Major Update v0.8.5 - Is Now Live!

Ahoy Sailors,

After a successful Public Test and a lot of valuable feedback from the community, Update v0.8.5 is now live. This update focuses heavily on making ships feel more realistic and natural on the water, with major improvements to buoyancy, steering, engine behavior, seperate thrusters, and overall handling.

Alongside these core changes, v0.8.5 introduces the Sea Taxi system for faster travel between locations and company-owned ships, the new Burning House mission, and numerous quality-of-life, UI, stability, and performance improvements.

Many of these changes are a direct result of your reports and testing during the Public Test — thank you for helping us shape this release. We hope you enjoy the improvements, and as always, we look forward to hearing your feedback as we continue developing the world at sea.

🌊 Big Step Forward: Major Improvements to Ship Physics & Buoyancy

This update delivers Part 2 of our Buoyancy and Ship Physics Overhaul, significantly improving how vessels behave in the water and laying a stronger foundation for realism in Ships At Sea.

Key improvements include:

• More natural wave response with reduced bouncing and jittering

• Improved buoyancy and wave interaction in rough seas

• Improved steering and maneuverability at both low and high speeds

• Smoother acceleration and more controlled deceleration

• Resolved overly aggressive instant turning behavior

• More accurate weight distribution, engine, and propeller force simulation

• Support for multiple engines and rudders

• Refined wave height transitions between open ocean and calmer areas

• Reduced water flow disturbance effects on some boats — propellers and keels are no longer visibly exaggerated

• Optimized water shader and overall performance improvements

A major technical change in this update is that thrusters now have their own dedicated engine, fully separated from the main propulsion system. This allows bow thrusters on Class 3 ships to operate independently, even when the vessel is stationary, matching real-world behavior.

Further technical changes included in this update:

Several refinements to slamming forces and engine torque calculations, improved steering efficiency at low speeds, and a new efficiency factor for rudder wash from propellers. An engine overload effect has been implemented for abrupt gear changes (for example, switching from full ahead to reverse), and multiple engine-related issues have been resolved, including continued acceleration while the clutch was in neutral/idle and a throttle state where power could become stuck at 100%. The center of mass has been adjusted, and all boats and ships have been rebalanced—including propellers and engines—to properly reflect the new ship physics foundation.

This update marks an important foundational milestone toward achieving the level of realism players expect from Ships At Sea. With the new physics system now active, the groundwork is in place, and the focus moving forward will be on fine-tuning and balancing individual boats and ships. However, the system provides a robust framework for authentic handling across all vessel classes or types, supporting larger ships introduced leading up to v1.0 and continuing well beyond, as Ships At Sea evolves as a long-term project.

Looking ahead: Because the updated physics now support multiple engines and propellers, we will introduce dedicated dual and triple throttle levers on ship bridges in v0.8.6. for the Class 3 ships.

Sea Taxi — Fast Travel Between Ships & Ports

One of the most requested features from the community is now live: the Sea Taxi.

This first iteration of the Sea Taxi system allows players to quickly travel between ports and company-owned ships at sea, or move efficiently within larger ports such as Røst, Værøy, and Bodø. The system