Game Appeal

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[oomickoo]

I certainly mean no offense to our friends "across the pond" or "down under," but it seems to me that this sim would have much greater appeal to a wider US audience if it contained more venues/environments and crafts from the US. The "Great Lakes," for example?

I have to admit, I may not be the most "marine-saavy" person in the world, but then again, I've had my share of "tiller twisting" and "rigging jigging" and most of the included craft in this sim, I've never even heard of.

I'm perusing these forums in contemplation of purchasing ,but now I'm not so sure I will. Hard to relate to when all the action is on the "other side of the globe."

Also, maybe someone could answer a question regarding something I saw on one of the other topic forums regarding making ships with different company colors, logos, etc. It seemed the discussion was saying that if Auran used "real" company logos, names, color schemes, etc. it could/would lead to possible legal issues. If that is true, why then, can Auran's Train Simulator have all sorts of stuff on their download station that carries actual trains modeled after their real-life counterparts for folks to download into their layouts?

Could it be that maybe Auran steered clear of those possible issues and that the trains on the DL Station are all 3rd party creations and somehow "immune" to legal issues? Just curious, since it would really be cool to see some Great Lakes Ore Carriers on the ship simulator for dl, sporting the real colors/logos of some fo the Great Lakes companies that sail here.

Climbing off my soapbox now,....

Mick

[oomickoo]

I mean Vstep, not Auran. Sorry. Been playing with Trainz too long, I guess....

[marcstrat]

Greetings,
I agree with you,however please keep inmind that this game is not for a long time on the market.Vstep did allready New-york and San Fransisco bay.At this time they are still working to get the game better(without bugs and errors).
We all know that their are very nice places on this globe,but Vstep cant make them all in one time.Prohably there's more to come in the future.
Regards
Marc

[oomickoo]

Yep, I agree Marc. Hopefully, they read these boards and with any luck at all, I might get lucky and get what I would like to see.

In reading over some of the other forum topics, it sure would be nice if they eventually took a page from Trainz and allowed 3rd party content, incorporated a Surveyor-type world building system, and so forth. I do agree that would make their product appeal to the entire world. I mean, look how Auran's railroad products have taken off (or Microsoft's Flight Sim series) with 3rd party stuff, and the ability to fly anyplace in the world. I tell you, it's fun flying from my little MN town to a neighboring one and knowing where I am and seeing familiar landmarks. But it wouldn't be any fun at all if I was forced to only fly in New York, London, or some other globe spot I have absolutely no connection with.

By not releasing their code, they may think they're "protecting their assets" now (short term gain), but I bet Auran sure isn't losing any money! 

Mick

[mvsmith]

Mick,
I’d like to see the Edmund Fitzgerald and your pond to float her in.
VSTEP has not yet tackled working locks, but the St, Lawrence Seaway would be interesting.
The Mississippi and Columbia Rivers: The latter is close to home, and has many interesting possibilities from Pilot missions at the bar to pushboat/barge operations on the upper Columbia.
Then there is Depoe Bay, Oregon—home to the Hole in the Wall Gang (Motor Lifeboat Station, Depoe Bay).
All of these environments are very difficult to produce, and the list is endless.
We do have New York & San Francisco.

You are right that the thousands of things on the download station are third party freeware and too numerous for companies to prosecute. Many of the items are of very high quality. There are a couple of very talented Dutch modelers doing Trainz, but I think they are Limburgers and not interested in boats.

Marty

[oomickoo]

I agree. My hometown is Duluth, MN (where the Fizt was coming from the night she sank) and recall the scary newsflash on our local TV that cold, wind-torn November night. I was just a kid and Mom & Dad weren't home. Scary night, indeed.

With the ore and coal transport that goes on on the Great Lakes, I could see great potential for a Ship Sim game to branch off like Trainz, where instead of making the sim about speed (like another poster mentioned that he thought all the game was at this point and not a true sim), make it about interactive industry, hauling ore/coal around to different ports, loading, unloading, ballast issues, weather, (shipping late into the season like the ore boats do), and so forth.

What a neat concept! No shortage of ship models to pattern after.

[mvsmith]

Yes, Mick, there is some great interactive ship stuff on the Trainz DL Station.
I spent some time with the ore loader, tug & ore barge, and the unloader. I had two barges running continuously through the lock.
I have a feeling such things are harder to implement in the graphics engine VSTEP uses.

[Stuart2007]

You are right that the thousands of things on the download station are third party freeware and too numerous for companies to prosecute. Many of the items are of very high quality. There are a couple of very talented Dutch modelers doing Trainz, but I think they are Limburgers and not interested in boats.

Without going off topic (as I seem to be doing  a lot with copyright issues) there was a test case in the european union  (and so G. Britain as well) (and I believe that U.S. had a similar ruling) that a company can be guilty by association of allowing users to put illegal data on its servers).

So in that case all they would need to do is sue Auran or whoever. Not saying they WILL but they COULD.

Stu

[Mr Robville]

i think more options and less bugs are making the game more attractive

btw oomickoo, you can use the ''edit'' button to edit your message if you made a mestake

[oomickoo]

Yep, I see that, Rob. Unfortunately, my post went "live" before I realized my mistake. (Days off, stay up late, brain gets fuzzy! LOL!)

I hadn't heard that, Stu (being sued for permitting uploads on server), but there again, it would be up to VStep to authorize it. I wouldn't advocate anyone suberting them and post illegal content out there for public consumption, I was just saying "it sure would be nice if..."

Everyone (including myself) is drawing a comparison with Auran. But, then again, there's a good reason. It's a nice business model and they're at least giving the impression that they're very friendly towards their community and fan base, as opposed to trying like so many developers out there to charge for every little add-on and aspect of their product. (OK, they actually do seem to care about us Trainz users. They've been very helpful and nice to work with on tech issues.     )

I don't wish to even approach (and this certainly isn't the place, anyway) the subject of being fairly compensated for their artistic efforts, yada, yada, yada (take that discussion to a payware board!), I'm just saying that if they want their Ship Sim product to enjoy the same kind of success as a company with a similar product, they might be smart to take a page from Auran.

Ship Sim looks to hold a lot of promise and could be very fun and I can see it going big world-wide. I'm just saying that if it's development and marketing is handled right, both the developer and us (a somewhat dubouis now but hopefully future-faithful community), benefit and do so in a HUGE way.

Mick

[Agent|Austin]

One of the reasons for that is because they are located in rotterdam and can actually go look at take pics of the real ships. And atm they don't have enough money to go to the US to study those ships.

[oomickoo]

Yet another reason to allow 3rd party content!   

[marcstrat]

One of the reasons for that is because they are located in rotterdam and can actually go look at take pics of the real ships. And atm they don't have enough money to go to the US to study those ships.

Greetings,
Yes,Vstep is located in Rotterdam,and they are able to take pics in that area.I do that if needed for Vstep in my area(Antwerp)harbour and river Scheldt.Because Vstep can't.
This is why we sometimes ask members,to go out and make pictures in their area,if needed.
So we allow 3 party's to help.
Regards
Marc

[Stuart2007]

And atm they don't have enough money to go to the US to study those ships.

Really?!  And where did they state that?

Mick: I can see the logic in what you are saying- but remember that Auran are not trying to make a realistic rail simulator with trains. Vstep ARE trying to make ship sim realistic. Whether I or you or anyone agrees with their plan is something that we will vote on with buying future versions or not as the case may be.

I can understand that there may be a reluctance to open up the sim to 3rd party add ons as many add ons for other sims are total rubbish. Perhaps Vstep should be more welcoming to QUALITY add on designs. For example, if someone goes to them with a good quality add on (ship, harboUr etc) then maybe they would use/buy it. So I don't think Vstep is closing the door on them totally.

Stu

[oomickoo]

Stuart, I think you just put into words what I've been struggling to say all along. Well done, my friend!