A while back road surface dynamics were introduced. Am keen to see headwind / tailwind dynamics introduced short of the current drafting that is in the game already.
My thought had been around winds blowing in certain directions with say a compass indicating the wind direction on screen.
I would be against this, I like being able to compare my performance without having to take into account the effects of the wind. It’s one of the benefits of Zwift over the real world.
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Fair call. The fact that you go generally faster than outside is why I was wondering if this could be a dynamic that can be introduced. Say that you can individually apply as a setting. Cheers for your insight into it
This could be interesting if we all had Sterzos, and if the drafting mechanics were clear enough that crosswinds and attacks at specific turns could be used in races.
However just headwinds and tailwinds doesn’t seem to add a whole lot.
Great point 
This will make racing a lot more interesting. Not just head or tail wind but wind from any direction.
The wind speed and direction should stay the same during the whole race but you only see it once the race starts.
Then you can attack on some sections and hide in the bunch on others.
I would assume the formula that Zwift use already has the wind factor.
I would assume the formula that Zwift use already has the wind factor.
The mathematics involved in simulating wind accurately (or semi-accurately) would be an order of magnitude more complex than calculating air resistance, and would probably require finite element numerical solutions to partial differential equations from fluid dynamics (not that accuracy in group riding dynamics seems to be a priority to Zwift).
I would assume they use something like this. It does not have to be 100% accurate. Even the pack dynamics is not 100% accurate, but it is the same for all players.
They could use a simplified value for wind speed, where a factor of 1 is assigned if the rider is head on into the wind and 0 if from the rear. Using a sin function for everything in between.