POLYHISTOR awards Deadliest Catch: Alaska Storm
its only AAA award, for 2013.
Imagine being the operator of crab boat operating in the
Bering Sea, out of Dutch Harbor. The crabs move around en mass, so you are
dependent on map data put out by the Alaska Dept. of Fisheries, so you can see
the crabs moving in their weird yearly migrations. You can also see
your crew, give them commands, watch them perform different tasks, including
rest. Navigating the boat is highly realistic – these are the modern boats,
with GPS, radar and bow-thrusters.
The training steps are ingeniously put together, so it’s
actually fun to be taught how to do what you need to do, in a series of simple
short missions. You learn how to navigate, set crab pots. You even get to rescue another
boat. Completing these tasks, one is ready to enter the Sea. Weather reports
are monitored, but often one cannot get to harbor in time. Winds can reach 120 mph and seas can easily
be 30 feet high. And there is only so much a boat (and its crew) can take…
In giving Liquid Dragon's Deadliest Catch: Alaska Storm is highest award,
the sim must have met a clear spectrum of excellence: graphics, interface, story
line, tech-sim (machines), geography (the large picture), the simulation of the
ocean, the economics of fishing, and the step-by-step
instruction that can make the new player a competent fisherman in about an
hour.
Not mentioned is the sum experience, as a simulation,
interactive, so drawing you in, so that, at night, when you sleep, you’re out on the
boat. This is called ‘letting the
Subconscious play with your toys.’
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