Rule of the Road

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[Sailor Boy]

 
As a qualified Master Mariner, I feel that the authenticity of ShipSim 2008 could be greatly improved if the ships approaching you in a mission followed the International Rules for the Prevention of Collisions at Sea!"!!!

For example, in the mission "Iceberg Ahead" in which two Sherpas are towing an oil rig , the tanker "Latitude" approaches from the port side and continues on her steady course eventually sinking one of the Sherpas  - end of game.

Under the collision rules, "Latitude" is the give way vessel and should have altered course to starboard and passed astern of the oil rig. In addition, she also breaks the rule that says that all vessels should keep clear of a "hampered vessel" (i.e. a towing vessel).

I do enjoy ShipSim, but we have to strive to make it as realistic as possible for serious gamers.

One other gripe while I'm about it. Why are the docks so devoid of ships tied up loading and discharging?
I have been to Hamburg and Rotterdam many times - the berths are full of ships.

[Person264]

Well I can answer the second bit about loading ships. It would probably slow your computer down to a crawl with all the extra information it would need to work out about the ships

Welcome to the forum by the way!

[182]

Hi,

Fully agree with your comments. Very annoying when you are playing by the "rules" and others are not!!!

regards

182

[mvsmith]

Hi Sailor Boy,
The subject of AI ships obeying COLREGS has been discussed many times on this forum. The developers made an attempt at a rudimentary solution to give a fighting chance at getting across traffic, but the stand on vessels also give way. The processing necessary for AI resolution is one of the main causes of poor frame rates and QV aborts. If it were an easy problem, it would have been done.

It is a common mistake among new arrivals to assume that the developers are not aware of nautical matters simply because they have not yet implemented certain features. I’ve heard that there are boats in Rotterdam, and that the Dutch occasionally venture out on the oceans.

Regards,
Marty

[TerryRussell]

I took some photos of the Dutch versions of boats when I was in Rotterdam last week, and will post them when I return to Blighty tomorrow.

Whilst they aren't as good as British boats, sir, they do mostly float, at least! 

[Darryl]

I have to agree with sailor boy as a mariner myself I too would feel the game would be more realistic in that sense. Might also help if a select few rules were picked out with some missions for new users to follow, in the next ship sim, so that they too can understand these rules and apply them during online simulation.

[Mad_Fred]

Whilst they aren't as good as British boats, sir, they do mostly float, at least! 

 

Those Brits, always in denial... 

We were there first, on the treacherous waters, kicking bum and chewing chaw, showing everyone how it was done, how these great ships should/could be built (true that, actually, courtesy of the invention of the sawmill), and then we decided to lean back and let others take over the world. I mean, we didn't have the manpower anyway. But this is our thanks for teaching you all! Ridicule is our reward! Humbug! 

 

[JHB]

Yeah VSTEP really need to do something. I don't think the "classic" excuse about lack of performance and low FPS will make so much sense when other games uses far more advanced AI systems.
What's the C# code for a AI ship in Ship Simulator BTW...lol?

(oh God I'm pooping in my pants...lol)

* Edited for language - Mad_Fred (tss, tss! you know better!  )

[Mad_Fred]

Comparing one game to another, one on one, is apples and oranges of course, unless you've had a look in the kitchen with both developers and know exactly how both of the games are constructed and working, etc.

What works a certain way for one, might not do so for the other, and vice versa.

And it's not just about 'making ships smart', you have to put every single rule and regulation to work. It's not like some drone in a shoot-em-up that has 6 ways to attack, 4 ways to defend and 3 ways to fall to the ground when killed. It's very complicated to get all that to function properly. A lot of computing power needed for that. And I don't see many other simulators that have that (granted, I haven't played FSX, but in FS9 and below, the AI is very stupid too, they just follow a path, nothing more.)

VSTEP is 'doing something' all the time, to make the sim better as a whole. The AI traffic is included in that endeavour aswell, I can assure you. 

I don't know why people always get a feeling that developers sit around goofing of all day, but trust me, they are not.   

Fred

[JHB]

Okey..Mad Ferd. You got me there..
I just hope that VSTEP will post some more previews or live videos from their developer office. If they even is able to set up a live web cam that would just be great. At least we then can see that they are working..
I guess the waiting for something new to arrive makes some if us insane..lol..including me

[TerryRussell]

But this is our thanks for teaching you all! Ridicule is our reward! Humbug!

That will be £25 for using "Humbug" without the obligatory "Bah!" in front of it.

If you don't pay us before 12th of Never, we will have to remind you that in order to get to England, our ancestors had to completely miss out the Netherlands, preferring instead to take the Easy-Boat Direct Longship service from Bergen, or else to travel the economy route via Normandy and change there, with a short wait of 300 years before transferring to the Hastings Norsemen Invasion service.

[Mad_Fred]

  

[firestar12]

I would watch out. Terry doesn't fool around. Almost had to teach me a lesson because I didn't pay him in time.