Ship Simulator is a simulation game that puts players at the helm of some of the most varied and detailed ships to be found at sea, all set within stunningly realistic 3D environments. Players can take control of a wide array of ship types, from massive cargo ships to speedboats, yachts, water taxis and even the mighty Titanic. The waters you sail are also as varied as the ships, from the biggest harbours in the world to calm aqua marine tropical waters. Perform tasks in the many pre-fab missions or just steam ahead freely.

Says Pjotr van Schothorst, the game's producer and director at VSTEP: "It was great to see so many people having fun with the first edition of our game. Not just youngsters liked it, but a large group of older people, many of them professional sailors, became almost addicted to the game. I am happy that our development team was able to address most of the often requested features, promising an even larger active user community for the new version."

Ship Simulator 2008 will include the following new features:

• Ocean waves, with realistic ship motions
• Advanced day/night/weather system
• Large-distances trips between harbours (open sea missions)
• Multiplayer
• Walkthrough options on all new ships
• Mid-mission save function
• Visible damage on ships after a collision
• New navigation instruments, like a depth meter
• Advanced towing and mooring rope operations
• Complex and challenging missions, like chasing other ships, container loading, fire-fighting, rescue operations
• Three brand new exciting sailing areas: San Francisco, Southampton/Solent incl. Cowes, and Marseille
• At least nine new vessels, under which several ferries, a hovercraft, a massive container ship, an offshore drilling rig, an oil tanker, a rescue boat and a jet-ski.
• Two cranes for container loading and unloading, which can be controlled by the player

The 2008 version of the game will be published by Lighthouse Interactive throughout all European countries, excluding the German speaking territories and Benelux. Lighthouse also confirmed that it will again release fully localized versions in all major European countries, as it did with the 2006 edition.