Dissapointed at Ocean Star

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[AriesDW]

The Star, as many cruise liners, have pusher pods. Pusher pods, according to several sources, provide less stern "thrashing" and reduce vibration and cavatation. If you turn the pods around and run them in reverse, then they essentially are pullers, but that is pretty counter intuitive and will result in reduced performance quality.

[Bottman]

@Cloud: Unfortunately only the developers at VSTEP can move the statics! That's why a few new missions are weird at some places, because we mission creators didn't know exactly, where some of those will appear in the final version..

Regards

[Bottman]

The Star, as many cruise liners, have pusher pods.

How do you know?  Have you seen her dry docked? 
Guess, she has "virtual" pods and the responsible developer has no idea about the difference at all...
Cheers

[Cloud]

Thanks for the feedback on the static vessels Bottman. Yes, it's definately a little frustrating. Is there any way the development team can be influenced to remove them in the prime locations? Perhaps in a future version or update?

Kind Regards

[Bottman]

That's exactly what I'm asking the developers for! Hopefully we, the mission creators, will get the tool for it. 

[AriesDW]

How do you know?  Have you seen her dry docked? 
Guess, she has "virtual" pods and the responsible developer has no idea about the difference at all...
Cheers

As a matter of fact yes . . . :p

[fishlikelong]

I just cant get the hang of it lol....At one point I had my ship going sideways! Lol

[ACR]

As a matter of fact yes . . . :p

you surely mean this  (pushing )pods....

http://www.marinelog.com/IMAGES/pod.jpeg

but oops, boottman seems to be right, i see pulling pods 

it is the carnival triupmh...

[Alex Brown]

RE: Thrusters. Yes, they are VERY unrealistic. I am also having throttle to speed issues. Even with the motors @ 19 RPM the ship breaks 11 knots and continues to accelerate. Also, the pods are responding inproperly when spun to 90/-90 facing. Still a lot of kinks to work out.

This is the main issue I have, but when trying to go astern as well. When you are going ahead, say 10knots, turn the pods around to 180 degrees and then apply full power only to find the thing goes faster ahead (say 15knots or so) for a good 30 seconds or more before all of a sudden it starts slowing down. I agree that there would be a delay while the pod turns around, but is it really that long? Unfortunately I am unable to do a direct video from screen, so will try with the camcorder later on to show the problems I have with the vessel.

The pic attached shows Ocean Star going 10knots sideways.... that bow thruster is very very powerful indeed

-Alex

[budbud]

Hi Alex

Regarding to the time an azipod takes to turn 180°, I can only tell you a figure from my own experience on a ship with azimuth thrusters (not azipod): It was taking 17 seconds to turn 180°. Even if it sounds short, actually in manoeuvre it's really long and you have to be really careful when applying thruster!
Budbud.

[Alex Brown]

Hello Budbud,

Yeah, I am aware that some tugs also have 17 or 18 second turn around on their pods too. If the Ocean Star is also this slow, ie 30 seconds for the full 180 degree, then maybe this should be a feature request as a dial on the ship somewhere that tells you where the pod is actually pointing - like you get on tugs. So for example, if you point the pod at 90 degrees from 0, you should see a dial coming around until it hits 90 - this would not be linked directly to the control that you see, and should provide information only on where the pod is pointed. I believe the same should also apply with Bugsier, since I know there is a small delay in turning there which is about right, but it would be nice to know what the pod is upto.

The attached pic shows what I'm on about, with the pod direction on the left, propellor rpm on the middle and engine rpm on the right.

-Alex

[budbud]

Hi Alex,

I fully agree with you on the fact there should be a feedback display of the position of the azipods, if there is a delay between the request and the reply in ss2008.

Budbud.

[Cloud]

The pic attached shows Ocean Star going 10knots sideways.... that bow thruster is very very powerful indeed

Very nice pic!    I think that's proof enough that it needs some tweaking.

[Agent|Austin]

The attached pic shows what I'm on about, with the pod direction on the left, propellor rpm on the middle and engine rpm on the right.

I like that, just like Red Eagle has. Except the delay would show instead of being instant.

[vampire]

What would be really nice is if the Ocean Star's controls behaved similarly to those in a Spirit/Vista/QV2-class ship.

They have 3 modes :
"ship mode", in which the ship's wheel turns the azipods, much like a conventional ship's wheel turns the rudder.  In this mode, the azipods can move up to 35 degrees from the straight ahead position.  The ship then behaves pretty much like a standard vessel.

"maneuvering mode", in which each azipods is independently controlled.  If I remember correctly, the maximum rpm of each propellor is limited to about 40% of full power.  Full power is only available in "ship mode".

"joystick mode", in which a joystick is used to position the ship, and the system's computers take care of the azipod direction and power, and also the bow thrusters.

I can dream...!

[LukeL]

why can't it be when you go right the ship moves left it should be the same as the other ships

[Agent|Austin]

why can't it be when you go right the ship moves left it should be the same as the other ships

It uses pods, so no it can't be. This is to learn manovering and this is how you do it on these vessels.

[TJK]

It uses pods, so no it can't be. This is to learn manovering and this is how you do it on these vessels.

Bugsier 2 is using pods and when you go right the ship moves to right why is the  different
TJK
 

why can't it be when you go right the ship moves left it should be the same as the other ships

[Agent|Austin]

Buggser 2 is using pods and when you go right the ship moves to right why is the  different
TJK
 

Because the buggser is using pusher pods. Star is using puller pods.

[Bottman]

The main (and only) difference between the "Ocean Star" and the "Bugsier 2" is the location of the thrusters. That may cause some confusion. The steering and/or behaviour of both vessels would be the same as now with pulling or pushing units. That makes no difference at all for the manoeuvrebility.

Cheers

[Captain Best]

I love Ocean Star. everything s nice. Walkmode i like. and the design and the controller. this look so Realistic

[Paddy134]

V-step should swap the ocean star with a proper ship like the QM2

[TJK]

V-step should swap the ocean star with a proper ship like the QM2

If you don't like Ocean Star live it and don't use her, i don't like Latitude and i don't use that ship, simple as that

[NathanC]

TJK is right, i don't like the RPA 12 that much, so i don't use it much 

[Subwolf]

Hi, it's pretty simple! I did some trials and the effect results from the very slow turning of the pods! If you stopp engines first, then turning both to 180 degree and wait a few seconds, then full throttle and you will see the vessel slows down as you want it. If you turn the pods whilst the engines are at speed, the vessel may leave the course and/or it accelerates further until the thrusters have reached the other direction. The controls are fasten than the pods and that is realistic

That's correct, I tried this ship today and there is nothing wrong with her controls. SS08 captains have to remember that her huge pods don't turn as fast as you turn the controls, the pods need at least 30 seconds to complete a 180 turn, which is very realistic indeed

On real ships there is also an important instrument on the bridge showing the pods actual movement and position.