by Thomas “WKLINK” Cofield If Norm Koger appears to be the focus of my reviews this year, well you are right. Earlier I reviewed a re-release of what is considered to be his crowning achievement in wargaming, The Operational Art of War III. I enjoyed looking back in time (sorta) at what he did in the […]
Back To Page 16 While this title should appeal to a fairly wide audience, it definitely appeals to ship and naval enthusiasts. The missions can be a serious investment in time and effort; damaging your ship at the last minute of the mission because you became lazy or distracted is heartbreaking. In this sense […]
Back To Page 15 While Ship Simulator 2006 does many things very well, there is one particular flaw that I’m amazed made it into the final product. On many of the vessels (particularly the smaller ones), the rudder does not function correctly during the transition from forward propulsion to reverse propulsion. To understand the […]
Back To Page 14 The size and mass of the Titanic are formidable, and nothing happens quickly. You have to plan turns, acceleration, and deceleration literally minutes ahead of time since the ship is so sluggish to respond to helm and power inputs. Using the Titanic we are able to see a small quirk […]
Back To Page 13 One of the included vessels that generated a lot of “buzz” is the RMS Titanic, the 3D model of which is simply stunning. At 800,000 polys (!), the Titanic will bring your system to its knees if you don’t have the horsepower to render it. Even with the high polygon […]
Back To Page 12 It’s not all business and commerce in Ship Simulator 2006 though; there are some missions that let you wring out a fast and powerful Cigarette-type powerboat. There are even some ramps and obstacle courses that can be run. I have to admit that cruising around the port I started to […]
Back To Page 11 Though ships move around the area, both in harbors and in the sea-lanes, you’ll notice that there isn’t much in the way of people in the environment. You’ll see an occasional bird, but people are only included when they are a part of the mission requirements. For instance, in the […]
Back To Page 9 In addition to the map the GPS and COMPASS windows provide additional data to help you navigate your ship properly. The COMPASS tab allows you to select different overlays for the external view, placing a compass rose beneath your vessel and bearing pointers that will show you things such as the […]
Back To Page 10 Missions vary in both length and, to a lesser degree, complexity. The missions are somewhat repetitive, but the locations and traffic keep things a bit interesting. I’m not familiar with the real life look of the ports of Hamburg and Rotterdam, but they sure look nicely detailed and I believe […]
Back To Page 8 From inside the wheelhouse you can zoom in using the mouse wheel to bring up the binocular view; a nice feature to identify distant ships and landmarks and essential to determining closure and whether there is any relative motion between you and other ships (no relative motion usually means you […]
Back To Page 7 There are plenty of obstacles to success, including the port structures themselves, docked ships, moving ships of all sizes and speeds, and ships on scheduled routes doing their own thing — hoping that you know what you are doing! Smaller ships like powerboats, sailboats and yachts will do their best […]
Back To Page 6 The bow thrusters on some of the vessels are great tools for doing precision maneuvers near berthing points. The bow thruster can be toggled left and right with varying intensity to help you supplement your other controls. Combining the thrusters with rudder and power settings can allow you to make […]
