Some time ago I posted my method for plotting (or perhaps converting) your boat's position into coordinates of latitude and longitude,
However, I have since refined the method (or rather improved my bad maths) so that it can be done much more quickly.
If anything is unclear, please let me know.
Converting your position to co-ordinates
The SH3 world as with the real world can be divided into degrees of latitude and longitude, and each of these degrees can be divided into 60 minutes (') of lat/long and of course each minute can be divided into 60 second ("). This means any calculations we do are the same as any for decimal time.
However, SH3 uses
equirectangular projection for its game world so the distance between each degree of latitude and longitude is exactly the same. To make things complicated the devs made the SH3 world slightly larger than the real world, so we need to work from the following:
1 degree of latitude/longitude = 120 km
And therefore our minutes (') and seconds (") of lat/long:
0.1 km = 3"
0.5 km = 15"
1.0 km = 30"
2.0 km = 1' 0"
The above aren't essential to know, but useful.
An Illustrated Example
I loaded up a game with the boat in berth at Wilhelmshaven. We will now get the coordinates of this position
Calculating Latitude
First we need to measure the distance of the boat from the Equator.
Measuring from the centre of the boat icon, in our example we get
6420.9 KM north of the Equator
Degrees
We know a degree is 120km so to break our measurement into degrees we do the following division:
6420.9 / 120 = 53.51
The whole number gives us our degrees, so here it's
53 degrees North. We can start filling in our position:
53° __ __ N, __ __ __ __
Minutes
From the above division we still have 0.51 remaining. To calculate our minutes we simply multiply this by 60:
0.51 x 60 = 30.6
The whole number gives us our minutes, here it's 30 minutes. So adding this data to our position we now have
53° 30' __ N, __ __ __ __
Seconds
Last but not least, we need to know our Seconds of latitude. As before, we have a remainder of 0.6 from the calculation above. To turn this into seconds we multiply by 60. So:
0.6 x 60 = 36
Giving us in this example 36 seconds. We now have our complete latitude.
53° 30' 36" N, __ __ __ __
Calculating Longitude
We do exactly the same as above, but measured from the Prime Meridian, to get our Longitude.
Measuring from our boat in Wilhelmshaven, we get
973.2 km east of the Prime Meridian
Degrees
973.2 / 120 = 8.11
So, 8 degrees. We can add this to our position
53° 30' 36" N, 08° __ __ E
Minutes
0.11 x 60 = 6.6
So, 6 minutes
53° 30' 36" N, 08° 06' __ E
Seconds
0.6 x 60 = 36
So, 36 seconds. We now have our complete longitude and our full position plotted
53°30'36"N, 08°06'36"E
This can now be used in Google Maps, the Naval Grid Calculator or map software of your choice (ensure the format is the same as above with no spaces except after the comma for the Grid Calculator).
In Summary in 6 Steps
1. Measure Position from
Equator
2. Divide result by
120. The whole number is
degrees of Latitude
3. Multiply any remainder by
60. The whole number is your
Minutes (') of Latitude. If there is no remainder mark 0'
4. Multiply any remainder of by
60. The number is your
Seconds (") of Latitude If there is no remainder mark 0"
5. Ensure you denote North or South of the Equator.
6. Repeat the steps above with a measurement from the Prime Meridian for Longitude, denoting East or West respectively.
Using the example above in Google Maps, we are the green arrow.
Pop that into Google Maps... We are the green arrow
