MuVIT Add-ons

Numerous websites offer a variety of MuVIT add-ons, both scenery and vessel. Some of these sites are easy to find, while others require more searching. The main site, accessible at this link, offers a selection of add-ons. Additionally, we have compiled a catalog of other sites where you can find resources. Please note that this list is subject to change. While we will make an effort to stay updated, sometimes things can change rapidly. If you find a broken link or encounter any other issues, please inform us through the contact page so that we can address them accordingly.

MuVIT Add-ons for Vessels

Open console 26 foot vessel MuVIT scenery and vessel add-ons
Mako 26 foot open console

In the boating simulator, there is a wide selection of power vessels ranging from runabouts, personal watercraft (PWC), and cruisers to large commercial craft. Similarly, there are various sailing vessels available, including daysailers, tall ships, and historical recreations. When taking our Americas Boating Course (ABC) classes, it is recommended to primarily use a single-engine boat, but having dual engines can be advantageous for showcasing differences in handling.

Some more advanced courses, such as piloting and coastal and offshore navigation, can use the larger cruisers and the more sophisticated instrumentation available, such as radar, GPS, and a chart plotter, which all operate as one would expect in real life. The tutorials section of this website will have information on those, and we will announce them in the news section when we post them.

We do sometimes modify the characteristics of some of the models to make them work better for our classes and to make them more realistic in terms of acceleration, these modified models are posted here individually. Before you add vessels read the tutorial and save some frustration when they don’t show up. We only provide the modified configuration file for the vessel unless otherwise noted, it is up to you to install the original model in the simulator. Also, if you download a modified config file, read the install notes and make a backup of the old config file.

Getting started with MuVIT add-on vessels

If you are building a MuVIT system, this file contains all the vessels I recommend for the initial build. It is a collection of cruisers, a deck boat, sailboats, and a few others. Within the zip file is one called ‘where to place files’ which shows where to put the files. Once you see the pattern to it, you should have no problems installing other vessels if desired.

Some prepared activities

If you are building a MuVIT, one component you might find helpful is a collection of prepared activities or ‘Situations’ as they are called in the application. These are a series of already configured, ready-to-go activities such as docking and general boating activities which can save you some time by not having to create them. As with the vessels mentioned above, there is a file in the zip that shows where to place these. You can find the file here.

Sources for vessels

MuVIT Add-ons for scenery

Scenery Sample
Sample of the many available sceneries

There is a good selection of basic scenery for the US, some include aids to navigation (ATONS) including sectored lights which appear during nighttime simulations. As a side note, the navigation lights on the vessels are properly sectored to aid in realistic nighttime navigation exercises. The integration with OpenCPN may mitigate the lack of ATONS where it exists, this may not be an issue as other simulators also tend to exclude aides to navigation since they essentially operate on a millpond in a make-believe environment.

There are tools and documentation for creating your own scenery so you can feel free to do so if so inclined. NOAA, USGS, NASA, and other sources of topographic and bathymetry data are readily available on the internet. As time goes on it is my intention to build additional scenery and waters based on NOAA charts. Not difficult, just a bit tedious and time-consuming.