Dev log · · v0.27.0
Races, checkpoints and a tutorial that waits for you
An Activities menu, four timed races in the fjord's east arm, the Parcours du Boeu’ at Tadoussac and a 25-step tutorial that only moves on when you have really done the thing.
Until this week Fjord was a boat and a fjord, and you made up your own reasons to sail. Versions 0.25.0 to 0.27.0 add things to do.
The Activities menu
Press B, or open the main menu, and you get one card per activity: its place, its kind, a short description, your record and a button to start. The Parcours du Boeu’ opens its race panel from there, and free sailing drops you back on the water.
The Parcours du Boeu’
The Marina de Tadoussac has run this friendly race since 2009: start in the bay, round the Haut-fond Prince lighthouse (everyone calls it la Toupie) and come back through the same line. In the game:
- a 5-4-1-0 start sequence, or a one-minute quick start, with committee-boat horns;
- the HUD shows the distance to the line and the time to burn, and an early start means dipping back behind it;
- you must sweep 200° around la Toupie within 1.5 km for the rounding to count;
- after three hours, la Toupie wins, as at the real event;
- your record run replays as a ghost on the chartplotter, with a live delta on the HUD.
Our autopilot test sailed the whole course in 1:34:09 over 9.79 nautical miles in 14 knots. That is the time to beat.
Four short races at L’Anse-Saint-Jean
Each race has its own weather and takes 15 to 20 minutes:
| Race | Wind | Course |
|---|---|---|
| Calm Evening | 9 kn | 5 checkpoints downwind |
| Upwind Beat | 14 kn | 5 checkpoints dead upwind, so you tack |
| Heavy Seas | 22 kn | open race to an upwind finish in a steep sea |
| Storm Run | 30 kn | open race downwind, in rain |
Checkpoints are glowing rings on the water with light beams; the finish is a chequered strip between two green beams. The HUD gives the clock and the bearing and distance to the next checkpoint.
A tutorial that watches the boat
The tutorial is 25 steps at L’Anse-Saint-Jean, at golden hour in 18 knots. Each step is a card with the keys and a checklist, and a pulsing frame on the part of the HUD it talks about. It waits until you have really done it: a tack has to come about, a gybe has to bring the boom across, and wing-on-wing has to keep the jib full on the other side for three seconds. It starts on arcade controls and ends on the sim lines.