Ship Controls - independent gear and throttle controls?

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[aronalgren]

I tried the 2008 demo and liked it very much.  I will probably buy the 2008 or Extreme version when it comes out.  I am looking for one particular feature however that I am not sure either version has in order to practice ship handling for a boat that I will actually get to sail.

Are there ships available for the simulator that have dual controls - separate levers for the gears and another set for the throttles?  A twin engine boat would have four separate and independent levers.  One lever to put the starboard engine into forward, neutral or reverse.  Another lever to manipulate that engine's throttle or increase its rpm once it is put in gear.  The port engine would have the same setup.

All the videos that I have seen seem to have two levers for a twin engine boat.  Each lever incorporates the gear and throttle controls into one unit.  Push the lever forward and the engine is automatically put into gear and immediately increases the rpm's so the boat travels forward.  Pull the same lever backwards and the engine is immediately put into reverse and the throttle increased.

If anyone can clarify the abilities of the simulator or let me know of any ships on the program that have separate controls for the gears and throttles for each engine, I would be very thankful!

-Aron

[mvsmith]

Hi Aron,

No, none of the small boats have separate gear levers in SS 2008. I doubt if any will in Extremes either. That won’t be known until release in about 3 months.

Regards,
Marty

[aronalgren]

Hi Marty,

Thanks for the reply.  What about large ships?  Is it the same control layout as the smaller boats?

[Minime]

also I think many of the boats in the game don't actually have that setup in real life, it's very normal now just to have one lever for a single engine and two for a two engine boat.

[clanky]

Large ships with bridge controls almost exclusively have a single lever control for each engine / shaft, even ships which have reversing gearboxes (which are very rare) have a single lever control.

The only ship which I have ever sailed on which had more than one lever to control an engine was an old turbo electric cruise ship which had a reversing lever an excitation lever and a throttle lever for each engine, but that was engine room control as there is no way we would give deck officers so many levers to play with! 

[Minime]

Large ships with bridge controls almost exclusively have a single lever control for each engine / shaft, even ships which have reversing gearboxes (which are very rare) have a single lever control.

The only ship which I have ever sailed on which had more than one lever to control an engine was an old turbo electric cruise ship which had a reversing lever an excitation lever and a throttle lever for each engine, but that was engine room control as there is no way we would give deck officers so many levers to play with! 

always keeping the fun stuff for them self down there in the machine room.

[Ballast]

On all our vessels, the main engine is started and stopped on the bridge... HA!

[Capt. Matt]

On our boat we have a separate gearbox for transmition and throttle, so did our old speedboat, Pain in the stern if you ask me 

[mvsmith]

On all our vessels, the main engine is started and stopped on the bridge... HA!

Hi Ballast,

The engine switches were added to the bridges by popular demand.
There was also to be a switch to turn on the “Fasten Seatbelts” signs to satisfy the demands of flight simulator fans for more controls on the bridge. For some reason it never made it into SS08. Perhaps in Extremes…

Regards,
Marty

[Traddles]

Perhaps, by way of interest, I might add that M.V."Craftsman" of Liverpool, built in 1972 was the first vessel owned by T.& J. Harrison Ltd. to have a sixteen hours a day unmanned engine room with ALL propulsion controls governed electronically from the bridge. There was one SINGLE lever which moved forwards to go ahead, backwards to go astern and centered for stop. There was a "click" between dead slow, slow, half and full ahead and astern. The centre position had a small side ways motion between ahead and astern to prevent moving from full ahead to full astern in a single swift move. I remember sailing on her for the first time with such equipment and finding it very simple and straitforward to "drive" the main engine. It would appear from Ballasts post that nothing has changed much in 38 years. The ship was also, at the time, the only British ship capable of lifting 500 tons, sorry 508 tonnes, at one go with twin Stulken derricks. Picture below.

Regards,

Angus

[Ballast]

That's an interesting story Angus. Those were the days. Must be a nice feeling to sail on a ship who held a record like that. Perhaps the only thing changed, is the use of controllable pitch propellers.

[aronalgren]

Thanks for all the info.  I appreciate it.
-Aron

[aronalgren]

Unfortunately, I am new to boating and am still looking for the dual control setup to practice for a boat that I am going to get to sail somewhat regularly.  Nothing worse than trying to dock with a current, people watching and an expensive boat that you don't want to ding.  If I can simply find a layout with dual controls so that it becomes second nature, that would be ideal.

Are there programs that allow you to design something with that layout to be used on ship simulator?

Are there any boat designers out there who might have even one ship with this layout?

Thanks,
Aron

[mvsmith]

Hi Aron,

Even if an entirely new control setup were provided – far from a trivial matter because it requires changing the dynamics routine for the craft - SS08 is not suitable for what you want because neither currents nor tides are emulated.

Regards,
Marty

[clanky]

To be honest Aron, as fun a game as ship simulator is it won't really prepare you for driving a real boat.  The only thing will be practice.

Where ship sim will help is that if you can find a boat in ship sim with similar weight and size then it will give you some idea of stopping distances etc., but as for actually using the controls the best thing you can do is have a go on the real thing and start off very cautiously.

[Ballast]

You could use ShipSim to get an idea about what a double propeller vessel is capable of.

Every *great maneuver* stands or fall with a good planning. You need to think a few moves ahead. The rest is all practice! It also might help to see how other people do it in the marina. If you don't learn anything from that, it should give you at least a good laugh  

[ondacomup76]

I have to agree with ballast.  You need to think every manuever through.  If you're not accustomed to operating a vessel of that size, or even a twin screw vessel there will be a lot to get used to.  If you currently operate twin screw vessels without the independent gear and throttle controls then you have the hurdle of habit to overcome.  
Make cautious approaches, I started by using throttle as little as possible.  If your approach is slow and properly planned, in fair weather conditions, you should be able to get away with using mostly gear selections.
Always make smooth slow movements of the controls, that way, if and when you select the throttle for the gear or vice versa, you can catch the error before it's an accident.  After the first couple of approaches, it will be like second nature.  Also sit in the seat and go through the motions without the engines on.  That helped me as well.