Post by iconPost by Muikku | 2017-08-06 | 22:33:16

I have noticed today in the Fastnet race that there is a difference in the fleet winds. My wind and zezo router map are the same for the same location. On the VR map the wind display is the same (or very close). My competitors have a knot more wind when I check their heading and speed. Who was the correct wind? Why would the game have misleading displays?

commenticon 4 Comments
Post by iconPost by zezo | 2017-08-07 | 17:58:17
There are few possible sources of differences between the game engine, game interface and the router:

Maybe someone could clarify some of those points, but from my point of view:

1) It's not clear at what point in time the wind is shown in the interface - last iteration or next iteration.

Wind for other boats probably comes from the last iteration. Now it looks like the wind for your own boat also is shown for the past - that would reduce the complaints about other boats having better wind, but in reality would be wrong for planning your next heading.

Also, it's not clear what wind the game uses when moving the boat - is it the exact iteration time (like :01 or :09 minutes) or the 10-minute rounded period.

All of this gives 3 possible points in time for the game engine and at least 4 points for the interface.

2) The interface (probably) uses some mix of the old and new future forecasts during the first hour or two of the update cycle. The router uses only the fresh GFS.

All of the above does not matter much in stable winds, but in shifting (both in time and space ) conditions, or radically different new GFS output the differences may become significant.

If I knew how exactly the game engine is supposed to work I could fix the router to use the same data, but I'm not entirely sure even if the engine and game UI use the same data.

In theory all this could be reverse engineered by observing and comparing the boat behavior, but that task is complicated by the encryption used by the game protocol.
Post by iconPost by GeGaX | 2017-08-07 | 18:01:27
The information from my competitors seems inconsistent, why?

When you view a competitor's information from the game, other players' information is not updated at the same time as yours, you are "prioritized"

The information of the other players is given to you with a "delay" of about 10 minutes, so do not panic if you see inconsistencies, there is no bug.

It is therefore normal that some competitors in front of you, sometimes have a greater distance to the finish than yours, or wind or speed information that may seem abnormal.
Post by iconPost by Muikku | 2017-08-07 | 20:22:24
Thanks for you input! Much more to the point than the VR forums.

The delayed info for competitors seems to be a valid explenation. Running in to slowing winds, the info 10 minutes ago is of a stronger wind. The competitrs speed and wind are thus better than mine in the current location.

This make comparing performance a pain.

Back to the race, thanks!
Post by iconPost by Muikku | 2017-08-09 | 00:05:21
I noticed this in the game help:

Other users ranking information is updated with a delay of 10 minutes on your interface. Keep this in mind.

and also this:

Your opponent's information is displayed on your screen with a +/- 10 min. latency, that's why you may encounter some inconsistency when observing them (rank,course/speed/wind).

http://www.virtualregatta.com/en/faq.php#r20

This is then probably true for all other info also.
border
Topics list
Posts
border
5
border
border
Copyright 2009 by ZEZO.ORG. All Rights Reserved.