Technically the game still would need to be patched up as usual because if you remember Ss06, it has
Weather (more realistic)
Bow wake foams (more realistic)
Smoke (More Realistic, mainly on the Titanic needs to be more dark)
When you are in the ocean the water splashing and the whole background noise needs to be louder or added, because obliviously when you are at sea you can hear all these noises and light splashes in the background(harbors to) and a few seagull flying around and nearby to.And i have noticed that when you are at the walk through mode as you approach the controls you can hear the radio to and as you move away the radio will soon fade away to, also we need some people standing also we need some people sitting down and a Capitan for every ship, it looks like the ships drive by themselves when you look from the outside, BTW dont forget about Titanic's water line being too dark to.Following that, you can hear you footsteps while walking around a ship, also i have noticed another thing, when a ship hits another it sounds more realistic as well.
But i will tell you fellow Ship Mates, if you would also like these updates to the game, you must have a good graphics card, what ever problems with every patch are related to your system, VSTEP has done nothing wrong.I believe that VSTEP has made this small patch because earlier on it was said that the more realism is increased the harder it will be to run SS08 if you do not have the right stuff inside your computer.And if there are this many problems well my friends, we need to gear up for the winter.
but the rest are fine, its just missing these basic things for a full realistic experience now.
Just look at these videos.
http://www.gamesload.de/schiff_simulator_2006/ - Better bow wakes, weather, also you can see a pic of the Titanic with better water line (actually visible from the naked eye, and when the boat has crashed it also sounded more realistic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K31V-a4YQ8 - Ship Simulator 2006 mission 16 (Titanic), you can hear the water splashing in the background and Titanic has more particles in the smoke and looks more real.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQrPHh-bfKU&feature=related - DJM's Ship Simulator 2006 Movie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84RfDQUPUvk&feature=related - Again we have a angle shot of Titanic's chimneys with all the beautiful smoke(of course keep the same amount of smoke coming out just make it darker and add more particles to it and hearing the player walking.
Ending with http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vc7NjjnroOo&feature=related - A Dream that would never come true, a nice ending.
You are doing a good job VSTEP, again there are lot of things that need shaping, fixing and patching up but we just have to have patience and good hardware, and no i am not against the patch either im just one man that just gave his opinion about this.