The default content is not very extensive: just one area to sail in and a handful of boats. The game includes a small number of missions (called “cruises”) that usually involve sailing to a specific location. Virtual Sailor 7 lets you grab a boat, place it in the water, and sail around a bit. The game may not have a high level of detail, but you’ll be staring at the water for most of the time, so as long as the boats and ocean look good (which they do), you’re in fine shape. Virtual Sailor 7 offers competitive graphics and sound that can be displayed on much older systems. The sound is as good as it’s going to be for a boat simulation: the wind howls and the boats make sound. The developer should be commended for making a simulation that looks good but also runs well on most people’s computers.
Best of all, you can crank up the settings to the maximum a system that ran medium settings in Flight Simulator X at 12 frames per seconds can display Virtual Sailor 7 at the highest settings (and a better resolution) at a consistent 30 frames per second, even with a lot of objects on the screen (and with sophisticated reflection and refraction of light in the ocean). The skies and weather effects are also well done and quite convincing, creating an environment that is quite competitive with top-of-the-line simulations. The coastal areas are generally bland for a lot of the time, although some basic textures representing docks and cities may be present in more developed areas. The ship models are also well done, looking quite like real seafaring vessels. Virtual Sailor 7 includes a great engine that produces realistic (if not repetitive) waves in the ocean, from small 2-foot waves to imposing 55-foot monsters. Since most of the simulation takes place at sea, you would expect the waves to be realistic, and they are. Unlike competing simulations, Virtual Sailor 7 features buttery-smooth graphics that also look fairly decent. While not displaying the notoriety or publicity of other simulations, the game hopes to deliver a solid replication of boating and sailing. Speaking of which, Quality Simulations serves up their seventh iteration of their Virtual Sailor series, coincidentally titled Virtual Sailor 7. The wind in your hair, the salt in your veins, the iceberg off starboard: it’s a wonderful activity for the entire family! While there have been plenty of flight simulators, train simulators, and car simulators, there haven't been very many boat simulators, although this is another area ripe for a quality simulation. What say you? A decent simulation that will appeal to boat enthusiasts: 6/8Īh, sailing.
The Not So Good: Not much default content, no explicit tutorials, small audience The Good: Flexible game engine, good wave graphics with low system requirements, easily modified (with lots of user-made content already available), relatively low price
GameSpot said of the game "Virtual Sailor simulates the entire marine environment and makes a complete sailing experience, it's multiplayer capability for online sailing and racing creates an extremely immersive marine experience.Virtual Sailor 7, developed and published by Quality Simulations. Vehicle Simulator, first released on Maexpands on Virtual Sailor by allowing for the simulation of automobiles and aircraft as well in addition to watercraft, while remaining backwards compatible with many of the add-ons created for Virtual Sailor. In the nine-year period between versions 7.0 and 7.5, developers turned to a new program called "Vehicle Simulator". Version 7.5.1 was released on July 25, 2017. Virtual Sailor was first released in 1999 and since then has seen 13 major release versions, with many minor updates released each year. Screenshot of the MS Silja Europa, a user-created ship.Ī large variety of vessel types and scenery have been created by users and are available on fan sites and forums.