Ship Simulator Extremes released today (27-08-10)

[Sonarman]

Just a reminder that Ship Simulator Extremes is released today. It's available through the subsim store/Amazon as a boxed product or through Gamersgate or direct from shipsim.com as a downloadable.

The UK Paradox boxed edition annoyingly relies on Steam activation I'm still waiting on them to pull the switch... grrr!.

For details on the game's content go here (http://www.shipsim.com/)

[CCIP]

It's up on regular Steam too, for those who aren't opposed to the platform (I'm pretty neutral, myself).

I'm curious about game features before I jump in though. I may have to wait for some reviews. The longevity of this kind of game for me would really depend on how open and customizable it is. Last I recall, the previous ship sims actually featured very limited geographical areas, with gameplay boiling down to challenges (of the "drive the tanker through the eye of the needle" kind) and just "mess around with this boat" type of thing. Unfortunately I get bored of that type of thing really quickly, usually...

[Sonarman]

Hi CCIP

I've had both of the previous games most of the missions in the singleplayer games involve you handling not 1 but often 3-4 ships which makes thing more interesting. Things like berthing a container vessel with 3 tugs etc are quite involved. The physics of the ships are pretty good and they also have nice mooring rope effects etc. The previous games benefitted from mission creation tools which the community put to good use to generate hundreds of missions for the game. Also the game features an extensive multiplayer mode where players join together to perform many varied maritime tasks.

Although the environments are faiirly small they are very closely moddelled on the real world charts/ports much more realistic than those in any of the SH games or indeed any other pulically accessible naval maritime game.

Demos of the earlier titles I think are still available check out my demo list (http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/2511176/Naval_Game_Demos_Free_to_Play_.html#Post2511176) over at SimHQ for them and any other naval/maritime demos you may have missed!

[longam]

This is starting to look interesting. The game has matured a lot since I last checked it out a few versions ago. :hmmm:

[Sonarman]

Walk don't run... here's my latest post on the shipsim forum....

"Sadly it does seem Ship Sim is suffering from "Silent Hunter 5 Syndrome" paying customers denied the right to play boxed products due to moronic DRM schemes on one hand whilst on the other the game has obviously been shipped far too early full of bugs just to meet it's scheduled date. The day one patch is evidence of this judging by the large number of key issues it addresses. This is sadly now an industry wide state of affairs caused not by dedicated developers like VStep & the SH5 guys at Ubisoft Romania (who I do think both strive to provide a quality product) but by publishers out of touch with their customers and in the pockets of the shareholders.

We as customers are also in a large way to blame for this ourselves buying into the myth/lies of digital distribution now we have more expensive games, no printed manuals, poor support (steam 3-4 days for a response!) and games we can't play because a company is too lazy/busy to flick an activation switch. Oh yeah it's a really big improvement over boxed product! No wonder the simulation genre is dead on its feet."



The game will be good I think ...once people can play it. Steam seem to have "forgotten" to activate it for many people (including me) for almost 24 hours now! There are some bugs, missing features etc patch 1 is out now (except for steam users) and I suspect VStep will shortly release another in short order as they are not as tightly reigned in as the SH5 crew were. What annoys me most is I selected a boxed product to avoid DD issues and low and behold it requires Steam activation.

[Task Force]

To be honest, im supprised this game is even still running, I mean... SH5 was built for a small market, and it had more to it that this game.

Wounder how it will sell.:hmmm:

and I must say, 40 dollars, is quite alot for a game with a small group. I myself only think it is worth 30 to 35 dollars.

[Sonarman]

To date the 2 games ss2006/ss2008 have sold 600k copies which is actually just slightly behind Ubi's figures for the SH series- 4 games - 1.5 million copies. 300K copies was always considered a good sales point for niche titles such as simulation so it's good to see that the games are still selling in that volume and puts paid to the myth that it's a dead genre. The only problem is that the figures for simulation have stayed constant whilst the other genres action/ racing/fps have grown faster and are easier to produce.

[raymond6751]

What could be more boring than a game that lets you dock a ship?

I bought one of these previous versions. I have looked at the demos since, hoping for more.

There's just a limit to the replay value, for me, I've reached it.

[Sonarman]

What could be more boring than a game that lets you dock a ship?


To a large extent I agree but when you are using 3-4 ship at once it does become more involved. The new title does however involve additional capabilities such are fire fighting with a water cannon etc. It would be good however if VStep would take things to the next level now in the way MS did with flight sim also have a "combat ship simulator" as a companion to this product.

[Task Force]

To a large extent I agree but when you are using 3-4 ship at once it does become more involved. The new title does however involve additional capabilities such are fire fighting with a water cannon etc. It would be good however if VStep would take things to the next level now in the way MS did with flight sim also have a "combat ship simulator" as a companion to this product.

Oah Nos! If the community is the same as they were, they would panic at that idea (combat ship simulator).

[difool2]

Is part of it running a merchant fleet and trying to game the markets to make cargo holds of cash?

[Task Force]

nope, the game is basicly if it holds true to the rest of the series.

select a mission, load mission, WEEEE! sail waypoints, and stuff dock (or not) missions over.

NOW, if you want a Sim where you have a merchand fleet/company. Try Ports of Call. http://www.portsofcall.de/xxl/index.html

[Arclight]

PoC is nice. Remember playing it 10 years ago, some older version. Challenging to dock a ship quickly wthout thrashing the harbour. :yep:

*Yeah was the classic version.

[Task Force]

PoC is nice. Remember playing it 10 years ago, some older version. Challenging to dock a ship quickly wthout thrashing the harbour. :yep:

*Yeah was the classic version.

Yep, a good non-combat strategy, business game. I lost my key tho.:shifty:

[Sonarman]

POC XXL is quite good, but in some ways it's a good example of how too much realism & user input can damage gameplay. It has lost the extremely addictive quality of the original Amiga title for a few reasions: there are far too many ships to choose from and there is not enough difference between them. In the original you were always desperate to step up the technology ladder to get better featues etc. In the new game you can start with liners or bowthrusters etc from day 1. The 3d sequences whilst welcome & more realistic take much too long to complete and are much less challenging than the original 2d "gamey" ports and as a consequence the core strategy side suffers. The amount of knowledge you also have removes a lot of the uncertainty of the original. The time limit on docking has also been removed which takes away a lot of the tension/urgency of the original. It's still a good game but, for me at least, the magic of the original just isn't there.

Thankfully the original POC has been re-released pretty much as was recently on the iphone/ipod & a version for the DS is planned if Nintendo ever gets their finger out on licensing.

[Sonarman]

Over at SimHq magnum has posted some great screenshots (http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3082393/Ship_Simulator_free_roam.html#Post3082393) from Ship simulator Extremes

[CCIP]

Huh, you know, PoC might actually be the ship game I'm looking for, at least if my flight sim inclinations are any indication (I absolutely enjoy routine passenger operations and basic money-management there, courtesy of FSPassengers). Although of course there's always the question of dynamic. It's hard for planes not to be exciting, by virtue of hurtling along in the sky at hundreds of miles per hour. Ships at ports... hmm.

I may have to check it out though!

[Task Force]

PoC has a 2 hr demo, it is a ship company simulator.

Essentualy
start a company, buy a crappy ship, charter the ship out. make money, get a better ship, bigger ship, which allows you to make more money, by hauling more at one time, or you buy more smaller ships... ect