My, my Global moderators. Why so defensive ……. Its only a game.
As moderators, representatives, sales people you guys are doing a wonderful job of destroying V – Step’s reputation as a serious games provider and at times your attitude is aggressive even hostile and it appears any time there is even a hint of something odd about this game you seem to ride to its defence without actually debating the fundamentals of any point even findings that could actually make for a better product. You only ever pick up on the bad points .. I have said on several occasions that this is a good ship game and probably the best there is currently on the market. It seems that you are not reading and understanding what is written. You talk of intelligent life but you don’t seem to be able to understand your own customer’s requirements and expectations, so how is there ever going to be any improvement to this product if there is no where to point things out to you without you taking offence all of the time. …
I am not alone it seams .. Just go to Amazon UK site and look at the reviews. There are 17 reviews, 2 people gave 5 stars ( Only they look suspiciously as being attached to this forum ) and 12 of them give you guys a 1 star rating out of 5. ( 1 star being the worst ) and someone called Lisa who bought this game for her son actually stated that she would have given it a ‘ 0 ‘ if she could . Yes that was a zero. . If that is not ringing any bells then there is nothing that I can write on here that is going to help you put together a better game that people actually expect. Those same people with those same expectations are your customers if you don’t listen to them and help them then your product is not going to sell and people will have doubts about buying into a new version that’s if you have enough sales revenue to support a new edition. You have already stopped supporting ship simulator 2008 and I suspect leaving many of your older customers feeling somewhat bemused even abandoned as through no fault of their own their computer is not up to the demands of the new game and therefore will be unable to extend the life of a product that they bought in the last few years… Some will be asking themselves no doubt if it would be worth while buying into a new version ( not everyone is in the position to go out and buy a new PC every time a new game comes out) You guys have much to learn about supporting old versions of products and maintaining your customer base. There are many , many people out there who still use Flight sim 2004 and Trainz 2004 and they do so because you can still down load new products for both those computer games both free and pay ware. To me it seems crazy for you to be cutting off your own customers like that, many I suspect who will not bother coming back as they will simply move on to other things. You have already pointed out that this is a niche market with a smaller following then flight sim only you are not helping to make it any bigger. I would say after reading a lot of the reviews and also a lot of the comments on this forum that you are also alienating people. ……. You are therefore self-generating a shrinking market. Someone has already written on this forum that ‘ V – Step isn’t going to worry about loosing a customer ‘ Well with that kind of attitude and business model some day there aren’t going to be enough customers left to actually warrant publishing a new version and then you will be on a forum that has mostly failed to debate anything that would help to enhance this product.
As for seamanship most of the stuff you refer to is fine for 1940 / 1950 / 1960 a world of bulk break ships and tramp steamers unfortunately all that has been swept aside. Go look at the imported goods in any UK shop in any UK city. Most of them arrived via container ships. If we had to mess about with your version of seamanship then those same shops would be empty. The modern world doesn’t have time for pottering about in boats. The ships im on often arrive in port unloads 5000 containers, picks up an out going load and departs again with in 24 hours. Those same ships come from half way round the world and arrive on time every time. The customer doesn’t want to know how wonderful the seamanship is the people who buy the products don’t want to know how wonderful the seamanship is ( They just want to buy the goods )….. So who cares if the ships computer downloads real time weather reports and then automatically plots several courses with arrival times etc etc. I do not. The company doesn’t, the customers don’t and the people who buy the goods in the shops don’t ….. Which probably more or less leaves people like yourself and if fancy modern equipment is so bad then why are you operating a computer game on a computer which is trying to simulate ships jammed packed with fancy modern equipment.…
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You bang on about seamanship only in this game you cannot even do your version of good old seamanship as there are no tides, currents, winds, marker buoys, lightships, lighthouses etc, etc Even the compass is only marked as N. E. S. W. where are the degrees ..? there is nothing to support a compass bearing …So how are you going to plot one. What are you going to do in open sea. …. Guess which way to go next. Perhaps ask a friendly passing container ship for directions and then are you still going to be doing that at night, in the fog …. ??
So tell me which equipment do you use in this game to navigate around the map … The so called Chart is actually mimicking a ground mapping GPS system, you know that fancy modern equipment. So no peeking at the GM GPS display … So how do you get from A to B …. …. ??
As for Microsoft Flight sim the US Navy uses it for pre flight training after one of their students passed out a few years ago with very exceptional ratings after using it to train up on.. On Mircosoft Flight Sim at least you can follow a compass course or a NDB bearing or a VOR bearing and you can also track a ILS. You can fly the Magenta line on the EFIS system and the EFIS ( Electronic Flight Instrument System ) system actually works along with the alarms. At least there is some sort of communication system and also some sort of traffic / flight control and yes planes do stop when they fuel runs out. There is also a payload system ( Load the aircraft to the max and it will not take off ) and you can set the aircraft to auto pilot and fly on the systems, some of the aircraft have got MCDU installed ( Multifunction Control Display Unit ) and workable flight management systems and the doors of the aircraft do open. The weather system is a little ropy but at least there is some wind and cross winds on landing and take offs and their scenery is lit at night and there is support for third party add-ons through various websites even support and add-on’s for older versions of flight sim with a lot of choice in both pay ware and free down loads of scenery, aircraft and support structures and what’s more you can edit the whole thing and even repaint the aircraft if you so desire.
To be fair it has taken a long time to get it there then again in many of those years it was being developed on some very limited computer systems with very limited computer programmes and the whole thing only got into its stride after Microsoft managed to develop its XP Programme to series 2 only along the way the programme makers did listened to people, especially people in the industry in an attempt to make the product better.
And yes I will write it again. This is a good ship game it is probably the best that there currently is on the market …… The 2008 version has got a very good and user friendly Mission Editor .. Only over all the whole thing has its limitations, limitations that you are not helping to address …. As JHB from Norway has so kindly called it this is ‘ Ship Handling Simulator for Kids ‘ so if that’s the level you want to remain at then I am happy for you I wish you well.
Kindest regards
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‘The makers also have an excellent Forum where technical help and comments on the game can be freely and openly discussed’ . Angus Traddles 30 April 2009 UK Amazon.
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Oh Really ………
I don’t think that you have discussed or debated anything that I wrote …. Don’t worry I will be returning to sea soon, you know ‘to how’s it’s done for real’ and leave you guys to your version. There is one other question I would like to ask before I go and I will ask that as a new topic ……
Below is a paragraph taken from an avsim forum from a pilot and programmer from PMDG … Posted 28 September 2010 - 05:41 PM
So lets talk about "realism" in the sim world for a moment: All of us on the PMDG development team are fairly heavy consumers of add-ons, and we frequently have internal discussions about quality, realism and detail. Specifically, we tend to focus on what makes one product truly stand out, while another product might not set the world on fire.
So how come PMDG can debate and find out what people require and then go on to enhance their product and you do not seam to be able to…….
