New cartography

[Ricoo]

Hi all,
I'm pleased to inform you that you can now import small pieces of the game new cartography into your favorite tool.
Just follow my signature.
Don't think of importing the whole globe using this tools, it was not designed for that. But you may find it very helpful when needing to sail very close to coasts.

For an example, here is the old Bali straight (so difficult to pass):


And here is the new one (looks easy, isn't it?):


Enjoy it and don't forget the guide.

[JensG]

Thank you thank you thank you Ricoo for this feature. So many times have I been hitting ground and a lot of times very close to finish, making it even more frustrating. I have testet it a little and it seems to work fine. You are my hero (and Omar offcourse ).

By the way: If I hit ground, is there a time penalty? I think I have read somthing about a 20 minutes penalty, meaning (I guess) that no matter which heading I choose when on ground, I will not get off in the next jump/update. I think that almost everytime I hit ground I do not get off ground by choosing other headings than the 180 degrees opposite direction. In the forums some write that you can easily get off by using other headings than 180 degrees away, by I have never succeded. (I have read the "Bali straight" thread so I know a little about the coastline logic, but i still have not succeded in getting away from land in just one jump.

[JensG]

Oops. I managed to sail straight through the red coast line on the northern tip of the Shetland Islands. Maybe it is not so exact as I was hoping for... My test boat is "Amphibian" so if you can import the full track then you will see. I have screenump but nowhere to upload it.

[Ricoo]

There are some cases where one can sail through or over terrain pixels. I suppose that the game engine calculates our positions more often than the famous 10 minutes steps to determine whether we're grounded or not. I don't know the durations of those "inner-steps". Let's suppose it is 30 seconds, if your speed is great enough to jump over a pixel within this 30 seconds, then, there is a possibility that you can pass over the pixel. But it's difficult to do and to predict, don't try to use this technique in a race, you could make things worst.

Unfortunately, I can't tell what happened by importing Amphibian's route because too few positions of the route are kept.

Concerning the 10 minutes penalty, it is true (until now) with no currents or if the currents are pushing you toward the coast. But I've experienced a case where the currents helped me to quit the land without having to wait those 10 extra minutes.

[JensG]

Ok thanks. I will try to keep away from the coast and avoid penalty issues in the future.