Blue Water Development Diary

Raptor_341 · 12-15-19, 12:40 AM

Following the project closely - Looks great. If you need any resources on NATO MPA, let me know and I'll see what I can find for you.

Off topic, any chance of seeing the Lun-class ekranoplan modelled, even as a single unit for later campaigns? I believe that would be a first.

Cheers!

AzureSkies · 12-17-19, 11:32 PM

Hello again, everyone.

The best time of year is upon us. Nothing new is ready to show off as of the moment, and with next Tuesday being Christmas Eve, there won't be an update for then, and with the following Tuesday being New Year's Eve, the next update may not be until January 7th, or it may come a day early on December 30th to avoid coming on New Year's Eve - TBD.

But I look forward to showing off something real nice, whenever it comes. It should be ready, then, and she's a real beauty, too, and a bit surprisingly unusual for naval sims.

That's all for now. Thanks for joining us. Until next time, clear sailing.

AzureSkies · 12-24-19, 06:54 PM

Excepting the text, of course, this was entirely generated with in-game graphics.

AzureSkies · 01-09-20, 06:47 PM

Hello again, everyone!

Apologies for the late update. Tuesday night was rather eventful in terms of global geopolitics. But we're here now.

Today's gonna be something of a mini-highlight, with the first civilian ship to enter the roster: The Maria Yermolova-class passenger ship. Without weapon or aviation facilities, though, there's not as much to go over, hence the "mini" part of the "mini-highlight".

These ships really got around, being used for regional, arctic, and even antarctic cruises. They were used for both Soviet and foreign tourists. Eight of these were produced between 1974-78 as Project 1454, and about half remain in operation today.

Some sources claim they had a top speed of 12 knots, but more claim their top speed was 17-17.2 knots, depending on the ship. For Blue Water, they will be modeled with a top speed of 17 knots.

The ship could provide quarters for 206 souls, with all passenger spaces being air conditioned and ten cabins even having folding children's beds. The upper aft deck had a restaurant that could seat 100, and the ship had an additional bar, cafe-cinema, music room with a bar, dance floor and bandstand.

In addition to the deck space for lounging, there were indoor spaces with large windows to serve the function of deck space when sailing in very cold weather.

One of these ships, the MV Lyubov Orlova was being towed to be scrapped in 2012, when the tow line broke sending it adrift. It became subject to some rumors of becoming infested with cannibal rats, but those were ultimately debunked.

There are photos of them sporting different paint schemes, though with the lack of (correctly) dated photographs it's hard to ascertain exactly which ships sported what paint jobs when.

Civilian traffic poses complications - a radar contact may be a hostile ship or a cruise liner. Even for leadership who disregard the appalling collateral damage, sending an antiship missile salvo at a civilian ship would prove catastrophic, as the number of antiship missiles your task force carries will be limited compared to the enemy's interception, point-defense and decoy capabilities, meaning that not only for moral but also for tactical reasons, getting a VID on the target is absolutely essential.

That's all for now. Thanks for joining us, please feel free to discuss and comment below. We'll hope to be on-time and have more to show off next week. Until then, clear sailing.

AzureSkies · 01-14-20, 07:47 PM

Hello again everyone,

Not much to show off this week - there's one new vehicle that's not quite ready for a full feature, but very close, so have this:

Very short this week. Work continues. Thanks for joining us. Until next week, clear sailing.

PurpleCow · 01-16-20, 09:21 AM

Great to see work progressing. The visuals and models are most excellent. Thanks for updating us.

Phaeton · 02-20-20, 01:53 AM

A very beautiful model indeed! Looking forward to try it in the sea. Keep up the great work, AzureSkies!

longface · 02-21-20, 01:16 PM

Looks great! I remember in Cold Waters it was always fun to encounter one of those, since they had zero anti-submarine capability whatsoever. But deployed as part of a Soviet ASW carrier task force would probably serve as excellent point- and area-defense assets.

AzureSkies · 02-25-20, 10:08 PM

Hello again, everyone,

Not quite a vehicle highlight or a weekly update, this week's weekly update is about a vehicle update.

The Project 68A is here.

And a small correction: the point defense guns added are not AK-630s, but AK-230s. They each have roughly half the rate of fire of an AK-630, but otherwise have very similar performance characteristics.

The other most visible modifications are the expanded bridge space and the added ESM suite on the rear structure.

Last two have the exact same angle repeated with the 68BIS and 68A:

Work continues. Thanks for joining us, until next time, clear sailing.

12-15-19, 12:40 AM	#1
Raptor_341 Loader Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Canada Posts: 89 Downloads: 37 Uploads: 0	Following the project closely - Looks great. If you need any resources on NATO MPA, let me know and I'll see what I can find for you. Off topic, any chance of seeing the Lun-class ekranoplan modelled, even as a single unit for later campaigns? I believe that would be a first. Cheers! __________________ MAD MARK, FULL SCALE!

12-17-19, 11:32 PM	#2
AzureSkies Blue Water Dev Join Date: Feb 2019 Posts: 95 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	WEEKLY UPDATE Hello again, everyone. The best time of year is upon us. Nothing new is ready to show off as of the moment, and with next Tuesday being Christmas Eve, there won't be an update for then, and with the following Tuesday being New Year's Eve, the next update may not be until January 7th, or it may come a day early on December 30th to avoid coming on New Year's Eve - TBD. But I look forward to showing off something real nice, whenever it comes. It should be ready, then, and she's a real beauty, too, and a bit surprisingly unusual for naval sims. That's all for now. Thanks for joining us. Until next time, clear sailing.

12-24-19, 06:54 PM	#3
AzureSkies Blue Water Dev Join Date: Feb 2019 Posts: 95 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Excepting the text, of course, this was entirely generated with in-game graphics. Last edited by AzureSkies; 12-27-19 at 09:37 PM.

01-14-20, 07:47 PM	#5
AzureSkies Blue Water Dev Join Date: Feb 2019 Posts: 95 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	WEEKLY UPDATE Hello again everyone, Not much to show off this week - there's one new vehicle that's not quite ready for a full feature, but very close, so have this: Very short this week. Work continues. Thanks for joining us. Until next week, clear sailing. Last edited by AzureSkies; 01-18-20 at 03:09 PM.

01-16-20, 09:21 AM	#6
PurpleCow A-ganger Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 75 Downloads: 23 Uploads: 0	Very nice visuals Great to see work progressing. The visuals and models are most excellent. Thanks for updating us.

01-09-20, 06:47 PM	#4
AzureSkies Blue Water Dev Join Date: Feb 2019 Posts: 95 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Hello again, everyone! Apologies for the late update. Tuesday night was rather eventful in terms of global geopolitics. But we're here now. Today's gonna be something of a mini-highlight, with the first civilian ship to enter the roster: The Maria Yermolova-class passenger ship. Without weapon or aviation facilities, though, there's not as much to go over, hence the "mini" part of the "mini-highlight". These ships really got around, being used for regional, arctic, and even antarctic cruises. They were used for both Soviet and foreign tourists. Eight of these were produced between 1974-78 as Project 1454, and about half remain in operation today. Some sources claim they had a top speed of 12 knots, but more claim their top speed was 17-17.2 knots, depending on the ship. For Blue Water, they will be modeled with a top speed of 17 knots. The ship could provide quarters for 206 souls, with all passenger spaces being air conditioned and ten cabins even having folding children's beds. The upper aft deck had a restaurant that could seat 100, and the ship had an additional bar, cafe-cinema, music room with a bar, dance floor and bandstand. In addition to the deck space for lounging, there were indoor spaces with large windows to serve the function of deck space when sailing in very cold weather. One of these ships, the MV Lyubov Orlova was being towed to be scrapped in 2012, when the tow line broke sending it adrift. It became subject to some rumors of becoming infested with cannibal rats, but those were ultimately debunked. There are photos of them sporting different paint schemes, though with the lack of (correctly) dated photographs it's hard to ascertain exactly which ships sported what paint jobs when. Civilian traffic poses complications - a radar contact may be a hostile ship or a cruise liner. Even for leadership who disregard the appalling collateral damage, sending an antiship missile salvo at a civilian ship would prove catastrophic, as the number of antiship missiles your task force carries will be limited compared to the enemy's interception, point-defense and decoy capabilities, meaning that not only for moral but also for tactical reasons, getting a VID on the target is absolutely essential. That's all for now. Thanks for joining us, please feel free to discuss and comment below. We'll hope to be on-time and have more to show off next week. Until then, clear sailing.

02-20-20, 01:53 AM	#7
Phaeton Nub Join Date: Apr 2018 Location: Russia, Samara Posts: 4 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	A very beautiful model indeed! Looking forward to try it in the sea. Keep up the great work, AzureSkies!

02-21-20, 01:16 PM	#8
longface Watch Join Date: May 2017 Posts: 24 Downloads: 8 Uploads: 0	Looks great! I remember in Cold Waters it was always fun to encounter one of those, since they had zero anti-submarine capability whatsoever. But deployed as part of a Soviet ASW carrier task force would probably serve as excellent point- and area-defense assets.

02-25-20, 10:08 PM	#9
AzureSkies Blue Water Dev Join Date: Feb 2019 Posts: 95 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	WEEKLY UPDATE Hello again, everyone, Not quite a vehicle highlight or a weekly update, this week's weekly update is about a vehicle update. The Project 68A is here. And a small correction: the point defense guns added are not AK-630s, but AK-230s. They each have roughly half the rate of fire of an AK-630, but otherwise have very similar performance characteristics. The other most visible modifications are the expanded bridge space and the added ESM suite on the rear structure. Last two have the exact same angle repeated with the 68BIS and 68A: Work continues. Thanks for joining us, until next time, clear sailing.