How to Run

The first thing to do is to click on the Run button. As soon as you do, you will notice that it changes to a Stop button. The simulator is now running.

If you are using the simulator with the integrated throttles/shifters, you will want to click on the throttles just above the white neutral bar to begin moving the boat forward. If you are using the simulator with separate throttles/shifters, you will want to click on the top of the left or right shifter and then click on the individual throttles for more speed. This will start the boat moving in the forward direction. At slow speeds, the shifters are enough to steer the boat. For example, one shifter/throttle forward and one shifter/throttle backward will turn the boat in circles.

Practice trying to dock the boat in one of the available docks by just using the shifters. If it looks like disaster is looming, you can always click on the Stop button and plan out your next move before you click on the Start button again. (Unfortunately, there are no Stop buttons when you get on your actual boat!)

There is a new feature to position or reposition the boat when the simulator is STOPPED! Click on the boat to drag it anywhere on the screen (if you drag it out of bounds, nothing will work properly) and click on the wheel to change the heading of the boat.

If you end up in a precarious position, you can always click on the reset button and start again!

14 thoughts on “How to Run

    • Lt Colonel,

      We just finished a (Windows) downloadable version that runs independent from the internet. Click on the link below to download a .zip file to your favorite directory, unzip the file, and click on TheBoatDocker.exe.
      Please let me know how this works for you.

      theboatdocker.zip

      TheBoatDockerGroup

  • First off, loving this simulator keep up the great work. My suggestions after playing with it all morning (wife is ready to smash the computer);

    1- adding reverse effectiveness percentage factor. ie. our boat turns on a center axis with forward 650 rpm on one engine and reverse 1100 rpm on the other engine with a center rudder position. I’m assuming due to the flat stern and/or the current prop design. So in my setup I would set my reverse effectiveness to 60%

    2- a boat centered view (3rd person). ie. boat locked in middle of screen and the environment moves around you. The simulator works as is but I found myself getting turned around controls wise when the boat was not facing up thereby losing the feeling of being in the boat versus controlling it from the exterior as you would a rc boat.

    • Nigel,

      Thanks for the comments. In response to comment #1, I will email you in the next few weeks to get more detail on your suggestion. With regards to comment #2, I have had many requests for this type of scenario. I guess it’s time to add it to the project list. This is a major redesign and might take several months to complete, so stay tuned.

      Regards,
      TheBoatDocker Group

  • Matt, I had same problem . . . I found that if I went to boatdocker.com thesetting panel came up and from there I went to the simulator. Great work on the simultor guys. Hope this post helps you sort out the Mac problem
    cheers

    Phil

  • This looks great but it won’t run on my iMAC – i tried Chrome and Safari – when I click on the figure, it just appears to reload the page again and doesn’t bring up the simulator. (I did see this run on a windows machine and it’s great). Would like to be able to use it on our iMac – pls lmk what to try.

    Matt

      • Hi Matt,

        I have just reviewed the website from a safari browser on Mac OS X Yosemite (10.10.5) and the Safari version is 8.0.8
        Additionally, I tested Chrome Browser (45.0.2454.93).
        I do allow cookies from the sites I visit, and this is where the settings information is saved.
        Can you review your versions and let me know if you are running a previous version of Mac OS X or Safari Browser.

        TheBoatDocker

  • Hello. I love the simulator you guys have created. The only thing I wish this simulator had was different docking scenarios. For example, many docks these days have nothing to separate the slip next to them. Makes it more challenging and fun to know there’s a boat next to you with no poles or docks to stop you from hitting it. Any way you could make this happen?

    • JT,

      Thanks for the suggestion. Can you email us some images or drawings at theboatdocker@gmail.com? We will try to implement those drawing. It would be nice to have one complex scenario instead of multiple screens – that would would save a lot of coding. In other words, most of the slips are the same and we really don’t need that redundancy.

      TheBoatDockers

  • Very good simulator. I have just one suggestion: would be very nice to click the mouse over the letters F, N and R at the side of the shifters in order to engage both engines at the same time. The way it is now, we need to click one shifter at a time to move forward (or reverse). We can always use the stop and run button and click the shifters to be in the forward position (or reverse) at the the same time but this procedure takes all the fun away.
    Have a nice day!

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