Re: Sailors o the Sky

[Alistair Wright]

"Kristoffer Raun" > wrote in message
...
> Hi Alistair
>
> I have bought this wonderful simulator, and i've got
> many good and usefull replies from Jesus Saiz de Ayala
> (the programmer)
>
> The game is not full of bugs, it has many cool features,
> addons and so on.
>
> You can contact Saiz at
>
> Be aware that there is also a usefull forum where you
> can get ALL of your questions answered.
> It's located here:
> http://www.tvwebradio.com/sailorsofthesky/category-view.asp
>
> If this don't work - contact me please

Right. Well let's deal with your reply in detail. I have emailed Jesus,
Frank, and the UK contact whose name escapes me at the moment. I have
emailed
them twice each with the questions about 'padlock' etc. So far not a single
reply. I have managed to forget my password and again three attempts at
getting SotS to send me a reminder have been ignored. This means that I
cannot ask a question on the forum. The support I am getting is pretty well
non-existant. Maybe you can tell me where I am going wrong here. I did
once get a couple of emails from Frank Heimstra but neither answered my
questions and he too has gone silent.

A tree floated past me 50ft off the ground on a ridge recently. I think that
qualifies as a bug. About half the clouds which abound on some tasks do not
have any lift under them but do have heavy sink. This is NONSENSE as sink
must have lift nearby. A bug I fear.

The forum does not contain any answer to the 'padlock' question. In fact
the forum is a real waste of time as it does not answer such FAQ as how to
put new planes into the sim. The SotS site is currently in a state of
uproar as the 'downloads' are not working. Another little bug perhaps?

You may well be a satisfied customer. I am not. I think this is probably a
very good sim but with support at its current level it is a disaster for a
'newbie' which many of us are. I could not recommend it to a friend in its
present state. Micrsoft and SFS do much better in this area though their
sims are less accurate.

If you can explain any of this please email me off list. Especially if you
know what 'padlock' is useful for!

Alistair Wright

mailto;

[Paul]

>About half the clouds which abound on some tasks do not
> have any lift under them but do have heavy sink. This is NONSENSE as sink
> must have lift nearby. A bug I fear.

Your kidding!!!!!
The cheek of those bugs!!
You have never struck clouds with sink under them?
Lucky you.

[Liam Finley]

"Alistair Wright" > wrote in message >...
> About half the clouds which abound on some tasks do not
> have any lift under them but do have heavy sink. This is NONSENSE as sink
> must have lift nearby. A bug I fear.

I've often noticed this same bug- not while playing on the computer
but while flying for real. I've emailed God to complain but I've
received no reply.

[Paul]

> You need to pop for the upgrade: Reality 2.0
> I'm not sure how much longer he'll be supporting the old version.

Software or hardware?

[Alistair Wright]

"Paul" > wrote in message
...
>
> >About half the clouds which abound on some tasks do not
> > have any lift under them but do have heavy sink. This is NONSENSE as
sink
> > must have lift nearby. A bug I fear.
>
> Your kidding!!!!!
> The cheek of those bugs!!
> You have never struck clouds with sink under them?
> Lucky you.
>
I taught meteorology to glider pilots when I was an instructor. I agree
that there are clouds with only sink under them, but they are NOT BIG FLUFFY
ones! SotS has a poor rendition of 'sinky' clouds, therefore this is a bug.
Also just to be pedantic, a cloud which is dying does not have the same
strength of downdraft as one which is still active. Just as well, or we'd
all be pressed on to the ground!

If you want to find a really good bug try this: Load the Wales-2 scenery.
Take off on a task and climb to say 6000 ft (slightly unlikely in Wales, but
let that pass) and set off towards a mountain. You will find that you have
not enough height to clear this mountain. Now I live in Scotland and I know
that we have Britain's highest mountain -- Ben Nevis 4406 ft. I know I've
been on top of it often and there is no Welsh hill bigger than
Snowdon --4085
ft and I've been there too. Lovely view if it isn't raining, which is
usually is.

Why not spend your time and effort explaining 'padlock' to me, rather than
making the kind of unhelpful comments above.

Good flying (especially in Wales)

Alistair Wright
Silver C 4759

[Kristoffer Raun]

Hi Again

I just won't to specify this for you here as well :-)

At 22:48 13 August 2004, Alistair Wright wrote:
>
>'Paul' wrote in message
...
>>
>> >About half the clouds which abound on some tasks do
>>>not
>> > have any lift under them but do have heavy sink.
>>> This is NONSENSE as
>sink
>> > must have lift nearby. A bug I fear.
>>

There is lift somewhere. But do you normally stay in
sink for to long and look for the lift? No you head
for the next cloud. In let me say, 80 % of the clouds
there is lift somewhere. Some just 0.01 meters and
some 4 meters (or sometimes -2 meters - i'm sure we
have all tried this :-) )- just like the real world!


>> Your kidding!!!!!
>> The cheek of those bugs!!
>> You have never struck clouds with sink under them?
>> Lucky you.
>>
>I taught meteorology to glider pilots when I was an
>instructor. I agree
>that there are clouds with only sink under them, but
>they are NOT BIG FLUFFY
>ones!

In the upcoming patch this will not be the case i quess.
But by the way - i've tried to fly under clouds (big
fluffy clouds as you mentioned) and have not been able
to find anything.
Then i look in the bible (not the real one, but the
Reichmann bible) and this really explains it. In SotS
- just as in the real world some of the thermals don't
have ground contact and prehabs it's only the last
400 meters from cloudbase that gives lift.


SotS has a poor rendition of 'sinky' clouds, therefore
this is a bug.
>Also just to be pedantic, a cloud which is dying does
>not have the same strength of downdraft as one which
is still active. Just as well, or we'd all be pressed
on to the ground!

I don't know anything about the excact state of the
air. But hank you for the input - just remember that
this is a simulator. I think the mathematics is pretty
advanced.
The computerpower to calculate all this would be out
of target on a normal PC.
Saiz is doing his best to keep up with all of the good
ideas. I will pass your input over to him!

>If you want to find a really good bug try this: Load
>the Wales-2 scenery.
>Take off on a task and climb to say 6000 ft (slightly
>unlikely in Wales, but
>let that pass) and set off towards a mountain. You
>will find that you have
>not enough height to clear this mountain. Now I live
>in Scotland and I know
>that we have Britain's highest mountain -- Ben Nevis
>4406 ft. I know I've
>been on top of it often and there is no Welsh hill
>bigger than
>Snowdon --4085
>ft and I've been there too. Lovely view if it isn't
>raining, which is
>usually is.
Again this is not Saiz fault. This is a FREE landscape.
Take it for what it is. Chris Vincent did a nice job
on it and i'm sure he wants your inputs. Just mail
him. Send me an email to get his.

Best Regards
Kristoffer Raun
Gold C -DK214
Altitude Diamond
Goal Dimond - and now up for the Distance (will have
it next year! :-)

>
>Why not spend your time and effort explaining 'padlock'
>to me, rather than
>making the kind of unhelpful comments above.


>Good flying (especially in Wales)
>
>Alistair Wright
>Silver C 4759
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

[Kristoffer Raun]

Try to send it again - last time it didn't work...

Hi Alistair

Thank you for you time and patience.
First of all I must say that i'm not getting payed
for this and has no economical interest in this game.
(formal done - let's go to the interesting part!)

Please remember that it's summer now an except for
the bad weather (in Denmark at least) people are normally
away from their PC for sometimes a few weeks or so.
I quess in Franks case, you've got his old email adress
(he is not involved in it financial as well). I can't
speak for Saiz but has passed you inquires to him.

the answer to your question regarding padlock is easily
found in the manual found at http://145.94.92.174/docs/

or here as html in a zipped file:
http://145.94.92.174/Files/Sailorsdocs.zip

Use the find option on you computer with the word 'padlock'
and you will get the result that padlock is a way to
lock the view to certain things in the sim, such as
other planes (moving) and Waypoints.
look here for some info
http://www.tvwebradio.com/sailorsofthesky/thread-view.asp?threadid
=168

>Right. Well let's deal with your reply in detail.
>I have emailed >Jesus, Frank, and the UK contact whose
>name escapes me at >the moment. I have emailed them
>twice each with the >questions about 'padlock' etc.
> So far not a single reply. I >have managed to forget
>my password and again three >attempts at
>getting SotS to send me a reminder have been ignored.
> This >means that I cannot ask a question on the forum.
>


Please give me your username and I will make sure you
will have it ASAP. (a free service from me :-) )


The support I am getting is pretty well
>non-existant. Maybe you can tell me where I am going
>wrong here. I did
>once get a couple of emails from Frank Heimstra but
>neither answered my
>questions and he too has gone silent.

I know Frank very well, and he has not gone silent.
Remember he does this as a hobby and is not paied.
Remember to be excact in your questions, then you will
have excact answers.

>
>A tree floated past me 50ft off the ground on a ridge
>recently. I think that
>qualifies as a bug.

I know that bug, and have reported it to Saiz. From
what I know, this will be corrected in the newest patch
which will be out soon!

About half the clouds which abound on some tasks do
not
>have any lift under them but do have heavy sink. This
>is NONSENSE as sink
>must have lift nearby. A bug I fear.


The new version of SotS looks really nice including
clouds that will grow and dissapere. I'm not allowed
to post any screenshots but i can only say that it
looks great!

>The forum does not contain any answer to the 'padlock'
>question. In fact >the forum is a real waste of time
>as it does not answer such FAQ as how to put new planes
into the sim. The SotS site is currently in a state
of uproar as the 'downloads' are not working. Another
little bug perhaps?

No sir. Your are totally incorrect. The SotS forum
is the best forum around. Take a look at SFSpc forum.
This is in german and a lot of the times, you won't
get an answer unless you speak/write german.
The plane installation is really easy. Each plane has
been zipped and you just need to specify the Sots-directory
and your are of for a fly. Remember to use the newest
patch and search on the forum.
The search function on the SotS forum does not require
that you are a user.
take a look here:
http://www.tvwebradio.com/sailorsofthesky/search/query.asp
Also notice the Date Limit in the buttom. This is set
to 30 days as a standard. Try to search for padlock
and set it to 'do not limit by date'
Regarding the another little bug. I now that the server
where SotS is hosted on has gone dead. This server
was 'outside' the hands of Saiz (The hostserver had
a multiple near dead experience and this is what happens
from time to time)

>You may well be a satisfied customer. I am not. I
>think this is probably a very good sim but with support
at its current level it is a disaster for a 'newbie'
which many of us are. I could not recommend it to
a friend in its present state. Micrsoft and SFS do
much better in this area though their sims are less
accurate.

Sorry to say it - but again you are incorrect.
For Microsoft i can only say. Big Corporation with
focus on another form of flying (which is not gliding)

SFSpc lacks in the nonexcisting multiplayer capabilities.
It lacks in the fact that you cannot make landscapes
and new planes (both with and without engines) easily!

SFSpc has NO service whatsoever so your statement is
untrue.

(and to you comment with the Wales scenery. Wales scenery
is a free landscapes designed by Chris Vincent who
did this for FREE! He was not paied. Take a look at
SFSpc. Only 1 landscape (and then you can buy a landscape
of the border of Switzerland, France and Italie)
All the landscapes is free in SotS, and if you want
to make it more accurate it's very easy. Just contact
Chris for the files (i'm sure he will help you) get
a hand of some GTOPO height definition data and you
will have a much more accurate landscape!)

>If you can explain any of this please email me off
>list. Especially if you
>know what 'padlock' is useful for!

I have chosen to write here in case of any satisfied
SotS customers who's around and can back me up. SotS
deserves that!

Best Regards
Kristoffer Raun

[Alistair Wright]

"Kristoffer Raun" > wrote in message
...

Hi Kristoffer,

First off, thanks for the trouble you have taken replying to my comments. At
least a few of the SotS supporters are prepared to answer questions and not
just make smart remarks. I will follow up your leads on padlock etc and I
hope that the new patches cure the problems I have outlined, which are from
a beginner's perspective.

I never said this was a bad sim. What I did say is that it is a poorly
supported sim, and because of that a lot of people could be put off using it
as a result. I have tried soaring on two other sims SFS4 and MS2002/4.
SotS has them beaten easily because of its superior scenery (even if Wales
is a bit too superior <g>) and better dynamics. Spinning in SotS is truly
frightening as indeed it should be, and the aircraft performance is very
realistic except for perhaps ground roll and some of the noises (do your
flaps sound like that??). I would guess that with some more work it could
be a world beater. If the problem lies in it being a one-man effort then
perhaps a few more of the talented folk around should offer to give Saiz
some help.

A better set of tutorials for add-ons is a must. I find that computer
experts are so far away from the average Joe that they are not best suited
to writing instructions and this gives the average Joe a lot of grief. For
example I downloaded a T21 glider from the site recently and it comes with
no instructions at all. Looking at the files in the zip there is no
correspondence with a typical file set for a default glider. This is
baffling. I have tried to contact the designer of this add-on but he does
not reply to emails in spite of saying in his blurb that he would like to
hear from users. Maybe all he wants to hear is praise not questions<bg>.

I am pretty old (71) and am relatively new to computing (say 12 years or so)
so I am still not confident about chopping up files and parking the bits in
the right places though I did manage to get the Wales scenery into the sim
after a lot of effort. Again the instructions might make sense to an
expert, but they were double dutch as far as I was concerned.

Anyway thanks again for your help. Do you have an email address for off
list use?

Alistair Wright

[Evals]

"Alistair Wright" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Kristoffer Raun" > wrote in message
> ...
>
> Hi Kristoffer,
>
> First off, thanks for the trouble you have taken replying to my comments.
At
> least a few of the SotS supporters are prepared to answer questions and
not
> just make smart remarks. I will follow up your leads on padlock etc and I
> hope that the new patches cure the problems I have outlined, which are
from
> a beginner's perspective.
>
> I never said this was a bad sim. What I did say is that it is a poorly
> supported sim, and because of that a lot of people could be put off using
it
> as a result. I have tried soaring on two other sims SFS4 and MS2002/4.
> SotS has them beaten easily because of its superior scenery (even if Wales
> is a bit too superior <g>) and better dynamics. Spinning in SotS is truly
> frightening as indeed it should be, and the aircraft performance is very
> realistic except for perhaps ground roll and some of the noises (do your
> flaps sound like that??). I would guess that with some more work it could
> be a world beater. If the problem lies in it being a one-man effort then
> perhaps a few more of the talented folk around should offer to give Saiz
> some help.
>
> A better set of tutorials for add-ons is a must. I find that computer
> experts are so far away from the average Joe that they are not best suited
> to writing instructions and this gives the average Joe a lot of grief.
For
> example I downloaded a T21 glider from the site recently and it comes with
> no instructions at all. Looking at the files in the zip there is no
> correspondence with a typical file set for a default glider. This is
> baffling. I have tried to contact the designer of this add-on but he does
> not reply to emails in spite of saying in his blurb that he would like to
> hear from users. Maybe all he wants to hear is praise not questions<bg>.
>
> I am pretty old (71) and am relatively new to computing (say 12 years or
so)
> so I am still not confident about chopping up files and parking the bits
in
> the right places though I did manage to get the Wales scenery into the sim
> after a lot of effort. Again the instructions might make sense to an
> expert, but they were double dutch as far as I was concerned.
>
> Anyway thanks again for your help. Do you have an email address for off
> list use?
>
> Alistair Wright
>
>
>

Hi Alistair

I'm sorry you had problems with my T21. It was designed as a .x file and has
a different format from the standard SotS aircraft. Have a look at
www.hangsim.com for details. For more information and feedback please
contact me (evals) on the SotS forum.

evals