eSail VERSIONS – RELEASE HISTORY

1.7.42 (28 May 2020)

This small update fixes these issues:

1) Loss of steering.

2) The restored state of the reefed sails and also telltales which were left hanging in the air after restore.

3) Fixed a bug where Man Overboard would leave a long elastic line joining the MOB to the boat.

4) Fixed terrain textures in the Northern Islands. The terrain had far too much contrast and is more balanced now.

5) Added a link to the description of the ‘Nature Research Station’. This link points to some satellite imagery to make it easy to navigate in the marshes.

1.7.40 (09 May 2020)

This version provides German language support.

1.7.23 (31 March 2020)

1) Added French and Russian language support provided by the eSail community.

2) New binoculars provided to help with navigation. Available to Master Explorers in the chart drawer.

3) Mainsail boom now moves more realistically when mainsheet is slack.

4) Improved the look of sail cloth so it responds better to lighting.

5) Weather forecasts now also have text in a new comms panel, helping when wind and wave sounds might make it difficult to hear

6) Telltales are brighter

7) Marine life scaled down

1.6.1 (06 December 2019)

Enhancements

1) New ‘Heaving-to’ tutorial

2) Leeway added to drift boat sideways with and without sails

3) Added ‘Input Focus’ keyboard control to move between panels (default =), so you can press this key to move between mooring and anchoring panels for instance. The panel with focus will receive the Options Keys (1,2,3,4). So the special anchoring keys are no longer needed (although still work at the moment)

4) Added ‘Pause’ keyboard control

5) Made lighthouse lights able to cut through mist and light fog so they can now be seen from over 10 miles in reasonable conditions

6) Added a ‘splash’ to the camera as you go underwater

Bug fixes

1) Fixed: Anchor not colliding with concrete jettys

2) Fixed: Anchoring Challenge (Mosquito Bay) erroneous 100 point penalty at start

3) Fixed: Chart cursor coordinates were displaying with check box off

4) Fixed: Issue of pins being added to alerts when there is no point pinning them

1.5.39 (26 October 2019)

1) There is now a hand compass. See the yellow button near the main compass on the dashboard.

2) You can now pin alerts. These are the little pop up windows. We will be using these more as things get more advanced, so this will make it easier to refer back to the pop up information. At the moment the pins only last during a tutorial or challenge.

3) Fixes a missing ‘close up’ window on the course plotter in the charting module, making it hard to see the numbers on the protractor.

4) Stops points being deducted on challenges when fenders hit the jetty.

5) Further work has been done to avoid screen dragging while dragging on the throttle.

1.5.31 (19 September 2019)

These issues should now have been fixed:

1) The anchor was tending to slide along the sea bed (except when the chain was hidden).

2) When the chain was hidden it tended to break on retraction. This should be improved but that doesn’t mean its impossible to break the simulation!

3) Live Sailing saving of anchor / chain sometimes caused the anchor/chain to vanish.

4) If you motored with the anchor compartment open, the anchor could fly off. Now the top chain links and anchor are locked when not being extended/retracted. (We have also added some notes to the anchoring tutorial about being careful about speed and steering to avoid breaking the simulation – as in real life you would want to avoid breaking the windless!)

5) Weird anchor behaviour – floating/ not digging in etc.

6) Anchor sliding down hill – see above. It should now lock to a slope when not being pulled or when chain is extending. It will still slide when being pulled.

7) When swapping between users (from inside eSail) sometimes Live Sailing got confused and saved the wrong location.

8) Some physics changes have been to improve chain stability.

1.5.19 (15 August 2019)

Fixed grey appearance of Northern Islands.

1.5.17 (12 August 2019)

1) Added new sailing areas including Mt. Mallory, an active volcano.

2) Added 9 new POIs (points of interest).

3) Created a new chart (B2) and chart drawer.

4) Created 2 levels of POIs. Collecting the first 13 (Level 1) allows the user to gain master Explorer status. The user can then access the new sailing area and the Level 2 POIs.

5) Changed sails so that they now are translucent.

6) Added extra bow wash effects and made bow wave smaller.

7) Changed default zoom direction when using the mouse scroll.

8) Improved channel marker buoys models.

Bug fixes/improvements

• Fixed minor wording errors in “How to plot your position”.
• Fixed bug in low quality ropes.
• Sped up mainsheet movement while using keys.
• Improved behaviour when boat grounded.
• Improved Boat Reset by ignoring boat rotation except on the Y axis.
• Increased intensity of stars.
• Changed water reflections so they are more intense when wind is lighter.
• Added wind on grass and trees above water.
• Added leaderboard for POIs.
• Fixed reversed wording in Little Venice.
• Fixed/improved anchoring issues/instability.
• Added ‘save’ to Chart, so your plotted points are saved and retrieved as you change charts.
• Fixed issue of disappearing moored yachts as you look around.
• Fixed bug – if you drop chart instrument on opposite side you can’t pick it up again.

1.4.2 (4th June 2019)

This is a minor update to fix some reefing issues.

​1.4.1 (23 March 2019)

1) Better ropes (sailing control lines). Available on the highest quality level. We also have kept the older lines for lower quality levels.

2) Improved boat detailing – mainly pulleys and navigation lights. Again this is on the highest quality.

3) Added ‘Detailed water’ (Settings) this gives you a bow wave and water with more detail and less tiling. In addition the bow now lifts slightly on the bow wave due to hull displacement.

4) Added new ‘Boat views’ showing the boat from 4 directions. There is a little diamond button near the SmartView button so you can quickly toggle between them.

5) Added keyboard controls for views including new BoatViews.

6) Zoom speed setting. This changes speed when using keyboard and mouse scroll.

7) Volume settings for collisions, narration etc.

Bug fixes/improvements

• Various checks and error warnings added to increase anchoring stability. It is still possible to break the anchor chain but this will be looked at again it future versions
• Fixed bug – Chain in compartment moves when anchor chain is locked because under too much stress.
• Stopped bow wave while in reverse.
• Fixed bug – Reset boat, while a long way from land, boat reset to wrong position.
• Stopped Live Sailing boat reset when not in Live Sailing.
• Fixed bug where huge amounts of sea life would spawn when going to Settings.
• Changes to try to avoid missing or disappearing terrain.
• Stopped switching out of mooring if crew still working.
• Made sure screen resolution is saved on first screen when clicking on Settings.
• Improvements to AutoSail to avoid illogical or inconsistent actions.
• Minor mooring bugs improved.
• Fixed bug where anchoring swing circles are showing but shouldn’t be.
• Changes to how DirectX is handled.
• Reduced very dark clouds (limited darkness).
• Improved how hand icon turns on and off when hovering.
• Training buoys – allowed vertical overflow so longer module names will show
• Training buoys – changed LOD so they do not disappear when close.
• Fixed bug – collision was not happening with bridges.
• Large ship – added missing collisions.
• Stopped fenders from losing points when hitting jetty.  Now there is a fenders layer, which does not trigger.
• Fixed bug when restoring with winch handle on, rope is not in right position
• Fixed bug where alerts introduced to stop mode change were triggering when clicking on winches.

 

​1.3.3 (22 October 2018)

Fixed bugs/issues

Fixed Autopilot bug, where in Live Sailing it would always come on with 90 deg bearing set.

Fixed saving with spring lines issue.

Stopped boom from dropping over 5 deg (held by lazy jack lines)

Improved smoothness of boom movement.

​

1.3.1 (13 October 2018)

Tutorials & Challenges

New ‘Sail Depth’.

New ‘Sail Twist’.

New East Shearwater Drag Race.

​

Enhancements​

Added outhaul, jib travellers, mainsheet traveller and backstay tensioner (default keyboard control P).

Added drag representing hull displacement, so top boat speed is more realistic.

Added yaw based on wind acting on hull and standing rigging.

Increased heel and yaw for better realism.

Reduced wind speeds on races so that reefing isn’t required due to the additional heel.

Created new leaderboards for all sailing challenges as boat performance has changed.

Improved AI yacht collision avoidance.

Added ability to view all telltales in the telltale inset view.

Autopilot – made steering smoother and adpated to handle increased yaw.

Improved ‘crew’ feedback messages, so you now know which line is stopping line movment.

Added percentage readout to dragspots.

Added red highlighting to dragspots when no further movement is possible or winch handle needed.

Improved Autosail which is now more consistent but still benefits from manual trimming.

‘Orbit’ can now be changed by mouse dragging with right button.

Improved reefing of mainsail – no longer baggy.

Improved performance of telltales when mainsail reefed – they more accurately reflect sail state.

​

Fixed bugs/issues

Turned off anchor chains on some AI boats.

During Navigation tutorial Menu button no longer shows when in chart.

Stopped ‘Back’ (default key B) operating when in menus as this can have unwanted side-effects.

Removed sail luffing sound when paused.

Fixed bug – anchor sliding down slope.

Improved sync of sounds with winches.

​

1.2.101 (7 June 2018)

Minor performance optimisations

Fixed issue when exiting chart caused underwater sounds.

​

1.2.1 (31 May 2018)

Enhancements

Improved how jib sheets contact with railings and superstructure.

Feedback now links straight to Steam forums.

Added coordinate display to pencil in Chart. (Switched on bottom right).

Settings screen now accessible from first page.

Improved quality (less flickering) as you move away from centre of the world.

Fixed bugs/issues

Changes to improve tabbing on mooring.

Fixed minor issues with crew hands.

Minor improvements to Shearwater Beginners race.

Made sure user brightness is applied properly.

Plan only shows land for charted areas so have now added warning text to plan when outside of charted area.

Added warnings to chart when you try to plot your boat outside of charted area.

Fixed bug where anchor would become dislodged on impact.

Chart table. Speeded up mouse interaction time when mousing over. Also put some fixes to try to stop chart popping up when it is not required.

Fixed missing loops on Spring Lines.

Fixed autopilot bug where autopilot fights steering.

Made Autosail panel roll up with tablet.

Stopped camera knock back after menu screens. Caused by scrolling.

Changed how Settings/Day length works. Now user’s day length is only used in Live Sailing and Locations. This to avoid time being manipulated in to get better scores.

Stopped Quit while crew action is in progress to avoid data corruption in Live Sailing mode.

Changed leaderboard results fetched from 10 to 200.

Changed Settings scroll sensitivity from 1 to 15.

Changed text Maxwell Marina to Frazer Town to multiply up to 300-400 and 1000 is a good score.

Removed hidden artefacts in the sea.

Stopped screen drag on dragging leaderboard.

Fixed bug where centring throttle with C then stopped throttle working with keys.

Fixed bug – CTL drag not working while character are active.

Changed Pause – now mute boat engine sound on pause.

Change POI clicking on all POIs to avoid colliders.

Fixed fender problem when fenders stack up in middle of boat.

Change Sailing character behaviour so both can work at once.

Minor changes to submit key and tab behaviour.

 

1.2.08 (4 May 2018)

Fixed bugs /issues

Added controller support for Undo and Cross Crew.

Made it so you can turn off all controller input.

 

1.2.07 (10 Apr 2018)

Enhancements

Added reset Boat function.

Fixed bugs /issues

Minor bug fixes to stop multiple keyboard/controller clicks.

 

1.2.03 (7 April 2018)

Enhancements

Added Controller settings.

Fixed bugs /issues

Various fixes for controller issues.

Whale now able to clicked on without clicks interacting through boat (distance 500m)

Changed UIScreenDrag to allow dragging through UI (once it has started)

Fixed underwater issue where the camera went underwater even when it was above water (submerged effect was not using ceto water height)

Added bak folder to keep backup files

 

1.2.01 (29 March 2018)

Fixed bugs /issues

Added ability to Reset Live Sailing

Minor tweaks to Live Sailing start state (forward lines hanging awkwardly)

Now Save User and Training data into a sub folder so that we don’t have to save LiveSailing

 

1.2.0 (27 Mar 2018 – Steam Launch Version)

Enhancements

Simple Tooltips over dragspot, orbit and screen drag added.

Now can replay audio on a page by clicking ‘Speaker’ button off and on.

Added AutoSail mode to control all sail angles for beginners.

Added tooltip to screen drag.

Fixed bugs /issues​

Stopped Autosail setting from persisting between modules

Fixed boom hotspot – ID was wrong

Quality settings – changed so there are always some fish/birds even on very low settings.

Rotated foresail telltale camera so that telltales stay horizontal in inset view.

Fixed bug where scoring may not happen when sailing to a new module.

Key for centre throttle changed to C (was duplicating undo key Z)

Fix for eraser in Chart.

Plan view – changed boat sizing from 3/3 to 1.5/1.5 so that it is not so misleading. Also changed default zoom from 2.5 to 5

 

1.1.84 (1 Mar 2018)

Fixed bugs /issues

Minor change to add more wind to 10020 (Sheerwater Bay Strong breeze)

Further fix to wheel controller.

 

1.1.8 (25 Feb 2018)

Enhancements

Steam integration with Achievements and Leaderboards

Luffing of sails

Added heeling and sounds while gybing

Added voice over to all tutorials

Fixed bugs / issues

Fixed bug where in low quality settings mainsail goes through lazyjack bag after going underwater.

Fish are now showing properly.

Possibly found solution to steering locking issue by moving wheel so it does not get turned off while underwater.

Stopped reflection of sun on water when it goes behind terrain or other objects.

Fixed hand pulling animation.

Prevented multiple saves on module completion if user pages backwards then forwards.

Sail Hoisting challenge target time changed from 120s to 175s

Multiplied all scores by 10 to give greater resolution on Steam

 

1.1.7 (30 Jan 2018)

Fixed bugs / issues

Fixed menu bug introduced in 1.1.6 where returning to the menu could lock all controls.

Removed further … (ellipsis) which were causing regional issues.

 

1.1.6 (29 Jan 2018)

Enhancements

Changed menu system so that you have to click on a category when you start – to make it clearer how the categories work. On returning to the menu the previous category then shows reducing the number of clicks required.

Fixed bugs / issues

Removed stern fender button (there are no stern fenders).

Fixed descriptive text on Chart (magnetic variation) so it no longer floats up over chart.

Changed hand compass so that there is now a button to turn it on and off.

Fixed hand erroneous hand compass readings by ensuring it can only be used from the cockpit.

Removed … (ellipsis) which were causing regional issues.

Training modules

Added shoutouts to Modules and Challenges to make it clearer how you return to the menu.

 

1.1.5 (24 Jan 2018)

Enhancements

Added a ‘Quick Start’ module.

Added an inset view showing the jib and mainsail telltales.

Added ‘Nav Tools 1’ (in-app purchase) which has a hand compass and more chart functionality (new challenges using the hand compass to be added).

Add magnetic North so there is now a 10° variation between magnetic and true North.

Fixed bugs / issues

Made buoys behaviour more realistic.

Made default keyboard shortcut for ‘Centre throttle’ to be C. This was Z and was conflicting with ‘Undo’

Training modules

Fixed typos.

Changed ‘Collision Avoidance’ challenges names to ‘Steering Challenges’ as they do not really provide any lessons on collision avoidance rules.

 

1.1.4 (2 Jan 2018)

Enhancements

Added more bird flocks and sea life

Added more detail to terrain for transits

Added low quality (fast) sea for level 0 quality

Added ‘Cross crew’ where you can tell a crew member to move from one side of the boat to the other (normally they stay on their side of the boat). Useful when you need the mainsheet and port jib sheet to be operated. Use default key X to operate.

Added keyboard shortcut (default V) for toggling autopilot on and off.

Added an extra winch handle.

Added a drag button for steering.

Added CTL + drag on screen as an alternative to the Orbit button.

To Settings added: screen resolution, mouse sensitivity and invert, volume and brightness.

The boat’s bearing is now shown numerically top right.

Fixed bugs / issues

Crew got stuck if called by clicking while previous animation in progress

Status bar bottom left was not updating if sailed to next training buoy

Issue with default view

Fixed ‘Treasure Hunt (Sail) – Level 1’

Anchoring challenge – prevents proceeding without anchoring first.

Navigation Module – fixed layer issue where instructions vanish after giving feedback

Avoidance – added a check to try to stop a boat crossing in front of another.

All Help hotspots now match those in the ‘Know Your Boat’ challenges.

Stopped anchor from being raised while boat was being held by stern lines.

Turned off bird flocks at night.

Changed trees to avoid problems with tree not showing up against fog.

Corrected wind on 2 passages.

Training modules

Leveled off sea bed in Anchoring to make it easier

Wording changes in various modules.

 

1.1.3 (18 Nov 2017) First Beta.