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Idlamn

Weather command inconsistency with compass gameplay

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The weather command tells you the direction from which the wind is coming, regardless if you have a compass or not, and regardless if it is functional or not.

  1. This is first of all inconsistent with the core travel gameplay where you need a compass and it needs to settle in order to get cardinal directions, as for some reason your character knows the actual cardinal direction from which the wind is blowing without those steps.
  2. .Then this allows for bypassing the requirement of a compass. If you look at the direction of the clouds, or other observable indicators of wind direction, then correlate that with the instant \weather command, you get an instant compass.

 

Maybe not a typical bug you would report here, but certainly an inconsistency.

Edited by Idlamn

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You can also use a settlement token to see whats north.

And regarding wind; the flags do turn in relation to the wind so thats also neat if you dont want to wait until the compass settles. :) 

 

I would call it a feature, rather than a bug.

Edited by Nordlys
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Yes but you don't have the settlement token with you at all times.

 

22 minutes ago, Nordlys said:

I would call it a feature, rather than a bug.

It's more like an overlooked design thing. Not really a bug. But wouldn't go as far as to call it a feature either. It is inconsistent with the core gameplay.

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Although true, most people can look at the sun and dictate the direction...the compass becomes very useful when you're in thick forest :) 

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You are absolutely right, this does seem inconsistent. If you don't have a compass on you while analyzing, it still tells you the distance, but not the direction. Perhaps the /weather command could work similarly, giving wind strength, but not direction.

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4 hours ago, Shydow said:

Perhaps the /weather command could work similarly, giving wind strength, but not direction.

-1

I'm not convinced this (massive) change to /weather would offset the minor edge-case outlined in this suggestion. While removing wind direction would cover the tens of instances where people might notice or care about an inconsistency, it would negatively impact hundreds/thousands of instances where people are sailing and just want to know wind direction/speed without jumping through unnecessary hurtles.

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I can see a little inconsistency, but would blame the compass mechanic as much as the weather command.   No compass really behaves as poorly as the Wurm in-game compass (unless the lodestone/needle is really, REALLY weak).  

 

If specific direction were to be removed from the weather command, it should work like location information (a strong gale is blowing from direct behind you, a light breeze is blowing from your right).

 

hmm... this has given me an idea.

 

 

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14 hours ago, TheTrickster said:

If specific direction were to be removed from the weather command, it should work like location information (a strong gale is blowing from direct behind you, a light breeze is blowing from your right).

This would work, as long as there is a fairly straight-forward way to tell wind direction before setting sail. There are times I check the weather before setting out, or I delay my trip if it's a headwind.

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I would add that Tricksters ideea will also require the player to do some mindwork if he wants to know the cardinal direction from which the wind is blowing. This can be either a good thing as it adds to the game element. The downside is that it might penalize players for getting it wrong. Although the effect should be immediately seen when steering the ship in the desired direction.

 

If this extra player thinking is not desired it can be done as:

  1. If compass is present and stable \weather shows cardinal direction of wind.
  2. Otherwise it shows the left, right, front, behind way.

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