Zezo forum:

Post by zezo | 2012-01-14 | 15:38:58

I've added two sets of numbers in the lower left corner of the screen. First row is heading/distance from boat to cursor, second is the same data from cursor to the current destination.

I don't entirely like the way it looks, so ideas for improvement are welcome. I can also add a checkbox to the menu to enable/disable it.

14 Comments

Post by Lolla | 2012-01-14 | 17:10:00

This is great. Can you do the same with wind interpolation?

Post by zezo | 2012-01-14 | 17:22:09

I could do that, but you already have the data in the game, and javascript is not the fastest language for handling large amounts of data.

But what do you think about wind barbs to show the direction at the black dots? It should help visualize the interpolation patterns. In fact I had such feature in the very beginning when there was not global wind display. The only problem with it is that the display can become too cluttered.

Post by Lolla | 2012-01-14 | 18:15:11

Yeah, that would work too.
Btw, how can you tell which NOAA GFS model run is active?

Post by zezo | 2012-01-14 | 18:26:17

Right in this moment there are two models in use at the same time. I start updating at 16 UTC and then 16:15, 16:40 and 16:45. Which update pulls 2 - 3 days of data, so by 16:45 it's the new GFS. Then the images are rendered and the display is updated at 17:00.

The idea is that you can start at the earliest possible moment when planning a track up to 3 days long, but should better wait 15 or 30 minutes more to get the entire picture of a 5/7-day forecast. But it won't be easy to describe in a simple way - something like "GFS06 + GFS12 up to +114"

You can generally rely on this 99% of the time.

Post by pgfiore | 2012-01-14 | 20:29:24

In this moment SS draws a course like the two legs of a triangle 59.6 nm
Seems strange that if I put the cursor on a black dot at the end of the second leg the distance showns in the left corner is exactly the same... the base of a triangle should be shorter, isn't it?

Post by zezo | 2012-01-14 | 20:44:40

Black dots display straight line distances. Should always match the ruler. In fact I've thought about removing that data from the popups because it's redundant.

Post by PatH | 2012-01-14 | 20:29:30

Timings are UTC?

Post by zezo | 2012-01-14 | 20:46:34

Times above - yes. I have CET timestamps in the interface for historical reasons, but I guess everyone is used to that now. Ideally you should be able to change your time zone.

Post by natto | 2012-01-14 | 21:40:08

Great addition Cvetan. Thank you!

Post by dennyzen | 2012-01-15 | 19:41:00

Two suggestions: for the display. If you would move the data points for cursor to the destination into the lower right hand corner (leaving the data points for cursor to the starting point in the lower left hand corner), one can get the data one needs in just a glance--no squinting through my bifocals. It kind of represents the left to right (west to east) progress on the map.

The second is a new feature, perhaps too hard, but hopefully not too cluttered for its value. If it also drew a line from starting point to cursor (at a minimum), I could line up a general direction, rather an "average" or "summary" heading over several black dots. This is my "poor man's" waypoint. I have used MB ruler for this on occasion, but I eyeball it at other times. It gives me an idea how long I can be away overnight or when on the road (without internet) without sacrificing too much.

Post by zezo | 2012-01-15 | 20:04:11

I like the idea. And maybe also relocating the numbers one above other.

The line ... I'm planning to play with the HTML5 graphics capabilities. Those could be used for other things too - better wind display and a feature that should be available in the game, but is not - some kind of smart ruler, showing actual progress at fixed heading/twa using the wind data.

Post by Lolla | 2012-01-16 | 12:41:17

Further to your reply to my post above Cvetan, perhaps it might be possible to display an indicator in one of the corners. H06, H18, H30... and so on?

Post by Paula | 2012-01-17 | 18:20:40

I also use these numbers as a guide to locate my boat as it is sometimes difficult to find when my Zezo screen opens in maximum zoom level. The only feature I like about the game interface is being able to click the boat and the screen immediately focuses on it's current location irrespective of zoom level.