Buy Ship Simulator 2008 instead.

[bread]

If you wasted money on this title, but still love the idea a ship simulation game (and if you actually enjoy this type of game), I would highly recommend buying the older Ship Simulator 2008.

As a long time player of Ship Simulator 2008, I was extremey disappointed with Ship Simulator Extremes. The graphics are a small improvement over ShipSim2008, with maybe just a bit more emphasis put on the ships themselves, and even more on the water effects. I have a decent gaming laptop, and every time I play in my favorite location (Antarctica), the FPS works perfectly fine for about 5 minutes, then drops immensely rendering the game unplayable.

I went back to playing Ship Sim 2008 and I am way more happy with it. I will miss a few things about Extremes... especially the Esperanza (my favorite ship!!) and a few of the other ships, but what fun is a game that you cannot enjoy? Another thing I love about Ship Sim 2008 is there are tons of really well made single missions, some of which are incredibly challenging and time consuming.

Honestly, if you haven't bought this yet and are thinking about it---don't. Instead go to the developers website and purchase Ship Simulator 2008 CE instead. You will have a much smoother experience.

If you already bought Extremes, but cannot enjoy the game for the same reasons I can't--or for other reasons, I would still suggest buying Ship Sim 2008. Especially if the idea of a ship simulator still appeals to you.

[Comrade Mario]

Strongly agree.
The graphics in Extremes look terrible, I'm not about graphics but when the game was in development there was a big emphasis on the graphics particulary on the water and waves but they look awful in the game and the textures look awful on every enviroment even on the highest settings and I'm running a very capable computer.
Even though 2008 is old it actually looks better than this.

[bread]

Thanks for the response. I posted this a long time ago!

I am really hoping this post has reached a few people. I love simulator games; train simulators, truck simulators, business sims, racing sims, flight sims, farming sims, etc. A ship simulator is a major necessity for a person like me.

I don't want to belittle the developers, as I am sure they had our best intentions in mind. But somewhere along the line, something went wrong with Extremes. However, I am still thankful to them for developing Ship Simulator 2008 which brought me endless hours of entertainment.

[Dosedmonkey]

I think there is major graphics compatability issues, and lack of graphics options on both.

[mvsmith]

As a Beta tester and CMM on both games, I have to agree. 2008 offers more playability in cargo handling and the quality of the miissions.
Extremes is officially at the end of its development life, There will be no new content, and most bugs cannot be fixed.

[endothlyne]

Wow, I've just tried the demo on both extreme and 2008 and the performance difference is incredible. Is there anywhere you can get 2008 CE cheaper? Seems a bit steep buying an old 2008 game at full price. Pity steam didn't also have it in the sale.

[bread]

Originally posted by Endothlyne:

Wow, I've just tried the demo on both extreme and 2008 and the performance difference is incredible. Is there anywhere you can get 2008 CE cheaper? Seems a bit steep buying an old 2008 game at full price. Pity steam didn't also have it in the sale.

I agree, the price is a bit steep for a game that came out several years ago, but it's worth it for the content (if you are into these sort of games as well). To me, I could pick up this game at any time, play it and have a good time. The missions are also completely fun to play over and over again. There are tons of good scenarios---some of which could take hours to finish, like slowly and VERY carefully maneuvering a gigantic container ship out of a harbor--keeping within the speed regulations and following all the other nautical rules. Some might find that monotonous... but I really dig simuators like this. Sim games are what I wish I'd had when I was a little kid, playing with toy boats, airplanes, and train sets.

There's also a mission creation tool (though it was a little complex---I never learned to use it).

I haven't seen it lower anywhere else. I doubt we ever will. Still, if it won't put a huge dent in your budget, I would recommend buying it. It's not perfect, but it's still a lot of fun if you're a simulator fan.