A new developer has hit the Flight Simulator scene with an unusual, but extremely interesting new approach to flight sim addons. We’re used to seeing independent developers create and release airplanes, but Seafront Simulations decided to do something different and start creating… boats. Sounds weird? You better think twice, because this is bound to be one of the most fascinating new addon series for MSFS!
If the new Microsoft Flight Simulator gave us something new, it was the groundbreaking immersion level provided by the realistic recreation of our entire world. That’s something that has been adding a whole new level of immersion to our flights, but there’s still no denial that some improvements can be made. The coastlines, for instance, could very well be better represented, specially with the inclusion of realistic objects that usually populate these areas: boats. And there are countless of marinas, ports and harbours that could use some serious enhancements in order to make them more realistic and overall more enjoyable to fly over.
And that’s exactly what Seafront Simulations set out do to. Their goal is to enhance these coastal areas with custom built nautical objects, adding thousand of vessels of all kinds and shapes, always considering the regional accuracy of each one. From small powerboats to large, historical military ships, their promise is clear: to bring hundreds of thousand of vessels to the entire world, starting now with their first (and free) release for the Channel Islands.
Seafront Simulations is taking things serious, with some impressive levels of detail on each boat. They are created to take advantage of the new high-quality textures that are possible in MSFS, trying to be optimised with different levels of detail (LOD) for a balanced performance/graphical fidelity at all distances.
But these are not just static boats stuck somewhere in shallow waters. There’s life down there, with some vessels going about their lives. And since they are also illuminated, you can expect some really beautiful new maritime views at night!
The first release, ‘Vessels Channel Islands‘, is now out on for free, so there’s no excuse to not try it. There’s already plans for the following releases, dedicated to the southeast coast of the UK and also Anguilla, St Martin & St Barts, and the goals is to expand this series to all over the world.
Seafront Simulations has also partnered with Orbx for the distribution of its addons, so you’ll handily find them through Orbx Direct.
Let’s hope Seafront Simulations can continue to release new regions at a steady pace. If they can, this is going to get very popular!
