eSail Sailing Simulator News

This new update includes:

• Changed multiplayer challenges so that you can jump to the start if you are within 5 nautical miles distance. This means that if you set up a user/boat in each of the main sailing areas you can now very quickly get to any challenge.
  
• Now users can publish challenges. To do so please contact support to request 'Content Creator' status. A limited number of these will be allowed short term.
  
• Fixes to improve winch handling and avoid issues when using keys during sailing and mooring
  
• Extra debugging to diagnose occasional UI lock ups. (In case of a UI lock up please exit eSail and send us the log files).
  
• Improvements to VHF chat to avoid accidentally typing (while holding a steering key down for instance).
  
• Changes to autosave so it is all kept locally. Although Live Sailing saves are kept on local machines, the autosave positions were being shared using Steam Cloud save. This was causing some issues for users with multiple machines.
  
• Added confirm email field.
  
• Fix to stop anchor attaching to terrain during a collision.
  

Thank you to everyone who provided their feedback on the beta!

This update has a number of small enhancements including improvements to multiplayer races.

• There is now a 15 minute timeout when you are in a race. This means if you pause or go to the menus for longer than this time you will be removed from the race and the multiplayer 'world'. You may still be able to re-enter but only by going to the main multiplayer Challenges menu. This change is to stop users accidentally blocking others from entering.
  
• We expect to be able to allow more users into races now, so hopefully re-entering a race after a timeout should not be a problem in most cases.
  
• Settings/Enable Controller is now OFF by default. This will only affect new users.
  
• Fixed an issue where using key controls 1-4 could cause a lock up when crew moving between winches.
  
• Fixed missing characters on the navigation lights panel. (Turkish).
  
• Added missing speech files in MOB Power.
  
• Added Local Time option to challenges screen.
  
• Enabled eSail to work when there is no internet connection (as was the case in V1).
  
• Fixed Settings issues when pausing.
  
• Improved sail shapes of other players' boats.
  

Thank you to everyone who helped with reporting and fixing these bugs!

eSail V2 represents over a year's development work and introduces a whole new virtual sailing experience. Here is a full list of major new features:

Multiplayer. Now users can interact with each other in multiplayer Live Sailing. As before you are subject to the ever changing Shearwater weather, but now you can 'VHF' chat to other eSailors and take part in races against other boats. VHF chat is similar to real VHF in that it is possible to talk over other radio users, so you need to follow some protocols (which are explained in the simulator).

New languages added by our amazing community translators - Turkish, Spanish, Portuguese, Greek, Italian, Dutch (existing languages are English, French, Russian and German). All languages are subject to constant update and improvement, so please contact us if have feedback or can add anything.

Live Sailing Courses. Here you can create your own courses including race courses and passages. Once you have a course you can set up private races by simply sending friends or other boats an access code.

Multiplayer races. Join in with regular eSail multiplayer races. These will be added depending on demand so just let us know the best times and we will do our best to create challenges for you!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBiIxNUtQd0


eSail Server. You can now get information about the status of the Shearwater world including the weather/forecast and the location of other boats, race results etc. by going straight to our server web page: https://esail-server-ui.herokuapp.com/

Asymmetric spinnaker. This sail is great for everything from a beam reach to running downwind. The 'asy' is deployed in a snuffer, and when released tends to lift the bow giving higher boat speeds (in the right wind). Using the asymmetric you can exceed hull speed and plane. See the Advanced Tutorial for details on how to deploy and handle the sail.

Sandbox. This is a fantastic way of getting the best from your eSail boat. You can set wind direction & strength and wave height, then adjust your sails to match. If you note down the best trim this can give a real advantage when racing!

New Settings options:

Detailed sky giving more realistic atmospheric effects such as 'god rays'.

Prop walk so you can set how the propeller affects how the stern is kicked sideways in reverse. This is really useful when practising mooring.

Physics priority. This helps tune eSail to match the capabilities of your machine.

Multiplayer mode, including the option to set time to +12 hours (so you don't have to sail in the dark!)

New music and option to turn music off.

Other enhancements include:

Better boat detailing, including new textures on the sail bag and hull.

Deck and cabin lights making night sailing easier.

Better modelling of heel, so it is actually possible to broach or capsize under extreme conditions.

F11 to toggle user interface on and off.

eSail version 2 has been extensively Beta tested, but it is just the start of the V2 development roadmap, so please report any issues experienced. We will fix these as quickly as possible in future updates as well as adding more exciting new features!

2.1.001
Fixed alert where after showing the racing rules the text was squashed on a subsequent alert.
Fixed problem with Advanced Tutorials not showing when Man Overboard is not installed.
Changed multiplayer so that all players are in the 2 main multiplayer modes/worlds, including players in challenges. This is subject change - in times of high demand challenges may be moved to separate worlds.

This new Live Sailing multiplayer race will be running every Saturday in eSail V2 from 10th July until the end of August. The first one is at 14.00 UTC.

We are currently giving points for all races completed by users which can be seen on the global leaderboard here: eSail server

To participate navigate a boat to the Shearwater Bay area. Note: you can easily add boats and sail them to different areas so you are ready for challenges.

Inside eSail go to Live Sailing Challenges.

Get practising now - we will soon be offering prizes!

NOTES:

You will need to register for multiplayer by editing your main (first) user inside eSail.

Further races will be organised depending on demand. To request a race for a specific date/time just get in touch on the Steam 'Multiplayer challenges' discussion.