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You know, I guess it is because the UK is an island, and surrounded by, guess what? Yup, sea, so when I have seen the Ship Simulator being advertised, I thought, Hey ho, "Life on the Ocean Waves" and all that. Golden doubloons at the ready, let's take to the seas for, what can be best described as a radical shift from zipping around the skies.
If you take a look in the Pilot Shop, and on the VSTEP official web site, you will realise there is a real following for this type of simulator, as there is for our beloved Flight Simulator, perhaps in a slightly smaller scale, but never the less a very keen following. Also, on the official site, there are a number free downloads that, once obtained, add even more to the game play.
Ship Sim setup |
Water and wake detail |
Well, this was a download, so just follow the clear instructions, hit yes, and watch your file downloading, I was impressed at the speed of the download, actually I would guess more to do with the ISP, but that being said, it arrived. I will not dwell on installation, but suffice to say no problems at all. I will add though, once you download the program, be sure to print off the PDF file instructions, they are some 25 pages at A4,, but still worth while running out of ink for, because the overall quality of the 'brochure' is excellent, far better than some I have seen in our FS community. Some very useful and easy to follow information and actions, i.e., which buttons do what and when. Essential reading, and don't forget to keep close to you when 'bobbing' around on the high seas.
Fellow reviewer Dan Entwisle assisted me on this one, he commented "ANYONE who has used flight sim will go into this with expectations. If you can put those aside, do so. This is not flight sim for the water. It is more of a game but having said that, it is very realistic."
It is that realism that is one of the game's drawbacks. It is all done in real time and - apart from the fast craft in this sim - that means slow.
A serious container ship |
Into the Solent; note marker red and green on map and in water |
The challenges set in the game vary in difficulty. I am no sailor but I have had the helm of the odd ship now and then and I can say things like engine response and rate of turn are very realistic on the bigger ships.
Some of the challenges are tough. Very tough. I have to confess I am not very good at a lot of the missions and I feel a lot of users will be caught out by how hard it is moving a ship. It's good to learn.
I love a lot of the graphics. Weather and environment are fantastic and some of the rough weather is almost enough to make you feel sea sick.
The choice of ships is good - though I would have liked a warship or two. From tugs to the Titanic, you get a great mix of vessels. The most fun - if immediate thrills are your thing - have to be the smaller craft.
The quality of the ships is good. Again I am trying to avoid comparison with flight sim models. The walk through mode on the bigger ships is great. It is also painfully slow (scale speed of a human run) when you find yourself on the starboard bridge wing of a container ship and the port side is about to come into contact with a jetty.
Mission pics shot 1 |
Rescue boat out of Padstow, England |
The radio traffic feature I liked at first, but found annoying and repetitive after a while. HMS Grafton appears on the radio every few minutes wanting a comms check, and the Queen's Harbour Master repeats a minor telling off to a boat skipper every few minutes. All good and well, but a bit daft when you are entering New York. More varied radio traffic would be better. Also interactive comms where the user can make radio calls would add to the involvement.
The ports and coastlines work very well. Because of the slow and close quarters nature of the game, you can only really have a handful of ports. It is nice to see landmarks you know, like the tower at Portsmouth and the iconic New York skyline.
This is the sort of game you come back to time and time again. Not compelling, just challenging and interesting. The sort of thing you spend a couple of hours on during a wet Bank Holiday Sunday.
Entertaining, challenging but requiring patience and a lot of spare time, this is something gamers looking for an alternative should consider. The ability to fast forward time might be cheating but it could make the longer sections of the game a little easier to endure.
Well done to the team behind this for thinking outside of the sim box and offering something different.
Don't expect too many bangs, splashes and explosions. Don't compare it to flight sim, and don't give up on some of the challenges. It's a pleasant diversion for a few hours.
I am certainly going to go back to it to hone my ship handling skills from time to time.
How true Dan's observations are, I would add. There are some updates available, as mentioned in the intro, which add more to the game play, i.e., Ship simulator 2008 update v13-x142, Ship Sim 2008 Horn Sound and Ship Sim Addon Radio Sound, all .exe files, and easy to install, all adding that little bit extra to the environment.
Dan's term 'game', was used, not simulator, I would agree with him, but it is fun, actually I quite often fire it up and dip my toes in the water.
There are some very annoying sounds, in the selection process, i.e., location, ship, when you make a selection, you hear a 'wooshing' sound, it really is terrible, and totally inappropriate. Why not some nice nautical music playing or a sound of water lapping against a hull in the background instead? Anything, except that infernal whooshing sound.
Rescue ship bridge |
Selection of location |
Controlling the ships takes a little getting used to. I am used to using my X52 Joystick in this process and while it can be selected, I found it hopeless, and went back to the arrows on the keypad.
Dan mentioned the missions. I tried several, and you will have to be patient, as the game is in real time, and because the boats have no re-heat, you will have to make do with a few knots progress, and take in the vista, and have a look at other ships at berth. (No, not the natural process of bringing new simmers into the world, but boats parked!)
Dan mentioned the sea state when in open seas. I really have to say how impressed I am with the incredible accurate wave action, wow, you really could get very queasy. I was in the harbor pilot boat and once past the protection of the harbor walls, I ventured out into the high and rolling seas, but not for long before I beat a retreat back to protected waters.
I really was most impressed with the accuracy of the water, wake generated from the stern and bow, land mass, jetty's sky, the list goes on... Although, I felt some of the ship's bridges could have been displayed in greater detail, and perhaps some of the ships, but only a minor observation, this detail, actually lets the game down a little. This graphic quality gives it the 'game' feel, and not a 100% simulator. But as mentioned before, all the detail on offer does the trick.
Selection of ship |
Well, that should make me seasick! |
Some of the navigational maps, waypoints, etc. are very good, especially if you have two monitors, as I do. You can have a real time map on one and the sim graphic on the other, and with a very good list of options for setting the optimum graphics setting for your computer. All you need in the maritime version of Squawkbox and the experience would be complete!
I would hazard a guess and say because of the speed of the game, and crucially, less demands on the CPU, than a high demanding program like Flight Simulator, the entire detail levels can be 'cranked-up'. They are not bad at all, but I feel could be higher though, call it, 'putting the iceing on the cake'. I sincerely hope there will be plenty of options to increase the detail on offer, adding to a great package.
It is one of those games you play with for an hour or so, exit, and have a hankering' to take to the seas again. I have visited the site many times now, and I simply did not realise how many add-ons there are, I would imagine, there are pretty important to get more from the game.
This is a multi-layered program, and you can immerse yourself in really quite complex missions that require some skill to complete, or just have a blast around. Try the hovercraft, boy are they difficult to handle in a controlled way, but you can do it with some effort, and understanding of the dynamics involved.
I really wanted to see some navy hardware and take the bridge. Dan and I have been on many a Royal Navy ship, and it would have been great to relive some of those moments! Some less embarrassing then others! But that is another story...
Onwards and upwards... Or up and down (pass me the sick bag!)
AMD Phenom 9950 Quad Core
2.60 GHz
2 GB RAM
Windows XP Professional
Microsoft Flight Simulator FSX
G-Force 9500GT
Nigel C. Martin
n.c.martin@btinternet.com
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