whats the story?

[GoldenRivet]

Last update i saw was the December 2017 update.

the dev team has been startlingly quiet since, and that has been almost 7 months ago.

since then we have apparently seen a name change from UBOOT to UBOAT, and a release date change from naming a specific quarter of 2018, to just, "2018" which is a pretty broad brush stroke.

I added this to my steam wish-list over a year and a half ago, and their product seemed pretty much in a near finished state way back then.

do we know anything?

seems like this game has gone through a pretty hush hush development

[fullmetaledges]

I share in your frustrations. I’ve been watching this for the same amount of time and actually bought a new computer for it in Jan of 2017. In their last update they stated that they are going to release uboat to closed beta in June to Kickstarter supporters and then a month later to everyone in an open beta. Believe me I’m hoping to get this soon but also I hope it meets my expectations and the longer it goes the higher my expectations become. I think I’m setting up myself for disappointment but it is what it is at this point.

Here is their latest update https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/playway/uboot-a-ww2-survival-sandbox/posts/2163312

[JuanLiquid]

LOL! I wasn't the only one that purchased a new laptop just for Uboot. I have it even with the factory plastics.





http://i63.tinypic.com/9u3zgh.jpg

[JU_88]

The Devs have been vocal on the Steam forums, they said not to expect many updates for now as the bulk of there work now involves polishing up their code, and stomping bugs.
It'll probably come out for Q3/Q4 this year. I wouldn't worry though, as a crowd funded project, they raised more than enough cash to keep them going and have an indy publisher on board, so there is no logical reason why the game wont be out eventually, given how far they've come.

[GoldenRivet]

The Devs have been vocal on the Steam forums, they said not to expect many updates for now as the bulk of there work now involves polishing up their code, and stomping bugs.
It'll probably come out for Q3/Q4 this year. I wouldn't worry though, as a crowd funded project, they raised more than enough cash to keep them going and have an indy publisher on board, so there is no logical reason why the game wont be out eventually, given how far they've come.

they have been woefully absent - IMHO - in the go to place on the web for all things subsim related... subsim.

As hot of a new release as this thing seems to be, the U-Boat subforum seems to be a ghost town

sad

[nihilcat]

We post regular updates on Kickstarter and there just isn't much more to say as game is still in production. As players ourselves, we love :subsim: there just is a healthy level of communication for a small dev team to maintain. I'm the only English speaking person in the team and the only programmer. I simply prefer to get the work done instead of speaking about non existing stuff :03:

If you will closely track our development you will see how much has changed using the feedback from the community, we are monitoring all channels. Just have your expectations at bay, our budget for this game is at least 25 times smaller than for Silent Hunter 5.

If you feel out of loop on the other hand and have any questions about the game - feel free to ask about anything, I keep having enabled notifications on all posts on these subforums and will be aware of it for sure.

[makman94]

We post regular updates on Kickstarter and there just isn't much more to say as game is still in production. As players ourselves, we love :subsim: there just is a healthy level of communication for a small dev team to maintain. I'm the only English speaking person in the team and the only programmer. I simply prefer to get the work done instead of speaking about non existing stuff :03:

If you will closely track our development you will see how much has changed using the feedback from the community, we are monitoring all channels. Just have your expectations at bay, our budget for this game is at least 25 times smaller than for Silent Hunter 5.

If you feel out of loop on the other hand and have any questions about the game - feel free to ask about anything, I keep having enabled notifications on all posts on these subforums and will be aware of it for sure.

hello Nihilcat,

each time it looks better and better (for sure it seems the best water enviro i have seen so far).

I read at your last update that celestial objects are in correct place now.
Does this mean that celestial navigation will be possible for players ?

Also, can you tell something for the AI manouvers in case of detection ? will it be a random list of possible manouvers or it will be one standar behaviour all the time?

What about the hydrophone, sonar and radar devices? are they detailed modeled so player can use them in an effective way ?

Also, how 'deep' have you modeled the TDC ? will there be any more (than the ones you showed at a previous update) at the manual targeting system such as torpedo run time,spread ,impact angle...etc ?

Lastly, will the game be modable and in what level ?

[nihilcat]

hello Nihilcat,

each time it looks better and better (for sure it seems the best water enviro i have seen so far).

I read at your last update that celestial objects are in correct place now.
Does this mean that celestial navigation will be possible for players ?

Also, can you tell something for the AI manouvers in case of detection ? will it be a random list of possible manouvers or it will be one standar behaviour all the time?

What about the hydrophone, sonar and radar devices? are they detailed modeled so player can use them in an effective way ?

Also, how 'deep' have you modeled the TDC ? will there be any more (than the ones you showed at a previous update) at the manual targeting system such as torpedo run time,spread ,impact angle...etc ?

Lastly, will the game be modable and in what level ?

Hi makman94,

Thank you.

Although you should technically be able to tell your position using the environment, there are currently no tools supporting you in that. Also it's not very practical considering how our travel system works at this time, but IMO we will probably add alternative, conventional time compression during beta... so who knows.

As a rule, I decided to not comment on AI behaviours to not spoil the inner workings and make them look natural. I hope that NPC ships behaviour will be satisfying - if not let us know during beta, if you will have the time to participate.

At this time only hydrophone is manually useable by the player, but we already have a full research done on sonars and radars on u-boats. It's probably a matter of time when we add manual stations for them too, but this may happen even post-release. It's not our top priority at this time as we already have enough bugs to deal with.

Regarding TDC - yes, all these parameters can be set by the player. All data may be supplied by the player and nothing is hidden.

Modding - yes, we are designing the game with modding in mind. You should be able to do everything we can with C# scripts, config files and Unity's asset bundles, but keep in mind that SDK may not be instantly available as we are obviously behind the schedule anyway :03:

PS please post questions in separate topics. I would move the post for you, but I still haven't figured out how to do that.

[makman94]

Hi makman94,

Thank you.

Although you should technically be able to tell your position using the environment, there are currently no tools supporting you in that. Also it's not very practical considering how our travel system works at this time, but IMO we will probably add alternative, conventional time compression during beta... so who knows.

As a rule, I decided to not comment on AI behaviours to not spoil the inner workings and make them look natural. I hope that NPC ships behaviour will be satisfying - if not let us know during beta, if you will have the time to participate.

At this time only hydrophone is manually useable by the player, but we already have a full research done on sonars and radars on u-boats. It's probably a matter of time when we add manual stations for them too, but this may happen even post-release. It's not our top priority at this time as we already have enough bugs to deal with.

Regarding TDC - yes, all these parameters can be set by the player. All data may be supplied by the player and nothing is hidden.

Modding - yes, we are designing the game with modding in mind. You should be able to do everything we can with C# scripts, config files and Unity's asset bundles, but keep in mind that SDK may not be instantly available as we are obviously behind the schedule anyway :03:

PS please post questions in separate topics. I would move the post for you, but I still haven't figured out how to do that.

thank you for your answers Nihilcat,

Celestial Navigation will be great to have (no need to be in the release version). But as the stars allready stands at their correct positions now,will be great to have the abbility to navigate through them maybe at a later update :up:
And this made me wonder , what about tools for plotting on the map? will the player be able to draw lines-angles-circles-parallels...etc on the map?

about the AI , i didn't ask to spoil anything (i fully understand that this would kill all the immersion). i asked if there would be one and only standar pattern or a randomness at possible patterns to follow.
But ,as you said it is satisfying, i have no reason to doubt and i would like to see it in your beta version:yep:

Thats wonderful news that you are planning to add sonar and radar stations too. it doesn't matter that will not be at the release (of course bugs comes first).

about modding , it looks like we are about to have an almost open game for modding . This is just....heaven :Kaleun_Thumbs_Up:

ps: i didn't saw any special thread for Questions thats why i replied here.if there is any, i will keep there.

All the best to your efforts :Kaleun_Salute:

[makman94]

thank you for your answers Nihilcat,

Celestial Navigation will be great to have (no need to be in the release version). But as the stars allready stands at their correct positions now,will be great to have the abbility to navigate through them maybe at a later update :up:
And this made me wonder , what about tools for plotting on the map? will the player be able to draw lines-angles-circles-parallels...etc on the map?

about the AI , i didn't ask to spoil anything (i fully understand that this would kill all the immersion). i asked if there would be one and only standar pattern or a randomness at possible patterns to follow.
But ,as you said it is satisfying, i have no reason to doubt and i would like to see it in your beta version:yep:

Thats wonderful news that you are planning to add sonar and radar stations too. it doesn't matter that will not be at the release (of course bugs comes first).

about modding , it looks like we are about to have an almost open game for modding . This is just....heaven :Kaleun_Thumbs_Up:

ps: i didn't saw any special thread for Questions thats why i replied here.if there is any, i will keep there.

All the best to your efforts :Kaleun_Salute:

pump

[nihilcat]

thank you for your answers Nihilcat,

Celestial Navigation will be great to have (no need to be in the release version). But as the stars allready stands at their correct positions now,will be great to have the abbility to navigate through them maybe at a later update :up:
And this made me wonder , what about tools for plotting on the map? will the player be able to draw lines-angles-circles-parallels...etc on the map?

about the AI , i didn't ask to spoil anything (i fully understand that this would kill all the immersion). i asked if there would be one and only standar pattern or a randomness at possible patterns to follow.
But ,as you said it is satisfying, i have no reason to doubt and i would like to see it in your beta version:yep:

Thats wonderful news that you are planning to add sonar and radar stations too. it doesn't matter that will not be at the release (of course bugs comes first).

about modding , it looks like we are about to have an almost open game for modding . This is just....heaven :Kaleun_Thumbs_Up:

ps: i didn't saw any special thread for Questions thats why i replied here.if there is any, i will keep there.

All the best to your efforts :Kaleun_Salute:

Apologies for a late reply makman94,

Map tools are currently in a basic shape as necessary buttons are missing in the current iteration of UI... we will certainly add them back during or possibly before beta though ;)

Regarding the AI - that's correct, there is some randomness. Characters, ships and groups of ships (like convoys) are driven by the same core AI system. It has some fuzzy logic built in and is moddable too, but in practice some calibration may still be needed. I'm not sure, how seasoned players will see all of this and I'm personally lacking perspective. Technically it's a flexible system and there shouldn't be a problem to do anything, if there is a solid feedback.

PS no problem, don't worry about the thread thing ;) Thank you!

[DiddumsJ]

... we will certainly add them back during or possibly before beta though..

so... able to give us any rough sort of timeline regarding when we might expect a chance to sign up for/participate in beta? :hmmm: :up:

Gotta make sure to get a couple of days off work to hunt them bugs!

EDIT: To clarify, Im talking about the option for a non kickstarter-backer to buy-in to become a bug/beta-tester. I would be more than happy to buy the game in advance or pay for beta access. You hinted towards this being possible earlier, is that still the case? ;)

[Niume]

I am wondering if we even get the testing until the autumm.

[nihilcat]

so... able to give us any rough sort of timeline regarding when we might expect a chance to sign up for/participate in beta? :hmmm: :up:

Gotta make sure to get a couple of days off work to hunt them bugs!

EDIT: To clarify, Im talking about the option for a non kickstarter-backer to buy-in to become a bug/beta-tester. I would be more than happy to buy the game in advance or pay for beta access. You hinted towards this being possible earlier, is that still the case? ;)

Thank you very much, we appreciate everybody willing to help :salute:

We don't offer any form of buy-in early access, but everybody will still be able to participate in beta testing for free, one month after Kickstarter backers. There may be some limits, if interest in testing will be higher than expected, so watch out for news and fill the form.

Having that said, you probably wonder when Kickstarter backers start to test the game. That's harder to tell, it's summer and our contractors are delayed a bit.. but not long.

Animations were probably most important for us here and we should have all of them done today. We are going to need some time to implement them correctly into the game though, so we will have to test your patience for a few weeks more. Animation bugs are usually especially embarrassing and make quite a comedy out of the game, so that time is actually needed. There are also other alph-ish bugs left to fix, but we are getting there :up:

By the way - let me tell, that these new animations are of really good quality - far better than any you could have seen on our earlier videos. We are really happy of the cooperation with a new animation studio, it adds so much into the game.

[succerpunch]

Since the post, has there been anything new yet?

[Hjalfnar]

They have announced a closed beta for possibly September on Facebook. These devs and the publisher seriously need a proper PR department. Signed up for it, so we'll see if I get my hands on it early, would be cool as I also supported them on Kickstarter. I have some experience as closed beta tester, for example Battlefield 3, War Thunder, World of Warships, some Paradox games, Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 1&2 (just recently). Though I can be a bit nitpicky and too open about things I don't like, Pdox and Gaijin won't let me test their games anymore after I was very vocal about what I thought was ****ty about their games. xD

[JU_88]

Closed kick starter beta started on Saturday (13th Oct)
I've not had a chance to play it myself yet, as I've not received my beta Key (long story) So all the information below is second hand.

First impressions /reactions from beta have been positive overall, but the game still needs a of alot of work, It is by no means in a state where its fully playable. Many bugs found but the devs are swift in fixing them and their communication and responsiveness has been exceptional. With them ploughing though the reports over what should be their weekend off!

Visually there is alot of praise and the boats interior in first person is rich in detail and very immersive. Some reported some very 'Das Boot' like situations with their boat bottomed on the ocean floor while frantically making repairs to get moving again, before they get poisoned by battery gas or run out of O2.

As expected It doesn't play like Silent Hunter, and its kind of a halfway house between a Subsim and a crew management game. of course this brings some concern that it could be in danger of walking a line where its too hardcore for survival/management fans, and to casual for hardcore simmers.
But that is still just speculation at this point.

How it develops over the course of the Beta and Early access is still wide open. And its clear the devs are serious and committed to making the project work, user feedback and request for certain features are being listened to and implemented if desirable / possible.

What I've seen so far is quite alot of request for more direct manual control of the sub rather than via ordering the AI crew who some times slip up as AI will. I had lengthy chat with one tester on discord yesterday.
His impression was that style of play is great when your sailing along, but unless you 'pause' time compression to issue orders combat can be a bit overwhelming and clunky at times especially when you are being hunted. Sounds like some streamlining maybe needed here as consistently pausing is rather immersion breaking.
Its also been said the game is very tough, with many being KIA on their first early war patrol - often by aircraft, but one reported being shelled at medium range while at periscope depth. I've been assured that there is no 'vampire vision' at night though!

Exciting project! And for just a humble 3 man indie team, what they have accomplished so far is very impressive indeed! Its still in the rough for now, but its potential to grow in to something special is definitely showing.
Patience is the order of the day on this one.

EDIT: Just received my Steam key this morning, WOOT!

:Kaleun_Applaud:

[Master]

I'm one of the guilty party for asking for more manual control.


A lot of the control we have right now is "on/off" controls for things that should have analog valve controls.


The dive control is probably the worst offender. You have to have a guy go up to a valve and "fill" or "blow" the tank every time you want to dive or surface.


That would be ok except that the AI doesnt use a standard crew for it. You have to assign one of your 5 officers and those officers are generally already doing something needed. So they have to run all the way across the board hit the dive valve and then run back to their position.


Then the dive tanks are wonky and you will run into situation where the rear of the ship just wont submerge and after 20 minutes of trying to submerge the ship your ass is still hanging out of the water. (probably a bug) or you will be running under water and the rear of the ship will just sink all the way to the ocean floor.


There doesnt seem to be any neutral buoyancy control. Like I said the tank valve is either filled with water or air. But there appears to be "some" sort of in between the game is auto managing for you because you have a "buoyancy gauge that goes from 100% buoyant (tanks filled with air) to -100% buoyant with the tanks filled with water. But sometimes it goes to 0 neutral and you are ok.


I think the time compression breaks the buoyancy tanks. Most of the times I run into problems are when I accelerate time while under water and the tanks just freak out and the sub sinks.


Also, there is no manual dive controls for the dive planes and no manual rudder control. All you can do is set a course on the map or go to 3rd person and there is a compass/ angle tool where you can set a new heading. But if you are under water that compass tool doesnt work more than half the time so you end up setting heading on the map.


The map doesnt stay centered on your position and you have no over map if you turn your gyrocompass off. So you run into situations where you need to quickly set a course change to avoid something and you cant.


Also when you do set a direction the ship seems to just rotate itself like its using a trolling motor or it has tank treads.


with all that said. I really like it. Even if they dont make it "more simulation" than it is right now I think it will be a successful sub game. It's not the one "we" all want (probably) but it's fun and has a good chance of being more popular in the general public.


It's more b17II than DCS and I know we all wants DCS but it's hard to be picky when no one else is releasing any sub games. You take what you can get and I think they are doing a good job with this.


I'm also more than willing to help them in any way they need. They just need to ask and i'm there!


At the end of the day I can rant for hours and hours about how inaccurate this game is... but it's a sub sim, it's fun and they seem to be passionate about their sim so i'm not going to complain about it. if this is the direction they want to go then i'll support them on it.


It's good, I like it, It will get better and everyone should go out and buy it when it goes on sale!


p.s. A huge issue for me going into this was their idea of time compression. I hated the idea they were offering but I bought into it anyways because it's a sub game.


But to be honest what they have right now works. It's a little wonky but it plays just like the SH series does. The only difference is that the time doesnt seem to sync very well. It is really hard to explain and I am not exactly sure how it works but there isnt any "warping" or anything like I initially feared there would be.


It's not perfect but it works and anyone who specifically held off on buying it for fear of the time/skip/warp/acceleration issue should rest at ease knowing that it isnt as bad as it seemed like it would be from their KS writeup.

[JU_88]

^well said.
Im inclined to agree with much of what your wrote, especially regarding diving and surfacing, ordering crew to man the pumps each time is a bit of a chore.

[Kretschmer the IV]

They are currently fixing that and implementing a workable queue system with penalties if used, which makes sense. If you just hit keyboard commands then there is no point in simulating all those processes.
Anyway, your feedback would be much appreciated in the steam forums where the devs read.
That thing with the gyrocompass is cool, of course if you turn it off you have no NAV. Makes sense. And the buoyancy is currently very bugged. I hope they fix it soon.

[JU_88]

Have left me feedback on steam, (v11cu96)
:Kaleun_Salute:

[Master]

I dont particularly like how they do the crew management. You only control the officers but the officers seem like they are the only ones who can actually do anything.


It should be one officer per compartment controlling the crewmen at the stations. Then if you want to manual control you have to send an officer to the station you want to control.


Sending the engineer or the radio officer to the dive valves just seems weird and unproductive.

[Ernstww]

I dont particularly like how they do the crew management. You only control the officers but the officers seem like they are the only ones who can actually do anything.


It should be one officer per compartment controlling the crewmen at the stations. Then if you want to manual control you have to send an officer to the station you want to control.


Sending the engineer or the radio officer to the dive valves just seems weird and unproductive.

Yea, I don't get that. Needs a tweak.

[Ernstww]

I understand one of the cornerstones of the game is crew management.

However, as a uboat commander, the first thing I would do is drill on crash dives. This wouldn't include me running around the boat, respectfully asking someone to flood the tanks if they aren't too busy... nudging people awake and interrupting card games. I would expect a clockwork 30 second dive to happen at my word.

Just copy SH3: keyboard shortcut 'C'

I am sure something like this will be incorporated. I see it as a crew skill that would get better with exercise.

[JU_88]

Silent hunter is a bit of a curse on this on this game because comparisons will be drawn despite it being rather unfair. 30 man dev team vs 3 man dev team.

I'm of the opinion the control scheme in Uboat is a little bit flawed at present and needs tweaks to make it more intuitive. They are not terrible, but could be better.
Id say its workable, but fiddly having basic functions of the boat divided up over 2 or 3 different interfaces. Will see if doesn't change during beta, but if not there is another chance it will change during early access.

Worse case scenario is it will be modded. I don't doubt there will be a 'Silent Hunter controls and UI' mod for this game. Because there's bound to be few stubon types who will refuse to play it without. :P

[Ernstww]

The game has some magic moments. Cruising along at periscope depth, the ocean effect is great. Too bad periscope view is disabled. I clicked like an idiot on the scope until I realized it must be turned off.:oops:

I was so mesmerized by the water effects I ran out of battery, was forced to surface then promptly riddled with holes by your g--d--- planes :O:

All the guys were running around the boat screaming and crying - most distressing!

[Ernstww]

Is it my imagination or is the oxygen depleted too quickly?

Anyone have historical facts on this?

I seem to recall a VIIC had a submerged range of about 80 nm and air for a day or so. This is assuming fully charged batteries and air.

[JU_88]

Sorry! yeah planes are too powerful for 1941, they need their accuracy nerfed.
There is a Bug report on the steam forum about batteries draining too fast and O2 is even worse! you only get 50 minutes real-time. So both of those need addressing, I dare say they will be easy to fix though. it just a case of editing values.

[Master]

The planes spot you too easy and there isnt enough time from when someone spots the plane to when they start their attack run. Especially so when a lot of the stuff requires an officer to move to the proper place to start maneuvering. There isnt a means of just having the crew crewing their appropriate stations at all times.


The other issue comes with time compression. The game seems to balance some things based on game time and some things based on how long you are playing. Since you only control officers and you have to use ALL officers to man important stations you run into situations where your officers are sleeping etc. Then you get a moral negative feedback loop.


But you can run on the surface in high time compression for weeks in game with no problem. But if you get into the english channel and you try to submerge the boat and stay under all day (so you dont get plane raped) your o2 and batter will run out VERY fast and everyone will tire out even faster.


I think it is a problem with moral penalties and ship penalties for 1) being submerged, 2) being near combat vessels and 3) officer deterioration.


Their current method just doesnt work for anthing but maybe 15-30 minutes of real time submerged gameplay. Doesnt matter if its 15 min of time compressed gameplay where you are trying to wait out the day or 15 min of chaotic maneuvering dodging a destroyer.


But again, it's the first playable beta so Im sure things will change and things will improve.

[JU_88]

fixing the O2 and Battery shortage should be a case of just altering a few values. I'm hoping this will get fixed quickly.

[Ernstww]

The O2 is better if you turn on the ventilator...

[Kretschmer the IV]

I really emphasize you share your feedback in the steam forums. Nihilcat appreciates every constructive critic and tackles every challenge. You got good ideas and feedback, would be a shame if they don't read it.

[fullmetaledges]

Any updates that people in the beta can share?

[bart]

Looking forward to trying this for myself.

Been following the steam forum avidly! I just missed out on being a backer so didn't make it on the beta testing list unfortunately but hopefully not too much longer to wait for the public release.

[Ernstww]

...and not just bug logging.

The game is getting much better. As a beta tester, it was a matter, originally, of playing for 5 minutes and quitting to log a show-stopping bug. It is now a matter of playing for hours and making a few notes of buggish things.

Hopefully, they will open up new features soon in preparation for Alfa. 2018 might be wishful thinking, but maybe early 2019.

[Ernstww]

The O2 is better if you turn on the ventilator...

I have also just realized you can put CO2 scrubbers in the ventilator.

[Sonarman]

The steam forum is exposed to all users I believe. Just check out the dev thread where they post patch notes.


https://steamcommunity.com/app/494840/discussions/1/

Pretty clear from that list that the devs care passionately about what they are building.

[Ernstww]

...You can now play until you die or quit. No more bugging out every time.
Steam doesn't log in-game hours for this beta, but I would guess I have 20+ hours in. Trying to log as many bugs as possible.

The next dev step is probably the activation of the periscope UI, maybe a save function (speculation).

nihilcat stated recently that Q1/19 is a solid bet for general alpha release. He said he would actually sign off on that estimate (unlike previous estimates).

:Kaleun_Salute:

[bart]

Thanks for the update Ernstww, any info is much appreciated. :up:

I'm guessing the Alpha release will come up on Steam? and will be available as an open alpha for all to buy/try?