History

A little insight of the development of the WindCompass

1.6

The WindCompass is inspired by the famous tool from Burt Artis.
I put a little detail on the outer ring showing boom angle numbers to learn the boom angle. Maybe its helpful for beginners in sailing.

The Development of the WindCompass began in January 2018 when i got asked for help to make a compass tool for the Bandit IF for Cruising and Racing. The very first addition was the colored numbers on the outer ring to help with trim. The Racewind was catched from the BOSS radar chat... *grins*

This very first WindCompass was released on 3rd February 2018.

2.0

In this Release from 31.3. 2018 the Racewind was picked up from windsetter buoys. Thanks to Analyse Dean for pointing my head in the right direction to get that working. Red helped me with loads of inputs. This 2.0 already connected to the boat for sending chat commands. A Text Hud and a Resizer was added.

2.5

At the End of April 2018 this Version got alot changes in procedures and in details. The get Racewind function was still subject to improvements. The very first clickable icons were added, an early version of Hud buttons. Windzones for 3 speedranges with a new layout brought this one to next level of precision.

2.7

The work on the version 2.6 was an ongoing process of changes and tweaks and learning. Internal code changes and playing with texture cache took me quite a while. The 2.6 never made it to Release. Things got settled a little so the 2.7 got released in May 2018 with a new TextHud plate and a nicer look.

2.73

The 2.73 stands for a long list of beta versions. Soon the Flying Shadow was added to the IF in the Compass. Gesture control was implemented and the ability to set windspeed as well. Moon and Mike contributed their ideas. Jimi challenged me to add a countdown timer that listen to the Raceline. On July 2018 the last beta of the 2.7x series was finished with a shiny fresh new TextHud.

2.8

Minor fixes and some improvements were applied to the Release in August 2018. It was the beginning of moving menu functions to the Hud interface. After the Radar and Sender buttons the Gestures Button was in place.

2.9

A 3rd Boat was added: the Star Class! After revamping the menu and adding winged zones for the IF and the Star Class, the Release was ready at end of August 2018.
Soon after that Release, a new Racestart procedure became subject to next changes. Beta 2.91 got code preparations for it and tests took place.

3.0

Tons of stuff found their way into the Compass: the mentioned Prestart function for the Timer, parallel a Prestart-Hud was developed and handed out to RDs (Thanks goes out to Serena and Macz), changes in dialogs, moving functions to Hud buttons, changeable textformat and...

MESH!

Yes, i started to fiddle with Blender for simple Compass parts. Another new function was added: a Stopwatch. Thanks to Siri for the idea. Betas from A to F went through and 3.0 was released at begin of September 2018.

3.1

Compass now supports BWind!

BWind boats added: One Design 65 and B 25R and different styles for the Windzones. The Stopwatch got enhanced with LAP and SPLIT function. The Send>Boat function now can "Re-Send". Timer and Prestart function refined and Boat Logos were added to the Mainswitch. This Update went out on 16. September 2018. After that, a Maintenance update 3.11 were released.

3.2

Milestone! Compass goes AWA !

AWA has been with me for a few months when development started in September 2018. Different Layouts were tested. Many code changes resulted in Beta versions from A to X (!). Loads of tweaking and testing and dumping and doing it all over again. This was sure one of the harder times making this Compass.

A considerable addition was the Sail Trim Display which had to put into a new module. The Boat AutoSelect function took away the hassle to select a boat manually. Thanks to Bianca, the Nacra17 entered the list of supported boats. Middle of November 2018 this one could finally released. A first Basic version was released as well.

3.4

Loads of changes has been made from 3.21 to 3.33y (in fact a 3.4). The list of changes is way to long, just to name a few: Synchronize function, lot of boats added: Ushuaja, Generic boat, Volvo Open 70, Pacha 110, Bandit 50D, Loonetta, Bandit 55, Bandit 60, Laser One, Sea Boss... and now reveal a secret: Trudeau is silently supported (still experimental). Shouter and whisperer was added, different Layout and Soundoptions, Remember last known Boat Position... etc.

Release: 23th March 2019.

4.0

After the 3.45 betas, the Beta series 3.46a started with research, coding and experiment with coordinates, simborders, dataserver events and hair pulling events.

Another milestone was about to set: NAV!

The Development and Betatest worked its way up from A to W (!). Because of the major change, main version number 4 has been assigned. 3 Release Candidates were still in testing and after over 2 months of exhausting work the 4.0 could finally go live on 3rd July 2019!
The first DEMO version followed 3 days after.

4.1

I went down the road of my to do list and improved here and there and added the item that has been way to long on my list:

Wind setting by just 1 click!

Saving memory and rotating click zones made it possible. Also the Button logic improved. Release date for PRO and Basic was 23.8.2019. Several improvements for the NAV and other functions lead to the version 4.19 released on 8th October 2019.

4.2

After a few pauses, the brain cells were reactivated. Red had an idea for a problem that was annoying: After each crossing of the Sim borders, the boat camera got confused:

So, an integrated camera HUD can take care of that!

In addition to some further improvements to the button logic and code, a further request was worked on: the Star Class Vintage were added and the long-awaited:

Dolphin Moth!

The Moth is something fun and special, it wasn't easy to integrate her but tests turned out fine. The latest feature might be useful after a disconnect crash: If the remaining boat still has Racewind, you can grab that wind for the Compass. The notecard got to small to hold a manual that size so there it has to be moved to a structured website. WindCompass turns 2 years on 3rd February 2020.

4.3

This Version started as 4.22 and was first focused on maintenance but soon new functions were added so it got a version number for main updates.
During the development of a another WindCompass version with new functions in the NAV module it became more difficult to hold many notecards in the menu, because of the memory limit.
So a new NAV menu has been created, fresh and slim, with practically no notecard limits! Another new function is ETA! Some improvements to the Timer/Stopwatch/TextHud completes this update. Release was in May 2020.

4.43

Compass gets smarter ... SmartMode!

In a long series of Beta versions starting from 4.36 to 4.4 the Compass got improved with logics and automatic wind set functions, detection functions and enhanced modes for the Camera.

New things were added: The Compass now works in "No Script" areas. Its compatible to the new startline from Laila. A new API allows Addons for the Compass. More personal settings are now available (12 textcolors for example). Quick Tips give some additional help and info.

The entire linkset has been reworked allowing more memory and options. The NAV menu offers now a new Delete function for routes, to end the hassle to edit the contents. The Sync function got improved: Now a guest skipper can use the compass to set wind. Many more internal improvements has been done. Release was December 2020.

4.44 - 4.45

Birthday!
WindCompass turns 3 years on 3rd February! To celebrate this, all WindCompass owners get
a free Keel Hud for the new added boat I-Mocca 60.

Beside adding Dutch newest boat I-Mocca 60, this new Compass version got an interface for the mentioned Keel Hud Display, adjusted performance zone for B22LTE and some minor changes as there is: improved ETE calculation, new NAV Unload route function, layout functions and memory improvements. Release: January 2021.

4.5

After a longer wait...

the WindCompass got loads of improvements inside and less visible outside.
The most noticeable are two new Boats: Lalias Sjogin and the TMS Amnesia, Trim Hints (aka Trim suggestions) for nearly all boats in Compass and the compatibility to Lalias new Startline and its different modes like Multistart or Trial. New click zones are added, so all parts on the Compass UI are now clickable, like 1-click direct input of wind values, layout- mode- and display changes. The Smart Mode got even more smarter to take off the workload for the skipper and crew. WindCompass detects Boat Text Info Huds and shows sail angles, -ratio / heel / depth / hike / foils / foiling / dagger / rudder depending what boat in use. Last but not least is to mention a Find Boat function for boats that have an Info Hud installed.
Release was 27. November 2021

Many Thanks goes out to
Red, Daenerys, Siri, Emi, Dutch, Penny, Peach, Liv, Serena, Analyse, Macz, Bianca, Lisa,
Michael, Looralie, Margo, Ian, Jo, Till, Martin, Porter, Joris, Jimi, moon, Mike
and many more for input, testing, ideas and having me on my toes.

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