Pitty, a game like this could really do with that feature. It makes exploring differant areas of the world more exciting.

I have to admit, I've always wondered what it would be like to operate one of those container cranes.

Does the inclusion of container loading suggest some sort of economic model or underlying shipping tycoon-ish game play? That would be cool!

Vector-based charts, hmmm... wonder what that is? :hmm:

You may have actually piqued my interest... checking link now...

Are you kiddin me? That thing looks AWESOME!

The ship models... the waves... the roaming on deck...

You guys gotta take a minute and look at the WMV in their sample pic directory.
http://www.vstepvideos.com/ShipSim2008/

I'll tell ya Vstep has my undivided attention now! :ping:

Watch that video and keep in mind how this thing could evolve by just adding weapon systems. I'm very tempted to register and start littering their forums with requests for a naval combat sim.

Those rolling waves... and while wandering the deck like that... that's just cool.

And I get to operate one of these! :huh:
http://www.vstepvideos.com/ShipSim20...0container.jpg

You can count me IN!

[quote=aaronblood]
Does the inclusion of container loading suggest some sort of economic model or underlying shipping tycoon-ish game play? That would be cool!
[\quote]

No tycoon play in Shipsim unfortunately. but check out Ports of Call for that

Will get this tomorow asap!:rock:

I've had the game for a few days now and I'm quite enjoying it, however its a bit like SH4 v1.0 out of the box i.e. lots of bugs and many features that are listed as "coming soon".

Thankfully the VStep devteam are dedicated pros just like the SH4 guys, and they have already posted a schedule for the forthcoming patches in August and October.

[quote=Sonarman]What do you know about Ports of Call... the website is a little vague, but on the surface it looks pretty good.

Ports of call XXL is kind of an ongoing constantly evolving game it is based on the original Ports of Call was one of my favourite games on the good old Amiga.

You can purchase the main XXL part which is basically an expanded version of the original, an economic sim with 2d top-down simulator sequences which popup when certain events occur ie one of you ships needs to dock/undock, is in a near collision, has to rescue someone in a raft or must navigate though reefs or icebergs.

Additionally you can purchase the platinum license which includes the 3d module which in addition to the 2d sim gives a 3d sim for docking operations and reef/ iceberg navigation.

The game has been in development for about 4 years and continues to be so. At heart it's a two man project so the number of 3d ship models is fairly low but new things are being added all the time and the game is perfectly playable in it's present state.

The official forum for the game has links to many new ships for the 2d part developed by the community.

I think that if you download the game from here you can run it in demo mode (lasts about an hour) to give it a try before purchasing the license.

Ive developed som einterest in this SS2008. but I have difficulty in accepting only 6 or 9 ports to choose from.

I like the fact that they have the SF Bay Area, so I can operate near home, but I'd like to see more major ports available.

I'd like to have access to the world, free to move freight and passengers where I feel, perhaps do that on a large multiplayer server where I can interact with other traffic. It would be nice to provide the single player game-play and "missions" to players in a persistent multiplayer world where we interact with player and AI traffic. Maybe have the option for players to act as the marine equivilent of air traffic control in the port areas, with radar and all that good stuff.

I'd like to see them open up terrain and port modeling for community modding perhaps(if they cant keep up with the inclusion of more ports periodically).

Is the port of Oakland available in the SF Bay Area? Hoe about the other small marinas that service the SF bay for dinner cruises, ferries, etc.

Is Long Beach or San Diego there, how about Asian ports, Hawaiian and south Pacific ports, etc, etc.

I'd also love to see this turned into a warship sim too.

I agree with all of this except the SF bay area. I want Port Melbourne and the Bass Straight in it. :yep:

Yes, I fully agree it would be great to have more ports, unfortunately VStep is a small company and it doesn't have the vast resources of Microsoft and so the product grows a little bit on each release. But it's probably better to do a small thing well than a big thing badly look at SH4's ports which are pretty much all generic in comparison to the real world detail in the ss08 ports.

Perhaps a scenery editor can be released to make use of the community. i remember using terrain editor in one of the old MS flight sims to make a half-way descent and accurate model of Oakland Intl Airport. You can figure that a nice supply of port/dock/pier models , cranes, buildings and such would allow for players to make descent models that the devs and/or player base can look over and select/vote which can be upload on a massive multi-player server as stand-ins until they can get around to it.

I dont know, something like that. You have to figure they can benefit from the same 3rd party/community success MSFS has enjoyed through providing the capablity to mod.

Go to the shipsim.com and go to general discussion forum and there's all the info you need....
Could someone please model a Typhoon. I don't give a heck for not being able to submerge. Please?:cry:

I'll certainly keep my eyes on this sim. As of now I need a bit more content before I can commit to it, Im especially looking for a persistent multiplayer world.

Maybe they can team up with Sonalyst and do something totally phenominal.