Naval Combat
Naval – Best Commercial Release
Reader’s Choice Poll:
Winner: Silent Hunter III
Staff / Moderator’s Choice Poll:
Winner: Silent Hunter III
Comments: The Naval Combat genre isn’t a large one, but despite its StarForce woes Silent Hunter III was a solid title that has with its high quality graphics, innovative features and game play have set a very high standard for naval simulations.
Naval – Best Freeware Release – S.C.S. – Dangerous Waters
Reader’s Choice Poll:
Winner: LuftWolf and Amizaur’s Weapons and Sensors Realism mod
Staff / Moderator’s Choice Poll:
Winner: Crazy Ivan’s Russian Voices
Comments: With such a high level of realism out of the box, game enhancement mods are predominant over the realism mods. However as with all naval sims realism is the most sought after item. It is especially pleasing to see the high quality of mods being produced by the community.
Naval – Best Freeware Release – Silent Hunter III
Reader’s Choice Poll:
Winner: Real U-Boat Mod
Staff / Moderator’s Choice Poll:
Winner: Real U-Boat Mod
Comments: RUB has gone from strength to strength on the back of the community’s desire for greater realism. Hopefully Ubisoft will take this on board for Silent Hunter IV.
Motorsports
Motorsports – Best Commercial Release
Reader’s Choice Poll:
Winner: GT Legends
Runner Up: GT Racing (GTR)
Staff / Moderator’s Choice Poll:
Winner: GT Racing (GTR)
Runner Up: rFactor
Comments: SimBin really came through for the motorsports crowd this year, with two great titles. Yes there were support problems for GTR, and there was that StarForce thing (again), but overall these are two great titles, lovingly crafted by a team that loves racing sims as much as we do. Of all the games listed as winners or runners up, it’s noteworthy to see that ISI’s game engines power every one of them — not that there’s a lot of options in this year’s motorsports sim marketplace.
Motorsports – Best Freeware Release
Reader’s Choice Poll:
Winner: 1969 F1 Mod (GPL)
Runner Up: No other mod came close to being called a “Runner Up”
Staff / Moderator’s Choice Poll:
Winner: 1969 F1 Mod (GPL)
Runner Up: Porsche Carrera Cup (rFactor)
Comments: GPL is still the benchmark by which all other racing sims are measured. And the mods made for it, so far, have re-affirmed the title’s dominance and longevity in the racing sim world.