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

See the full list of features and other screenshots after the jump!

In light of keeping the fans watchful of Ship Simulator 2007's development, VSTEP has uploaded more videos in their YouTube account showing the 3D models of various objects in their simulation title. As embedded below, one of the newest is, no not a ship, but an oil rig. Check it out:

They promise that these work-in-progress videos will be a weekly thing. Videos could range from demoing certain missions, revealing new features, or just plain showing off. Speaking of which, the rest of the WIP vids are behind the Full Article link below. They include a high-speed ferry, incident control vessel, and hovercraft.

The game Ship Simulator 2007 published by Lighthouse Interactive and developed by VSTEP is the sequel to last year's Ship Simulator 2006. The video game set new grounds last year with the accurate simulation of different ships in various environments. That said, this video game is a niche title, for those who demand absolute realism from their games.

Ship Simulator 2007 is a through-development of the current simulator, but should be graphically better since it will be using an upgrade of the original Quest 3D engine. The gameplay will still be the same, with you taking control of a ship and following a pre-made mission or just simply sailing around. There is no word whether this game will allow users to design their own missions like in Ship Simulator 2006. The other features are covered below.

Ship Simulator 2007 will be released throughout all European countries, excluding the German-speaking territories and Benelux this June. If you want to check out how the game is looking as of now, check out the video and see if the game is for you.

For more details, check the full article.

2.Yo-ho, yo-ho, and a bottle of rum! Davey Jones' locker ain't be big enough for the "boat" of us, eh? The rootin', tootin' barnacles from Lighthouse Interactive just set me sea-lovin' soul free like a gull up the masts. They've just announced that an official Add-On pack for their Ship Simulator 2006 is going to be on the works, and they're going to be working with VSTEP.

The Add-On will feature six new ships, one of which would be a giant cruise ship that can carry thousands of passengers. How's that for a party, eh? More than that, they are going to be playable in the 2006 version environments and even be used to create new missions. The Add-On will be available by February for £ 12.99 (around US$ 25.29).

From tugboats to cruise ships to yachts, you can now be your own skipper with this ship-sim. And we've got screenshots too. Now, you can have all the free boat rides that'll last you a lifetime, without even having to scuffle with scurvy.