Different Wind Direction in OW

[sacapus]

It think it will be great to setup OW as "Time Zone", when you sailed out from port with a North Wind Direction and head for open sea, until you reach the 2nd time zone with a East wind direction, then heading further out at sea would take you to a third time zone that have a South Wind direction.

 

Each time zone with its own wind mechanism system, this will speed up travel time in OW, not to have to fight with wind all the time...

[Reorx Redbeard]

I'd rather have a more random wind shift system so that the wind does not constantly switch clockwise. Eg. If you time your departure from let's say Christiansted right, you can have tailwind all the way to La Mona. But with a random Windows system you could get head wind or No wind at all half way intolerance your Journey and there for making the game more realistic

[KuroNyra]

I'd rather have a more random wind shift system so that the wind does not constantly switch clockwise. Eg. If you time your departure from let's say Christiansted right, you can have tailwind all the way to La Mona. But with a random Windows system you could get head wind or No wind at all half way intolerance your Journey and there for making the game more realistic

Carefull not to confuse Realistic with Fun. A game that is more frustating than fun won't attract people.

[Galileus]

Carefull not to confuse Realistic with Fun. A game that is more frustating than fun won't attract people.

 

Exactly this. Wind is as it is to make it easier to plan ahead and make sure players are never stuck with bad wind for too long. OW travel is time-consuming as it is, making it any more bothersome might be a bad idea.

[ObiQuiet]

It could be both random and predictable. It could be both random and prevailing...

How?

1. Give each compass point a probability to match the prevailing wind over the whole OW. (assumption: wind that varies by location is much harded to implement than globally-consistent wind).

2. Randomly pick the wind's new direction based on the probability compass. Randomly pick veering or backing based on a distribution between the two.

3. Mark that new location on the in-game compass for everyone to see.

4. Gradually, over a long period like we have now, the wind will move to it's new point. Long enough that we can still plan voyages with some confidence.

5. Repeat.

Fine-tuning:

Choose a variable rate for the wind shift -- not too varied, just enough to make it seem faster and slower from time to time.

Choose a variable wind strength within a narrow enough band.

Just enough to make it a force that matters and that you have to be constantly conscious of in the game -- that would increase immersion.

[sacapus]

The earth wind and sea courant are an extremely complicated dynamic to replicate and code in the game;

 

Interactive Wind Stream:

http://earth.nullschool.net/​

 

Oceanic Currents:

https://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/sage/oceanography/lesson3/images/ocean_currents2.jpg

 

I thought that "time zone" wind direction change might be a good compromise and more realistic than the actual model, that way if you have to sail north, you can head East or West until you reach the next zone if the wind direction is not beneficial for a North heading when leaving port.

A 5 minutes Eastern/Western heading might save players valuable time instead of sailing against the wind or waiting at port for the wind to turn again in the right direction.

 

What is the actual setting for a 360 degrees wind cycle in OW, 1 hour ? 

Edited April 3, 2016 by sacapus