We are many who long for a ship simulator with 2020-era graphics, first we were excited to hear about the announcement of Nautis Home but them introducing the software at a high per-month price and the graphics honestly already looking outdated really made us dissapointed. The unfortunate passing of Virtual Sailor’s developer Ilan did not make things better either. Luckily our friend Axeonalias who has many of his excellent add-ons available on SIM3D took matters into his own hands and started development of what he calls “Navismaster”.
Many small independent developers have tried to create a next generation simulator but in the end having it fail, however we truly believe Axeonalias and his team have both the knowledge and determination to bring Navismaster to life. The software is based on the Unity game engine which is one of the best choices in the game-world. This ensures that the software always will be up to date and it can take advantage of the many built-in Unity features. As an example the lighting is looking splendid while performance is kept.
The simulator takes inspiration from Virtual Sailor, giving the user absolute freedom to do what they please. One of the main features is the possibility to create user add-ons. Both vessels and scenery. This makes it possible for you to yourself bring your models to life in Navismaster. Something that the team over at VSTEP totally missed in their “Nautis Home”. The possibility to do this in Navismaster really brings the software to life. People can start creating content for it from all over the world. You want to create your favourite ferry route? In Navismaster it is possible! This is really what makes atleast me, enjoy the software a lot more, being able to do as I please, not be limited to a fixed amount of vessels or ports.
Looking at the development roadmap over at navismaster.com there are plans for everything from mooring to radar and charts.
When it comes to the physiscs this is being improved by the minute, making large vessels feel like they weigh as much as they should.
Here you can see some of our models in the software and we look forward to setting them up correctly for you to download and try yourself. The Navismaster team has started a Patreon page that we highly encourage you to check out and if you can also support the development. You can read more about their Patreon here.
They also have a Discord server that you can join, always taking your thoughts and suggestions into consideration while giving you the latest updates about the sim.
We are very excited to see what Navismaster will become in the future and we hope to be part of that journey bringing our SIM3D vessels to life also there.
/Erik SIM3D