New game announced - Destroyer - The U-boat Hunter

Sonarman · 06-23-20, 05:56 AM

I was the same with Steam i was definitely a have it with the box and manual retail guy, however Steam is about the only place to get PC games now, most other resellers are simply selling steam codes etc. i am avoiding smaller independents now as i lost a lot of games when Desura disappeared. I figure / hope Steam is big enough not to disappear.

It does have some advantages in that all your games are stored in the cloud so you can delete them without worry from your Pc if you are tight on space, and they dont seem as restrictive on modding as i first thought mainly just the exe and anti cheating multiplayer stuff that’s out of bounds.

Grumpy Pete · 06-23-20, 09:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sonarman

I was the same with Steam i was definitely a have it with the box and manual retail guy, however Steam is about the only place to get PC games now, most other resellers are simply selling steam codes etc. i am avoiding smaller independents now as i lost a lot of games when Desura disappeared. I figure / hope Steam is big enough not to disappear.

It does have some advantages in that all your games are stored in the cloud so you can delete them without worry from your Pc if you are tight on space, and they dont seem as restrictive on modding as i first thought mainly just the exe and anti cheating multiplayer stuff that’s out of bounds.

Yes. Steam has become a good platform for games. I avoided it for quite a while but now companies do everything online. I haven't had any problems with Steam for three years now and, like you say, all games purchased from Steam remain in my Library for installing them whenever I want.

XenonSurf · 06-23-20, 03:12 PM

Very nice game idea, not sure the destroyer play part to chase submarines has ever been made. I was always looking for a game like this, and it has become true. Thank you

Please consider making the game available on GOG also. Thank you.

Greetings,
XS

Artur Salwarowski · 06-23-20, 03:14 PM

Hello Everyone,

Thank you for expressing your interest in Destroyer. We have just revealed the game and we will soon follow up with much more info, including a gameplay trailer that ought to shed more light on how it all works.

We hope that our vision of destroyer simulation will appeal to you. In the meantime, if you have any questions about Destroyer: the U-Boat hunter, I will be happy to answer them.

Artur Salwarowski
Iron Wolf Studio

Sonarman · 06-23-20, 04:10 PM

Thank Artur, the game already looks great considering it is still over a year from release. Many here have been waiting a long time for a good destroyer sim to come along.

Some questions...

Are you planning to release the game in early access on Steam in a similar way to UBoat?

Your team has obviously put a great deal of work into the stunning graphics and detail of the various compartments. I know that the game will be split between story elements as seen in the trailer and simulation elements. What kind of interactions will be possible on the simulation side of things?

I notice that this is the first chapter and later chapter will encompass anti air and anti surface elements is there any plan for multiplayer in this or future versions possibly with player controlled subs vs destroyers in future releases?

Its great that you are introducing a character and story driven narrative into the game and especially as you are basng a lot of the encounters on real life veteran anecdotes. Will these be randomised in some way to ensure long term replayability or perhaps have additional missions or even a dynamic campaign mode outside of the main story mode as in Battelstations Midway / Pacific etc.

Thanks
Stephen

les green01 · 06-23-20, 10:00 PM

i been looking for a game like this since destroyer command but when i read this got me worry The first episode in the series will focus only on anti-submarine warfare - the studio is planning to release further episodes which will take place in the Pacific Theatre and expand the gameplay by adding surface and surface-to-air combat. is this in the base game price or is it going be pay dlc

Bubblehead1980 · 07-01-20, 02:14 PM

Look forward to this. Could do without the cinematic aspects. Give us a full ship to roam as well. Make sure convoy composition etc are accurate. Don't skimp.

PL_Andrev · 07-02-20, 03:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bubblehead1980

Give us a full ship to roam as well.

^^ this feature is nicely welcome, but completely unnecessary: cost too much work and give a small amount of fun.
You should focus to find enemy (f.e. by binoculars, searchlights) and attack him than walking thru whole ship.

Grumpy Pete · 07-09-20, 03:39 PM

Tossing out another wish-list item.

Convoy formations--It would be great to see convoys like they actually were historically. Standard convoy doctrine was 1000 yards between columns and ~500 yards between ships in the column. Station keeping then came into play with some ships getting out of position. How about giving merchant in convoys a "Station Keeping" rating? Example 0=Perfect, 1=within 50 yards, 2=within 100 yards.

Stragglers and Runners. Merchants that straggle out or run ahead of the formation. Now--as the escort commander--I have to make a choice to gather up the wayward chickens and bring them back to the roost or leave them to their individual fates. Another pita escort commanders often faced.

I'd also like to comment on something I read on your website about sonar. It mentioned "Up Doppler" which I admit--really caught my attention. My question is if you plan to incorporate "Red Shift/Blue Shift" in your hydrophone modelling? That would be awesome!

Wishing you all the best with your project!

btw: I definitely added your project to my Steam wish-list!

Amiral Crapaud · 06-24-20, 01:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Artur Salwarowski

Hello Everyone,

Thank you for expressing your interest in Destroyer. We have just revealed the game and we will soon follow up with much more info, including a gameplay trailer that ought to shed more light on how it all works.

We hope that our vision of destroyer simulation will appeal to you. In the meantime, if you have any questions about Destroyer: the U-Boat hunter, I will be happy to answer them.

Artur Salwarowski
Iron Wolf Studio

Hello there Artur!
Great project (but you've seen me saying that already elsewhere I guess ^^)
If you have a minute to spare, there are a few gentlemen over there at Grogheads who'd like to know more about it too!
http://www.grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=24596.0

Cheers and thanks for them

Col7777 · 06-24-20, 02:10 AM

Artur I apologise for my early remark about it being on steam, I like a few other don't like steam but going off the above posts it seems to have improved.

I was in flight sim for a long time and always preferred the disk versions to steam, at the time getting help was a problem so I avoided it.

I see your game/sim is American, would it be a problem to also have other nation destroyers, I mean in the Atlantic from what I understand the US escorts went part way then the British took over the other leg of the route?

Or if you base it in Asia then Australian navy played a part, also this would encourage/attract players from other countries to possibly go for the game.

Moving on to the future maybe introduce mine layers or mine sweepers.

Col.

Artur Salwarowski · 06-24-20, 02:58 AM

@sonarman:
Yes, early access will probably be the case so that we can iron out the creases before official release and get more feedback from the community.

As regards interactivity, then you already know there's gonna be the CIC, the bridge, the sonar room, the engine room, and observation platforms available for gameplay interaction. I could give you a full list of functionalities for each compartment, but we are still in very early development, so some of these may still change. All I can say for sure is that you will be able to play with a lot of instruments and that they will be working in a realistic and meaningful way

As far as mutiplayer is concerned, I can already tell that the game is being made strictly as a single-player experience. If it proves to be a success, then we will be definitely looking into the possibility of making a U-boat vs destroyer multiplayer. After all, we and the Uboat guys work within the same parent company and we have collaborated before, so a game like this could appear one day, who knows

In terms of random elements, we are aiming at procedural generation of U-boat attacks, so that the game can stay fresh and replayable. Apart from the story mode (which is going to offer various plot choices and endings), we will introduce a skirmish mode where you can fight in semi-randomly generated convoy battles.

@les green 01:
We are dividing the game into episodes so as not to get overwhelmed with the whole scope of possibilities. For the first episode, we wish to deliver a comprehensive ASW experience, with a lot detail and depth. If people like the way the game works, then we will introduce the Pacific Theatre with all the facets of naval warfare. I think that the second episode will be more of a full sequel than just DLC, but it's too early to say anything more at this point.

@Amiral Crapaud:
Thank you for letting me know! I will gladly visit their forum and answer any and all questions they may have

@Col7777:
If the game proves to be successful, then we are not ruling out appearances by other navies that took part in the conflict. Both the Atlantic and the Pacific theatre saw joint effort of varied forces and I guess it would be good to underline this fact where possible.

Grumpy Pete · 06-24-20, 10:27 AM

@Artur

From what I have read regarding your development of Destroyer, I think you are on course. Concentrating on specific elements of a destroyer's tasks rather than trying to "do it all" for initial release is a great path. I'm very happy that you are starting with ASW which seems to me, to be one of the most challenging aspects to handle. Some questions and wish-list items that come to my mind follow.

AI Crew Ratings. Most naval sims give a flat crew experience to the entire ship's crew ie, a ship is rated as novice/green/average/experienced/elite. That rating applies to all aspects of the ships company. I would like to see this rating broken down into departments. Example: An AI ship can have and Elite Sonar section, average visual search, experienced radarman, green damage control and experienced gunnery/CIC section. In reality, ship crews had their strengths and weaknesses and it would be great to see this simulated.

Merchant crews should have different standards than naval crews especially regarding visual search capability. History shows that "most" merchant crews were effectively blind to surfaced u-boats especially while they were in convoy.

Which Sonar and radar systems will you be modelling for initial release? SC or SG radar? QCA? I'd really LOVE to see accurate sonar models for both player controlled units and AI. IMO it has never been done in WWII simulations.

Dynamic ocean environments. Will sonar be affected by Wake turbulence/depth charge explosions/thermal conditions and ambient noise generated by other ships (especially convoys). I could go on in more detail but will try to keep it basic for now.

Depth Charge damage radius: will a depth charge explosion radius get smaller with increased depth of a submarine target?

Search patterns/doctrine for reaquiring lost submarine contacts. Box/ladder/line abreast sweeps? This is something that SH3 and SH4 specifically didn't model and I believe was a major over sight. Ironically, the very old subsim Aces of the Deep did model those behaviors...

Zones of responsibilty: It would be great if escorts guarding convoys could be assigned specific areas to cover. Instead of simple right flank/front/left flank/rear, there was a grid system in place in each of those areas. During the day, they could be assigned zones further out and at night be brought in for close escort. This is how it was done historically.

Obviously, you will be catering to as many play styles as possible. There will be customers who expect "every-depth-charge-to-be-a-kill people all the way up to those who want as much realism as possible short of getting salt water in their computer. I happen to fall into the last group and while your bread and butter customers will probably be somewhere in the middle, I think it is the grognards who will provide longevity to your project.

It appears that your initial release will be mainly scripted so as to follow a story line. I don't have a problem with this but also think that creation of a dynamic campaign encompassing multiple Atlantic crossings would be a tremendous asset. A dynamic campaign definitely adds longevity to a simulations appeal.

You are using a Fletcher class destroyer for your simulation. While that isn't my first choice (I would prefer a Buckley/Evarts/Captain/Black Swan etc) I actually think the Fletcher is a good choice. It'll get you into the Pacific for fleet actions etc. It also has some gunnery power compared to DE's so again I say Good Choice!

My hope is that you "make it real" for the community who has long looked for a simulation that reflected reality rather than a simplified version of it. If you get this first installment right, I believe you will create a community that will back you with not only their thanks but their wallets.

PL_Andrev · 06-24-20, 11:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Artur Salwarowski

If it proves to be a success, then we will be definitely looking into the possibility of making a U-boat vs destroyer multiplayer.

This is a little bit sad information.
Since 20 years there is no game includes convoy battles as old good SH2 vs DC multiplayer skimrish...
(WoWs is too arcarish)

But wait a moment.
As I know during Battle of Atlantic there were more than one escort ship near the convoy (HX-300 was protected by 32 escort ships). What is your philosophy to play the escort ship game?

Anyway I hope you noticed all Destroyer Command's disappointsments to avoid them.

BTW.
It may be a huge shock for navy fans if you call your game "Destroyer: The Gato hunter" and hunt American submarines at Pacific theater first.

Kapitan · 06-24-20, 05:37 PM

Added this to the wish list on steam certainly will be a purchase from me

06-23-20, 05:56 AM	#1
Sonarman The Old Man Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Ayr,Scotland,UK Posts: 1,392 Downloads: 79 Uploads: 0	I was the same with Steam i was definitely a have it with the box and manual retail guy, however Steam is about the only place to get PC games now, most other resellers are simply selling steam codes etc. i am avoiding smaller independents now as i lost a lot of games when Desura disappeared. I figure / hope Steam is big enough not to disappear. It does have some advantages in that all your games are stored in the cloud so you can delete them without worry from your Pc if you are tight on space, and they dont seem as restrictive on modding as i first thought mainly just the exe and anti cheating multiplayer stuff that’s out of bounds. __________________ "The action is simulated...the excitement is real!" Microprose Simulation Software.

06-23-20, 04:10 PM	#5
Sonarman The Old Man Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Ayr,Scotland,UK Posts: 1,392 Downloads: 79 Uploads: 0	Thank Artur, the game already looks great considering it is still over a year from release. Many here have been waiting a long time for a good destroyer sim to come along. Some questions... Are you planning to release the game in early access on Steam in a similar way to UBoat? Your team has obviously put a great deal of work into the stunning graphics and detail of the various compartments. I know that the game will be split between story elements as seen in the trailer and simulation elements. What kind of interactions will be possible on the simulation side of things? I notice that this is the first chapter and later chapter will encompass anti air and anti surface elements is there any plan for multiplayer in this or future versions possibly with player controlled subs vs destroyers in future releases? Its great that you are introducing a character and story driven narrative into the game and especially as you are basng a lot of the encounters on real life veteran anecdotes. Will these be randomised in some way to ensure long term replayability or perhaps have additional missions or even a dynamic campaign mode outside of the main story mode as in Battelstations Midway / Pacific etc. Thanks Stephen __________________ "The action is simulated...the excitement is real!" Microprose Simulation Software. Last edited by Sonarman; 06-23-20 at 06:39 PM.

06-23-20, 10:00 PM	#6
les green01 Seasoned Skipper Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Freeman Missouri Posts: 1,784 Downloads: 1405 Uploads: 0	i been looking for a game like this since destroyer command but when i read this got me worry The first episode in the series will focus only on anti-submarine warfare - the studio is planning to release further episodes which will take place in the Pacific Theatre and expand the gameplay by adding surface and surface-to-air combat. is this in the base game price or is it going be pay dlc __________________ I'll tell you what bravery really is. Bravery is just determination to do a job that you know has to be done. Audie Murphy

06-24-20, 02:10 AM	#11
Col7777 Grey Wolf Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Manchester UK Posts: 944 Downloads: 260 Uploads: 0	Artur I apologise for my early remark about it being on steam, I like a few other don't like steam but going off the above posts it seems to have improved. I was in flight sim for a long time and always preferred the disk versions to steam, at the time getting help was a problem so I avoided it. I see your game/sim is American, would it be a problem to also have other nation destroyers, I mean in the Atlantic from what I understand the US escorts went part way then the British took over the other leg of the route? Or if you base it in Asia then Australian navy played a part, also this would encourage/attract players from other countries to possibly go for the game. Moving on to the future maybe introduce mine layers or mine sweepers. Col. __________________ Silent and Violent

06-24-20, 05:37 PM	#15
Kapitan Sub Test Pilot Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: UK + Canada Posts: 7,130 Downloads: 77 Uploads: 7	Added this to the wish list on steam certainly will be a purchase from me __________________ DONT FORGET if you like a post to nominate it by using the blue diamond Find out about Museum Ships here: https://www.museumships.us/ Flickr for all my pictures: https://www.flickr.com/photos/131313936@N03/ Navy general board articles: https://www.navygeneralboard.com/author/aegis/

06-23-20, 03:12 PM	#3
XenonSurf Sea Lord Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Germany, Italy Posts: 1,721 Downloads: 107 Uploads: 4	Very nice game idea, not sure the destroyer play part to chase submarines has ever been made. I was always looking for a game like this, and it has become true. Thank you Please consider making the game available on GOG also. Thank you. Greetings, XS

06-23-20, 03:14 PM	#4
Artur Salwarowski Iron Wolf Studio Join Date: Feb 2017 Posts: 74 Downloads: 4 Uploads: 0	Hello Everyone, Thank you for expressing your interest in Destroyer. We have just revealed the game and we will soon follow up with much more info, including a gameplay trailer that ought to shed more light on how it all works. We hope that our vision of destroyer simulation will appeal to you. In the meantime, if you have any questions about Destroyer: the U-Boat hunter, I will be happy to answer them. Artur Salwarowski Iron Wolf Studio

07-01-20, 02:14 PM	#7
Bubblehead1980 Navy Seal Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Florida USA Posts: 7,115 Downloads: 605 Uploads: 44	Look forward to this. Could do without the cinematic aspects. Give us a full ship to roam as well. Make sure convoy composition etc are accurate. Don't skimp.

07-09-20, 03:39 PM	#9
Grumpy Pete Shore leave Join Date: Jun 2020 Posts: 70 Downloads: 8 Uploads: 0	Tossing out another wish-list item. Convoy formations--It would be great to see convoys like they actually were historically. Standard convoy doctrine was 1000 yards between columns and ~500 yards between ships in the column. Station keeping then came into play with some ships getting out of position. How about giving merchant in convoys a "Station Keeping" rating? Example 0=Perfect, 1=within 50 yards, 2=within 100 yards. Stragglers and Runners. Merchants that straggle out or run ahead of the formation. Now--as the escort commander--I have to make a choice to gather up the wayward chickens and bring them back to the roost or leave them to their individual fates. Another pita escort commanders often faced. I'd also like to comment on something I read on your website about sonar. It mentioned "Up Doppler" which I admit--really caught my attention. My question is if you plan to incorporate "Red Shift/Blue Shift" in your hydrophone modelling? That would be awesome! Wishing you all the best with your project! btw: I definitely added your project to my Steam wish-list!

06-24-20, 02:58 AM	#12
Artur Salwarowski Iron Wolf Studio Join Date: Feb 2017 Posts: 74 Downloads: 4 Uploads: 0	@sonarman: Yes, early access will probably be the case so that we can iron out the creases before official release and get more feedback from the community. As regards interactivity, then you already know there's gonna be the CIC, the bridge, the sonar room, the engine room, and observation platforms available for gameplay interaction. I could give you a full list of functionalities for each compartment, but we are still in very early development, so some of these may still change. All I can say for sure is that you will be able to play with a lot of instruments and that they will be working in a realistic and meaningful way As far as mutiplayer is concerned, I can already tell that the game is being made strictly as a single-player experience. If it proves to be a success, then we will be definitely looking into the possibility of making a U-boat vs destroyer multiplayer. After all, we and the Uboat guys work within the same parent company and we have collaborated before, so a game like this could appear one day, who knows In terms of random elements, we are aiming at procedural generation of U-boat attacks, so that the game can stay fresh and replayable. Apart from the story mode (which is going to offer various plot choices and endings), we will introduce a skirmish mode where you can fight in semi-randomly generated convoy battles. @les green 01: We are dividing the game into episodes so as not to get overwhelmed with the whole scope of possibilities. For the first episode, we wish to deliver a comprehensive ASW experience, with a lot detail and depth. If people like the way the game works, then we will introduce the Pacific Theatre with all the facets of naval warfare. I think that the second episode will be more of a full sequel than just DLC, but it's too early to say anything more at this point. @Amiral Crapaud: Thank you for letting me know! I will gladly visit their forum and answer any and all questions they may have @Col7777: If the game proves to be successful, then we are not ruling out appearances by other navies that took part in the conflict. Both the Atlantic and the Pacific theatre saw joint effort of varied forces and I guess it would be good to underline this fact where possible.

06-24-20, 10:27 AM	#13
Grumpy Pete Shore leave Join Date: Jun 2020 Posts: 70 Downloads: 8 Uploads: 0	@Artur From what I have read regarding your development of Destroyer, I think you are on course. Concentrating on specific elements of a destroyer's tasks rather than trying to "do it all" for initial release is a great path. I'm very happy that you are starting with ASW which seems to me, to be one of the most challenging aspects to handle. Some questions and wish-list items that come to my mind follow. AI Crew Ratings. Most naval sims give a flat crew experience to the entire ship's crew ie, a ship is rated as novice/green/average/experienced/elite. That rating applies to all aspects of the ships company. I would like to see this rating broken down into departments. Example: An AI ship can have and Elite Sonar section, average visual search, experienced radarman, green damage control and experienced gunnery/CIC section. In reality, ship crews had their strengths and weaknesses and it would be great to see this simulated. Merchant crews should have different standards than naval crews especially regarding visual search capability. History shows that "most" merchant crews were effectively blind to surfaced u-boats especially while they were in convoy. Which Sonar and radar systems will you be modelling for initial release? SC or SG radar? QCA? I'd really LOVE to see accurate sonar models for both player controlled units and AI. IMO it has never been done in WWII simulations. Dynamic ocean environments. Will sonar be affected by Wake turbulence/depth charge explosions/thermal conditions and ambient noise generated by other ships (especially convoys). I could go on in more detail but will try to keep it basic for now. Depth Charge damage radius: will a depth charge explosion radius get smaller with increased depth of a submarine target? Search patterns/doctrine for reaquiring lost submarine contacts. Box/ladder/line abreast sweeps? This is something that SH3 and SH4 specifically didn't model and I believe was a major over sight. Ironically, the very old subsim Aces of the Deep did model those behaviors... Zones of responsibilty: It would be great if escorts guarding convoys could be assigned specific areas to cover. Instead of simple right flank/front/left flank/rear, there was a grid system in place in each of those areas. During the day, they could be assigned zones further out and at night be brought in for close escort. This is how it was done historically. Obviously, you will be catering to as many play styles as possible. There will be customers who expect "every-depth-charge-to-be-a-kill people all the way up to those who want as much realism as possible short of getting salt water in their computer. I happen to fall into the last group and while your bread and butter customers will probably be somewhere in the middle, I think it is the grognards who will provide longevity to your project. It appears that your initial release will be mainly scripted so as to follow a story line. I don't have a problem with this but also think that creation of a dynamic campaign encompassing multiple Atlantic crossings would be a tremendous asset. A dynamic campaign definitely adds longevity to a simulations appeal. You are using a Fletcher class destroyer for your simulation. While that isn't my first choice (I would prefer a Buckley/Evarts/Captain/Black Swan etc) I actually think the Fletcher is a good choice. It'll get you into the Pacific for fleet actions etc. It also has some gunnery power compared to DE's so again I say Good Choice! My hope is that you "make it real" for the community who has long looked for a simulation that reflected reality rather than a simplified version of it. If you get this first installment right, I believe you will create a community that will back you with not only their thanks but their wallets.