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Hi Captains,

For all who want to test Across the Seas - Unity3d based Ship Simulation, I have decided to release a alpha version. So I can get more feedback about the sim and especially about the performance. I will update this version during the development. Currently I have implemented the Dover Calais area. Most things in Calais are done and Dover is currently under development. Cape Town is in as a preview and also the shipyard scene.

For the watercraft's, not all have currently a bridge interior or working instruments. Also features like the anchoring or mooring systems are not final and also in active development. And an important thing is are the physics, I changed a lot things here in the last weeks. So be aware of some strange behavior ;) , I need to adjust the physics for the different watercraft's.

Feel free to post shots of the sim or give feedback or suggestions here.

 

Across the Seas - Alpha What is possible or not

  • Test sails in Dover / Calais area
  • Cape Town and a virtual shipyard is implemented as a preview
  • Weather and Time of Day is ready
  • No AI traffic or multiplayer
  • No missions or career mode
  • Minimap system needs a bit more details
  • Mooring and anchoring are not ready

Know Issues

  • Watercraft physics need more adjustments
  • Strange physics in some cases of higher sea states
  • Not all watercraft's have interiors at the moment
  • Not all watercraft's have lights
  • Shallow water areas need a bit more work
  • Harbor areas do not have colliders at the moment
  • Mooring physics are not ready
  • New FPS mode is currently in internal testing phase



Download link:
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AiiALzvCn_FFiZ09fMR6S0FgTHAwGg?e=BkbURZ


Regards
Marko
 

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Hi,

The first patch for the alpha is out.

v0.03100 Changelog

Core Engine

=========

  • Updated core engine to Unity 2019.3.10
  • Updated water engine
  • Update of the shipyard scene added
  • Fixed issue with loading screen
  • Fixed some bugs with the UI

 

Graphics

=======

  • Improved FPS counter
  • Fixed bloom and blur effects
  • Scaled down shadow effect for performance
  • Removed shadows for smoke effect for better fps

 

Watercraft's

=========

  • Updated engine management
  • Counter-rotating engines are now working
  • Fixed a bug that throttle applies before engine start
  • Watercraft's have now a fuel system with weight
  • Fixed issues with wake effect strength (hopefully)
  • Changes to watercraft physics
  • Fixes for Global Emerald model Regards Marko

 

Regards
Marko

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  • 1 month later...
Hello Captains,
 
The next version of my ship simulator Across the Seas is released. It's the first version with Unity's High Definition Render Pipeline.
 
Core Engine
==========
 
  • Updated core engine to Unity 2020.1.Beta 12
  • Changed folder for saved Screenshots to root game folder
  • Updated Crest Ocean to version 4.2 HDRP
     
Graphics
=======
 
  • Switched to Unity's High Definition Render Pipeline
  • Added new options menu
  • Graphic options are now saved in options.ini file under data folder
  • New Bloom and Ambient Occlusion Post Processing effects added
  • Currently not all Post Processing effects available
     
Watercraft's
==========
 
  • New physics for Agile, German Patrol Boat and the Arleigh Burke destroyer
  • Preview interiors added for Container and Cruise Ship
  • Added bow particle effect for performance tests, visual look is not final
     
Sceneries
========
 
  • Removed vegetation from Dover Calais scenery, need to be regenerate later

 

Regards
Marko

 

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  • 4 months later...

Thanks for releasing Across the Seas as free alpha-version, finally a new and modern ship / naval simulator in development. There arent many "real" ship / boat simulators out there. The most ship simulators on steam are just some cheap acarde games with unrealistic physics and no modding possibilities (Ship Simulator extremes etc.). The only more realistic simulator wich has a player community with mods is vehicle simulator (VHS) wich was released 2009 or so and since then was the most played "real" ship simulator. But the engine is outdated and also there are many bugs and limitations because of this. For example, VHS dosent supports dynamic lighting and only allows a limited amount of animations on an ship model. Also, VHS has problems when a ship model file is to large and detailed etc. The water / weather physics of VHS are also not that good, the wave height in habour and on sea is always the same and in stormy seas, you sometimes just "jump" with your ship over the waves. Multiplayer on VHS is also an issue, joining a server is often buggy. Lastly, the developer of VHS dosent seem to fix any of the bugs or even upgrade the game to modern standarts. The development of VHS seems to be dead.

Across the Seas looks promising and modern, like it could replace VHS one day and everone from VHS will then switch to Across the Seas. Things wich are already better in Across the Seas are:

Firstly, using Unity engine the graphics are much better and there are more possibilities for functions on the ship models (animations, effects, textures etc.) One ship even has an animated anchor.

The water physics are better (differnt wave heights  in port and out on sea) and overall the enviorment (sun, clouds etc.) looks more realistic.

I am excited to see the further development and updates of Across the Seas.

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Hello and welcome here,

Thank you very much for your kind of words. :)

Yes, Unity offers a great potential for better graphics and model handling for the sim. Currently I'm working on a bigger update. Especially for the weather engine and the graphics overall. In the last version I switched to Unity's new High Definition Render Pipeline. This Render Pipeline would also offer new features like Ray-tracing in the future and has a great looking lighting model.

Regards
Marko

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  • 2 months later...

Hello and thanks Marko!

I see. Across the Seas would be a great alternative to Vehicle Simulator by Quality Simulations (by Ilan Papini). Also, VSTEP in The Netherlands is now developing since 2019 a new simulator as well called Nautis. Either way, I believe in third-party support, for ships and sceneries. The more alternatives the better :) 

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  • 4 months later...

Hi. Yes of course, this project is still under active development. It's still in alpha stage. But the sim has made a lot of changes like native support of DirectX12, Unity's High Definition Render Pipeline. The next version is currently delayed, but I plan to release the next version in June.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Nice to see that a new update is in development. Ive seen the pictures in the development topic, the new graphics look really good. Also cool to see controller support. Will the K130 Corvette also be part of the next update? Another qestion / sugesstion: will there be submarines in across the seas in the future? And what about adding AI traffic ships based on AIS data from websides like Marinetraffic or Vesselfinder. Just an idea for the future develoment if something like this would be possiable.

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Hi,

Sry, the K130 class Corvette will not be included during the Alpha or Beta phase. For the implementation of submarines, of course, you will see subs in the future of the sim. Basic AI traffic is done. I hope I have it ready for the next release. But I think, real based traffic is a point for the future. ;)

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  • 2 months later...
  • 4 weeks later...
  • 10 months later...

Hello, ive seen that there is a version of across the seas in development that uses Unreal Engine 5 as base instead of Unity. Its a good idea to change to Unreal Engine. I think there are far more possibilities with Unreal than with Unity. The screenshots look very good and better than with the Unity based version. Will there also be an alpha of the Unreal Engine  based version? I really would like to try the improved graphics and new game Engine by myself.

 

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Hello, thank you. Yes, UE5 gives a lot more potential for the development of the sim as Unity. The main reason for me to change to UE5, was the 64bit (large world coordinates) support and all the cool stuff which you can use like Metahuman and the Quixel library. And I really like the graphics itself in UE.

And yes, I will also release an free Alpha version of the UE based version of Across the Seas. Most of the things are done. The code base of the UE version is a complete rewrite in UE's Blueprint System and C++. So currently showstoppers for a release are the vehicle and start point selection system. Unfortunately, I'm a little bit behind my timeline, but I'm working hard to get the first public version ready for the release.

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