Flying Fizz presented at Sailors Cove

Today the official launch of the Flying Fizz sailboat occurred in the Sailors Cove estate at noon SLT. Below are some of the notes for the Flying Fizz and a transcript from the public chat. Also you will find pictures of the event:

Introduction
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The Official Launch of Mothgirl Dibou’s Flying Fizz will take place Thursday, November 29th, 12pm Noon at the Tradewinds Yacht Club. The boat is on display now for the launch Event. Mothgirl will introduce the boat and then field questions followed by a special launch event race.

The Flying Fizz is the NEXT GENERATION of single class boat racing. A Sculptie Prim boat with a setting for newbies as well as advanced sailors. Newbies can sail the boat without having to worry about capsizing or trimming sail and advanced racer can take advantage of Race Wind, Genaker, Tapeze, Capsizing, Slashing, 30 knot planing.

Priced at an ASTONISHINGLY affordable $L 250. Mothgirl truly wants this boat to be in the reach of all SL citizens

Come see this world class boat at the world class venue – the Tradewinds Yacht Club – part of the Sailors Cove grouping of sims – we are owned by sailors, managed by sailors, with a genuine concern and love of sailing – the best place to live in SL

About the Boat
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The Flying Fizz is a two-handed sailing dinghy that can also be sailed by one person. It has various operating modes, making it suitable for both experienced and inexperienced sailors.

The Fizz tries to simulate RL sailing as much as possible. You have to adjust the sails to match the wind direction, keep the boat upright with your weight and prevent it from capsizing. Boat heel, apparent wind, wind drag, water drag, weight distribution and wether or not the boat is planing is calculated real time to optimise your experience.

If you want to participate in races, keep posted on new developments and meet with other sailors, you should join the group “Fizz Fanatics”. Membership is free.

You can find vendors in various places. Here are some landmarks:

Inexperienced sailors
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Inexperienced sailors are advised to always use “fun mode” when the boat prompts you. In funmode you do not have to control, the sails manually and do not have to move your weight to balance the boat. The only thing you need to do is steer.

A sailboat moves by wind force and it is not possible to sail against the wind. You can see the wind direction in the display and by looking at the red and green wind indicators. As long as you dont point the boat straight towards the wind you will be able to move forward.

Do not set the wind to maximum (15 m/s). Sailing will become more difficult and the boat will probably capsize (also in fun mode).

With or without crew
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The Flying Fizz can be sailed by 1 or 2 people. If only one person is seated, the boat is equally fast and handles exactly the same. The second person is crew and to that second person you can delegate tasks. The crew could, for instance, handle the sheets while the helmsman steers and concentrates on tactics. Both sailors should stay aware of their sitting position, unless you are in “fun mode”. With the PgUp and PgDn key both sailors should make sure they change their position in the boat so that the boat is leveled as much as possible. A boat that is sailed upright is faster and will not capsize.

Chatlog:

Tasha Kostolany shouts: I want to welcome everyone here to Tradewinds Yacht Club Today we have a wonderful introduction to SEcond Life
Armchair Binder: Does the Fizzz have wind shadowing?
Mothgirl Dibou: No armchair not yet
Mothgirl Dibou: I need to talk to Owen about that
You: Everyone please welcome Mothgirl Dibou–the creator of the Flying Fizz–the next generation in sailing
Liv Leigh: what is the difference between the versions we have bought the past few days and the launch?
Mothgirl Dibou: i think i’ll stand here
Mothgirl Dibou: more authority
Mothgirl Dibou: Welcome everybody
Mothgirl Dibou: I’d like to tell you a few things about the Fizz
Mothgirl Dibou: Tnight is our official Launch
Mothgirl Dibou: although many of you have been sailing it already the past few days
Kentrock Messmer: Here is to the future of SL sailing!!!!!
Betsy Chaffe: Yes!!!!!
Mothgirl Dibou: So far we have a fleet of about 70 boats already and the Fizz is only 6 days old
Mothgirl Dibou: when i started the Fizz project
Curtis Kraft: may i ask a quick question?
Mothgirl Dibou: i wanted a boat that was a lot of fun to sail
Mothgirl Dibou: sure
Curtis Kraft: will it come in that color
Mothgirl Dibou: it comes in any color you like
Mothgirl Dibou: you can change it yourself
Curtis Kraft: cool
Mothgirl Dibou: i wanted a boat that looked sexy
Kentrock Messmer: This the most realistic boat I have ever seen.
Curtis Kraft: i like that color right there
Mothgirl Dibou: with real sails
Mothgirl Dibou: that could capsize
Mothgirl Dibou: that had a real and visible sheet
Mothgirl Dibou: and moving parts
Mothgirl Dibou: like the rudder, tiller extension
Mothgirl Dibou: trapeze lines
Mothgirl Dibou: etc.
Mothgirl Dibou: with animations that would change during sailing
Mothgirl Dibou: almost every dinghy in SL used the same scripts as a basis and i wanted to do something different.
Mothgirl Dibou: so i started from scratch
Kentrock Messmer: As a Beta tester I can tell you, It’s like sailing a 470.
Mothgirl Dibou: made a spreadsheet with all the variables
Mothgirl Dibou: wind dir, wind speed, weight distribution, heel, sheet angle, boat speed
Mothgirl Dibou: and made formulas to calculate the boat speed at every course
Mothgirl Dibou: optimised those formulas to make the outcome as close to the real thing as possible.
Mothgirl Dibou: i coded all new scripts with these formulas in them
Mothgirl Dibou: and then the real challenge began: trying to make it work in SL without causing an incredible lag.
Mothgirl Dibou: i build a boat from sculpts, with non-flat sails
Mothgirl Dibou: a cardboard sail is easy to rotate as its rotation point is at the mast
Mothgirl Dibou: but the rotationpoint of a sculpty sail is in the center
Mothgirl Dibou: so behind the mast and also shifted to the side
Mothgirl Dibou: when you rotate the sails the new position has to be adjusted constantly

[12:14] Mothgirl Dibou: you cant use the port sail on the starboard side and if you change the shape while tacking, SL gives you a nice side effect.
[12:14] Mothgirl Dibou: the avatars are ejected
[[12:14] Mothgirl Dibou: i had to make 6 sails and make them invisible if not needed
[12:14] Mothgirl Dibou: with a lot of patience i managed to have the scripts take care of all this as efficient as possible
[12:14] Mothgirl Dibou: without causing too much lag
[12:15] Mothgirl Dibou: i will stop talking about the techniques now, because i dont want to boreyou
[12:15] Mothgirl Dibou: the bottom line is: it’s all new, it’s as realistic as i could make it and it’s great fun.
[12:15] Mothgirl Dibou: there are a few things i overlooked though.
[12:15] Orca Flotta: even capsizing is great fun with that boat =)
[12:16] Mothgirl Dibou: the winds in SL are very strong, many of them are 20 knots, which is a lot for a dinghy in RL.
[12:16] Mothgirl Dibou: and i tried to make it realistic so at 20 knots you easily capsize.
[12:16] Mothgirl Dibou: those of you that ever tried sailing a Laser 5000 at 20 knots, will know what i am talking about.
[12:16] Mothgirl Dibou: it turns out this is a little too sensitive
[12:17] Liv Leigh: can i ask you something? it seems not to be possible to texture it yourself?
[12:17] Kentrock Messmer: Mothgirl can I get a copy of the Trade Wind vectors?
[12:17] Mothgirl Dibou: i will get to that in a second Liv
[12:17] Mothgirl Dibou: and also SL messes up perfectly shaped sculpts when you import them.
[12:17] Mothgirl Dibou: Sure Kentrock
[12:17] Mothgirl Dibou: i have literally done hundreds of uploads to get the result you see.
[12:17] Kentrock Messmer: Thanks so much.
[12:17] Mothgirl Dibou: but the remaining problem is that it is not easy to put a texture on the hull or sails.
[12:18] Mothgirl Dibou: the planar texture mapping that SL supports doesnt work and the result is hideous when you try it.
[12:18] Betsy Chaffe: It is only using 25 prim
[12:18] Mothgirl Dibou: so basically it is hard work to make a sail texture look good, but not impossible.
[12:18] Mothgirl Dibou: the boats are full mod and i would like you all to experiment and let your wildest ideas go free.
[12:18] Mothgirl Dibou: i think it would be awesome if we have a large fleet in all the color of the rainbow
[12:18] Hal Klaxon: are the scripts modifiable?
[12:18] Mothgirl Dibou: I will try to make templates for the sails
[12:19] Mothgirl Dibou: You will need to prestretch the image
[12:19] Mothgirl Dibou: and then import it
[12:19] Mothgirl Dibou: to get a straight image on your sail
[12:19] Kentrock Messmer: Maybe transparent textures?
[12:19] Mothgirl Dibou: i did that today with a very difficult one
[12:19] Liv Leigh: sculpts are hell yes.. but i can modify the textures?
[12:19] Mothgirl Dibou: and it work but wasnt good enough to show you yet
[12:19] Mothgirl Dibou: yes you can
[12:20] Mothgirl Dibou: i sell the Fizz at a very low price, so it is affordable for everybody that wants one
[12:20] Mothgirl Dibou: even the shoes i am wearing are more expensive
[12:20] Liv Leigh: hmm ok.. one thing i like is the guest option.. to have other people try it
[12:20] Mothgirl Dibou: i hope very much that this will give a boost to SL sailing and attract a lot of new people.
[12:20] Liv Leigh: and the different modes..
[12:20] j3rry Paine: and the documentation )
[12:20] Orca Flotta: i would want one, but i don’t like the colour scheme of the launch version too much. aht now?
[12:20] Mothgirl Dibou: I will tell you a little about future plans
[12:21] Orca Flotta: what*
[12:21] Mothgirl Dibou: i want to launch a single handed version called “Frantic Fizz”
[12:21] Izabella Bentham: There are 3 different color schemes available
[12:21] Mothgirl Dibou: it will have the same speed and handling and i think the two could easily be used side by side in a race.
[12:24] Mothgirl Dibou: that is of you agree with me on this
[12:24] Mothgirl Dibou: it will also have functions to easily dock your boat and leave it in the harbour
[12:24] Liv Leigh: ok so we can all update the older versions of past days for this one?
[12:24] Mothgirl Dibou: a memory for rotation, position and sails
[12:24] joepie Korobase: can you add a animation for moored or motoring?
[12:24] Mothgirl Dibou: of course
[12:25] Nomad Zamani: What about reefing?
[12:25] j3rry Paine: on a dinghy? lol
[12:25] Mothgirl Dibou: reefing will not be an option
[12:25] Mothgirl Dibou: but extra animations to make it all more realistic are a good idea
[12:26] Glorfindel Arrow: can you use gestures??
[12:26] Mothgirl Dibou: after that i think i will focus on trimming features
[12:26] Mothgirl Dibou: the fizz has a vang
[12:26] Mothgirl Dibou: but i’d like to add more
[12:26] Mothgirl Dibou: cunningham, vang, sit in the front or the back of the boat, etc
[12:27] Mothgirl Dibou: i want you tp be able to adjust the shape of the sail to match the wind speed and angle
[12:27] Mothgirl Dibou: this woud have to have a direct influence on the boat speed
[12:27] Mothgirl Dibou: but that’s for 2008
[12:27] Mothgirl Dibou: for now all i want is for people to have lots of sailing and hopefully racing
[12:28] Mothgirl Dibou: we willgive away a free copy of the boat next to me
[12:28] Mothgirl Dibou: it is available only today
[12:28] Mothgirl Dibou: a special TYC launch version
[12:28] Riffey4 DeGroot:
[12:28] GJ Carnell: yay
[12:28] Mothgirl Dibou: since i dont have anything automated here
[12:29] Mothgirl Dibou: i will give it to the first person that tells “i’d like to have one”
[12:29] Nomad Zamani: I’d like to have one
[12:29] Liv Leigh: i’d like to have one
[12:29] Armchair Binder: me
[12:29] joepie Korobase: lol
[12:29] Mothgirl Dibou: nomad is the lucky guy
[12:30] Mothgirl Dibou: have fun with it Nomad
[12:30] Mothgirl Dibou: are there any questions so far?
[12:30] Liv Leigh: you can race your alts then lol
[12:31] Glorfindel Arrow: can you use gestres?
[12:31] Bea Woodget: yes
[12:31] Glorfindel Arrow: gestures
[12:31] Mothgirl Dibou: I believe Bea and Joepie have already made a set of gestures
[12:31] You: You can buy from the vendors to your left
[12:31] Mothgirl Dibou: i will see if i can find to to maka standard set
[12:31] Liv Leigh: but i won t mind making a set myself if it suits me better
[12:31] Mothgirl Dibou: it shouldnt be no copy
[12:31] Epicurus Emmons: i believe the tako gestures work for the fizz as well dont they?
[12:32] Bea Woodget: it is
[12:32] Thorvald Larsen: mine is nocopy
[12:32] Liv Leigh: well the thing is:
[12:32] Bea Woodget: mine also
[12:32] Mothgirl Dibou: those of you that bought one will get a new one after this
[12:32] Liv Leigh: if you rezz it the one you rzz is
[12:32] Riffey4 DeGroot: yep… same here… Im sure she’s gonna fix that
[12:32] Bea Woodget: ok
[12:32] Riffey4 DeGroot:
[12:32] Liv Leigh: that s inconvenient
[12:32] joepie Korobase: permissiond are a bitch
[12:32] Contra Koba: I think once you mod it becomes no copy mine did that
[12:32] Liv Leigh: no
[12:32] Bea Woodget: Mothgirl, do we have to IM you for “positive” remarks ?
[12:33] Contra Koba: I have copies of the original but my 2 mods dont copy
[12:33] Bea Woodget: (and bugs?
[12:33] You: if you rez a boat and then take it back into your inventory that boat becomes no coy but the orrgiginal boat in your inventory is still copiable
[12:33] Liv Leigh: well it s a great new boat
[12:33] Mothgirl Dibou: you can alwsy Im me
[12:33] Bea Woodget: ok i noticed several things
[12:33] Liv Leigh: sure it has some child diseases, but it s been fun so far for me
[12:33] Mothgirl Dibou: of course with a boat this new and complex there will be some issues in the beginning
[12:34] You: Thank you MothGirl, now LETS GO SAILING, to your left on the platform are vendors for the Flying Fiz, they are only 250 L — the best deal in Second LIfe. above that is the course map of the race which we will run from Plum Git — click the sign to get a copy of the course http://slurl.com/secondlife/Plum%20Gut/235/118/21
[12:34] Liv Leigh: a 40 boat regatta?
[12:34] Mothgirl Dibou: but i will work very hard to get thing sorted and the updates will be free
[12:34] Liv Leigh: that s gonna be hell
[12:34] Riffey4 DeGroot: great Moth
[12:34] You: Everyone lets give Mothgirl a big round of Woots
[12:34] Riffey4 DeGroot: WooT
[12:34] Riffey4 DeGroot: WOOT WOOT
[12:34] APPLAUSE: A Hearty round of applause bursts from the crowd
[12:34] M1sha Dallin shouts: Woooot

Special thanks to GoSpeed for uploading the pictures to Flickr.

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