Machine Room - Development Blog

Xaron · 11-22-13, 03:06 PM

Ok I'll use this thread to shed some light about the ongoing development of the game to all who are interested in the things running behind the scenes.

Might be a bit more technical but feel free to ask!

More to come later, I'm a bit short of time.

Xaron · 11-24-13, 01:55 PM

Right, so maybe it's a good idea to tell you where we stand, what works and what not and what I'm currently doing.

First it might be good you know who we are?! We are a pretty small team, actually only two guys.
There is sung aka Christoph who does all the artwork, meshes, in short - everything you can see!
Then there is me, Xaron aka Martin who does all the boring programming stuff, in short - things you probably never see! HA, well maybe in case of bugs.

We started this quite a while ago but doing more focussed working since August this year. For that short time I guess we had quite some progress.

Currently working:

The water (sounds easy, can become a pain!). You can drive, dive your sub. Well doesn't sound like a biggy but can be tricky sometimes! Collisions are working. Diesel oil/battery/air consumption stuff, torpedos (including there run into targets) are working, too.
We have realistic day/night cycles.
There is an 3rd person view (well better to name it 3rd submarine, eh?), a bridge view, the TBT view and the periscope view (including moving periscope of course) do their job!

There is a map, and it's pretty huge:

Midway is your start base and you can see you can cover quite an area. As we use a realistic environment, time compression is a must have of course. We do this automatically in map mode. So you select a sector there you want to go and your sub moves with time compression to the target sector. Ariving there you will forwarded to a more detailed sector map for fine planning. Of course you will be kicked out of map mode if something happens in between!

Still missing:

The missions itself are missing and some clever AI. The menu is missing (not a biggie but quite boring) and that submarine Midway base shipyard where you equip and repair your sub. Still plenty of work to do but this will become great!

Currently working on:

I still work on some map details. This a pretty important part of the game and needs more time than one might think.

Xaron · 01-13-14, 10:26 AM

Happy new year! Development comes along and I almost finished the map. Added a calendar and time warp stuff! Nothing new to show yet but we make good progress after the pretty "workless" christmas days!

Xaron · 01-22-14, 07:41 AM

Ok, most of the map stuff is done. We're getting closer to the combat part, yay! The map provides you with zoom and setting way point plus activate and change the time compression mode.

Xaron · 03-11-14, 09:47 AM

Oh yes, this is still in development!

Here are some new screens from the map. There are now enemies.

Large overview map:

Closer detail map:

The ship itself:

11-22-13, 03:06 PM	#1
Xaron Ensign Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Germany Posts: 222 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Machine Room - Development Blog Ok I'll use this thread to shed some light about the ongoing development of the game to all who are interested in the things running behind the scenes. Might be a bit more technical but feel free to ask! More to come later, I'm a bit short of time.

11-24-13, 01:55 PM	#2
Xaron Ensign Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Germany Posts: 222 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Right, so maybe it's a good idea to tell you where we stand, what works and what not and what I'm currently doing. First it might be good you know who we are?! We are a pretty small team, actually only two guys. There is sung aka Christoph who does all the artwork, meshes, in short - everything you can see! Then there is me, Xaron aka Martin who does all the boring programming stuff, in short - things you probably never see! HA, well maybe in case of bugs. We started this quite a while ago but doing more focussed working since August this year. For that short time I guess we had quite some progress. Currently working: The water (sounds easy, can become a pain!). You can drive, dive your sub. Well doesn't sound like a biggy but can be tricky sometimes! Collisions are working. Diesel oil/battery/air consumption stuff, torpedos (including there run into targets) are working, too. We have realistic day/night cycles. There is an 3rd person view (well better to name it 3rd submarine, eh?), a bridge view, the TBT view and the periscope view (including moving periscope of course) do their job! There is a map, and it's pretty huge: Midway is your start base and you can see you can cover quite an area. As we use a realistic environment, time compression is a must have of course. We do this automatically in map mode. So you select a sector there you want to go and your sub moves with time compression to the target sector. Ariving there you will forwarded to a more detailed sector map for fine planning. Of course you will be kicked out of map mode if something happens in between! Still missing: The missions itself are missing and some clever AI. The menu is missing (not a biggie but quite boring) and that submarine Midway base shipyard where you equip and repair your sub. Still plenty of work to do but this will become great! Currently working on: I still work on some map details. This a pretty important part of the game and needs more time than one might think. Last edited by Xaron; 11-24-13 at 02:07 PM.

01-13-14, 10:26 AM	#3
Xaron Ensign Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Germany Posts: 222 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Happy new year! Development comes along and I almost finished the map. Added a calendar and time warp stuff! Nothing new to show yet but we make good progress after the pretty "workless" christmas days!

01-22-14, 07:41 AM	#4
Xaron Ensign Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Germany Posts: 222 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Ok, most of the map stuff is done. We're getting closer to the combat part, yay! The map provides you with zoom and setting way point plus activate and change the time compression mode.

03-11-14, 09:47 AM	#5
Xaron Ensign Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Germany Posts: 222 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Oh yes, this is still in development! Here are some new screens from the map. There are now enemies. Large overview map: Closer detail map: The ship itself: