Gamertell

The latest version of Ship Simulator for PC has shipped to stores in the UK and Scandinavia and is also available for download through Amazon and the game’s site. The boxed version should be on US shelves in September 2007.

The game lets you take the captain’s seat and steer ships of various speeds and sizes through real-world ports and waterways. You can also switch between overhead, captain’s seat and front-of-the-boat views to get good looks at the water and land as you pass by (or crash). The game also has decent international fanbase so it will appeal to some pretty varied gaming tastes.

The things that really impresses me about the game’s development is that the company, VSTEP, seems to really takes gamers’ comments to heart. The game’s forum is very active with developers posting responses to comments and suggestions. They also post several patches which include new ships, missions and areas to set sail.

My review of the original game, Ship Simulator 2006, ran in CiN weekly but the archive there does not go back very far (sorry about the print function on the link - I certainly didn’t add that). In a nutshell, it was a pretty cool idea with some nice features but would have pissed the pants off of an hard-core gamer. The coolest feature was, for the first time, being able to walk around an accurate 3D reproduction of the Titanic. it was pretty slow and silly - it is a sim and not an arcade game - yet still pretty fun. The list of additions implies they’ve added some speedier - and more arcade-y - crafts as well as additional touches of realism including damage and weather.

From the company’s press release, here are the new key features in Ship Simulator 2008 include:

• Dynamic ocean waves with realistic ship motions
• Long distance travels, open ocean voyages between ports
• Visible damage system
• Thirty new complex and challenging missions
• Extensive day, night, and weather systems
• Three new environments: San Francisco, Southampton/Cowes/Solent, and Marseille
• Six new ships, each with walkthrough functionality and interactive bridge controls
• Controllable container crane
• Advanced vector graphic sea chart based on realistic 3D seabed models, with full-screen display option, transparency setting, and level-of-detail on text & depth readings
• Advanced damage system showing dents and holes in the ships after severe collisions
• Free-roam mode where players can choose a ship, an environment, set all weather, day & time parameters and get sailing
• Realistic bow splash water, with support from an advanced physics simulation model
• Extensive mapping options for keys and joystick buttons
• Advanced rope system, which allows you to connect and disconnect player ships to other ships or mooring boulders at will (anchoring is now also possible)
• Addition of icebergs which cause damage when you collide with them

Future features, available as free, downloadable patches, will include

• A system for sinking ships when damaged below the water line
• Advanced system for scoring and ranking in different ship type classes, linked to your on-line profile on the forum
• Two extra player ships: jet-ski and hovercraft
• Additional language versions of the game (French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Polish and more)
• Set waypoints yourself in free-roaming mode
• Multiplayer functionality, so you can sail around in your favourite environment every day with your Ship Simulator friends
• Mission editor, so you can create your own adventures and share them with your fellow players on the forum

Site [Ship Simulator 2008] Read [SimFlight]

Keep up with the latest Gaming news! - Subscribe to our feed →