release 1.98b - VORG 11

[omar]

VRTool 1.98b - released 19-nov-2011

*** Status: VORG 2011 basic compatibility (experimental version)

*** Installation

1- If doing a new installation, download from
http://www.tecepe.com.br/nav/vrtool/setupVRTool.exe
Save and run (as administrator).
if you already have 1.97 installed, skip to step 2)

2- Download and save file:
http://www.tecepe.com.br/nav/vrtool/vrtool.zip

extract files vrtool.exe and polaresVORG2011-leg1-classic.xml
to \program files\vrtool\
overwrite existing vrtool.exe

polaresVORG2011-leg1-classic.xml is a simplified version
of VORG 2011 polars, suitable for Weather Routing with vrtool.

*** Import boat data from VORG 11

The "Import from Firefox" module was adapted to read
VORG 2011 boat data files.
Use settings as shown below in the Firefox module.



check [x]Auto import to start periodic updates.

Boat data is read from the plugin-me files, which are
first downloaded 10 min after game reload. So wait

Winds may be obtained from NOAA (using the grib
import module) or from VRTouToulz (pointing and pressing F2).
Forecasts used are 6:00Z and 18:00Z (same as VR).

If using NOAA files, select [x]Game Winds (600 and 1800)
set your time zone, resolution=12, up to =72, Grib probe resolution=1.0, interval=12
Set local time of first update. Click Download now! to test
Check [x]Auto update to start periodic downloads.

*** Wind Interpolation

For a while I've been working on a generic data structure to do interpolation
between discrete values of wind speed/direction. I call this WindCube.

VORG 2011 uses interpolation in position dimensions (lat/lon)
( i.e. the winds change constantly with position ).

To emulate this in vrtool you have to activate the WindCube.

The WindCube is a 3 dimensional grid ( lat x lon x time )



Intermediate values are found by interpolation using different methods.
The figure below illustrates these interpolation types.



For Virtual Regatta games we have interpolation in time=previous and
interpolation in position=nearest. For this you can leave the
WindCube deactivated (software default)

For VORG 2011 you must set interpolation in time=previous and
interpolation in position=bilinear ( with [x]WindCube activated)
See below (note the red circles):



The real world, of course, uses none of these methods, but if you set
interpolation in time=quadratic and interpolation in position=bicubic
you will have a smooth and constantly changing winds (more like the real thing).

**** Personal winds
Since winds change continualy, the border between rectangles makes
little sense. Instead you can now plot the wind in the boat position.
Each boat can have its own wind arrow (check [x]show wind property for each track)



Other configs:

Set boat name and [x]friends update:


Set your time zone (positive for W, negative for E)

[Teamsatisfaction]

Forgive me... I'm new to the tool. I followed the download instructions for release 1.98a - VORG 11, but I cannot get the "import data from firefox" to find two files in the cashe to import. I have closed both and waited several 10 min cycles each. Can you help?

Thanks!

Mike

[omar]

..I cannot get the "import data from firefox"

This is the tricky part. vrtool reads boat data from datafiles
the browser saves in your computer.

Firefox normally uses folder
C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\AppData\Local\Temp\
The actual location depends on your language, Windows version
etc, so use windows explorer to check it out.

There is a tutorial at http://www.tecepe.com.br/nav/vrtool/off ... ialFCI.htm
also there are some posts in this forum.

Also important: recent firefox versions behave differently in this department.
Version 3.6 saves the cache to the described location
With version 4+ (including 5,6,7...) the files are saved only if you activate
a FF plug-in called httpFox (a handy browser tool ).

I'm afraid it is not supposed to be easy. good luck...

[omar]

forgot this:
*** waypoints

if you have waypoints set in the game, a track is added to the desktop
with the selected waypoints. Actually 2 tracks are added.
WPR_VolvoBeta contains the original points.
WPT_VolvoBeta contains extra sail action points
( wind changes) and track times.

[AUS DF]

Hi Omar,

Got everything working ok and fixed my 1 hr updates only issue, great work.

Question: It seems my self and some others can only get the top 10 to show not our friends we have selected. Have we missed something or the current version can not do?

Many thanks

Al

[Stef]

Thanks for your efforts Omar. Ive got things running, but having a few issues now.
I can't see my winds anymore. I'm getting a "range check error".

Furthermore i'm i little confused about the time settings in different views. I'm using Amsterdam, where the VOR wind changes at 7:00 and 19:00.

I could not find answers on your Forum. Can you help me out?

Btw. It's good that we have your tool to use for the VOR. It makes the race more exiting.

[205jackstraw]

Omar, great tool. I used it for the last VORG and it was a true lifsaver. I have been struggling to get it to work for me for this game since I saw that you made it work for this version. Thanks for your efforts. Now here is my problem:
I simply can't get it to work. i even downgraded to firefox 3.5, but I can't get it to link the game data to VRtool. I have found the cache location, but it appears that VORG/firefox does not create the plugin-ServiceCaller-*.php file or plugin-me* or any file with a similar name (i have searched and tried several possible cache locations.
I am using the path below
C:\Documents and Settings\carlos\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\re36geg3.default and have tried several other variations.
I have viewd the tutorial, the instruction etc.
Any thoughts? The thought of of sailing around the world without VRtool is too much to bear!

[omar]

..can only get the top 10 to show not our friends we have selected...

You are right. Friends are not imported yet, only the top ten.

more tips:
If you have two or more boats and switch between them, your vrtool track
may mix points from the two boats. Remember to switch back to the main boat ASAP.
The plugin-me file does not include the boatname. The value of the boat field
(VOR tab) is used instead.
Update only starts 10 minutes after the game page load.

[omar]

Updated vrtool.zip with version 1.98b

Changes:
Fixed error when loading NOAA winds (Message "Invalid params")
Added option to import NOAA winds w/o rounding (for VORG 11)
Import friends ( last version imported only the top 10)
Expanded time limit in the weather routing module (from 156h to 240h)

Installation: Download and save vrtool.zip. Terminate vrtool.
Extract vrtool.exe to program folder. Restart.
(must have 1.97 or latter installed)

[Froos]

sweet works like a charm!

sorry omar but do you think you could get the "following" boats trackable as well? My boats is currently 24000th ish since I had a late start and not many top boats are accepting my friendship....