Working on a new submarine sim: Sub Commander - advice needed!

[PeriscopeDepth]

Hi Geoff,

Good to see indie subsim projects! I would give your project a try but I don't have a Windows install at the moment.

As someone who has toyed with getting the NOAA bathy data into a 3D engine, I'm wondering how you keep your download size so low? The higher res data set (ETOPO 1) is something like 200-300 MB in size.

While I would consider myself a more than competent programmer, I've never done any game programming. So maybe there's just some widely known asset voodoo that I don't know about.

PD

[TheGeoff]

Originally Posted by PeriscopeDepth

Hi Geoff,

Good to see indie subsim projects! I would give your project a try but I don't have a Windows install at the moment.

As someone who has toyed with getting the NOAA bathy data into a 3D engine, I'm wondering how you keep your download size so low? The higher res data set (ETOPO 1) is something like 200-300 MB in size.

While I would consider myself a more than competent programmer, I've never done any game programming. So maybe there's just some widely known asset voodoo that I don't know about.

PD

Hey PD,

No, there's no secret trick - I'm just using low resolution data sets. Usually no more than about 1000x600 pixels or so, hence the low file size. The one I like best (and will probably use for all future releases of the game) is the cleaned up version of the TOPO2 dataset found here: http://www.shadedrelief.com/cleantopo2/index.html
The current version I'm using has been resized to 854x427 - I may include the option for higher res maps in the future but at the moment I don't think the increased file size and hugely increased load times are worth it.

[TheGeoff]

Version 0.08 is out!
http://rapidshare.com/files/89995876...ander_0_08.zip

This one's a big update, a few of the changes:

• A basic crew interaction screen has been added. Press V to select the nearest crewman and view his rank, current task, any symptoms of illness or injury etc. Press Z to send the selected crewman off duty (pressing Z a second time orders him to return to his post). This is a good way to get vulnerable or injured crewmen out of harm's way.
• Crewmen now have names - American names only at the moment, but in the future there will be lists for Russian, British, French etc.
• Crewmen are no longer invulnerable. They can drown, pass out from smoke inhalation and be affected by radiation sickness so be careful... accidents aboard the sub are a lot more lethal now.
• AI has been dramatically improved, especially when firefighting. Crew will now work together to tackle larger fires, while maintaining a safe distance from the flames to avoid injuring themselves.
• A new, larger, more detailed world map has been added. The data for the new world map is extracted from the CleanTOPO2 data set, and is far more accurate than the previous maps used. Press M to access the map and 1,2 or 3 to change zoom levels. The code which displays the map has also been optimized, increasing performance (on slower computers) by several FPS while the map is open.
• Numerous changes and fixes to the periscope - if you're near the shore, you can see land through the periscope now!

There's probably a few more things that I can't remember at the moment. As always I really appreciate any feedback! Thanks very much to everyone who's downloaded the game and given it a try so far

[Hawk66]

Originally Posted by TheGeoff

Version 0.08 is out!
http://rapidshare.com/files/89995876...ander_0_08.zip

This one's a big update, a few of the changes:

• A basic crew interaction screen has been added. Press V to select the nearest crewman and view his rank, current task, any symptoms of illness or injury etc. Press Z to send the selected crewman off duty (pressing Z a second time orders him to return to his post). This is a good way to get vulnerable or injured crewmen out of harm's way.
• Crewmen now have names - American names only at the moment, but in the future there will be lists for Russian, British, French etc.
• Crewmen are no longer invulnerable. They can drown, pass out from smoke inhalation and be affected by radiation sickness so be careful... accidents aboard the sub are a lot more lethal now.
• AI has been dramatically improved, especially when firefighting. Crew will now work together to tackle larger fires, while maintaining a safe distance from the flames to avoid injuring themselves.
• A new, larger, more detailed world map has been added. The data for the new world map is extracted from the CleanTOPO2 data set, and is far more accurate than the previous maps used. Press M to access the map and 1,2 or 3 to change zoom levels. The code which displays the map has also been optimized, increasing performance (on slower computers) by several FPS while the map is open.
• Numerous changes and fixes to the periscope - if you're near the shore, you can see land through the periscope now!

There's probably a few more things that I can't remember at the moment. As always I really appreciate any feedback! Thanks very much to everyone who's downloaded the game and given it a try so far

You make fast progress ...what is for me not so clear yet...do you strive for a full simulation or how do you wanna actually handle combat?

[TheGeoff]

Originally Posted by Hawk66

You make fast progress ...what is for me not so clear yet...do you strive for a full simulation or how do you wanna actually handle combat?

Thanks! Eventually it will be a complete simulation with other vessels, combat simulation, missions etc. I'm still deciding exactly how to do all of this - for combat, I think I'll add a tactical map under the world map, showing the area around the submarine and all nearby ships/targets. From there you'll be able to launch torpedos, cruise missiles etc. Still gotta figure out how to make it all work in a user-friendly way though!

[Red October1984]

0.08 is just as good as always! Keep it coming!

[TheGeoff]

Version 0.09 is here!
http://rapidshare.com/files/10539065...ander_0_09.zip

I've been working a lot on the submarine editor, it works but it isn't quite ready for public release yet. It's very time consuming but hopefully within a couple of weeks I'll release it! You'll notice that the default sub has been updated in this version - the turbines and generators are arranged in a more realistic way, and a few new rooms have been added.

Also:

• Several options can now be set using the new gameoptions.ini file. These include changing the crew name set (default is Russian at the moment, but US names are included), changing the reliability of components aboard the sub etc. Eventually this file will contain all options available to the user, making the game far more customisable.
• Component failures and fires aboard the ship can happen on their own now! Adjust the sub_reliability file in gameoptions.ini to set how frequently accidents happen. Realistically this should be about 100 - for gameplay purposes, 25-50 gives more of a challenge. Set this to 0 if you want a REAL challenge.
• The water outside the sub now looks different when the sub is surfaced, to make the difference between surfaced/submerged more obvious.
• Latitude and longitude readings have been added to the world map
• A second crew interaction screen has been added - press C to view all crew aboard the sub, their current jobs and health status. You can use the Z key on this list to send entire compartments off/on duty. Useful for quickly moving crew around in an emergency.
• Reactor physics have been tweaked to slow the rate at which the temperature increases when the cooling system fails. Reactors won't go from normal operation to full on nuclear meltdown in 20 seconds any more, now it's a slower process. When more detailed repair systems are added, this time window should be enough to allow a competent player to attempt K-19 style improvised repairs.
• Fixed a bug where crew were almost always unaffected by explosions.

This is a fairly minor update gameplay-wise but some serious changes have been made under the hood to allow a lot more features and options later on.

Good to see a few more people trying the game! Really looking forward to releasing the sub editor, it's a lot of fun to play with. You can expect to see it in a week or two!

[Red October1984]

Originally Posted by TheGeoff

Version 0.08 is out!
http://rapidshare.com/files/89995876...ander_0_08.zip

This one's a big update, a few of the changes:

• A basic crew interaction screen has been added. Press V to select the nearest crewman and view his rank, current task, any symptoms of illness or injury etc. Press Z to send the selected crewman off duty (pressing Z a second time orders him to return to his post). This is a good way to get vulnerable or injured crewmen out of harm's way.
• Crewmen now have names - American names only at the moment, but in the future there will be lists for Russian, British, French etc.
• Crewmen are no longer invulnerable. They can drown, pass out from smoke inhalation and be affected by radiation sickness so be careful... accidents aboard the sub are a lot more lethal now.
• AI has been dramatically improved, especially when firefighting. Crew will now work together to tackle larger fires, while maintaining a safe distance from the flames to avoid injuring themselves.
• A new, larger, more detailed world map has been added. The data for the new world map is extracted from the CleanTOPO2 data set, and is far more accurate than the previous maps used. Press M to access the map and 1,2 or 3 to change zoom levels. The code which displays the map has also been optimized, increasing performance (on slower computers) by several FPS while the map is open.
• Numerous changes and fixes to the periscope - if you're near the shore, you can see land through the periscope now!

There's probably a few more things that I can't remember at the moment. As always I really appreciate any feedback! Thanks very much to everyone who's downloaded the game and given it a try so far

Sounds great! Keep it coming! I'll download this and try it out!