Powerboat VR
World Resize BETA
You can find this new option in the "Game Options" menu and allows you to scale the distance between islands to suit your preference. It does not change the physical size of the islands - just their position in the world.
There are various scales all the way up to x4 scale. Sometimes the game will pause for a few seconds when resizing due to geometry etc either being loaded or unloaded from the scene.
You can only scale the world when you are sitting in a Cargo Unload area - so if you're clicking the plus/minus buttons and nothing is happening then this is probably why. This is necessary because I need to have an anchor point (ha ha!) to ensure your boat doesn't end up in the middle of the ocean due to the world scaling around it so you should find your boat moves with the port correctly. The only thing you might notice is the clouds changing position.
World scaling is not currently saved into your save game so it is possible that if you save your game with world scaling active then you could find yourself a long way from an island or, in a worse case scenario, embedded inside an island.
Feedback in the forums on world sizes, island sizes etc always welcome :) As far as I know this is a pretty unique ability for a game like this.
OTHER FIXES
Updated the GPU instancing system so that trees are loaded/unloaded correctly depending on whether the island they are attached to is visible. Should stop bloat if you visit many islands in a single play.
GPU instancing now clears itself on game load. This gets rid of a few "ghost" trees which I don't think existed at run time. This may also have been the root cause of the random GPU crashes (fingers crossed).
Cargo and Passenger Job Update
These jobs provide much higher rewards than "Quick Jobs" as they benefit from "Speed" and "Completion" bonuses which can make them very profitable.
Jobs are split into two main areas "Freight" and "Ferry". "Freight" deals with transporting all types of cargo while "Ferry" deals with transporting passengers & vehicles.
Each area is currently split into 3 job sizes "Small", "Medium" & "Large/Bulk". Small jobs are perfect for smaller craft such as speedboats etc as they benefit from a higher "Speed" bonus reward. "Medium" & "Large/Bulk" jobs have less emphasis on speed and more emphasis on completing 100% of the job.
You can attempt any job with any vessel but some may be more suited to particular jobs than others.
You can have up to 5 jobs active at any one time which should allow you to pack your boats full and in many cases complete more than one job in a single trip.
Because of the length of time some of the jobs might take you can now save your progress mid mission and pick up where you left off at a later date. Please note that previous save games may not be compatible with the new save structure.
LOADING CARGO
When you accept a job it will be placed into your "Current Jobs" list which can be viewed from the "Job Board" menu page. From this page you will be able to load specific cargo into specific bays on your boat.
You can also load cargo by using ship's MFD page. However, it will choose to load the 1st valid cargo item which, if you have multiple cargo available at that port, may not be the one you want. It is however, a quick way of loading cargo in VR without having to break out to the main menu.
UNLOADING CARGO
You can unload cargo using the ship's MFD, but only if the port you are in accepts that cargo type. You can also unload cargo via the "Current Jobs" page if you are at the correct destination port.
COMPLETING JOBS
The "Current Jobs" page will track your progress for each job and will tell you how much cargo is at the collection port and how much is at the destination port.
You can "Complete" a job at any time, even if you haven't delivered 100% of the cargo. There is no penalty for completing a job early other than you will not receive your "Speed" or "100% Completion" bonuses. You will be paid Pro Rata for what you have delivered.
Clicking the "Complete" button for a job will take you to an earnings breakdown page where you can view what you will be paid if you complete the job straight away. If you are happy then you can "Accept Payment" and the job will be closed. Any undelivered cargo will be removed from the ports and your ship and you will receive payment to your bank account.
If you don't want to complete the job then just press the back button and the job will not be closed.
OTHER UPDATES
New cargo with new icons.
A few errors fixed.
Cargo & Ferry Jobs
The rewards for completing these jobs are much higher than doing a "Quick Job" but you will have to factor fuel usage.
There are two distinct job types - Freight and Ferry. Freight deals with all types of cargo, while Ferry jobs deal with transporting people, cars and trucks.
Freight and Ferry jobs are grouped into 3 different size brackets (Small, Medium, Large/Bulk) which should accommodate all current and future vessels. You can complete any size job in any vessel with the larger jobs requiring potentially numerous trips to complete the delivery.
When you visit a port a random selection of 28 jobs will be created for each size giving a total of 168 jobs split equally between Freight and Ferry. This should provide plenty of choice. Pay close attention to the "Speed" and "100% Completion" bonuses as these can dramatically effect the pay out you received at the end. The price shown on the job board is the "Base" amount paid for delivering 100% of the cargo WITHOUT any of the bonuses applied.
You can have up to 5 jobs active at any one time which should be enough to allow clever captains to complete more than 1 job at a time especially if your vessel has multiple cargo holds.
You can "Complete" a job at any time and you will be paid "Pro Rata" for any cargo you have delivered. So, for example, if you deliver 50% of the cargo then you will be paid 50% of the base amount. However, if you complete 100% of the job then you will also receive your 100% completion and speed bonuses (if any) and these can really make a difference.
There is no penalty for delivering 0% so if you want to free up a job slot you can simply complete it at any time.
Known Issues
1. Missions progress is not saved.
2. Cargo is not cleared from ports correctly when completing a missions
Control Hot Fix 3
This should allow you to manually set joystick control axis if you're having trouble using the auto detect feature.
Hot fix 2
Hot fix!
1. (Non VR Mode) Turning MSAA anti-aliasing on would cause the world to go black. This is now fixed and you can use up to 8x MSAA again.
2. Multi controller fix - for some reason the multi controller system had stopped working and would duplicate axis across controllers.
So, for example, if you bound the X axis on your wheel to steering and the X axis on your throttle control to throttle then both controllers would control both steering and throttle at the same time!
This has now been fixed and the game supports 3 distinct controllers with up to 10 separate axis each.
I'll add more distinct controllers shortly but just wanted to push this hotfix out ASAP.
Cargo System Beta
This BETA will include the updates to the cargo system allowing you to use your own boats to ship cargo and passengers between the islands.
For more instructions please look at the forum post on how to opt-in to a BETA.
BETA Updates...
1. Available "Quick Jobs" increased from 5 to 8 to provide a bit more variety
2. "Quick Job" screen now has a map which will show you a basic route from your current port to the destination port when you click the "View" button.
3. Ship cargo bays are now generalised to the following...
- DRY - general dry goods e.g. Mail, Plastic, Metal Ore etc
- CHILLED - chilled or frozen goods e.g. Fish, Fruit etc
- LIQUID - liquids such as oil, petroleum, LPG
- CAR - bay for cars (ferries only)
- TRUCK - bay for trucks (ferries only)
- PASSENGERS - seating areas for passengers
Quick Job Fix
It also gives the ship used in a quick job a random name from the name generator as this was actually the underlying reason the quick job was not working correctly.
Boat Naming & RADAR Update
This update brings the 1st of the boat customisation systems to the game so that you can now give your boats a suitable name. Names are displayed in sensible positions on the boat hull.
Purchased boats will be automatically given a random name but you can change this in the boat deployment page.
Boat names are saved into the save game system
RADAR/GPS
The RADAR and GPS have been updated so that they now have "North Up" and "Head Up" modes. You can toggle the modes using the up/down keys on the MFD.
"North Up" is the default mode and as the name suggests North is always at the top of the screen and it is your boat's icon that rotates to show your direction. This mode makes it easier for you to hold a compass heading but makes determining positions of objects in relation to your boat a little more tricky.
"Head Up" means your current heading is always to the top of the screen and it is the map that rotates around you. This mode helps you with situation awareness as it clearly shows the bearing to objects in relation to your boat. E.g. A RADAR contact to the top, bottom, left or right of the screen will be in front, behind, to the left or to the right of your boat respectively.
Other updates
1. Improved the Sea Buzzards hull lift and stabilisation when at speed
2. Improved the text quality in the boat garage screens
3. Boat garage now shows the boat name as well as the boat type
4. Minor update to the T800 texture maps to remove some baked in text
Fuel Usage Update
1. You can now fill up with fuel at any port at a cost of £1 per litre
2. All boats have their own fuel usage stats so it will be up to you to set the most appropriate speed vs fuel usage for your journey
3. New Fuel & Engine Performance page on the MFD shows fuel amount, usage, endurance and efficiency.
4. Fuel gauge now shown on the digital dashboard for all boats and on the HUD
5. Most boats have had a slight speed increase when running at "Flank" speed. This is countered by a much increased fuel usage.
6. Fuel levels are stored for each boat in your garage and are stored into the save game files.
7. New boats always come with a full fuel tank
8. Quick Job boats always come with a full fuel tank
9. Boat engines will stop when you run out of fuel. If you get stranded you can either swap to another boat that has fuel or hit the "Reset To Start" button in the "Boat Recovery" menu.
10. T-800 physics resolution increased and weights altered
11. FerryCat physics resolution increased and weights altered.
12. Optimisations for terrain rendering
13. Distant fog effects massively improved.
14. Tweaks to colour grading should improve picture quality
Next update will be the generation of jobs to complete using your own boat...
Happy Boating!