naughty, naughty VSTEP

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[keflin2612]

Hi all ,I'm new here and new to any Ship Sim, as I'm a Flight Sim nut myself at the moment using FSX.
and I would just like to say that if you were only allowed to use FSX default aircraft it would be a pretty dull Simulator but the main reason it has been such a big success over the years is because companies such as Aerosoft, Carenado, Wilco and PMDG to name just a few are allowed to build and sell third party addon aircraft and scenery.
Now there is company called Deltasim Studio's who make very good ships and boats for use in FSX and FS2004 so I asked Robert Waszkiewicz of Deltasim if he had any plans to build anything for Ship Simulator Extremes and his answer was "Sorry, no way, there is no tools. VSTEP does not allow other developers to build ships"  
Can you tell me why this is please, I mean I can understand that you may loose a little bit of revenue but I'm sure it would make your simulator more popular with the general public and I'm sure in the long run It would make you more money.
I'm sure there would be a lot of your customers who would love the chance to contribute to the sim by making ships, boats and scenery.
Any feed back good or bad would be greatly appreciated.

[Shipaddict]

Hi, and welcome to ShipSim!

Just before I add my opinion, I'm no expert on the techy aspects of the game and its development, so apologies if I am not correct on a few points!

To my knowledge, VSTEP do allow other people to create ships for the game. In total there are about 47 steps to successfully add a ship in. The actual model is only the first part, the rest is made up of lots of maths as well as other aspects such as collision models etc. VSTEP would need a lot of mathematical information on the dynamics and behaviour of the vessels modelled, as well as the programming and fine tuning to get it in game.

As I said, some user ships have been added. Some good examples of this are the SS Furie and the Tug Elbe which are both available from the Shipyard for SS08 and were created by Simon Richardson.

Once again, sorry if what I said isn't entirely correct, but from what I've learnt around the forum that's roughly it. Good people to ask about this are mvsmith and LucATC, they know a lot more than me.

Cheers,
Mike

[Capt Phil]

I've purchased watercraft fron deltasim studios before.. its decent stuff.. but not to the quality of ship sim...

[mvsmith]

Any skilful 3D modeler can make a ship for SS and be paid for his model if he can work to VSTEP’s exacting standards. Very few step up to the plate. If you look around the forum, you can find documents and videos that will tell you what is involved in getting a ship into the sim.
I don’t bother to explain it to every newcomer who starts by enlightening us rubes about this FSX thing where I hear you can fly airyplanes and stuff.

[Oasis]

Its a long way to go before we start seeing the interest in developers making addon's for ship simulator, firstly a lot more code needs to be published, so that addon developers can make their own playable maps, be able to change the water textures or add better crash dynamics for example.

Secondly most Flight Simulator addon's cost roughly £19-£30, while Ship Simulators 2008's addons are only £4, this is because the level of detail is accurate, with real insturments being simulated and real dynamics being used to simulate its real life counter-part, as most flight simulator addon developer's want to make a profit from their work. And when they have a choice of making something their use to (another flight sim plane or airport) than going into the new making a ship which will be half the price if they had of launched a flight sim plane instead, they are going to stick with something they are comfortable with.

I see the way forward in terms of player/addon development is for VSTEP to launch its own, "Ship Editor" much like it's Mission Editor, where the player/user can create his own ship using a simple/basic user interface. A bit like what X-Plane does.

But to be honest, VSTEP have already included a wide range of playable ships ranging from tankers to cruise ships. So I think most people are happy with what they already have.

I hope this explains in my opinion why I think Ship Simulator is lacking in addon development.

Oasis

[marcstrat]

Its not only the creation of the vessel itself,which is importent.The exact dynamics of the vessel needs to go in it to.Examples:Exact speed ,from full revers to full ahead,the differnt turns,on the different speeds(turning-circle).From full ahead to stop(emergency break).
You see its alot more than just create the ship.
Regards
Marc

[metman]

Agree with the comments expressed above.  My own feeling is that the comment made by Deltasim was their way of saying we don't do it because we can't make money out of it - which is of course the bottom line!!

[JHB]

Agree with the comments expressed above.  My own feeling is that the comment made by Deltasim was their way of saying we don't do it because we can't make money out of it - which is of course the bottom line!!

Good point. If there was a great payout for 3rd party add-ons made within the framework of VSTEP for accepting new add-ons, we would likely see some of this 3rd party contribution come alive. But until now, it's maybe 2-3 add-on developers (3rd parties) that has contributed ships/boats for this sim. The rest is modified Turbosquid-models or core developed player ships/AI vessels by VSTEP.

If it's true that "they cannot make money of it" (referring to Deltasim), I can imagine how hard it would be to establish a 3rd party company on this when they likely just make a couple of euros on each add-on. I cannot clearly see a business opportunity here, since economics plays an important role if such a company is going to survive.

I can only see a business opportunity for individual 3rd parties (single developers).