Volvo Ocean Race online game

[FrogMan]

If anyone is interested, an online sailing game mimicking the Volvo Ocean Race was started last week. Once signed up, you simply steer your boat based on the winds where you are you let it sail. Wind are updated twice a day and your boat will react accordingly, sailing in real time. There are legs to the race

The race is a big worldwide event and the game will simply follow the pattern. The last leg is set to end around the end of June 2009.

Anyway, join up over at this link


You can simply uncheck the "I'm an employee of Volvo" or whatever it is as I doubt it's necessary to be for you to play.

There's a simple, yet helpful guide on how to play at this link. I know nothing about sailing, but I learned how to steer my boat by reading it.

My boat is called "FrogManiac" and you can search it with the magnifier, then add me to your friends list. I've also created a group simply called "FOFCentral" (needed five character) and can invite you to join it.
Simply post your boat name here or contact me ingame and I will send you an invite.

FM

[FrogMan]

dola, first hint for anybody who joins, the first leg ends at Cape Town, but you need to go around the waypoint buoy at Ilha de Fernando de Noronha. Anyway, follow the orange dotted line, zoom in to just off the coast of Brasil and you should be able to see the buoy there.

Post in here if you signed up

FM

[Northwood_DK]

For some reason i cannot locate your boat. Mine is called Northwood_dk

[lordscarlet]

I get this message:

Since you are registering on the Corporate version of the Volvo Ocean Race Game you need to have a Volvo Group or Volvo Cars Personal Employee Code. If you do not have such a code you can read the instructions below to obtain one.

[lordscarlet]

Ah.

You have to go to Volvo Ocean Race Game if you're not an employee.

Registered. Boat name: The District Star

[FrogMan]

looks like it's tracking the employee and non employee game separately... Just created one on the non-employee game. New boat is FrogManiac.

FM

[lordscarlet]

I shall see if my strategy works...

[terpkristin]

Oooh I'll have to check this out.
I wonder if it's coming to the Inner Harbor again, I had a blast out there photographing the boats.

/tk

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

I shall see if my strategy works...

you have a strategy?

Had to create a new group since it wouldn't allow me to use the same name as the one I had created in the other game. Anyway, group's name is "FOF Central" and I've sent invites to the two that have posted their boat's names.

FM

[chesapeake]

Boat Name: Northern Neck

I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing.

[chesapeake]

I see a tiny little black speck along that slotted line heading from Spain to Capetown. I assume I have to travel west of that?

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by chesapeake

I see a tiny little black speck along that slotted line heading from Spain to Capetown. I assume I have to travel west of that?

the orange dotted line that goes from Spain to Cape Town seems to take a strange wide turn toward Brasil. If you zoom in to where the two orange dotted line seem very close to one another, just east of the coast of Brasil, you will see a little buoy. You have to pass west of that buoy for your leg (the trip from Spain to Cape Town) to be valid.

FM

[FrogMan]

dola, and yes, I think the little black speck, when you are all zoomed out, is the buoy.

FM

[PackerFanatic]

Boat Name: The AndyMan

FM, your new boat is JUST north of me!

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by PackerFanatic

Boat Name: The AndyMan

FM, your new boat is JUST north of me!

yeah, anybody signing up now should be put in just about the same vicinity.

I'll send you an invite over lunch.

FM

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

you have a strategy?

You and Northwood seem to be headed "straight" to the buoy. I'm trying to move with the wind a little bit.

Having said that, none of us seems to have moved at all in the past 12 hours?!

[lordscarlet]

dola: nevermind, it updated my screen or something.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

You and Northwood seem to be headed "straight" to the buoy. I'm trying to move with the wind a little bit.

nah, I'm not gunning straight for it really, also trying to play the winds. We shall see...

FM

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

nah, I'm not gunning straight for it really, also trying to play the winds. We shall see...

FM

I'm afraid of playing the close winds and losing out on the long distance. We'll see how it goes. I have substantially adjusted my plan over the last 20 minutes or so.

[RendeR]

Nightbringer has entered the fray

bright orange sails with grey stripes

[RendeR]

where are you guys? I can't find any of you.

[chesapeake]

I'm practically right on top of you. You may not have hit the button on the right side that allows you to see your friends. Or you may not have added us as friends.

[RendeR]

ok I've got you all on my charts except froggy, It can't locate your boat dude.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by RendeR

Nightbringer has entered the fray

bright orange sails with grey stripes

do a search for some of the boat names and it should point you to us...

FM

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by RendeR

ok I've got you all on my charts except froggy, It can't locate your boat dude.

forget La Petite Grenouille, it's Frogmaniac now...

FM

[FrogMan]

I'm just West of you btw, just added you as a friend

FM

[RendeR]

gotcha =)

[PackerFanatic]

Yeah there is quite the cluster of us right on top of each other.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by PackerFanatic

Yeah there is quite the cluster of us right on top of each other.

NSFW maybe?

[lordscarlet]

Yeah, you don't move much per day.

It's kind of annoying that new people start farther ahead -- although it is clear that I suck compared to the rest of you FrogManiac and Northwood started at roughly the same time as me.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

It's kind of annoying that new people start farther ahead -- although it is clear that I suck compared to the rest of you FrogManiac and Northwood started at roughly the same time as me.

I don't think it's too bad. Remember that if they got started ahead of us, it means we are in the bottom 20%

While Render's Nightbringer is indeed the first of us five, Northern Neck is following him closely behind, even your boat is picking up the slack. I remember that this afternoon, I had some 30km of lead over you and it's now gone down to 17km. Bound to go up though, as I see the big red stop sign over your both, indication you have stopped...

Regarding where we have started as latecomer, I found this post in their forums interesting:
Volvo Ocean Race Game

So, it's my understanding that everyone will start every leg at the same time. Leg 1 will definitely not be one that will count for me...

FM

[lordscarlet]

Stupid wind change.

[FrogMan]

if you guys end up liking this one race, www.virtualregatta.com, the engine behind it, will be starting a virtual Vendée Globe one when the real life one starts on November 9.

I have signed up for it over on the Virtual Regatta website and will probably start a new thread when we get closer to Nov. 9.

From the wiki page, the last Vendée Globe was won in 87 days so it's a "shorter" race of about three months, with gates you have to go through or something like that, but no legs per se.

FM

[lordscarlet]

I'm afraid this is too reliant on buying stuff to do well, and I don't know if I care enough to do that or not.

[PackerFanatic]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

I'm afraid this is too reliant on buying stuff to do well, and I don't know if I care enough to do that or not.

That's kind of what I thought too. I certainly won't dump money into this.

But it looks like we have separated a little bit

[chesapeake]

We seem to have two strategies to reach the buoy off of the coast of Brazil. PF and I put on our code zero sails and headed more or less straight towards it; everyone else put on the light spinnaker and went more WSW. My thinking was that the 20% difference in speed is made up for by the reduced distance. Do those that went more west feel that they will be able to make up the distance when we hit stronger winds?

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by chesapeake

We seem to have two strategies to reach the buoy off of the coast of Brazil. PF and I put on our code zero sails and headed more or less straight towards it; everyone else put on the light spinnaker and went more WSW. My thinking was that the 20% difference in speed is made up for by the reduced distance. Do those that went more west feel that they will be able to make up the distance when we hit stronger winds?

To be honest, I have no clue how it'll work out.

I'm still experimenting with the whole thing and that first leg will definitely be a training run that hopefully will give me some insight as to if going for the strong winds and higher speeds will be more beneficial than going the straight line. We shall see.

As for the worry that you have to pay to do well, I'm not so sure of that. I mean, we have the whole set of tools unlocked in the Volvo employee game and they are mostly auto-pilot aids, stuff that you can set to follow wind, like lock your sails at a certain angle and it will adjust with the wind. This can be good but can also derail you and make you go way off course if you rely on it too much. The one thing that might be needed is the "repair sail" one, but I don't know how often breakdowns will happen.

FM

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

To be honest, I have no clue how it'll work out.

I'm still experimenting with the whole thing and that first leg will definitely be a training run that hopefully will give me some insight as to if going for the strong winds and higher speeds will be more beneficial than going the straight line. We shall see.

+1

[chesapeake]

I think I see what you were looking at now. There is a corridor of stronger winds a little farther west. You made a line toward them. I missed out on that by turing farther south last night.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by chesapeake

I think I see what you were looking at now. There is a corridor of stronger winds a little farther west. You made a line toward them. I missed out on that by turing farther south last night.

yeah, sorta (meaning I'm not so sure it was that clearcut in my mind)

The thing I kinda like with the game is that there are tons of routes you can take with such a wide map to play with. I mean, you start from Spain, have to end in South Africa, but have to go round a buoy that's just off the coast of Brasil. That's quite a bit of ground to cover, and that's only the first leg...

FM

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by chesapeake

I think I see what you were looking at now. There is a corridor of stronger winds a little farther west. You made a line toward them. I missed out on that by turing farther south last night.

That was my general plan. I'm now going almost twice as fast as I was last night.

[FrogMan]

Castlerock is the newest FOFCers to join the race.

Boats known so far:
Frogmaniac (FrogMan)
Northwood_dk (Northwood_DK)
The District Star (lordscarlet)
Northern Neck (chesapeake)
The AndyMan (PackerFanatic)
Nightbringer (RendeR)
_castlerock_ (Castlerock)

FM

[FrogMan]

Not too sure if many of you are still sailing in this, well, other than chesapeake, whom I see online right now...

Anyway, leg 1 will come to a close on the 12th, when all boats will be teleported to Cape Town to be there for when leg 2 will start on the 15th. If you don't make it to the finish before the 12th, you will be scored a DNF. As it was said before, your final score will be your 6 best legs out of 9, so dropping this one will be a no brainer...

Also, the virtual Vendée Globe race is set to start tomorrow morning, 7am eastern, but if you sign up before the start, your boat will start on som autopilot until you first sign on. That race is an around the world thing with no stops and it should last until February or so, something like 90 days or about.

Let me know if anybody signs up for that one...

FM

[lordscarlet]

I completely forgot.

[RendeR]

I'm still adjusting my boat but god knows if I'mm manage to make it to capetown or not. Can't want for the next leg so I can actually pay closer attention.

[FrogMan]

RendeR, don't worry about it, you won't make it in time

I say that cause I would have to do days that are about 1.5 times better than my best day since I started if I wanted to make it on time, and I'm the one furthest ahead. Leg 1 was definitely a test run.

FM

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

I completely forgot.

seeing how much distance I was putting between your and my boat, I figured as well

As I said before, I'm also competing in the Volvo employee version of this game and the group of 5-6 colleagues who keep talking about it at every coffee and lunch breaks does remind me to check my boats every once in a while.

FM

[RendeR]

Yeah I figured I was sucking badly =)

[Northwood_DK]

1 day and 5 hrs left to race. Looks like i will be comming up a few hours short.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Northwood_DK

1 day and 5 hrs left to race. Looks like i will be comming up a few hours short.

a few hours?

I'm about 1750 km from Cape Town and best I've done since the start is 680 km in a 24 hour period, with most days being in the 400-500 km range, so I'll probably be a couple days short. Anyway, as we said, leg 1 was mostly a practice run.

Leg 2 will start on Saturday at 7am eastern time.

FM