My thoughts about shipsim 2008

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[serioussam909]

Missions are boring - they lack action - time multiplier is REALLY neccessary...
And there are too few controls (interactive parts) - c'mon - real life ships definately have more than just 2 engine controls and a steering wheel - especially that big ships like Latitude or Titanic. Flight and even car simulations have more controls. And there are NO people on the board - when i steer Titanic or some other large ship i feel like I am steering some ghost ship. There could have been 2x times less ships, but more detailed. I remember game, "search and rescue 4" - helicopter simulation - it have far more controls - you can open all doors, let the medics out - use various life-saving equipment and even you must properly start helicopter up. Ship simulator yet feels like arcade - you sail to waypoint - and then wait when it turns green - like in some GTA, not actually see an animation how people are saved. Ok, waves, water effects and weather are great - it really makes you feel that you are sailing in open waters, but most of time it's boooring. You cannot go to engine room, you cannot tune or repair engines, there is unlimited fuel, you cannot go inside ship (some corridors do not count) - you cannot use ship lights,  ships are almost uninteractive. There are no navigation devices and no autopilot - and where are the radars and echolotes? Stering a Latitude is almost as boring as my job in beer brewery...

[simplayer]

Hey man,
give the guys a break, its not like that they have bill gates bancaccount.
If your so bored with SS08, you could of have downloaded the demo first, on the other hand sinds you work in a brewery, have a bucket of beer, the tasks would be much more difficult... 

[andy_m]

I agree with simplayer, get down off your high horse and give VTSEP a break. SS08 is only their second commercial release and theres only about two dozen employees working for the company. They've worked their backsides off to bring improvements over SS06.
I bet when FlightSim was first released the same manks and moans were brought up. Give it some time and one day we can see all the points you have mentioned.
Until such time the only advice I can offer is deal with it as harsh as it may seem. Whinging about it wont improve the game.
And to be fair the ships handle and act pretty realisticly, im in the British Navy and have steered a 3500 ton frigate and helped berth said ship so I have an idea of how cumbersome larger vessels can be.

Regards,
Andy

[serioussam909]

Yes it's their second release - i hoped that in this release they at least add a time multiplier and some more controls, because the existing ones are the same as in shipsim 2006 - of course i did not expect all the features I mentioned - but i think that adding time multiplier is not the hardest and most difficult thing for developers - it alone could have made game far less boring for me. And yes maybe I actually critiqued this game too much - i like the new ships, environments, weather, waves etc, and, yes, ship handling is pretty realistic (there are some bugs) - I cant really say anything about that, because biggest water transportation that i have steered in real life are a rubber boat and a water motorcycle (personal watercraft). But still it feels like that something is missing and by now playing these two simulators I feel like playing some unfinished/beta versions...

[Stuart2007]

Have you tried any of the new missions available for download?

I have to admit that I just couldn't get enthusiastic about several of the missions (maybe that will change when the mid game save is available and I tackle the longer missions). But after downloading the new missions it has changed 08 beyond compare.

Stu

[Hudizzle]

Just give Vstep and the Ship Sim developers a chance. After all, like others have said, it's still a new game. It has much potential. (I'm just waiting for the patch.)

[simplayer]

Maybe if you think about it,
the one thing VSTEP didnt realize in the beginning was that they probably didnt have a clue whether the game would take off the way it does now.
I played some 5 to 6 years ago a simulator called "Ports Of Call", a little while ago i checked the game again and i was stunned that they made almost no progress since then, yeah, it starts to look better, but if you look at the progress VSTEP made in the last two years then i think VSTEP has a lot more potential.

Before i kick someone in the b*lls, the things i mentioned above about VSTEP is my humble opinion... and maybe not a fact
So VSTEP, keep it up and to say it in latin: Constantia et labore...

[Agent|Austin]

Driving ships across the ocean is boring...

They did the best in the time. I am sure the future version that i WILL buy WILL be better.

I bet when FlightSim was first released the same manks and moans were brought up. Give it some time and one day we can see all the points you have mentioned.

I bought FS2000 for some reason... I have FS2004 and FSX...  and it sucks >_<

[Gertjan]

When MS Flight Sim started were talking about early nineties, the sim look like crap compared to FSX does now so Vstep is way ahead on that one. it just needs some serious bug fixing, and the planned multiplayer, more ships, environments and missions.

[[RWP]DJM]

When MS Flight Sim started were talking about early nineties, the sim look like crap compared to FSX does now so Vstep is way ahead on that one. it just needs some serious bug fixing, and the planned multiplayer, more ships, environments and missions.

Flight Simulator actually started in the early 80's.....1981 if I recall (the idea dates back to the 1970's).  25 years of development goes a long way to achieving the standard of game available now.  For Vstep to be expected to achieve this in a matter of a year or so, is pretty much unrealistic.

Given time, the features in Ship Simulator most likely will be much more advanced, just look at where we are now from just 1 year ago eh

Personally, I love Ship Sim and the advances that have been made in such a short space of time, to me, are staggering.  Surely, most of us agree that Vstep deserve recognition for their achievements so far

Regards.

DJM.

[Traddles]

When I first went to sea in 1951 the ships I sailed in had no radar, no VHF, no gyro compass, and in fact the "controls" DID consist of just a steering wheel and an engine room telegraph. Of course there was alsao the watchkeeping Officer who was expected, no, required to have two very good eyes too!!!! Funnily enough I never got bored, there was too much to do and too much to see. I personally can think of nothing better than a long sea passage away from all the hassle and rush of the rest of the world. What sort of "Controls" does the originator of this post think there are on a ships bridge? Even now, not much more than a steering wheel and telegraph (Or probably direct engine bridge control) because that is all that is needed to control a ship. I should perhaps include a bow thruster on the bigger ships, but of course VSTEP has incorporated all of this anyway.

[donc13]

Missions are boring - they lack action - time multiplier is REALLY neccessary...
And there are too few controls (interactive parts) - c'mon - real life ships definately have more than just 2 engine controls and a steering wheel - especially that big ships like Latitude or Titanic. Flight and even car simulations have more controls. And there are NO people on the board - when i steer Titanic or some other large ship i feel like I am steering some ghost ship. There could have been 2x times less ships, but more detailed. I remember game, "search and rescue 4" - helicopter simulation - it have far more controls - you can open all doors, let the medics out - use various life-saving equipment and even you must properly start helicopter up. Ship simulator yet feels like arcade - you sail to waypoint - and then wait when it turns green - like in some GTA, not actually see an animation how people are saved. Ok, waves, water effects and weather are great - it really makes you feel that you are sailing in open waters, but most of time it's boooring. You cannot go to engine room, you cannot tune or repair engines, there is unlimited fuel, you cannot go inside ship (some corridors do not count) - you cannot use ship lights,  ships are almost uninteractive. There are no navigation devices and no autopilot - and where are the radars and echolotes? Stering a Latitude is almost as boring as my job in beer brewery...

This isn't an action game...it's a simulation.   Ever drive a ship or even go somewhere on a ship?    It takes a while, they're not speedy like a race car.    Also, you do have "radar", you have a compass and GPS, you have charts...there're not navigation devices?

What game are you really playing?

[mcsvls]

In my opinion...

I  think the thing that VPSTEP needs to do ASAP is make an element of this program open source so users
can develop ships and boats for the sim. If Flight Simulator has stayed closed to only development
from Microsoft it would not be what it is today, if exist at all.

Look at all the craft available on Virtual Sailor 7 made by users. Ship Sim is higher quality
but lacks the depth that creative users can add.

I see so much potential but a little lack of detail and imagaination. Some days driving the Red Falcon in the solent
I do pinch myself because it feels very real.

My two cents.

Thanks for the sim.

Mark S

[Qala]

I  think the thing that VPSTEP needs to do ASAP is make an element of this program open source so users
can develop ships and boats for the sim. If Flight Simulator has stayed closed to only development
from Microsoft it would not be what it is today, if exist at all.

Look at all the craft available on Virtual Sailor 7 made by users. Ship Sim is higher quality
but lacks the depth that creative users can add.

Look at what the fans have made out of Trainz. Auran has made a d*mn good job in opening up the platform to user generated content.
Okay, i admit they have a really good versioning, a nice "Content Manager" and VSTEP would have a long way to go there, but a Ship Building SDK or (btw, why didn't anyone suggest this before?) a map editor would be nice to have.

THAT's the point where a piece of software gets the potential of becoming a cult.

[Maik]

Missions are boring - they lack action - time multiplier is REALLY neccessary...
And there are too few controls (interactive parts) - c'mon - real life ships definately have more than just 2 engine controls and a steering wheel - especially that big ships like Latitude or Titanic. Flight and even car simulations have more controls. And there are NO people on the board - when i steer Titanic or some other large ship i feel like I am steering some ghost ship. There could have been 2x times less ships, but more detailed. I remember game, "search and rescue 4" - helicopter simulation - it have far more controls - you can open all doors, let the medics out - use various life-saving equipment and even you must properly start helicopter up. Ship simulator yet feels like arcade - you sail to waypoint - and then wait when it turns green - like in some GTA, not actually see an animation how people are saved. Ok, waves, water effects and weather are great - it really makes you feel that you are sailing in open waters, but most of time it's boooring. You cannot go to engine room, you cannot tune or repair engines, there is unlimited fuel, you cannot go inside ship (some corridors do not count) - you cannot use ship lights,  ships are almost uninteractive. There are no navigation devices and no autopilot - and where are the radars and echolotes? Stering a Latitude is almost as boring as my job in beer brewery...

Hold that thought. Save it somewhere in a word document or whatever and wait 20 years. After 20 years go buy ship sim 2028. Wanna bet that you have all the features you mentioned, maybe even more.

It just takes time to develop all the things you say. ANd think about the players wo are allready saying they can't play because there computers are not strong enought. You really think detailing the ships more and adding a couple of 100 people on board will help this situation. NO, this would only result in even more players wo aren't able to play the game.

And youre comparison to a helicopter game. In my opinion a helicopter is a few times smaller than let's say the PoR. So if you want to create the PoR with people and doors you can open. You wouldn't have anything for it. There isn't a computer in the world that can play it than

So it's just a mather of time, the developers create better ships and eventually people. And manufacturers make the computers that can handle all of that

[[RWP]DJM]

Hiya everyone

There are some very good points in this topic, but like others have suggested, development takes time

As I mentioned in another topic, look at where Ship Simulator came from.....and look where it is now, even more features are to be added with the new patch.......most of these at members requests

I love the way things are developing personally, we have an AMAZING game already, as well as an EVEN BETTER game to look forward to in the future

Regards.

DJM.

[Mr Robville]

there is nothing bad at SS2008 exept bugs and the sinking

[mvsmith]

Look at what the fans have made out of Trainz. Auran has made a d*mn good job in opening up the platform to user generated content.

In one respect, AURAN are far ahead of VSTEP:
Their trains have always had the ability to sink.

[marcstrat]

Greetings,
We, on this forum know that their are pro's and contra's on each game.So far Vstep has done a realy good job on this ship-sim,if you remember it's only on the market for a bit more than a year.
As you know the other sims you say,are on the market for several years.
Making game,or 3-D models,is not realy a 1.2.3 job.
You should give that a try,than you understand,what kind of work goes in to this.
Also,more items in the game the more heavy it becomes to.Look to flight-sim,they also just made the landmarks,you dont see cars riding on the highway,and so on.
Look in a few years back to this game,and you may be surpriced.
We,the members are working very good together,with Vstep to improve this game,and develope it further on.
People like Bottman,is realy doing a very good job,for creating new missions,others make new models.
This forum is very much alive,by the members and for the members.
Offcourse,their is allways a chance that some are not realy pleased with the job.
Maybe you can think about this.
Kind regards
Marc

[truebrit3]

Where can these new missions for 2008 be downladed from ?

[Shipaddict]

Where can these new missions for 2008 be downladed from ?

Missions section of SS08.

[Britannic]

If you want speed and action, go buy Need For Speed or summit-not a ship simulation.
If you want more detail and features, wait.
If you want to fly a plane, buy FS.

Simple As.

Thanks, Sky.

[saken41]

I REALLY enjoy playing Ship Simulator 2008 AND Ship Simulator 2006, I LOVE to sail the boats and ships in different environments , both Ship Simulator 2006 and Ship Simulator 2008 (both beautifully developed by VSTEP ) are the best PC games I have ever played !!!!