Can I move the sail? (raft question)

[Tanya]

My sail is facing left at this moment and the raft turns to the left if I am just moving forward. The sail has changed direction a few times, either by itself or something I did, I have no idea. Can I move the sail so that it will stop turning the raft around or does the sail move with the wind? I honestly have no idea how a sail boat would actually work.

[Gladi8er65]

While placing the sail on the raft, you should see an arrow that shows the direction of travel... you want that arrow to point forward toward the front of the raft.

If you placed it in the wrong direction, your raft is going to turn or move backward etc.

There is no way to MOVE the sail to another spot, but you can use your axe to hit the sail until it removes it ( destroys it) and then place a new sail and pay attention to the arrow (direction of travel) as you place it.

Whenever an item is removed in this way (example: placed a building part the wrong way and need to remove it) , The item is destroyed and you gain NO materials back, so it's a good idea to be careful how / where you place items before confirming / placing the item.

[Gladi8er65]

I should have pointed out that, if you have a sail, you also need to have a rudder (and an anchor).

The sail is considered the "engine" of the raft (wind power) and the rudder is actually how you steer the raft.... and the anchor, of course, is how you stop / park your raft (to keep it from floating away)

You MUST have all 3 of those parts on the raft to operate it properly.

[Tanya]

I did place it correctly and I do have a rudder. The sail changed direction on its own. I will remove it try placing it again but I am postive it was correct, the arrows were pointing in the right direction.

[Tanya]

Nope, it changes direction after I lower the sail:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1621361608

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1621362056

[Gladi8er65]

ok well I wouldnt remove it then... the sail will turn with the wind but if you use the rudder to steer, the raft should move forward...

The only interaction you have with the sail is to put the sail up (stops it from gathering wind) or put the sail down which makes it capture the wind and propel you forward.

Driving /steering the raft is all done through the rudder and thats the only part you have "control" of while sailing.

[Tanya]

Originally posted by Gladi8er65:

ok well I wouldnt remove it then... the sail will turn with the wind but if you use the rudder to steer, the raft should move forward...

The only interaction you have with the sail is to put the sail up (stops it from gathering wind) or put the sail down which makes it capture the wind and propel you forward.

Driving /steering the raft is all done through the rudder and thats the only part you have "control" of while sailing.

The problem is the raft keeps turning left, no matter which way the wind is blowing. I have to keep pressing D to keep it from turning around.

[Symatrix Hill]

Originally posted by Tanya:

Originally posted by Gladi8er65:

ok well I wouldnt remove it then... the sail will turn with the wind but if you use the rudder to steer, the raft should move forward...

The only interaction you have with the sail is to put the sail up (stops it from gathering wind) or put the sail down which makes it capture the wind and propel you forward.

Driving /steering the raft is all done through the rudder and thats the only part you have "control" of while sailing.

The problem is the raft keeps turning left, no matter which way the wind is blowing. I have to keep pressing D to keep it from turning around.

Save the game and remove the sail and place it back , maybe that change something , if not then you save the game and build a new one on stick sand plank and see if the same happens well you can always try and load back.

You can also save the game and and place your steering mechanism on the opposite direction and you also need to turn your sail direction 180 degrees

You have also 3 rafts in width and your right side is finish and not your left side and maybe the mechanics notice counterbalance.

[Tanya]

Originally posted by Symatrix Hill:

Save the game and remove the sail and place it back , maybe that change something , if not then you save the game and build a new one on stick sand plank and see if the same happens well you can always try and load back.

You have also 3 rafts in width and your right side is finish and not your left side and maybe the mechanics notice counterbalance.

Well, I did finish the left side and it did improve but it still moves slightly to the left :/

[Symatrix Hill]

Well try these other opportunity and you can always try to add 3 more section in the front and see if that change anything but save the game before you try it out .
I may think you need to move your steering mechanism on the opposite direction and you also need to turn your sail direction 180 degrees .

[BaronVC]

Originally posted by Tanya:

Nope, it changes direction after I lower the sail:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1621361608

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1621362056

Try using the "Q" and "E" keys to swing the sail left or right when it is deployed.

The heading drift just seems to be somthing that happens (seems to affect all my raft regardless of size/shape), and may be a side effect of the currents. Try sailing in the opposite direction for a bit to see if the current pulls you to the right, otherwise it may have to do with the weighting and layout of the raft.

IIRC the devs made it possible to change sail direction because they were thinking of making the wind directional, so you would have to adjust the sail's angle to the wind to go faster/slower, plus tack back and forth to move upwind.

[Tanya]

Originally posted by BaronVC:

Try using the "Q" and "E" keys to swing the sail left or right when it is deployed.

The heading drift just seems to be somthing that happens (seems to affect all my raft regardless of size/shape), and may be a side effect of the currents. Try sailing in the opposite direction for a bit to see if the current pulls you to the right, otherwise it may have to do with the weighting and layout of the raft.

IIRC the devs made it possible to change sail direction because they were thinking of making the wind directional, so you would have to adjust the sail's angle to the wind to go faster/slower, plus tack back and forth to move upwind.

OMG! You are my hero!!! This is exactly what I was asking for. I wonder why no one else seemed to know about it o.O

Thank you so very much!

[Neonsmiley]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1622450424

Rafts of this size to not steer at all..... (I can leave my home island, and aim for the center of any visible island, hold the steering full left or right the whole journey, and still hit the island I was pointed at when leaving.) The only way to steer a raft this big, is to get your feet wet :O

Building with symetry seems to be important for traveling in straight lines, and dragging anything around the deck (like drums, or container panels) tends to change the direction of your raft.

[Symatrix Hill]

Whoa very nice raft dude , did you try two motor engine ?

[Neonsmiley]

Originally posted by Symatrix Hill:

Whoa very nice raft dude , did you try motor engine ?

No, I have all the parts to build an engine but haven't tested it yet, I've been afk from SD a while. and I came across an 8 panel container on my first island hop, so me being me, I built a raft to see if I could move 8 panels at once. (With my record being 6 panels on a smaller barge, sailing mostly submerged). Im guessing there has been a physics fiddle somewhere, as this larger barge will travel partly submerged with 3 panels, but sink to the bottom with 4 panels on it. If you check my screenshots, I have a few caps of different style barges Ive used since rafts where introduced to SD.

If a motor makes it steerable, I'll post here within a few hours of this post.

[Symatrix Hill]

I notice your raft is 7 tile wide , did you test it when it was 5 tile wide ?