Bulletin Board

Hi Omar,

I know this has been asked in a few other threads already but it's such an important question I think it deserves its own thread.

Will VRTool be updated to work with the latest edition of VORG?

I understand that collecting data directly from the game server can be very difficult. But, could you at least consider making an update that would make it possible to use VRTool for long term planning? I'll try to explain what I mean by that. I would like to be able to automatically download the right GRIB to VRTool (without it rounding the numbers) and have the new VO70 polars available. I wouldn't need the interpolated winds that are now used in VORG, the old wind grid would be just fine (but it would be nice with smaller wind squares, say 0,25 degrees ). This way it would be possible to use VRTool to make strategic decission on where to be in a few days time.

Everybody who wants Omar to update VRTool for VORG 11-12, rise your hand

And, thanks for the best free routing software in the world! I used it a million times in the last VORG.

You can set VRTool to download wind data directly from NOAA server,
at specified intervals and grid resolution. In the Grib import module set:

in the Config tab:
Probe resolution=0.25 / Transformations - select raw grib data

in the Download from NOAA tab:
Type in your time zone / Resolution = 12 / up to =72
Click the gray target buttons and point the wind rectangle in the chart (top/left and right/bottom)
Set the time of the first update (p.e. 6:00 here in Brazil) (use local time)
Set update Interval to 12
[x] Click Automatic Update - this will trigger update action twice a day

As for the V70 polars, I don't know where you can find it.
You may check VRToutoulz site (Ricoo's).

As for downloading data from VORG servers, it is not clear at this time.
Did anyone see the rules for that regatta? I searched their site with no success...

There does not seem to be any race rules or instructions available yet. There is a wiki, but at least for now, it does not include much useful information.

In the wiki they state that the polars will be published when the race starts.
http://wiki.volvooceanracegame.com/wiki ... l_boats.3F

There is a VOR wiki, but at least for now, it does not include that much useful information.
In the wiki they state that the polars will be published when the race starts.

http://wiki.volvooceanracegame.com/wiki ... l_boats.3F

Just remember that if your time is ahead of UTC (ie east longitude) the automatic download crashes whenever the local date is ahead of the forecast date (which for Australia/NZ is most of the day). If you live there you have to do manual downloads using Ugrib and then import into VRTool. Alternatively set your computer time to UTC.

I've just sent a feedback note to the VORG site asking them to clarify the downloading issue asap.
may be it helps if more people do the same

i'll let you know as soon as i got a response

Thanks for the instructions omar!

I got it almost working, but there are two things I can't figure out.

When I set the grid probe resolution to 0.25 I get the exact same winds as if I have the resolution as 1 (just chopped up into smaller wind squares). Is that how it should work? If it is I don't see the point in having a smaller resolution than 1.

The bigger problem is that I can't get VRTool to pick out the 0600 and 1800 forecasts if I have the time resolution set to 12 hours. It always picks the 0000 and 1200 winds. If I instead of raw grib data chose game windspeeds (in the config tab) I of course get the right forecast but with rounded number. If I want the right forecasts (0600 and 1800) I have to set the time resolution to 6 hours but then again I have the problem that the wind changes every 6 hours whereas I would like to keep them constant for 12 hours. How can I get VRTool to pick the right forecasts using raw grib data and keep those winds for the next 12 hours?

Thanks in advance!

I did not know about this Australian problem...
How come people can live so far away?

omar wrote:I did not know about this Australian problem...
How come people can live so far away?

Because we like it here! But its not just Australian - its a problem for everyone who is ahead of UTC - half the planet. Its worst for NZ because our date is ahead of the grib date for 16 hours a day.

BTW: I used VRTool for the VORG beta races. Using gribs with the probe resolution set to 0.5 deg the weather routing still gives an excellent solution, even though the game interpolates the wind over a finer grid.

mclean wrote:Because we like it here! Its worst for NZ ..

I figured that. I know a girl who leaves in NZ.. Good for her she is more into horses
than navigation. This time zone thing is maddening...