Virtual Skipper

[kiwi_bardy]

Independent Chat Window

I'd like the chat window and the game window to be two separate portions of the user interface, one of which was active and the other of which was not. You activate a portion by clicking in it, and deactivate it by clicking in the other, or by using keys to switch between the two.

That way you could start typing something, click back into the game to react to a shift or to tack to avoid someone, then click back into your chat panel and keep typing where you were up to before, complete your message and send it.

Or you could pre-type a message (like "room to tack", say) click back into the game window and keep sailing, then if needed, click back into the chat window, press send and click straight back into the game window.

Autohotkeys helps with things you want to say that you say often... like 'Starboard,' and 'room to tack', and 'I have an overlap' etc., however, if you don't have two areas that you can simply click between then if you just want to chat to shoot the breeze, or mock someone, or a tell a joke or whatever, then when you are doing that it's bloody annoying when a shift comes and the only option you have is to hit enter to get out of the chat and send what you have typed even if you wanted to change it...

Whereas if they did the click to activate the game panel and leave the chat as it was thing, you could click, adjust your boat, and then go back and edit your chat before sending it.

[najevi]

Have you noticed that Esc will also return you to the race controls mode? (However, it does not cause your partial message to be sent.)

So with the chat window left as part of the UI as it is today, suppose that pressing Esc returns you to the race (and most importantly the boat controls) mode but also preserves like a bookmark whatever you have typed into the Chat input buffer.

A subsequent press of the Enter key could then return your input cursor to the chat window so you can continue typing (or editing) your interrupted message.

We know that the contents of that chat input box can be saved (this often happens by accident if the host starts a new race while you are typing a message) so it should be possible for the game's UI designer to figure out how the Esc key (pressed while in chat mode) can trigger that same bookmark-style "feature".

[admiral]

You can alos use a game controler or a joystick, you can chat and control at the same time, just make sure to map all needed functions for control (also) to the game controler / joystick

[kiwi_bardy]

Chat Box Filter/Ignore Function

A lot of people argue in the chat box during races. Sure people should be free to discuss things, but there are times when it spiral's out of control, get's ugly, and annoys people.

I would like it if the menu had a 'chat box' option which just needs to display the people in the race like the [Esc] menu currently does - in fact it could be achieved by just modifying the [Esc] menu screen... by adding a check box next to each skipper's name with the check box column headed 'Ignore'.

This would work like the ignore function in most chat programs - any messages from skippers who had their ignore box checked would not be displayed.

[najevi]

If a skipper you have muted in this way protests or responds to a pen cancel request (possibly from you) .. would that message also remain hidden in the chat window?

[kiwi_bardy]

LOL, there would NEVER be a pen cancel request from me...

But seriously 'chat' messages that players submit by typing in the chat window could (it would seem to me) be relatively easily identified/flagged as a different class of message to game management messages like penalty cancel requests, clock shift notifications, rule infraction notices etc., aznd thus handled differently (i.e. the muting/ignoring could only apply to chat messages, and not game management notices).

[sabana]

I love the trash talk. To see someone boiling over is hilarious. I mean, how can anyone get angry over a computer game. And it is a game isn't it?

But verbal abuse is not witty or clever so leave it out if you've got the brain of a gnat.

[kiwi_bardy]

Tracks - alternate sorting capability

When you make or save courses that you like (by clicking 'save race') or install course packs etc., the tracks get filed in one place. You can change that place, but each track is still only in one place. You could I suppose save multiple copies of the same track and put it in multiple places... but you'd end up with mulitple versions of the same file, and if you edited the track you'd need to remember to update all of the versions you'd made and saved to different folders... meh.

So... what's the problem?

Well, I have a whole heap of tracks... some of them came from track pack installers, e.g. VSK-AUS Admiral's Cup 2008, or the Swan 45 Worlds course pack. Some others are under Downloaded and then filed by course creator...

What I'd like to be able to do is sort all of my tracks by different attributes

e.g.

1. by Location - so all my San Francisco courses, all my Rio de Janerio courses, all my Sydney courses etc. showed in 'folders/categories' by location.

then, by clicking another icon...

2. by Boat Class - so all my ACC, Swan45, TP52, Farr 40, VX40, Tornado, Maxi Tri courses all displayed in 'folders/categories' by boat type.

then, by clicking on another icon...

3. by Author - so all my courses were sorted by course designer, like they are currently in the Downloaded folder.

And so on... other ways of sorting the courses might be:

a. by date created/saved
b. by date last used
c. by wind strength (F3, F4, F5, F6, F7)
d. by weather conditions (Cloudy, Sunny, Stormy etc.)
e. by tide conditions (Ebb, Low,Flood, High)
f. by number of spawn points (this would be really handy)

Why? Sometimes when putting a host up I want to put, say - Farr40v2 courses up... I have a Farr40v2 folder, and a couple of folders under Downloaded - Neill and Arione, which I know have Farr40v2 courses in them, but I have Farr40v2 courses saved under other authors (and other places) too which I forget about. Sometimes I want to put some light winds races up, or some night races or some Vancouver races... and I have to remember where they all are.

It would be really nice if in the courses selection screen there was a better interface to let me filter the view of the courses I have in my tracks folder in multiple different ways to make finding the courses I want to use for the server I am creating much easier.

[Riquet78]

Hi All,

It would be interesting to have a multi-player mode that enable several player to control the same boat at different time. This would permit race of several hours, days, ... around the world.

Additional, it would be interesting to get on the play area the actual real wind (strength, direction, ...).

This would allow people to create race like "La Solitaire du Figaro" or other race of that kind.

Regards

[kiwi_bardy]

[sailerboynflyer]

it would be nice if we could have the whistles blowing for the start. The same way it is irl, 3 blasts for 3 min, 2 for 2, 1 for 1, 3 for 30 seconds, 2 for 20, 1 for 10, and 1 each for 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1

[andynz]

[Very Crankie Yankee]

Very Crankie Yankee

password - f39mts

[kiwi_bardy]

[Aquabat]

I just wish that there enough players to fund all these additions

it's rather like the chicken and the egg

Rob
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Rob