Seawolf Preview

[jrolson]

Not sure if posted already.

https://i.imgur.com/Mf075GC.png

[ETR3(SS)]

Huh? You're gonna have to go into more detail than just a picture.:hmmm:

[zachanscom]

more polygons, especially the bow section, yes yes yes!

[jrolson]

Huh? You're gonna have to go into more detail than just a picture.:hmmm:

It's a preview of the seawolf coming in the 1.09 update.

[Ighten]

Nice :Kaleun_Cheers:

[FPSchazly]

Thanks for posting! I remember this from Discord but forget that not everyone sees the stuff in there. :up: Boy, she is a beaut.

[THEBERBSTER]

A Warm Welcome To The Subsim Community > jrolson
Subsim <> Make A Donation <> See The Benefits <> Support The Community

[ETR3(SS)]

It's a preview of the seawolf coming in the 1.09 update.
Ah ok. Cool. :up:

[MR_AUS]

Cool!
Did the Seawolf have a red underside of the hull? I thought they were all black, could be wrong though.

[Falkirion]

Cool!
Did the Seawolf have a red underside of the hull? I thought they were all black, could be wrong though.

You are correct sir, no red hull paint in any of the photos available online of the 3 boats in class.

[C-Wolf]

Having built a more than a few submarine and Seawolf-class 3D models of my own, (see my user profile pics) one suggestion I can offer up to the devs is to lose the DSRV alignment markings (and int'l orange marker distress buoy, if that's what that was intended to be).

The only time those lines are painted to indicate the location of the escape trunks is for initial sea trials and DSRV exercises. It's an error I see repeated often in CG renders and decals on plastic models either due to ignorance or wanting to add "something" to an otherwise bland hull marking scheme. A 6-12" greenish scum line corresponding to the waterline is a nice touch of realism one can add for detailing.

International orange-painted distress buoys, (marked in English and French with a handset inside so any would-be rescuers could listen to us scream) went away in the early 70's; ours were welded into the deck to minimize rattles or accidental deployment and were painted black. They were useless in the majority of the world's oceans due to deep depth and short cable/phone lines.

If life got ugly and events went sideways, we had small buoys that would transmit where (and sort-of how) we bit the co#k. They operated on a timer that was reset during every mid-watch. If the timer wasn't reset, it would launch itself and that would have been a very bad thing. It would also automatically launch if the boat went too deep or took an unrecoverable angle.

"The emergency blow system won't work if we're upside down, but never fear, --the buoy will," we learned to recite whilst qualifying . . .

[supraoptimo]

Oh neat, do we have an ETA on this beauty?

[Julhelm]

It'll be in with the new SCS campaign.

The model has the red hull, markings and emergency bouy purely because I like my subs with a little visual detail. I'm sure they look like black blobs IRL but this does not make for nice game visuals.

This is what the finished model looks like:

[shocknawe371]

looks fantastic! just one humble request....Could you PLEASE add the side windows on the sail then its perfect! http://iainballantyne.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/USS-SEAWOLF.jpg

http://c8.alamy.com/comp/J1YHH3/the-us-navy-seawolf-class-fast-attack-submarine-uss-jimmy-carter-transits-J1YHH3.jpg

[C-Wolf]

@ shocknawe371: There are no "side windows" on the sail if you're referring to the running lights and sonar projector covers. The sail is cramped enough as it is, so the trunk goes straight to the bridge and everyone gets some salt air, which is a good thing most of the time. . .

@ Julhelm: As for the 21 model, I like the UV, specular, and bump map texturing. The sail access plates are a nice touch. As a professional CG artist, I understand the trade-offs that must be made for gaming with respect to poly count and detailing to ensure memory allocation and smooth game play.

As for the orange marker buoys and DSRV lines that do not exist on the 21 boats, (except as previously noted) I completely understand the desire to add texturing details to what are otherwise bland hulls - Hollywood does this all the time.

But please consider this:

When submariners, (especially sonarmen and tactical officers) give positive feedback that echoes: "This is as close as you can get without going to sea!" and that sort of thing, as a dev, it's difficult to receive much better in the way of accolades. The devil is in the details, since the average player has never experienced life aboard a boat. If there's an obvious error, that's what the knowledgeable people will key in on - it happens to me constantly if I present a render; --someone will key in on the smallest detail I never considered or noticed in the reference material I used. Yeah, you can't please everybody, but I try to avoid the obvious errors whenever possible. I put a fly on the table in the background of a render once, along with some fingerprints on a glass and everyone commented (positively) about that more than the subject in the foreground. It's weird what people key on, but the little details can go a long way toward generating positive buzz about a sim; and that's what ultimately pays the bills.

Other than modeling details, --like a Hollywood movie, --no matter how many tops drop, if the story sucks, it isn't likely to gain traction with an audience. This sim builds on the success of Red Storm Rising, and really does a good job of taking it to the next level - especially in regards to the 3D graphics.

Real-life submarining is pretty darn dull; it's like Groundhog Day without Andie McDowell to hot rack with. This simulation, (I like that description better than "game") expands on the more exciting aspects of a profession we constantly trained for, hoping to never execute for real. Submariners are warriors, not war-mongers.

If I'm shopping for a realistic moon-landing sim and Buzz Aldrin says, "Yup, that's the way it was." I'm more apt to spend my money on it. And that's why I purchased this simulation; on the recommendation of submariners. It's a great way to pass the time when house-bound on a snowy day, (like today) and contemplate how a previous life could have turned out far differently.

My graphics critique about the two items above are meant as a positive observation to improve the authenticity of the sim, not meant as nit-picking. The most memorable ass-chewing we ever received for a render was when the customer stood up in the middle of a meeting and started ranting, "Who authorized you to spend money building this assembly!!!" Once he spun down, the boss calmly explained that it was computer-generated, and as such no hardware had been built. . . Afterwards, the customer came into my office and said he wanted to take the render back with him to show his office how well we understood their requirements. We subsequently won the contract with the help of that one shot.

Realism and great campaigns will keep this sim generating more buzz, and knock it further out of the park. Keep up the good work by keeping it real!


Rest assured I'll be spreading the Good Word for Cold Waters in the meantime through my contact list.

CCC :Kaleun_Thumbs_Up:

[supraoptimo]

It'll be in with the new SCS campaign.

What's this about a new campaign? Please excuse my ignorance, I've spent the period between Christmas and New Year's in a haze of rich food and alcohol.

[Capt.Hunt]

If you'll look back at the last few news posts from the devs here and on steam, they announced a couple months ago that they're working on a South China Sea campaign inspired by Tom Clancy's SSN. It should be released some time in the new year.

[Eagle1_Division]

It'll be in with the new SCS campaign.

The model has the red hull, markings and emergency bouy purely because I like my subs with a little visual detail. I'm sure they look like black blobs IRL but this does not make for nice game visuals.

This is what the finished model looks like:

Gonna echo C-Wolf, here. We've got plenty of subs without the red paint and they look great. With the playable subs mod, I actually typically like the Soviet subs more because they look better without it (Akula and Victor series, IIRC).

I mean, we could add all kinds of pretty designs and shark teeth and whatever for "nicer game visuals", but that'd just be silly, because at the end of the day, nice game visuals are whatever make the experience the most immersive and enjoyable.

If you just use what looks good - well, everyone has different definitions of that. But there's only one design that looks real. And that is, therefore, the best design for an immersive and enjoyable experience.



...'cause man do I want to see that slick black design stealthing along underneath polar ice caps. Honestly I think the solid black color looks great to emphasize the feeling that the entire ship, mast to keel, is designed for stealth.

At the very least, perhaps the base files the textures were made from so modders got something they can make an all-black hull from?



Don't mean to sound harsh, though. I've spent 17 hours on this game in the 3 days I've had it. It's too good. And it got me to dust off an old account I haven't touched in some-odd ten years just to ping its forums here. Kudos.

[FPSchazly]

Gonna echo C-Wolf, here. We've got plenty of subs without the red paint and they look great. With the playable subs mod, I actually typically like the Soviet subs more because they look better without it (Akula and Victor series, IIRC).

I mean, we could add all kinds of pretty designs and shark teeth and whatever for "nicer game visuals", but that'd just be silly, because at the end of the day, nice game visuals are whatever make the experience the most immersive and enjoyable.

If you just use what looks good - well, everyone has different definitions of that. But there's only one design that looks real. And that is, therefore, the best design for an immersive and enjoyable experience.



...'cause man do I want to see that slick black design stealthing along underneath polar ice caps. Honestly I think the solid black color looks great to emphasize the feeling that the entire ship, mast to keel, is designed for stealth.

At the very least, perhaps the base files the textures were made from so modders got something they can make an all-black hull from?



Don't mean to sound harsh, though. I've spent 17 hours on this game in the 3 days I've had it. It's too good. And it got me to dust off an old account I haven't touched in some-odd ten years just to ping its forums here. Kudos.

Just gonna go hard devil's advocate on this and say that what's most real is staring at the inside of a submarine all day :03:

[Eagle1_Division]

Just gonna go hard devil's advocate on this and say that what's most real is staring at the inside of a submarine all day :03:

What's most real is joining the Navy and trying to get on a sub.

There's some balance, yes, but I don't think a realistic paint job would make the game more boring or hard to play.

Saying we want or need bright colors on the paint job to make it more attractive is a bit... not giving us enough credit, don't you think?

Plus, the realistic coloring even works well for the aesthetics of the game. It better conveys the feeling of the machine being made entirely for stealth, and the tense stalking that occupies its time.

If it were up to me, the 3d view would have much shorter view distance and get darker more rapidly with depth, too. Really give the feeling of being deep in the abyss. That eerie, unsettling, sort of surreal feeling is what made the old subsims so attractive to me. This still captures it, though, just could do it better.

[ET2SN]

What's most real is joining the Navy and trying to get on a sub.



Its not that hard- just volunteer a couple of times, show a corpsman you can "pop" your ears on command, and then tap dance your way through a psych exam. :D

The hard part comes after you get on board and realize what you've done. :doh:

I'm more interested in accuracy. :up: It still kinda bugs me that we have an all-black playable Virginia class in DW (RA mod) when the lower half of the hull should be dark gray. :yep:

I've posted about The Wonderful World Of Hull Coatings :yeah: in the past and it all boils down to this:

There is a unique logic to submarines. A lot of it will be stuff you've never considered but the logic becomes inescapable once you know why. :salute:

[FPSchazly]

The Wonderful World Of Hull Coatings :yeah:

:har: I enjoy that a lot, thank you :Kaleun_Applaud:

[supraoptimo]

To be fair, they're making a game, and the game has to sell. Let's face it, we're a weird bunch and most people probably aren't going to be too concerned about proper coloration. A solid black metal tube surrounded by a murky blue tint does not a decent publicity screenshot make.

If a more visually impressive design draws the interest of more people who buy the game and support the further development of the game, that's just fine with me. Plus we all know that someone will edit the textures and correct it.

[Capt.Hunt]

Right now all the playable subs use the same paint scheme, VLS and 688i will probably use variants of the same. Honestly, I wouldn't mind a different look on Seawolf, just for variety's sake.

[ETR3(SS)]

Its not that hard- just volunteer a couple of times, show a corpsman you can "pop" your ears on command, and then tap dance your way through a psych exam. :D

The hard part comes after you get on board and realize what you've done. :doh:

I've posted about The Wonderful World Of Hull Coatings :yeah: in the past and it all boils down to this:

There is a unique logic to submarines. A lot of it will be stuff you've never considered but the logic becomes inescapable once you know why. :salute:
Ahh the memories. :haha:

[ET2SN]

Ahh the memories. :haha:


"Have you ever wanted to harm yourself?"
"Nope"

"Have you ever wanted to harm someone else?"
"Well, yeah. That's why the recruiter wanted to talk to me."

:D

[LeopardDriver]

What's most real is joining the Navy and trying to get on a sub.


Nope. Even that is not true. You can actually have way more intense ("real") experiences in the inner realms.

[oversoul]

Whoo boy, eight torpedo tubes of glory and WAA range cheat mode.

Not to mention being able to chase stuff down with [redacted] knots of power! Bring it on! SFSFO aka "where'd the hull coat go?"

[C-Wolf]

Nope. Even that is not true. You can actually have way more intense ("real") experiences in the inner realms.

Back in the day, they would throw you off the boat, (and out of the Navy) for having ("real") experiences in the inner realms. . .

[LeopardDriver]

Back in the day, they would throw you off the boat, (and out of the Navy) for having ("real") experiences in the inner realms. . .

Haha, ok, I get what yo mean. :ping:

Today they work with guys like us togehter. :D

[zachanscom]

more polygons please. this engine and the game runs amazingly well on old systems, more polygons for smoother hull won't hurt. please please thank you!

[Julhelm]

Looks sufficiently round to me with regards to the typical camera viewpoint ingame.

[EnjoyableSTIG]

And when do we get to see this roundness in person? :o

[GeneralGamer]

Adding more boats and content are pumping life into this game.

Thank You all and especially Killerfish! :subsim:

[vadupleix]

Any plans to add the Jimmy Carter as well?
Thanks

[Rufus Shinra]

From what I understand of both modding and the Jimmy Carter SSN, it should not be too difficult for modders to make the sub using Killerfish's Seawolf assets.

[ETR3(SS)]

The JC is longer than your standard Seawolf, afaik that's the main difference besides the addition of gear that she may or may not have onboard for doing things that it may or may not have the ability to do.:03:

[Overkill]

The JC is longer than your standard Seawolf, afaik that's the main difference besides the addition of gear that she may or may not have onboard for doing things that it may or may not have the ability to do.:03:

:har:

[shipkiller1]

Jimmy Carter had a 100ft hull section inserted at construction.

Yea, she's big....

[phelan1777]

Speaking of the JC and Seawolf:

Recent article.

http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/the-navy-has-one-nuclear-spy-submarine-so-secret-we-know-24603