Publisher Lighthouse Interactive seems very happy with the relative commercial success of PC title Ship Simulator when it announced its new partnership with developer VSTEP. This deal will bring Ship Simulator 2008 to Canada and the rest of United States during Q1 of 2008.

The franchise Ship Simulator gives players the chance to control some of the most varied and detailed ships available today. The latest iteration in the series has already been released in Europe by Lighthouse Interactive earlier this year. New improvements and features include the following:

• Dynamic ocean waves with realistic ship motions
• Long distance travels with open sea voyages between ports
• Advanced damage system showing holes in the ships after severe collisions with other ships and even icebergs
• 50 new challenging missions for both single player and multiplayer modes
• Extensive day, night and weather systems
• Eight new ships, an oil rig and 3 new locations: San Francisco, Southampton and Marseille
• Walkthrough functionality and interactive bridge controls on all ships
• Controllable container crane
• Advanced vector graphic sea chart with full-screen display option, transparency setting and high level-of-detail on text and depth readings
• Free-roam mode where players can choose a ship, an environment, weather conditions, time of day, and time parameters
• Advanced physics simulation model displaying realistic water effects like water splashing on the bow
• Extensive mapping options for keys and joystick buttons
• Anchoring and advanced rope system which allows you to connect and disconnect player ships to other ships or mooring boulders at will
• A system for sinking player ships when damaged below the water line
• Mid-mission save function
• Enhanced ship bridges with more interactive elements
• An advanced system for establishing ranks in different ship classes linked to the online player profile
• Ability to set a trajectory with waypoints in free-roaming mode by pointing-and-clicking on the game map
• Extended environments for Rotterdam and Hamburg harbors
• Option for dual-screen users (full chart on second monitor)
• Rating missions indicated by stars