It is finally that time again to present a large and brand spanking new update to my beloved SailSim. I am very excited to present the work that has been done over the past months and hopefully everyone else finds it as fulfilling and fun as i do.
This is a major update which incorporates the 3rd large addition to SailSim with a new level, new vessel, new lessons, challenges, dynamic wind and much more. This update will also allow you to complete all rankings up to "Captain", unlock new story items and provide basis for the adventures yet to come.
Below is a full list of all the updates that are included in this revision.
Major Additions
- New Sailing Vessel - Sabre Spirit 37 (Fin Keel)
- New Level - "Secret Places"
- 12 New Lessons
- 9 New Challenges
- A New Adventure
New Features
- Night Mode & Night Sailing
- Wind Indication
- Dynamic Wind Conditions
- Spinnaker Control
- Furler Jib
- Self Tacking Jib
- Sail Reef System
- Prop Walk
- Level Interaction
- Alternative Challenge Solutions
General Additions
- Updated User Interface
- Improved model details
- New Sound FX
- New Point Items
General Improvements
I optimized each level even further and fixed some loops which were running without any reason in a lot of places. This should improve general performance and frame rate. Sabre Spirit 37 is the most complex of all the vessels in SailSim so have in mind that it does require a bit more from your graphics along with everything else in the environment.
Also i increased the physics complexity further and more forces are now in play, which actually makes sailing even more real. Some aspects i intentionally developed as they are now as far as vessel attitude goes to essentially make the experience a bit more fun and not sluggish and boring (larger vessels generally have a slower response rate and force interaction)
I also would like to note few things above the above mentioned additions to clarify few things and explain in more detail what some of the features do:
Dynamic Wind
Before, the wind in SailSim was static with no change and in essence was linear, allowing you to concentrate on the learning aspect.
This is updated now to a fully dynamic wind. What this means is that the wind conditions actually change throughout the level. If you are near a mountain the wind might increase or decrease based on the terrain. If you are sailing you might get sudden gusts. The winds indication is not just symbolic but actually represents the wind forces which constantly change.
Hopefully, this system adds another layer of complexity to sailing and makes your interaction much more fun.
Level Interaction
A system and the according menus for interacting with surroundings has been incorporated (for now mostly to Adventures) which makes the experience much more interesting and opens new doors for any sort of future development.
Alternative Challenge Solutions
As the new level was developed with much more complexity under the hood, it allowed to present a challenge with different ways of passing it. Now you do not have to follow the predefined path in some challenges or in general sailing but try and "Cheat" the level to achieve the same goal.
In general i tried to make this update as interesting as i could without setting astronomical goals but rather completing a list of things i had in mind and making them work properly (hopefully). I hope you enjoy this update. I wanted to publish this as a small holiday present of my own to all SailSim users before the new year and i hope this goal was achieved.
Naturally no one is perfect so if you do find something wrong in a form of a bug or perhaps something i missed (it was a lot of work) then please say so in the community discussion or just send me a message and i will fix it as soon as i can.
Happy holidays to everyone!
PS: Greek and Russian translations for the update will become available as soon as i finish doing them. This time it shouldn't take as long as it did the first time since the bulk of the work is already done.