Orienteering game for computers (windows only)

CF WC 2020 will take place in the computer game Catching Features. You need to be able to play “competition”-mode. We are not responsible for you having a working version of the game. Make sure to buy your version of the game in time following this link
*special offer, use promo code “CFWC2020” when you buy the game. So it only costs ~26 Euro/US Dollar instead of 43!*

Competitions

The 2020 World Cup will consist of 20 individual competitions on 10 different maps, where every map has two races in a row. Each person is only allowed to run each competition once, with one account only (there will be verifications with IP adress). First run counts for the World Cup scoring.

Each competition will be open to play for 16 days from the time the competition will be uploaded. You can see on the Catching Features webpage (LINK) how long time a competition still can be played. After your first run, you are able to do reruns, but they will not count as a result for the World Cup. After the end of the 16-day period, nobody will be able to do a first run anymore.

There is no given order you have to compete on the maps, but it is recommended to follow the rule: “first uploaded, first played”.

 

Duration of the World Cup 2020

The World Cup will take place in April until approx. the end of June 2020. The first competition will be uploaded at the to be decided of april 2020. The plan is to upload a new competition every 2-3 days. After publishing a new competition you have 16 days to play that competition.

 

Scoring System

Scoring for individual World Cup 2020 (other rankings below)

For all CF WC 2020 competitions points are awarded as shown below:

1st place = 100 points

2nd place = 87 points

3rd place = 75 points

4th place = 65 points

5th place = 57 points

6th place = 52 points

7th place = 48 points

8th place = 45 points

9th place = 42 points

For places 10 – 50, points = (50 – placing +1)

i.e. 10th place = 41 points, 11th place = 40 points, etc.

until 50th place = 1 point

In the case of a tie, the tied runners each receive the same points as if they had each been placed in the highest of the tied positions. Runners who are not placed receive no points.

The overall ranking is decided as the sum of each individual race, where each competitors drops their two worst results. Competitors will hence drop the results of different races.

Example: Points for runner “xyz”: (40,52,75,3,8,100,12,6,5,15,25,27,42,45,75,23,17,18,0,100) = 688 points

The maximum points of CF WC 2020 individual ranking therefore are: 1800 points

Check your points and overall ranking here

Scoring for “best online club”:

For each race a maximum of 6 players for each club (make sure you have exactly the same team name in Catching Features!) can collect points:

% of the winner of that race = points of a runner

Sum of those points gained equals the team points.

If a club doesn’t consist of 6 runners, the missing runners scores “0” points, but the club remains in the ranking.

Thus, “more players -> more points”

i.e. player A,B,C,D,E,F,…. run for «IFK Göteborg» and they collect points each race.

IFK Göteborg ((98(A),94(B),75(C),67(D),23(E),1(F)) = 358 Total points

The overall ranking will be the sum of points gained in each of the 20 races:

i.e. IFK Göteborg(358,364,278,….,450)

Check the club overall ranking here

 

Scoring for “best Newcomer in Catching Features”

If you are brand new to the game in the year 2020 you will, except for getting ranked in the normal standings, also be included in a separate standing for newcomers. In that way you can compare yourself with other newcomers.

You can gain points for the ranking in each race by the following rule:

% of the winner of that race = points of a runner

Sum of those points gained on all 20 races equals the overall ranking for Newcomers.

i.e. Runner A = (3,2,0,10,14,16,2,3,4,9,12,1,3,4,10,9,8,12,13,2)= 137 Points

Check the newcomer overall ranking here

Please notify us if you are in this ranking by mistake.

 

Game Server

To be able to upload your result to the competition server you need a working internet connection. Don’t worry, it happens automatically when you finish each competition race. We are in no way responsible for problems appearing regarding the servers of Catching Features or similar. If any problems appear during the upload of competition results you should contact the official Catching Features channels since we have no influence on it. If bigger server issues appear, we will contact the owner and manage for a fair solution.

 

Winning conditions

To be able to win prizes we must be able to contact you. Easiest solution is, that you make it possible for us to see your e-mail adress connected to your Catching Features profile. If you do so, we can see on your e-mail address at the Catching Features website and can contact you directly via e-mail. Else you have to prove us in some way that you are the owner of a prize winner account. In the case of winning a prize and accepting it, you agree that we can publish your name and what you won on our and our sponsors web channels.

 

Fair Play

As you know, orienteering is a sport where it’s not impossible to cheat in some way. Please follow the Fair Play rules! We have the right to disqualify a suspicious account without further investigations. As a competitor, you have the possibility to place a complaint if you notice anything suspicious.

SPONSORING OFFERS

→ For all players, you can get a discount of -20% with the discount code “WoCu2020“ in the webshops of Nvii, str8 and noname! It’s time to get ready and gear up for when the season will start again

 → Buy your game Catching Features here with the discount code “CFWC2020” and save about 40%.

 

 

PRIZES

 After the competition and according to the individual overall results, we will deliver prizes to the 3 bests players of the Catching Features World Cup 2020 :

• 1st place: one pair of NVii Forest 1, sponsored by NVii
• 2nd place: a str8 compass, sponsored by str8
• 3rd place: a noname running t-shirt, sponsored by noname

Acknowledgment to our sponsors noname, str8 and NVii to give us the opportunity to offer you great prizes for our competition during the lockdown. 

LUCKY DRAW FOR NEWCOMERS

Our sponsor Learnjoy will give 2 orienteering puzzles (one is 40-pc of WOD theme and the other is 300-pc of Beijing O Week theme).

→ 2 random winners will be drawn after the final results (beginning of July)

→ to be in the lucky drawn : it only concerns the newcomer players. All newcomer ranking finishers (you have to run and finish every races of the world cup) will be lucky drawn to win the 2 puzzles.

Individual overall standings HERE

Club standings HERE

Newcomer standings HERE

[FOLLOW OUR INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT FOR LATEST NEWS]

 

Aston Key is a young orienteer from Australia, and became famous after he wins the sprint at JWOC last year.

Why do you like to play Catching Features?

I play CF because I love orienteering (maybe too much), so an orienteering game seemed natural to me. Although I’m not all that good, I’m playing a lot now in quarantine so I’m hoping to improve.

Do you think CF is a good alternative of orienteering training during the lockdown?

CF is definitely a good alternative to orienteering while everything is in lockdown. You can get good technical training, it is fast-paced and makes you concentrate 100%, and it’s a lot of fun.

Thank you Aston, keep training hard for new impressive performances

Follow him : https://www.instagram.com/astonkey4/

How do you use Catching Features in your training for real life orienteering?

In most sports simulation through visualization is imperative to training the mind and enabling “performance on the day”.  Fortunately for us orienteers, we can do a number of activities to achieve such outcomes.  For me, catching features is one of these activities.  Once the hurdle of simply playing the game is overcome, you can readily develop your technical abilities at a much higher intensity than you face in “real” orienteering.

Do you think CF is a good alternative of orienteering training during the lockdown ?

Absolutely, its a great way to maintain social connections with other orienteers during these challenging times.  Here in NZ we have been having regular weekend events, in some cases with live streaming!

Do you have any tips for newcomers in CF?

I play first person to make it more “realistic” and means I am not getting distracted by the strange looking avatar.

What is your biggest achievement in orienteering?

It’s hard to look past the JWOC gold for any single result, but I think being part of a wider story of kiwis doing well on the world stage brings me the greatest satisfaction.  Seeing Tim Roberston’s WOC silver medal (as close as you can probably get to gold) and being there to watch in person was very special.

Thank Matt, we wish you the best with kiwis and hope to see you racing in Europe soon

Follow him = https://www.instagram.com/mogd001/

Albin Ridefelt is actually (when we write the interview) the best CF player, rank number 1 ! He is also a very famous and successful orienteer in real life, placing right now 14th at the World Ranking and with impressive results lately, like a 8th place at WOC long last year or some other podiums at the World Cup and more (WUOC, Swedish League, Tiomila and Jukola with OK Linne…)

Hello Albin, thank you for according us some time for an interview

Why do you like to play Catching Features?

It is fun! A good way of spending some time between work and training.

Do you think CF is a good alternative of orienteering training during the lockdown?

Definitely. I believe it is a good way of improving the understanding of map-reading and also to keep the high level of concentration through a race. And also, to experience different types of terrain from all over the world, even if it is just in virtual.

How does CF help you to become a better orienteer?

I think I have improved my “translation” skills a lot, you have to be quick in CF and I really think I have had a lot of use of it in real orienteering. I really felt it at the last sprint World Cup in China, it was just as intense as a CF-sprint which suited me very well!

To make a perfect CF race you have to be really concentrated, and I believe I can really see the difference in the result from when I really focus and try hard compare to when I just ran half-focused. This is a lesson that can be applied to real races too…

Do you have any tips for beginners playing CF?

Analyze what routes the fastest persons use and also try some rerun of the courses. Otherwise it is just as everything else, it is tricky in the beginning, but you will get better and better! I have realized that some people are really skilled in the “running”, not hitting any trees and so. If you are good talent in computer games you can gain quite a lot from this too!

Thank you Albin, keep training hard both CF and real life for more impressive results

Follow him : https://www.instagram.com/albinridefelt/

I really enjoy to play it and I think it is a great way to improve your orienteering skills. Especially mentally. E.g. how do I react when I do a mistake? Do I get annoyed and make a mistake to the next control or can I re-concentrate and do not make that mistake again.

Do you think CF is a good alternative of orienteering training during the lockdown?

Yes, I do, but I do not think it can replace real orienteering. The reason why it is a good alternative for me is, that it takes my mind off of the virus or other problems in general. Just like other games. For me CF is the best game though.

Do you have any tips for newcomers starting in the CFWC2020?

Play every day and analyses each race as if it was a real one. You will get better!

What is your best achievement in (real) orienteering?

4th at WOC 2018 Relay Junior World Champion 2011 Middle

Thank you Robert !

Follow him : https://www.instagram.com/merlrobert/

I tried Catching Features for the first time in 2007, when I was 8 years old. I don’t remember much from that time but it was my dad and brother who brought me into it and then I have just been playing on and off over the years, sometimes with 1-2 years pause. The reason I am still playing it and especially the last 2-3 years is that the quality of the maps and conversions have really improved and you always face a new challenge. It really is a great alternative training when you have got nothing else to do.

How CF helped you to improve your skills for real life orienteering?

I’m certain that CF has helped me in real life orienteering, you get a whole different view of the map and terrain in the game because everything is exactly where it should be so you can’t really blame the map drawer and so on. I think the best help I got was when I was like 12-13 years and started reading more on the curves on the map. That was so much easier to learn through CF.

Do you have any tips for newcomers starting in the CFWC2020?

Some pretty standard tips I have for beginners is first of all to learn your mouse movements. For example, if I take one control and the next one is 90 degrees to the right of me, I know exactly how much I have to turn my mouse to get that direction instantly, this is also important to dodge bushes and trees etc. The next tip is just to practice running while watching your map. It requires a lot of training but sooner or later it will get better Something that is also important and many people don’t think about too much is “running technique”, small micro-route choices which is good to practice while playing Multiplayer maybe

What is your best achievement in (real) orienteering?

My biggest achievement in orienteering is probably my JWOC silver in the relay 2019 and the fourth place in the sprint the same year. Also my victory in O-ringen in M20E last summer was something special

Thank you Axel and we wish you the best for the future!

Follow him : https://www.instagram.com/axelgranqvist/

When did you start to play on CF? How does it help you to become an elite orienteer?

I started playing catching features when i was 12 years back in 2007. I was quite shit the first years but I remember Sundlof and Pale were among the big stars already then.

At that age CF really helped me develop my map reading skills for real orienteering, especially translating the contours to a 3d image in my head.  Nowadays I think it just keeps my mind a bit sharper and helps me with making quick decisions and route choices.

The last 7-8 years I have just played sporadically but got really into it again now in Corona times. And it is always a motivation to try and beat my brother.

Do you have any tips for newcomers in CFWC?

Look at the compass a lot. Staying on direction will lower the risk of doing mistakes a lot. And play multiplayer! You learn a lot by running with the best players. Keep an eye out for Milda Matilda.

What is your best achievement in (real) orienteering?

I am probably most proud of the gold medal in the Norwegian night Champs last autumn after a wild sprint finish against Olav Lundanes and Audun Heimdal.

Thank you Emil and good luck for your preparation

Follow him : https://www.instagram.com/granqvistemil/