Throttle. Like a single-lever control, the shift detents sit just off neutral (marked on the lever) — a quick push clicks the transmission into gear at idle speed before the throttle really opens up.
Prop walk. This boat's right-hand (clockwise, viewed from astern) propeller doesn't just push straight — it also drags the stern sideways. In astern gear the stern walks to port, swinging the bow to starboard, hardest at low speed. A light touch of ahead throttle walks the stern the other way, more gently. Use short bursts to pivot the boat without gaining way.
Rudder. The rudder only bites when water is moving past it — either the boat's own headway/sternway, or the wash from a burst of throttle. Dead in the water with the engine in neutral, the wheel does nothing.
Bow thruster. Pushes the bow sideways independent of the rudder, but loses authority above roughly 2–3 knots as the hull's own speed overpowers it — it's a docking tool, not a steering one. The Tug 44 adds a stern thruster too: push the bow and stern opposite ways and she'll pivot almost in place, no headway gained.
Thruster power. The slider sizes the bow thruster from 40% to 160% of nominal, shown in pounds of thrust. Worth dialing down: an undersized thruster is the usual real-world complaint, and it forces you to set up the approach with the boat rather than fix it at the last second. The setting sticks between sessions and carries across both vessels.
Wind. Breeze and gusty conditions don't blow at a fixed strength or bearing — both wander on a random walk that keeps pulling back toward the day's average. Gusts build and fade over several seconds, the direction shifts more slowly still, and neither repeats between attempts. Watch the arrow: a shift that arrives as you commit to the slip is the whole problem.
Controls: W/S or ↑/↓ throttle, A/D or ←/→ rudder, Q/E bow thruster (hold), Z/C stern thruster (hold, Tug 44 only), Space center rudder, X throttle to neutral, R reset. Touch controls work the same way — press and hold.