I think it is the constant lack of reality that irks me. Maybe a strange thing to say but if they spend millions to produce a ‘realistic’ simulator then it should be used in a realistic fashion.
ie - engine failure off night rig, climbing away to suffer an engine fire that wouldn’t go out so imminent ditching. I turn back toward the rig we had just departed from - and more importantly the mandatory safety ‘standby’ vessel - only to be told that the rig had miraculously vanished!
i understand that the instructor wanted me to ditch but don’t underestimate the affect such ‘randomness’ has upon decision making and taking the sim ‘seriously’