September 20, 2006

Ship Simulator (**** out of four) lets you pilot the Titanic on its doomed voyage or any one of seven other ships, including massive cargo ships, patrol boats, water taxis, racing speed boats or yachts. The program is not an arcade game but rather a realistic simulation of the piloting characteristics of the particular ship you’ve chosen – quick response for the racing boats and sluggish response for the more massive ships such as the cargo ships. And when you turn a ship left or right, unlike ground based vehicles such as cars, the ship "slides" around the turns. That means you have to plan carefully or you’ll end up damaging your vessel. It took practice and a lot of dented metal before we got the hang of it.

You’ll also get to practice your skills in various harbors, such as the New York, Rotterdam or Hamburg Harbors or cruise Thailand’s Phi Phi Islands. The more than 435 square miles of water environments are rendered in 3-D and are quite nice. By the way, you may have wind and rain to contend with and of course other boat traffic.

The simulation proceeds by presenting you with specific missions: 40 in all. These missions include picking up or delivering cargo, racing, taxiing people, going on patrols, search and rescue missions and others. Each mission has several goals you must accomplish to be successful. Miss one and you have to start again. You earn money and scoring by completing missions or lose money by incurring too much damage. Scores are saved, so you can replay missions to better your score.

If you tire of the fixed missions, try using the included mission editor, where you can arrange playable ships, docks, cargos and cranes in your environment and specify a new mission to be accomplished. You can also share these missions with other Ship Simulator users via the Internet.

Ship controls are pretty basic: forward and backward, speed, left and right rudder and bow thrusters. For the multi-engine ships, you have separate speed controls for each engine, and these controls help with your steering and maneuvering. The camera views are from inside or outside your ship; using your mouse for control, you can zoom in or out and, if you choose the Titanic, explore your ship.

You’ll have several navigational aides to guide you in the missions. First is the navigation chart indicating your position in the harbor, direction you’re traveling, the location of the waypoints in your mission and other boat traffic. Additional aides are the compass panel showing heading, course and wind and the GPS panel showing latitude, longitude, distance to waypoint, and also a stopwatch. Help comes in the form of a printed user manual, on-line help and two brief video tutorials.

We enjoyed the game for its realism, 3-D scenery and playability for everyone, but don’t expect an action-packed thrill ride. These are, after all, multi-ton vessels.

Nancy Drew: Danger by Design (****) is the fourteenth in the Nancy Drew PC game series. The new game takes players on an interactive journey through the streets of Paris on a search for clues to solve this latest mystery.

You assume the role of Nancy Drew, who is called to Paris by another investigator to help unravel the unusual goings-on involving famous fashion designer Minette. Minette is preparing for her long-awaited Spring Fashion Collection, but she has taken a weird turn, becoming irritable, very unreasonable and, most unusual, taken to wearing a white face mask. Why has Minette become so distracted, and who are all the unwelcome guests? In addition, why are there disturbing threats and why the mask? You’ll have to help Nancy Drew solve the mystery and save the Fashion Show.

Game play progresses by exploring your environment, whether it’s Minette’s office or studio, the underground catacombs, parks, hotels and or other places. You get around by using the Paris Metro. You’ll look for clues and pick up items that may be useful later. There will be people to interview, including Minette’s secretary, the fashion photographer who was a former boyfriend of Minette, Minette’s fashion models and others. You’re given a choice of questions to ask and a choice of responses to their questions or comments. Choose carefully or, for example, you’ll find a street vendor won’t sell you an item at a good price.

In addition to exploring and interviewing, you’ll have to help Nancy Drew solve puzzles, negotiate mazes, develop photos (in the dark) and bake cookies. Yes, bake cookies, as demanded by Minette’s model. If you fail at some tasks, the program has a Second Chance feature that allows you to try again without having to start all over again. Or you can save your game and return to that point again later. There are two difficulty settings: Junior or Senior Detective.

Help is available if you get stuck and need some hints--just talk to Bess or use your phone to call the Hardy Boys. The game is lots of fun but also has some frustration as you try to solve the mystery. It’s sure to be enjoyed by Nancy Drew fans and others as well.

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