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1. 5 i market F or this we send a so called Localization Kit Lockit for short to a translation agency and recording studio containing every line of text from the game Along with an extensive briefing and the translated character sheets everything is then sent to the international voice actors recording and direction is taken care of by a partner Additionally we make the game STEAM compatible to be downloaded online and integrate a whole range of Achievements Valve Corporation Steam and the Steam logo are trademarks and or registered trademarks of the Valve Corporation in the USA and or other countries D M M n a 7 At the same time publisher rondomedia kick starts the first marketing activ ities and deals with important sale related issues such as the user manual and PEGI ratings Other final relevant tasks also start to gather speed We also port the game from PC to Mac to ensure that players with the Apple logo can also enjoy the Ship Simulator We adjust the keyboard configuration for the French market as they use a different keyboard layout there We integrate the options for changing the in game language and resolution and finally let the foreman of the HERMANN MARWELDE himself play the game When rondomedia emails us back the results we re very touched All in all it s turned out great and I ve already spread the word for2. Crusade Sleeping Giants Taken By Force Sean Henry Big orchestral heroic theme Intrusion Alex Khaskin All music tracks are licensed by SoundDogs com www ship simulator maritime v NOT rondomedia Aat MN 2014 rondomedia Marketing amp Vertriebs GmbH DGzgS Produced under license from the Seenotretter German Maritime Search and Rescue Service ri rer 2014 Reality Twist GmbH MER FFF Bayern Funded by the FilmFernsehFonds Bayern Con o STEAM All other trademarks are the property 2014 Valve Corporation of their respective owners All rights reserved Steam and the Steam logo are trademarks and or registered trademarks of the Valve Corporation in the USA and or other countries Peh 0r bd Io lat S alld aspi a 80 1 OA SE 1 s SUN SUP eee E 4 m UN fe M Ud 3 x bg je 7 3 p s 4 1 4 fF gt 1 k a oe m f 5 7 T 7 at b m p x 3 x 4 We 4 m m c4 p dn rte x Ta E 1 1 4 RE lt AF x 9 Wr a ee RR er targa Md ie CS AG wet A x a IM r ue wr 92 eet 7 Ty VIV HOY 2L 4 1249 14 059 7 P8 DEVELOPER S DIARY February 2015 Munich Main Station travelers rush along the various departure platforms wrapped in thick winter coats and jackets The only warmth anyone is getting in the cold station on th
3. can be very long Sometimes it take hours to play testa single case thoroughly Game testers from rondomedia an external test studio and another tester from the Reality Twist studio help us with this The following days are packed with furrowed brows and brief attacks of desperation Argh Why is the game doing that resonates more than once 14 around the room ln the meantime the size of the project has reached over 5 gigabytes and our lines heat up to a glow every week as we switch to the latest version And sometimes what seems like a step forward is actually two steps back While bugs are being patched left right and center and the final functions are being integrated a line of code from one programmer can quickly play havoc with the code of another In other words There are a lot of adjusting screws in the game and our task now is to find the perfect setting for the game No screw can be so loose that it all falls apart and no cog so tight that it stops another one from turning And shortly before the end of the game s production we have to make another really difficult decision The terrain of Heligoland and Sassnitz is giving our programmers and testers a headache The performance of the game isnt where we want it and there s also still room for visual improvements As the quality of the end product comes first we re going to have to jump in at the deep end The entire terrain meaning all of Heligoland
4. properly with your counterpart Are you asking the right questions Have communicated all the necessary information to the person I m talking to Are the coordinates I ve given correct All of these are problems that are closely connected with the work of a rescuer at sea and so with the constant consultation of the sea rescuers in Bremen they gradually find their way into our game D In the end we have 30 speaking roles with around 20 000 words split between 300 dialog scripts an immense number for a simulation but also necessary for a project like this With the dialog scripts in hand it s off to the recording studio We chat with the different voice actors there Each character in the game has their own so called character sheet These explain each character s background story and helps the voice actors to find their way into the role Dy the end of voice recordings over 5 000 individual takes will have been recorded and imported into our game The effort is enormous as with so many snippets and speech fragments it s all too easy to overlook an important sentence Even for the voice actors recording for a computer game is a challenge since it isnt a linear story they have to keep finding their way back into the role time and again Sorry but where in the game am exactly in this scene Questions like this are the order of the day This is the reason we have our Creative Director sitting in on the German recor
5. should all be reflected equally in the game After the brainstorming is finished the designing of the missions will then aim to recreate the real cases with the help of the program modules However out of respect for those unfortunate ships and people we decide to change the names slightly for the simulation s missions 4 APRIL 2013 SHIP SIMULATOR RECEIVES FUNDING The idea of the search and rescue simulation grows and flourishes We d still like to do a lot more wed still like to show more clearly why maritime search and rescue affects us all And so in March we submit an application for funding to the F ilmF ernsehF onds Bavaria FFF With the additional budget we would be able to realize the game exactly as we imagine it On April 18th the good tidings arrive in our email inbox C With the grant of a generous sum the FFF supports the production of Alarm f r die Seenotretter In this 3D simulation the player is put in the position of a member of the emergency services on the boats and cruisers of the German Maritime Search and Rescue Service They gain a realistic insight into emer gency operations on the North and Daltic Sea and takes on various tasks such as navigation fighting fires and maritime salvage while at the same time learning a lot about seafaring and the sea Champagne corks pop It feels good to have the funding committee behind our idea Now there s nothing left standing in
6. simulat CREDITS Team Reality Twist CEO Clemens Hochreiter CTO Thomas Wagner Creative Direction Sebastian Grunwald Producer Quirin M nch Game Programming Kevin Kerkhoff Lucas Garitta Simon Preisinger Thomas Wagner Leveldesign Adrian Radoiu J rdis Nolte 3D Art Adrian Radoiu or maritime 2D Art Gerald Grunow Carola Langer Jennifer Kerkhoff Additional Research Sebastian Goecke Lydia G ck Playtesting Lars Pape Audio Recordings Simon Osterhold Voice Actors Christian Jungwirth Piet S hngen Michael Sporer Arndt Holgersson Oliver Scheffel Jasper Strindberg Nina Pietschmann Freija Ihmels Telkin Guetekin Jonne Faas Additional Voices Sylvia Frei Theresa Greim Martin Mantel Matthias L hn Andreas Denk Christian Huber Umut Dirik SUPPORT Before contacting our support team we d like to ask you to first check the drivers on your PC and if available update them A lot of graphics and sound problems can be resolved by updating the drivers If you have any questions about this product which are not explained here you can contact the rondomedia support team in the following ways Phone 49 1805 766 363 English Email support support rondomedia de You can find our current hotline times on our website www rondomedia de Team rondomedia Sales Julia Pfiffer Franziska Planz Yvonne RieBer Andreas Neiken Managing Director Kristina Klooss Head of Marketing
7. the way of the actual qame development All the graphics artists designers and technicians are briefed and everything is ready for full production to begin in May 5 MAY 2013 CAMPAIGNS CHAPTERS AND CASES It may seem very banal but clean terminology is absolutely necessary for the entire team to pull together for the same result Only when everybody knows exactly what is meant by which words can we all work towards the same goal That s why within the scope of the game we distinguish between campaign chapters and operations The first months already see Ship Simulator growing fast and strong We back off from the original idea of depicting maritime rescue only on the North Sea The desire to incorporate the Baltic Sea into the game is too strong After all the work on the two seas is fundamentally different For example the tides play Seenotretter Nomenklatur amp Missionsstruktur a much larger role in op erations on the North Sea The perils of the Wadden Sea or running aground at low tide are just a couple of examples of this The Baltic Sea on the other hand is characterized by an even stronger tourism indus try The sea might seem calmer but the deceptive tranquility of the Baltic can quickly become disastrous for many visitors We want to highlight both of these aspects in the game and so there are also two campaigns One on the North Sea and one on the
8. 7 Ship Simulator Maritime Search AM Rescue X JL JEL AKA Epilepsy warning Some individuals may experience epileptic seizures or a loss of consciousness when viewing certain visual stimuli for example flashing lights or patterns These individuals are at risk of expe riencing seizures while watching television or playing videoga mes Even those without any previous related health issues or Signs of epilepsy can be affected by this The following symptoms are characteristic of photosensitive sei zures blurred vision eye or facial twitching trembling arms or legs disorientation confusion or momentary loss of conscious ness During a photosensitive seizure a loss of consciousness or con vulsions may cause serious accidents as these symptoms are often accompanied by falling If you notice any of the above symptoms stop playing immediately It is highly recommended that parents observe their children while playing videogames as children and adolescents are often more sensitive to photosensi tive seizures than adults CONTENTS 1 System Requirements 4 2 Welcome to Maritime Search and Rescue 4 3 Installation and Start 5 3 1 Further Requirements and Help 9 3 2 Installation 5 3 3 Starting the Game 5 3 4 Uninstallation 6 3 5 Options 6 4 The Main Menu 6 4 Start Game j 4 2 Sea Book 8 4 3 Options 8 4 4 Credits 8 4 5 Quit 8 5 In Game or on the High Seas 9 5 1 Controlling the Ships 9 5 2 Contr
9. Baltic Sea The player starts by deciding on which of the two seas they want to be stationed as the foreman We then split each campaign up into chapters which we also internally refer to as missions Each one gets a thematic focus relevant to the subject of maritime rescue The Wadden Sea hurricanes fog At the end of each chapter the player should have learned something about the respective theme And into these chapters in turn we pack the individual cases that need to be solved Each case then consists of a set of storylines which are in turn composed of individual steps Like a giant puzzle the game comes together piece by piece The programmers build the first program modules for the various storylines the graphics artists create menu structures for the selection of the campaigns and chapters and the Creative Director converts the single real cases into the respective indi vidual steps Finally the game designer sticks the individual objects together in our game engine In the end we end up with a game with much larger dimen sions than we had first thought 6 JUNE 2013 RESEARCH After all the preliminary work it s now down to business Duil ding a realistic simulation will first mean one thing for each member of the team research research research The level designers need to have a look at the terrain in our case Heligoland and Sassnitz They collect thousands of photos pour ove
10. E SHIPS General Controls W A S D keys Forwards Right Backwards Left rudder Q E keys Left Right bow thruster Mouse Interact with the interface Left mouse button Action Right mouse button Look around in orbiter camera F 1 4 3 OPTIONS The Options menu lets you adjust the gra phics and sound EE volume MIE settings to Mute MES match the per formance of your s mauus PC and your EE cage MEE English needs Back 4 4 CREDITS You ll be surprised just how many men and women have worked hard to bring you the Maritime Search and Rescue experience 4 9 QUIT Ends the game and returns you to your desktop Scroll wheel Zoom C Switch to controlling the daughter boats VERENA or NOTARIUS where available R key Activates the radio M key Overview map L key Log book F1 F9 Camera positions F10 Fire monitor F11 First person perspective F12 Swivel camera perspective 1 Activate course holder 2 Log book Left Ctrl amp Num pad Operate time lapse faster slower Left Ctrl amp Num pad Operate time lapse fastest slowest Left Ctrl amp Num pad Enter Quit time lapse Advanced Controls Num Num Detailed motor lever settings Numpad 1 9 Detailed left center and right motor lever settings where available U O Detailed rudder settings Detailed bow thruster rudder settings where available 9 2 CONTROLL
11. EDE was launched o E 8 1 HERMANN MARWEDE Her daughter boat the VERENA comes from the L rssen shipyard in Bardenfleth and can reach a top speed of 32 knots With her length of 8 9 meters she can be accom modated comfortably in the stern of the HERMANN MARWEDE www ship simulator The HARRO KOEBKE was launched in 2012 taking over regu lar service at Sassnitz from the Wilhelm Kaisen built there in 1978 Like the HERMANN MARWEDE the HARRO KOEBKE was also built at the Fassmer shipyard in Berne With a length of over 36 meters she can reach a top speed of 25 knots Her fire extinguishing system pumps 10 000 liters of water per mi nute 8 2 HARRO KOEBKE SSN oa Her daughter boat the NOTA 5 ji RIUS is a rigid hulled inflatable boat and was developed by Mari ne Specialised Technology Limited in Liverpool Like the VERENA the NOTARIUS can reach 32 knots TIPS AND TRICKS A good maritime rescuer knows his ship Use every free minute you have at sea to explore the sea rescue cruisers Human lives always come first Always ensure the survival of the shipwrecked first before you begin salvaging the ship The bow thruster is a great help with tight maneuvers for ex ample in the harbor or on operations A quick glance at the log book or map or a radio message are always helpful You can use the levers to adjust and set the performance of the engines very precisely www ship
12. ING THE FIRE MONITOR Mouse Aim Left mouse button Activate deactivate primary water cannon Right mouse button Activate deactivate secondary water cannon Scroll wheel Regulate water strength www ship simulator maritime sa 9 4 FIRST PERSON CONTROLS Movement W A S D keys Forwards Right Backwards Left Tab key Pick up rope Mouse Look around Left mouse button Action Right mouse button Click Rope Right mouse button Hold Interact with the interface L key Log book 2 Quit first person perspective 5 3 CONTROLLING THE DAUGHTER BOAT Movement W A S D Tkeys Forwards Right Backwards Left rudder Cursortasten gleichzeitiges Steuern des Bootes Mouse Interact with the interface Left mouse button Perform action Right mouse button Look around in orbiter camera F 1 Scroll wheel Zoom in out M key Overview map L key Log book F1 F8 keys Camera positions F10 key Rescue position THE INTERFACE 6 1 THE RADIO The radio is possibly one of the most useful and important de vices on your sea rescue cruiser Use your radio to receive mis sions and to contact people in distress If you re ever unsure of what to do you can always get useful information from the command center over the radio www ship simulator maritime sa 6 9 THE RUDDER The rudder shows you how far you have turned the wheel 6 6 THE DEPTH GAUGE The depth gauge shows you the depth o
13. Sales Julia Pfiffer Finance and Accounting Daniela Eicker Head of Product Management Monika von Hall Koppel Reinhard Vree Testing Victor Pos Oliver Hopner Amin Suliman Andreas Geiermann Dennis Strillinger Florian Mann Yannick Romany Product Management Julian Broich Christian Winkler Reinhard Vree Stefan Kummer Pierre Friedrichsmeier Game Design Consultant Andreas Suika Localization Anakan GmbH PR amp Marketing Localsoft S L Buschbaum Media Daniella Mangold Felix Buschbaum Carsten Hoh Manual Texts Florian Mann Pierre Friedrichsmeier Online amp Social Media Patrick De Vilder Christian Irmen Packaging Design Jens Muller Special thanks go to MUSIK The crews of the rescue cruisers HERMANN HELMS HER e Battle Over Britain K L McTiffen MANN MARWEDE and HARRO KOEBKE as well as the team at the Maritime Rescue Co ordination Center BREMEN One Step Closer R E Morgan The entire team of the DGzRS Power and Glory Simon Wolfe We would like to thank all the family friends and fans who have Supported us in the realization of this game You are the key to e Great Adventures Anthony Clarkson Our SUCCESS e Fantasy Forest Dan Phillipson Untold Story William Pearson Races From Other Places Wei Yong Teo Rise of The Cyclops Jonathan Adamich X Fighters Meet The Elders Rise Above Storm Warriors Stage Mix A Grand Adventure Stage Mix Jack Francis
14. UST 2013 SHIPS SHIPS SHIPS Our 5D graphics artist is in full swing The HARRO KOEBKE and HERMANN MARWEDE need to be realistically recon structed Not to forget since we see life on deck as being just as important as the traveling on the high seas the player should be able to move around the ships freely inside as well as out While our programmers integrate a first person mode into the game bit by bit the 3D graphics artist now has to begin modelling the inside of the ship just as they ve done with the outside Along with the ships plans and the books the rescuers themselves help us out here They re always on hand to answers our many questions about any details that arise during development What s this button for What purpose does this have on the ship What shade is this paint Anyone who s ever been on a real DGzZRS rescue cruiser knows They are the pride of the organization very corner is spotlessly clean each piece of equip ment serviced each rope coiled up correctly That means we don t want to make any mistake here either of course The fact that we ve still not yet seen the ships with our own eyes means that our entire team s full attention is required The ships are relevant to our programmers too They re developing the appropri ate ship physics for each model They need to therefore consider specific details for example that the sea rescue cruisers lean outwards rather than inwards e w
15. a rescuer you put your life on the line to save the lives of others After a few seconds a window will appear on the screen Follow the instructions to install the game and select the directory where you would like to install the game If the program does not start automatically double click My Computer on your Windows desk top Then double click the disc drive icon followed by the installa tion file icon setup exe in the next window 3 3 STARTING THE GAME 1 First click Start in the Windows taskbar usually found at the bottom of the screen and then Programs or enter the name of the game into the search bar 2 Use the mouse to select the program group lt Ship Simulator Maritime Search and Rescue gt and then click lt Ship Simulator Maritime Search and Rescue gt You can also start the game using the desktop icon 3 4 UNINSTALLATION Select Start Control Panel Programs and Features and then choose the entry lt Ship Simulator Maritime Search and Res cue gt Then click the Uninstall button The program its files and game data will then all be uninstalled 3 9 OPTIONS You can change individual settings to better suit your PC s confi guration in the main menu under Options If your PC s con figuration meets or surpasses the recommended system requi rements you can set all of the settings to high If your PC s configuration only meets the minimum system requirements or if the game ga
16. and Sassnitz will be rebuilt using a different less memor y hungry method After integrating it following three months of development time we all hold our breath The new solution works looks better and makes the game much faster It was the right decision We tweak the ships physics one last time the ships are now behaving correctly and for the first time the controls feel like they belong to a real sea rescue cruiser We re making progress Last but not least our 3D graphics artist even gives us a little surprise Over the weekend he s transformed the characters which had only existed as 2 drawings up until now into 3D models This gives the game an even more uni form look and reinforces a very important factor hamely the honoring of the crew members behind the DGzRS There s no doubt about it the final 10 of fine tuning is in full swing and the game is almost ready to hit the shelves 12 APRIL 2014 ON THE WAY TO GOLD MASTER The groundwork for the release of i a snip Simulator 9 Maritime Search 1 Ship Simulator runs parallel to the game s testing In consultation with the publisher rondomedia and the DGzRS we de velop a package design and a trailer The game is also recorded in English and translated into two additional languages for the international gt mutator Maritime games Am EC i 1 23 AN um t JE z YT
17. as soon as it s out and available lauds the engineer The entire crew is thrilled Words to soothe the souls of our development team We can hardly wait for the adventures of the Maritime Search and Rescue crew to finally hit the market T Rey yh X Pn t
18. cs card with Shader 3 0 support min 1 5 GB VRAM AMD CrossFireX is not supported AMD Radeon HD3870 NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT or better keyboard and mouse with scroll wheel www ship simulator maritime sar Cc 0 INSTALLATION AND START NOTICE The product is subject to your acceptance of the terms and conditions of Steam subscriptions Steam Subscriber Agreement SSA You must activate this product via the Inter net by registering for a Steam account and accepting the SSA 3 1 FURTHER REQUIREMENTS AND HELP The installation requires a one time Internet connection for au thentication as well as the Steam client included with delivery of the game 3 2 INSTALLATION Please ensure that your computer is connected to the Internet be fore you start the Ship Simulator Maritime Search and Rescue installation process Insert the Ship Simulator Maritime Search and Rescue disc into your computer s disc drive During the in stallation process a one time online check will be carried out to verify the disc and an activation file will be downloaded which will request a product code You will find the code on the back of this manual WELCOME TO MARITIME SEARCH AND RESCUE You set sail as others return to dry land On the high seas face the sheer force of the elements And you re steering them the most powerful rescue vessels of the Maritime Search and Res cue Service in search of shipwrecked seafarers As a se
19. ding sessions as he s the one who has to have an overview of the complete game in his head throughout the entire development process As a reward the voice actors have VIP status as they are the first external employees who get to have a glimpse of an early version of the game When the German voice actor for our MRCC employ ee Freija gets her first glimpse of the Be d in action she shouts Wow That looks amazi ly aw We ve got a good feeling 10 FEBRUARY 2014 WAVES WIND AND WEATHER The ships have been built the terrain integrated the individual cases put together and a first version of the menu allows you to select all the operations What s still missing is the corresponding drama from the weather After all what rescue mission on the stormy seas would make sense if the wind wasn t really howling it wasn t pouring down and the waves didn t loom threateningly We use our own weather engine for this With this we can determine exactly what kind of weather the player will experience during each operation Whether it s beau tiful bright sunshine or the fiercest rainstorm the rescue crews are ready for action whatever the weather and we wanted to reflect that range in the game too With additional visual ef fects like lightning color filters and vignettes we achieve more dramatic highlights to captivate the player To ensure that all of th
20. f the water Pay atten tion to the water depth and the draft of your ship so that you don t run aground 6 7 STEERING WHEEL AND LEVERS The wheel and levers are useful for you to see how far you re steering and at what level your engines are running at Additi onally you can set the wheel and the levers manually and very precisely using the mouse 6 8 THE MENU In the menu you can change the speed of the game You can activate deactivate the time lapse here Additionally you can re turn to the main menu from here by clicking Quit 6 2 THE LOG BOOK You ll find information on your current mission and mission pro gress in the log book If you re ever unsure of what to do a quick look at the log book can be helpful 6 3 THE HOLD COURSE BUTTON If you ever have to travel long distances on your way to a shipwrecked seafarer you can click this button to ensure that you stay unaffected by wind and current your ship will hold its course until you re back at the wheel 6 4 THE OVERVIEW MAP MINI MAP The mini map shows you which direction your next mission ob jective is in Follow the green arrow to it You can also switch the mini map to full screen mode for a better overview Additionally you can zoom in and out with the and keys to adapt the visual field to the situation 6 9 THE CAMERA Here you ll find a list of all pos sible camera angles You can Bow change the angle by clicking a Stern ca
21. hat he doesn t already know You can tell from his weathered face hidden under a long gray beard that he s spent countless days at sea in every kind of weather When he realized that his days as a sea rescuer were coming to an end he passed on all his Arndt Holgersson is the focus and calm of the maritime res cue team As an engineer he spends a lot of time below deck and ensures that the sea rescue cruiser is always operational Even under pressure and in the most difficult of situations he always manages to find the right words and has good ad vice for his crew members Jasper Strindberg is the youn gest member of the crew As a trained paramedic his youthful energy led him to seek adven ture on the high seas the crew can always count on Jasper Always high spirited and inquisitive he s one of the people you can tell was born to serve at sea and to save lives knowledge of the sea to Piet to ensure that the seas remained safe even without him Every sea rescuer knows the Jonn ian wisdoms and they ve etched themselves especially deep into Piet S memory Shipyard in Berne in 2003 and has since been stationed off Heligoland She measures 46 meters in length and is the largest sea rescue cruiser in the world Her three propellers are driven by three ship diesel engines reaching an engine power of 9250 hp The HERMANN MARWEDE can reach a top speed of 25 knots THE RESCUE GRUISERS The HERMANN MARW
22. hen taking curves The first attempts are very frustrating The ships wobble on the water like rubber ducks and move either much too slow or way too fast lt soon be comes clear we re going to have to put a lot more work into this aspect of the ships Finally our Managing Director comes up with a smart idea If the sea is so far away couldnt the team at least take part in a motorboat course And so our office job behind closed blinds and bright monitors is actually expanded for the next few months to include motorboat rides on the nearby Lake Starnberg Of course the newfound knowledge immediately flows into the continued game development 8 OCTOBER 2013 GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE AND CONTROLS We re aiming at appealing to two groups of customers with Ship Simulator On the one hand of course the sea loving simulation player who has maybe even been on a sea rescue cruiser themselves and who dreams of life at sea and knows every technical detail back to front And on the other hand of course there s also the inexperienced player who is interested in the subject matter whether it s the ships the rescue crew or simply the fate of those in distress at sea but who simply doesn t care for the technical details of a sea rescue cruiser That s why our game is playable in both expert mode where you can control each of the cruiser s engines individually as well as in simple mode where the game takes over some of the more sophi
23. is dreary morning is from the rising steam of f the mulled wine and meatloaf rolls A delegation of three Bavarian game deve lopers boards a train heading far to the north Their destination Cuxhaven Their contacts the maritime rescue team of the HERMANN HELMS Their undertaking to develop a maritime rescue computer game It s bitter cold as we arrive in Cuxhaven It s snowing Two days aboard the HER MANN HELMS lie ahead The Head of Product Management from rondomedia is also with us He ll be monitoring the project on behalf of our publishers We ll also be meeting our contact from the German Maritime Search and Rescue Service DGzRS for short We re all looking forward to boarding the ship and meeting the crew on site 1 FEBRUARY 2013 FIRST CONTACT Still bundled up in our thick winter jackets we board the sea rescue cruiser We brought a list of things we d like to know with us What are the typical duties of the search and rescue team How does the ship behave physically How does the launching of the daughter boat work The list is long As we enter the crew s compartment the so called mess we realize that we haven t even brought a ugitt along for the crew The first day doesn t go quite as we d expected We dont head out to sea with the HERMANN HELMS but instead spend the entire day at the station We examine the rooms are fed more than well by the galley and get to know the crew One thing becomes clear ve
24. is runs as smoothly as possible we build a system that enables seamless transitions in the weather So if you take the sea rescue cruiser out on a long journey you ll really see the sun setting or the gradual descent of an eerie fog on the water 5 Our first test run of the weather brings us our next surprise Oh god Why are the waves in the harbor suddenly so high shouts our tester We facepalm ourselves Of course even in the biggest storm the waves in the harbor behave completely differently to those out on the sea So we also have to teach the game how high waves can be in different areas We develop another new en gine for this so called wave maps the individual maximum height of the waves are simply marked in the qame world with a color Various sound effects are now added such as rain dramatic thunder and of course atmospheric music which we control interactively throughout the game We have to admit that we re a little bit amazed ourselves as we get together to take a first look at the results the rain lashes around us the enormous HARRO KOEBKE plows through the wave crests the weather warning comes in over the radio as suspense laden music sets in and people on a life raft struggle for survival 11 MARCH 2014 FINE TUNING The last 10 of a game s development are the hardest The game works Now it s time for testing and polishing A simulation like this is enormous and playtimes
25. l see a short description of the situati on and can start the assignment by clicking Start Game You can return to the previous menu with the Back button Baltic Sea Select Baltic Sea from the menu to view the available missions on board the HARRO KOEBKE Then select one of the missions and assignments You ll see a short description of the situation and can start the assignment by clicking Start Game You can return to the previous menu with the Back button Free Cruise Modus Once you ve completed all of the missions in the North Sea or Baltic Sea you unlock the Free Cruise mode In this mode you ll have to prove yourself in random missions and various weather conditions 4 2 SEA BOOK The Sea Book links you to the website www seenotretter de emotion where you ll find lots of exciting and interesting in formation about the Maritime Search and Rescue Service its history and their operations Die Strandung der Alliances vor Borkum Asters rer G ncurg des Seenotrett ungswets Der Qum heb uit Tagen te A nbi Li GOS neues da ot Pv genes Laban erasten cttm den E de aree tegat mut Oe baing dev enter ohimbect Trailer News und Bonusmaterial gibt es unter www schiff simulator die seenotretter de zi D IN GAME OR ON THE HIGH SEAS 1 00 5 0 03 6 DM F Jal 7 5 1 CONTROLLING TH
26. me stutters or objects are not displayed correctly we recommend that you change the settings or the resolution to a lower level We only recommend changing these setting from low to medium or high if your PC s configuration significantly surpasses the mini mum requirements Should you encounter any problems activate the compatibility mode to reset the graphics settings by holding the Shift key when starting the game www ship simulator maritime sar m Cc 0 4 1 START GAME Tutorial sa 8 North Sea E EL 3 Baltic Sea Tutorial and Introduction to the Game You set sail from here We recommend you start with the tutori al where you ll be acquainted with the basic game mechanics Once you feel ready to fulfill the duties of a bona fide sea rescu ers you can choose whether you want to sign up for the HARRO KOEBKE or the HERMANN MARWEDE THE MAIN MENU The Main Menu is your point of departure into the world of the sea rescuers From here you can start your adventure on the high seas find out more interesting information about the sea rescuers and configure the game to both you and your PC s needs Sig SUIZA i PTT aN TIE UIIE New Game Sea Book Official website Options Credits Quit North Sea Select North Sea from the menu to view the available missions on board the HERMANN MARWEDE Then select one of the mis sions and assignments You l
27. mera You can also do this by pressing the F1 F12 keys Menu Camera Port Starboard Orbiter Port shoulder Starboard shoulder Mast Daughter boat Fire monitor First person view 6 10 THE STATUS BAR You will find interesting and important information about the Status of your ship and the weather conditions in this bar THE MARITIME SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAM www ship simulator maritime sar Freija Ihmels is your contact at MRCC Bremen She is in constant radio contact with the crew of the rescue cruiser When an emergency call goes in she is the life saving link between the sea rescuers and those in distress She s always up for a joke with her boys but will switch back to profes sional calm at the drop of a hat when it comes to saving people s lives Piet S hngen foreman and as piring sea dog has developed a strong bond with the sea While his friends preferred to stay in their warm and cozy ho mes with a pot of tea the wind and rain drew Piet outside The forces of nature fascinated him and he learned to love a stormy sea more than a sunny beach Under the keen eyes of Jonne Piet became a seasoned sea rescuer well versed with the dangers and perils of the open waters and risking his life for others on the high seas C Old Jonne is a textbook ex ample of a sea dog Nobody knows the sea as well as he does There s no trick or dan ger that the Seven Seas have to offer t
28. o Bremen the location of the DG ZRS s Maritime Rescue Coordination Center where all the information comes together Of course we want to know how it all works as without these people in the background the search and rescue team s work wouldn t be possible The personnel keep watch over the situation on the German seas on large monitors Every ship can be seen on the digital sea chart We watch the work eagerly and bug the staff with questions from the monitoring systems they use and radio guidelines to search operation procedures 9 Finally we all sit down together developers publishers and the maritime search and rescue We now need to decide what kind of game we actually want to make Originally we were just considering creating a classic ship simulator The player would have selected a ship from the DGzRS s fleet and played through a bunch of randomly occurring missions rescuing people towing other ships or fighting fires After our experiences over the last three days one thing is clear This very cold approach no longer fits the subject of maritime rescue It s not only the ships that save lives Above all it s the people who are out there waiting for 4 days on standby on the cruisers It s the staff at the MRCC who man the coordination center 24 7 It s the foremen engineers rescuers radio operators and of course the many volunteers and donors Our game should be more than just anothe
29. olling the Fire Monitor 10 5 3 Controlling the Daughter Boat 10 5 4 First Person Controls 11 If any related symptoms occur STOP PLAYING IMMEDIATELY AND SEEK MEDICAL ADVICE Parents and supervisors should keep children within sight and ask them if they have ever expe rienced one or more of the above symptoms Children and ado lescents have a higher risk of experiencing symptoms of these kinds than adults when playing videogames 6 The Interface 12 6 1 The Radio 12 6 2 The Log Book 12 6 3 The Hold Course Button 12 6 4 The Overview Map Mini Map TZ 6 5 The Rudder 13 6 6 The Depth Gauge LS 6 7 Steering Wheel and Levers IS 6 8 The Menu 0 6 9 The Camera 13 6 10 The Status Bar 13 7 The Maritime Search and Rescue Team 14 8 The Rescue Cruisers 16 8 1 HERMANN MARWEDE 16 8 2 HARRO KOEBKE 17 9 Tips and Tricks 18 10 Support 18 11 Credits 19 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS Minimum System Requirements AMD Athlon 64 X2 Intel Core2Duo or comparable dual core processor min 2 4 GHz Windows Vista 7 8 e 4 GB RAM DVD disc drive DirectX 9 0c compatible graphics card with Shader 3 0 support min 1 GB VRAM AMD CrossFireX is not supported AMD Radeon HD3870 NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT or better keyboard and mouse with scroll wheel Recommended System Requirements AMD Athlon 64 X2 Intel Core2Duo or comparable dual core processor min 2 6 GHz Windows Vista 7 8 e 8 GB RAM e DVD disc drive DirectX 9 0c compatible graphi
30. r maps and purchase the complete altitude data of the areas Hundreds of objects need to be recreated in 3D and placed in the surrounding landscapes The task is like that of a model maker only with virtual models Even more detail goes into our sea rescue cruisers as these are still the biggest eye catchers in our game We settle on the two biggest sea rescue cruisers the HERMANN MARWEDE and the HARRO KOEBKE each with its own daughter boat The ships are huge far bigger than the HERMANN HELMS which we visited back in February So we need a lot of data here too Plans of the ships help us a lot here showing the many details clearly And as the game is of course set on the high seas water is obviously another J important aspect The realistic representation of water is often considered the pinnacle of 3D games development Not surprising as the technology behind it is complex Unlike many other development studios we decide to develop our own water engine in house Along with the physics of the ships it constitutes the bulk of the programming department s research a And then of course there s also the research of the individual sea rescue cases Testimonies from the individual foremen the DGzRS year books and press reports help us out here We place the entire research material into its own folder which grows to over 6 000 documents and more than 30 gigabytes within just a few weeks 7 AUG
31. r ship simulation Maritime rescue is also about people so we want to bring the people into the game through full voice dialogs emotional situa tions realistic radio communications and vividly real maritime rescue charac ters made up of the foreman engineer rescuer and the MRCC We pitch our idea to the room and nervously watch the reactions of the sea rescuers As the faces finally light up with smiles we realize we re on the same wavelength The production of DIE SEENOTRETT ER the game can begin 3 MARCH 2013 FIRST IDEAS Dack in Davaria Pre production begins What we experienced needs to be given a structure that the graphics artists game and level designers pro grammers audio guys and voice actors can work with The different ideas are divided into individual program modules operations with the daughter boat interactive dialogs the rescuing of people standardized radio messages 45 Another fundamental decision is also made The contents of the game shouldn t be made up of just any random cases but of real ones In doing so the thoughts concerns and ideas of the real foremen should be conveyed What goes on in the team when they head Losic Game ay out to rescue people during a life threatening storm That s what interests us lt ll become one of the fundamen tal questions of the search and rescue simulation The team the human aspect and the rescue cruisers they
32. ry quickly these people are unique Every move every bit of team work and every one liner is on point lf you re going to get along in such a confined space for days on end there s going to have to be the 2 right chemistry At the end of the day we still manage to check off parts of our to do wer But 4 in the end it was the people on these cruisers that we really remember The next morning we buy some cake joking with the Plattdeutsch speaking sales assistant in our strongest Davarian dialect and look forward to day two We re finally heading out to sea Our schedule is fuller than yesterday s Our Producer is stabilized on the sick table in the mess our lead technician receives an introduction into the very specific physics of a sea rescue cruiser and our Creative Director jumps into 31 F waters so that he can be rescued by the daughter boat With a protective suit thank god Without a doubt the highlight is a rendezvous between the HERMANN HELMS and a SAR helicopter whiz zing by right above our heads We re thrilled After collecting hundreds of photos video and audio recordings and an incredible amount of information we conclude our first major research work together with the Head of Product Management ata good restaurant We don t even get around to eating much we re already bubbling over with our first ideas 2 FEBRUARY 2013 MRCC BREMEN Our next meeting leads us from Cuxhaven t
33. sticated settings for the player The adjust fo ment of the controls is an ongoing process The game should of course also be controllable with the mouse The example below shows how the game s interface has changed since the first version In the final game you can play Ship Simulator with the cursor keys as well as special keys on the keyboard and also with the mouse on the instruments in the foreground A status bar at the top of the screen also shows information relevant to the game such as speed and compass bearing Later in the game we ll also integrate a logbook and waypoint arrow for an even better gaming experience For the look we finally decided on a plain 2D look in sea rescuer red to make the difference between game and technical levels clear 9 DECEMBER 2013 RADIO COMMUNICATIONS AND VOICE RECORDINGS We re huge fans of narrative games at Reality Twist To us a simulator is more than just the physical mapping of objects Everything has a story and the DGzRS has quite a lot of exciting ones to offer Following our visit to MRCC Bremen it was clear to us that we also wanted to reproduce the radio communications with the coordination center in the game We use our own in house dialog tool for this With this tool an author is easily able to create conversations in the game themselves even interactive conversations When rescuing someone it is also often essential that you communicate
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