual Skipper

[primarius]

1. This is a great part of the forum, but without priorities, how does UBIsoft now then turn that into a list they can attack? Is there an actual POLL that could be created on the top 25 changes? Then over time they could do quarterly updates so the game is more relevant and up to date.

Ok, I'll start (in order of priority):
1. RRS 2009-2012

2. Attach course construction and real life navigation to Google Earth and NOAA Charts.

3. Revise radar to include 'ladder rungs' in relation to TWA and better distance detection/indication.

3. Need more boats: 505, J24, 22, 120 or in general make it easier to create boats, but have a creation Czar for final approval.

Comment on the mixed fleet...you would have to establish a rating system (of which there are many). How would you finish a fleet that has a WAlly 120 and an OPTI?

Does anyone get the feeling that this game is getting stale? It needs one of these ideas implemented...Soon!

[najevi]

For the many ideas posted in this thread as well as at http://www.virtualskipper-lejeu.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3718 I think the prioritized list of greatest interest is that from the Nadeo team now within Ubisoft. A list of these ideas sorted from least effort to most effort would identify the low hanging fruit.

My hunch is that there is a reasonably good harvest of low hanging fruit but that maybe this type of coding is not perceived to be as rewarding as developing new code for new features that take advantage of multiple cores in contemporary microprocessors and/or very high speed data access in static RAM based "harddrives" not to mention new DirectX10 features.

[Aquabat]

So I came across at tip to change the pufflull file the other day ..and what a nice change it is .. very very useful. Checkout Camsters Northspace site, PLEASE NOTE this is not a reflection at all on Camster, if anyone thinks this is then please note that I am using this mod too.

however thinking about this a bit more ... is this a form of cheating, I think that there is a good case that it might be. What other little mods are there that I have no knowledge of that puts my opponents at an advantage...

I am all for changing readout colours, sail visability etc etc but should there be a limit on what files can be changed.

I think there should be some checking of file checksums to protect some changes to some of the critical files.

Any thoughts ?

Rob
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Rob

[najevi]

Forums like this one and hopefully the wiki work toward leveling the playing field of any unfair advantage that may have existed in the past. An "unfair" advantage is only unfair for so long as you don't know about it!
Once you know about it ... well, after that it's just common sense, right?

The ones that come to mind in short order:

1. Autohotkey. See http://vsk.wikia.com/wiki/AutoHotkey

2. The graduated radar view is a beauty for timing your approach to the start line. See also: http://vsk.wikia.com/wiki/Pre-start#Calibrate_radar_grid_units


3. You are free to customize your compass scale however way you wish. (I can think in terms of 10 degree steps but not the bizarre fractions that come as default.) Having said that I do like to be able to easily recognize the 8 basic points of the compass at one glance (Note the red markings below). See also: http://vsk.wikia.com/wiki/Layline#Manually_computing_the_layline



4. Modify your GUI buttons to add color that warns you when
(i) your trim is manual versus automatic or
(ii) sheeted versus un-sheeted.


5. A lag-reducing tip is to turn off downloads and uploads after you've cached several hundred MB of custom skins. See also: http://vsk.wikia.com/wiki/Cache
Sure some other boats may appear bland but your connection won't be taxed by down/up loads of aesthetically pleasing custom skins.


6. I primarily play on a quite dated laptop (Dell C840) with the P4M microprocessor so any and every simplification I can make to the graphics rendering helps my frame rates which typically range from 10 to 18 FPS. There are too many of those to list here so review the screen shots at http://vsk.wikia.com/wiki/Getting_started_with_VSK5#Configure for a reminder. ... basically less is more!


7. Now you might argue that playing the game on a high end computer with powerful graphics card is an advantage. The way I see it you do everything you can within the bounds of what the designer gave you to work with and what you can afford.

If there are other tips that players choose not to share then that is just plain bad sportsmanship and you don't want to be a part of that in any case.
_________________
it's better to spin and fin' than to fit and quit!

[Aquabat]

[Very Crankie Yankee]

Very Crankie Yankee

password - f39mts

[najevi]

VCY, the transparent opponents mod works fine. Translucent blue sails but ugly gold/yellow hulls, spars and standing rigging. If you are patient then you can figure out how to enable just the custom/nadeo hull to be displayed but not the custom/nadeo sail. If you don't have the custom skin in your cache then it will be the ugly yellow and blue no matter what.


Aquabat, I should have used the words "common knowledge" rater than "common sense" - I may have been tired or rushed when I posted.

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.

re. the pufflull file - do you sail wearing cheap tinted sunglasses, no sunglasses or polarized sunglasses - I reckon the visibility of rippled water surface is part an parcel of the experience. You know the wind strength changes you see that on the guages. So why not look around and ask around for hints on where the next one is coming from? Oh someone tells you about the pufflull file and you have a major "ah-hah" moment. - just like wearing those polaroids for the first time.


The point I was intending to make earlier is that you learn about things like the pufflull file and the half dozen items listed for you by reading these public forums and the wiki. And by chatting in game. (I realize that some hosts don't like too much chatter ... and that's OK too.) It doesn't take much effort to learn about these things. If you learned how to install a custom skin or change the color of your boat name then you can learn how to install a pufflull file or a transparent opponents skin file.

On the other hand, if a player chooses not to read the publicly available information then it is no different than choosing not to discuss how you raced after (or during) a real regatta. i.e. like not going to the chandlery or not going to the club bar, or not learning about your monitor's contrast settings, or the mouse right-click, and so on and so forth.

The level playing field is created by posting the information and chatting about it openly. If you think you have uncovered a hidden secret then do your part to level the playing field and announce it, advertise it, promote it.

I remember Scotty patiently explaining the layline calculation for me. When the penny finally dropped that was a major "ah-hah" moment for me. I must have passed the same lesson along to a couple of dozen skippers since and who knows how many others have read the articles at the wiki. After a while I can't help but think of it as "common knowledge" and i am sure that those who've been in the community much longer than me have forgotten more than half the "ah-hah" moments that they experienced early on.


That is what I mean by saying that once you know about something it is Common sense. (Maybe the words I should have used are "common knowledge" so allow me to set that straight now.) If you aren't chatting and sharing among the community then you are missing out on half the fun.

vsk.wikia.com is just such a place and unlike a forum you can collaborate on a document such that he combined product is better than any individual might achieve on their own. (I am disappointed that more contributors have not yet surfaced there but then I do appreciate that this is a much smaller gaming community than I have been exposed to before so maybe the consumer:contributor ratios are about the same.)

You can't force people to read the publicly posted information just as you can't force them to read the manual or complete the tutorials.

As for being unable to install a file, I am afraid that excuse is about as lame as the "lag" excuse for close tacking off the lee bow and colliding masts with a ROW boat.

When I join a server hosting a boat I haven't raced much before I'll usually ask how she points and tacks. Some boats sail better under manual sail trim and some boats you can slam the rudder over while others you need to coax gently through a tack for minimum drag. When asking about such things if I am answered with silence then that calibrates me as to the type of player currently in the game. I wouldn't call them cheats so much as bad sports.

If I am aware a of a shoal area of water or a bad current then I will announce it to another boat about to enter there. ... unless they have been behaving like jackass !
_________________
it's better to spin and fin' than to fit and quit!

[Aquabat]

Hi Najevi,

Still not sure that you have convinced me ...lets take it a bit further ...

What someone has figured out at way to show the current / stream on the race map much in the same way that you can see the current / stream on the editor ... or if someone has found out to display the wind shadow on the race map too ...Even if this was published information I am not sure that I would want it to be used by anyone ... I would think that it takes away from the game rather than add to it.

I take your point about wearing glasses etc when talking about the pufflull file...but I still tend to think as the pufflull file as a core part of the game .. created by the author .. and not really intended to be changed .. as its part of the simulation ...

Rob
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Rob

[Aquabat]

I cannot seem to get to the VSK wiki ?? is there a problem ?

Rob
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Rob

[najevi]

Aquabat, I may be completely mistaken about this but I had assumed that that the pufflull file only amplified/enhanced already visible (albeit subtle) tell-tale signs of wind ripple and absence thereof on the surface of the water.

Just the fact that the original texture file exists in the first place made me assume this to be the case. Now I have played this game on a PC with high-end graphics and I have appreciated the crystal clear waters and absolutely stunning graphics detail but... as I said before I usually play on a relatively old laptop and therefore, what may be subtle textures on a high-end PC are simply non-existent on a low end machine such as this laptop.

Oddly enough the reverse can sometimes be true! I've sometimes noticed that although aesthetically ugly a hazard stands out for me but on a high end PC it is very easy to be distracted by various eye-candy!

Now in that specific example a user could decide to only ever play on a high-end PC or to stick with a trusty companion and amplify the texture to compensate.


The depth of water is another good example. On high-end PC's i swear I could make out shells on the sea floor - well maybe not but it was surely easier to see those protruding sand bars than wit the graphics available on most laptop systems.

I don't think that anyone who plays on a low end machine thinks of a user of a high-end machine as cheating. they may feel a degree of envy or jealousy but that is a different matter altogether.



Some players might enjoy a small edge by playing on dual monitor systems. I can certainly imagine Autohotkey being useful in the Radar zoom in/out and keeping track of radar scale on a constantly visible second screen. My response to learning of such methods is to go and publish how you can do something very close to the same thing with just one monitor. Again - leveling the playing field.



As far as stream/current is concerned. We all know that the designer of a track knows exactly where the streams change direction are. The manual tells us about the relationship tide has on steam - why else do you suppose tere is a virtual time clock in the UI. We have also read that some skippers will study the track to be used in a competition and keep notes about relative wind shifts at different locations on the map - most noticeably near land but sometimes in unexpected places. (I have fond memories of being caught up in Lazy's whirlpool map a few times before finally figuring out t he best way to negotiate that particular hazard.)

So do those of us who race on another player's map think of the creator of the map as a cheater simply because they are obviously more intimate with that map. I don't think so ... but that is just one person's opinion. You might get varying opinions depending upon who you ask. We can agree to disagree if tat is what it takes.


Ten of course there is that string of data about a course. have ever wondered what that all meant? I've seen the track editor open under a 32AC game and I remember that parameters such as periodicity and shift angles are able to be specified by the track designer. So when I see a track preview that shares such information I think to myself- this designer is being fair by sharing that otherwise secret data up front. They can't force skippers to use the data but they can publish it for all to see.


I mean even the manual as brief as it is does describe these subtle details so it makes sense to me that the designer is leaving these bread crumbs for those tenacious enough to do some sleuthing and figure out how it might be put to advantage.

The simple fact remains that information is "out there" to be had if you are polite/patient/persistent/sociable enough to go and research it. That is the extent to which a level playing field exists. Venues like the wiki are opensource/opendoor and indeed, open-invitation opportunities for collaboration in order to not only share such data but to perhaps innovate beyond what the community currently knows. (I reckon there are still great things to be "invented" with AutoHotkey for example.)


Now having said all that. It is a game and it's primary purpose is entertainment. If a skipper's pride won't let them persevere and finish a race simply because their boat isn't listed in the top 8 after the second mark then so be it. I just think that people who take the win/loss aspect too seriously are missing the point. I suppose that as you get better at the game an tapping keys just right or recognizing 80% of the tracks you sail on then you naturally look for increasingly competitive opportunities.


I may never host races regularly but I've often thought about what rules I'd lay down if I did.I keep coming back to the no-holds-barred idea and if that means having players sail with some secret sauce advantage then i hope that I can graciously welcome them to my server and perhaps even over time learn a trick or two from them.

I'd prefer if those tricks were volunteered via articles or blogs at the wiki so that other like minded individuals can expand upon one another's ideas but that particular venue is still young and is primarily going to appeal to fresh blood and not long in the tooth players.

BTW, it's OK for you to stick wit your convictions and not allow yourself to be persuaded to my way of thinking... just as I hope you find it "sociable" for me to ramble on as I tend to do.

Cheers!
_________________
it's better to spin and fin' than to fit and quit!

[Aquabat]

[najevi]

http://vsk.wikia.com/wiki/Upwind_leg#Observe_the_water_surface

Only a paragraph and then a link to Northspace. You'll find many so-called "stub" articles like that one. When getting a wiki started I like to aim for broad and shallow so as to leave places for the wider community to focus on depth in specific areas of interest. (Like boat models and skins and other downloads ... and mods!) People will stop calling it "your" wiki when they start contributing to it themselves. When it is referred to as just "the" wiki then you know it has become accepted.

Well we've derailed Kiwi Bardy's thread enough don't you think?
_________________
it's better to spin and fin' than to fit and quit!

[najevi]

[Riben Sesia]

Just two things on new patch (that day will come):
1 - It has to be possible watching under the Boom (Acc)
2- Nadeo skins - needs to be slower ...say 10% - of customized skins

Second one seems suspicious...still I think improve people to buy the game...Maybe the customized ones need to be registered or saved somehow ina unique register.

[kiwi_bardy]

Multiple (Inside & Outside) gybe annimations for Gennakers.

I would like gennakers to have two different gybe animations... outside gybe where the clew goes around the front/outside of the tack/luff and inside gybes where the clew goes inside the tack/luff and have it automatically swap between the two at a nominated crossover point between light and medium winds... this could be a configurable variable in the model xml perhaps.