No Suez or Panama canal?

[Macau amiga]

I was trying to see if I can navigate through the Suez canal or Panama canal, but nop, they are missing in the game. Most rivers are absent as well, except Saint Lawrence River. I haven't yet checked if all the Great Lakes are connected, but it seems that it's possible to sail from Lake Ontario to the Atlantic Ocean. I wonder if more rivers and canals will be included in the future.

And I just notice that I couldn't sail beyond N89 latitude, which means that it's not possible to cross the north pole from Siberia to Canada.

[phicarrae]

The famous Kiel canal (Baltic sea, North sea) is also still missing, also some important harbour entrances. I think that if the right depths are finally there, the other hitherto impassable waterways can be used. This is also very important to me and Sailaway wants to be the best simulation of the real world.

PS. We need, like in real life, an engine to pass the narrow waterways. Sailing in most of the canals is not allowed.

[John787]

Dies Irae, thanks for checking to see if the canals were open. I was going to check that out myself but you beat me to it. Well, I guess this is a very early access game. We can always go racing on the weekend. All we can do is wait for improvements or not use this game . Maybe some other dev team will come up with a better sailing simulator.

[coda]

The sim is good enough for me and I'm happy to be in early to enjoy the process. I think someone should say that, don't you? : )

[John787]

To be sure!

[phicarrae]

Originally posted by coda:

The sim is good enough for me and I'm happy to be in early to enjoy the process. I think someone should say that, don't you? : )

You can say anything, if you can justify it, if someone queries. To attack other people, you do not need. The game is to develop further. Through Early Access we all share in it. And I find it more than just to get rid of criticism. After all, we paid a lot of money for the game and the developer does not even consider it necessary to inform us that he will have little time because he is expecting the next generation (Congratulations!), but only tells us about it afterwards. This I find bad communication and a violation of the spirit of Early Access. Here is not much going on in the forum. Does the developer read the posts at all? To report here from time to time, the developer costs only a few minutes and would strengthen the community. Or do you think the developer is 24/7 busy improving the game and does not have a minute to report here? Or do you think the developer is offended when you criticize him and then stops the development of the game? Do not get me wrong: What I write here does not change the fact that I have a lot of fun with this game. I also find it right when other people, like Cpt.John, express their displeasure and exert a little pressure when he wrote: "Maybe some other dev team will come up with a better sailing simulator."

[Stringbean]

Exactly this. A few words from the developer about what he intends to do next or to lay out some kind of a road plan would go a long way.
This forum is dead!!,...only the few that like to race come here. Other than that, there is no community spirit. All the others have disappeared because the game lacks too many features and have been attacked for coming here voicing their opinions on what they would like to see in the game.
I only pop back here from time to time to keep up-to-date in case of any game news/updates.

The Dev/s need to communicate with us a bit more otherwise the game will 'Sink' (pun intended).

This game is Early Access of course and that means communication with it's User base. Not silence! After all,..we all paid a lot of money for this.

[phicarrae]

Thanks for feedback, dear stringbean6. A rodmap is on the homepage, but that is far too little communication. I want better communication. Perhaps we must threaten the develeoper that we all want our money back because we were lured with false promises about the spirit of Early Access?  Well, I do not want this wonderful idea of a game to die, but it continues to grow and grow. Therefore, good communication is indispensable. If this does not improve, I want my money back. Best regards!

[wim1234]

Originally posted by phicarrae:

Thanks for feedback, dear stringbean6. A rodmap is on the homepage, but that is far too little communication. I want better communication. Perhaps we must threaten the develeoper that we all want our money back because we were lured with false promises about the spirit of Early Access?  Well, I do not want this wonderful idea of a game to die, but it continues to grow and grow. Therefore, good communication is indispensable. If this does not improve, I want my money back. Best regards!

what nonsense, sorry, but you obviously do NOT understand what early acces really means.
some of you are always way way too much in a hurry and obviously know nothing about programming.
by buying ea games you always take a risk, if you cannot handle that, wait it out.

[John787]

Yes, buying a EA game is a risk especially when we all paid full price. I believe the dev has bitten off more than he can chew. It may be to much for one person to put together a sim. of this type. Well, he has my money(our money). I hope he dosen't walk away with it. You wind some and you lose some. Time will tell.

[phicarrae]

Originally posted by wim1234:

... what nonsense, sorry, but you obviously do NOT understand what early acces really means ...

Haha, Wim, do I really need to cite the description, which I was promised with Early Access? You should first read what is praised with many words and compare it with the reality in this forum. For me, it's pretty clear who's talking nonsense here - I'm not. Best regards!

[phicarrae]

Originally posted by Cpt.John:

Yes, buying a EA game is a risk especially when we all paid full price. I believe the dev has bitten off more than he can chew. It may be to much for one person to put together a sim. of this type. Well, he has my money(our money). I hope he dosen't walk away with it. You wind some and you lose some. Time will tell.

Nobody forces the developer to develop the game on his own, except himself. He has also submitted the programming of the 3D models to a third party. He also handed out the last regattas. I ask what is going on here, but the developer does not communicate here. Why is he not joining the community to solve problems? There are so many people out there who would like to contribute because they have a lot of experience or because they are simply attached to the sail virus or other motivation. For example, read the description of why and where Coda is sailing. This is very touching. Or take the Corsaire with its regatta experience. And here, not even the smallest tasks are done, such as updating the leaderbords. It is high time that the developer finally explained here. Otherwise, we must demand our money back. I have understood for a lot, but that is not properly communicated here, I do not understand. Our money seems to want the developer, but not our opinion or a conversation with us here in the forum? What is the spirit of Early Access?

[Stringbean]

There was a time when Early Access games charged a cheaper price such as a few pounds or dollars. That was fair and nobody minded actually waiting for patches and updates because after all, what's a few pounds/dollars.

Nowdays, developers have got greedy and have started to ask for nearly the full asking price for an EA game. We are the ones paying for the development here, therefore it's us that have a right to make our voices heard during the EA development.

There is a difference between Early Access and a Kickstarter fund raising campaign and yet it feels like we all fall into the latter.

At the moment, the discussions of what people would like to see implemented in the game seem to be falling on deaf ears,..either that or they are deliberatly not listening and that's what is understandably leaving people rather disallusioned.

[DiscoInfidel]

I write this potentially regretting being drawn into a tenuous conversation but here goes: I totally get the complaints and believe there is absolute merit to what is being said. There are gaping holes between what the game is now and what it could be. I think I paid $39 for this game and I would consider this 60% of the way to paying for a "complete" game so the holes that are present and even more obvious at that price point. Despite having the whole world available I think many are starting to feel the game get stale. Do I think its in a crisis state? not yet, but certainly there are some warning signs.

One way to counteract that is to try and create content yourself. I agree the community "cohesion" is low and seeing that many get into sailing for the "getting away from it all" factor, this game is prone to it. Racers are a little less vulnerable as they need other people to race. For the cruisers its a bigger issue. Is there any interest in a "Community Lazy Sail" where folks just go from one port to another not worrying about who gets there first? Maybe the cruisers (the vast majority of game purchasers I suspect) could then have a chance to get to know one another better and help with the sense of community.

If you have an idea for player created content just toss it on this forum and see who's interested. Not all ideas will resonate but at least you're trying.

[phicarrae]

DiscoInfidel, I have already made some suggestions that I consider very important in my experience to increase the simulation effect and the fun of the game at the moment. You can read all this when you look at my postings. I know it's not all at once, but only in steps.

But what does it make if I make suggestions here and - apart from the hostility that I have reaped for it - does not know whether the developer is aware of it at all? So far I only know that he got my money.

So I want to know here first, if there is this developer at all and that he finally expresses himself here. I know so far only, that sometimes a so-called developer expresses, but he is obviously only someone of Steam. I just bought this game because it's Early Access and because I thought a lot of people with sailing experience would work with the developer to help the game. Now I see many experienced sailors here, but no developer, who has an interest in what he promised us through Early Access, namely, that we are developing something together. For he does not speak with us, but only tells us things from time to time.

[DiscoInfidel]

I share your frustration. Im sure the dev or a proxy for him skims the forum. WizzyWig is his name and he does respond although Ive only noticed it when there are techinical issues. Evidently he's one guy or a small group of guys and are only capable of so much. Ive read your posts and personally think they have merit. As to why the dev doesnt respond, only he knows. I was just suggesting given the open world thing going on that you may want to try and create content as best you can in the meantime. $40 is steep for a lot of us. That being said Ive logged about 500 hours so Im paying about 8 cents an hour and am no where near done.

we are racing at 0200 UTC Tues/Wed. why dont you come and join? you bought the game to be entertained, not frustrated. Come see if this trips your trigger. Ill be putting a Notice of Race out in a few min