''Ship Simulator'' is a ship simulator, a type of vehicle simulation

computer game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedbac ...

which simulates maneuvering various ships in different environments, although without the effects of wind and current. It was developed by

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

company VSTEP and released by the former company

Lighthouse Interactive Lighthouse Interactive Game Publishing B.V. was a video game publisher established in 2005 by industry veterans. With its head office in Haarlem, The Netherlands and a satellite office in Montreal, Canada, the company grew quickly and went on to ...

, which closed down in 2009.

''Ship Simulator 2006''

The first version of ''Ship Simulator'' was released in 2006 and was titled ''Ship Simulator 2006''. The user can steer various ships, amongst others a Rotterdam

water taxi A water taxi or a water bus is a watercraft used to provide public or private transport, usually, but not always, in an urban environment. Service may be scheduled with multiple stops, operating in a similar manner to a bus, or o ...

, a

container ship A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermoda ...

and even the ill-fated RMS ''Titanic'', in various weather conditions and in three real-life harbours, which are

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

and

Phi Phi Islands The Phi Phi Islands ( th, หมู่เกาะพีพี, , ) are an island group in Thailand between the large island of Phuket and the Straits of Malacca coast of Thailand. The islands are administratively part of Krabi Province. Ko Ph ...

in Thailand; a fourth harbour,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

was later released as a free download. A game element is added to the simulation by means of forty "missions" which have to be completed as fast or as accurately as possible. Users can also design their own missions, and share with others. The game has a built-in scenario editor to create new missions. ''The Official Ship Simulator 2006 Add-On'' was released in February 2007. This is an expansion pack with six additional ships and extra features such as ship walk-throughs.

Series

''Ship Simulator 2008'' released in July 2007 in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

and the UK. It contains seven ports and eight open sea environments. This version also features waves, weather, day/night time transitions, damage to vessels, and new boats and ships. There are six new ships; a supertanker, a

Solent The Solent ( ) is a strait between the Isle of Wight and Great Britain. It is about long and varies in width between , although the Hurst Spit which projects into the Solent narrows the sea crossing between Hurst Castle and Colwell Bay ...

ferry, large ocean ferry, a new patrol boat and two new tugs. There is also a ''Ship Simulator Professional V2.0'' The ''Titanic'' has also undergone some minor changes for example the second class stairwell and the stern section are visitable, as well and the original ships have been updated. Free add-ons were reportedly available, including a hovercraft, jetski, barge, improved physics and possibly another environment. An official

expansion Expansion may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''L'Expansion'', a French monthly business magazine * ''Expansion'' (album), by American jazz pianist Dave Burrell, released in 2004 * ''Expansions'' (McCoy Tyner album), 1970 * ''Expansio ...

for ''Ship Simulator 2008'' titled ''Ship Simulator 2008 New Horizons'' was released in April, 2008. The add-on features eight new ships, the addition of multiplayer functionality, a new sailing area (Padstow, Cornwall), twenty new missions, in game downloading of new missions, option to connect and disconnect barges to the pushboat in-game, and new walkthrough options. ''Ship Simulator Extremes'' is the name of the latest installment in the ''Ship Simulator'' series. It was released on August 27, 2010. Additions to the game include new locations around the world from cold

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest co ...

to warm

Bora Bora Bora Bora (French: ''Bora-Bora''; Tahitian: ''Pora Pora'') is an island group in the Leeward Islands. The Leeward Islands comprise the western part of the Society Islands of French Polynesia, which is an overseas collectivity of the Frenc ...

as well as new ships (including official licensed

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth ...

vessels) and new dynamic and more realistic weather and water systems. Most vessels from ''Ship Simulator 2008'' are also part of the choice of ships. The cruise ship "Ocean Star" from ''Ship Simulator 2006''/''2008'' is also included, except outside colors have changed and the name changed to "Orient Star". Vessels have more usable controls and more realistic ones, unlike ''Ship Simulator 2008'' in which only the whistle, binoculars, thrust, rudder and thrusters (if applicable on the vessel) are usable, although you can listen to the ship's radio but not send out calls. Sinking dynamics and physics have also improved in ''Ship Simulator Extremes''. Also unlike ''Ship Simulator 2008'', you can launch lifeboats/motorboats off a suitable vessel. Following a campaign by members of their growing fanbase, VSTEP agreed to include the ports of Dover and Calais (in one environment).

Peripherals

A "ship control unit", designed specifically for ''Ship Simulator'' and enabling more realistic steering, was released in 2006 by Wilco Publishing. P.I. Engineering have announced "ShipDriver", a marine simulation controller based on their RailDriver train controller for Auran's ''

Trainz ''Trainz'' is a series of 3D train simulator video games. The Australian studio Auran (since 2007 N3V Games) released the first game in 2001. The simulators consist of route and session editors called ''Surveyor'', and the ''Driver'' module, ...

'' and Microsoft's ''

Train Simulator A train simulator (also railroad simulator or railway simulator) is a computer based simulation of rail transport operations. They are generally large complicated software packages modeling a 3D virtual reality world implemented both as comme ...

''. ShipDriver released in winter 2010.

Critical reception

''Ship Simulator'' has been criticised for limitations in the replication of realistic controls and the lack of open architecture preventing users from creating their own vehicles and voyages. "Slow and mundane gameplay" and bugs have also been cited. Reviewers did comment that the game is challenging and that it has educational value. In addition, reviewers also praised the attention to detail for the scenery and boats.

References

External links

* {{official website, http://www.shipsim.com 2006 video games Windows games Windows-only games Video games developed in the Netherlands Ship simulation games Video games set in the Netherlands Video games set in Germany Video games set in Thailand Video games set in Portsmouth Video games set in Southampton Lighthouse Interactive games Single-player video games