Working on a new submarine sim: Sub Commander - advice needed!

TheGeoff · 02-18-13, 07:15 AM

EDIT: Latest Version: 0.28
Download Latest Version Here: https://wirrawaysoftware.com/downloa...ander_0_28.zip
(Download, then unzip the entire folder and run subcommander_0_28.exe)

VirusTotal link (to prove the file is safe): https://www.virustotal.com/en/file/4...ddaf/analysis/
(An obscure Russian antivirus program returns a false positive but the more mainstream, trustworthy programs show it is safe)

Tutorial: https://goo.gl/FUzqOW

A (slightly outdated) guide/manual is now included in the .zip file, titled 'guide.txt'

Submarine Development Tools:
http://goo.gl/MxBNIc
Made a custom submarine? Share it here!

Sub Commander is a free, independently developed roguelike submarine simulator with an emphasis on realism and freedom of choice. Originally, the game was envisioned to be a kind of cross between Dwarf Fortress and the film K-19 The Widowmaker but it is rapidly growing to a full featured submarine warfare simulator. Eventually I plan to simulate all aspects of cold war era naval and aerial combat, so the player's submarine will be in the midst of a dynamic, procedurally generated global war.

One of the main focuses of the game is dealing with accidents and emergencies aboard the submarine. Nuclear submarines are hugely complicated pieces of equipment and there's a lot which can go wrong - fires, flooding, radiation leaks, lack of oxygen etc are all accurately simulated. Careful management of the crew and the submarine's automated systems is essential to conquer these threats and complete your mission successfully. In some ways, it's like a much more complex version of Faster Than Light aboard a submarine (without the fancy graphics unfortunately!)

While the simulation of the onboard systems is highly detailed, I have tried to ensure the game is accessible to almost anyone and the learning curve is not too steep. The graphics are very basic but I try to keep them clean and functional - but I admit great graphics were never a priority for this game.

Key features:
- 38 nations represented in game, 36 of which are playable
- AI controlled forces consisting of 23 classes of ships and 10 types of aircraft, all with historically accurate armaments
- Huge in game map covering the entire globe, with more than 80 cities (uses high-res NOAA sea depth data)
- Realistic physics-based modelling of fire, fluid dynamics and radiation aboard the sub
- Extremely detailed submarine with accurate models of all important systems

Full Mac and Linux compatibility is planned eventually. In the meantime, players have reported it is possible to run the game through Wine on Linux and Wineskin Winery on OSX. The following instructions were posted in the Reddit thread for the game by user arcsey:
"Use Wineskin Winery. Create a wrapper with Wineskin 2.6.0 (current version) and use WS9WineCX13.1.0 as your engine. Just move the subcommander_0_21 folder into Program Files and set subcommander_0_21.exe as the executable. It should run fine without having to change any other settings."

Sub Commander is under active development, with new updates released anywhere from once a week to once every couple of months. Any feedback, suggestions or bug reports are greatly appreciated!

Edit:
A lot of people have recently asked about where to send donations / if I will make a Kickstarter etc. I'm amazed and honoured that people think this is a project worth donating to!

I want to make it clear that Submarine Commander will always be completely free, and that I do not in any way expect donations. But if you love the game and really want to make a donation to the project, you can send a donation via paypal to subcommandergame@gmail.com
Thank you!

Screenshots (v0.20):
Nuclear reactor management

Navigation

Activating fire supression system

Red October1984 · 02-18-13, 11:10 AM

Wow! Looks great! Keep on working!

I don't have any questions at the moment...but it looks great.

Ethaniel · 02-19-13, 07:23 PM

Quote:

- User interface
- Graphics
- Historical accuracy
- Setting (WWII / cold war / modern)
- Realistic modelling of submarine systems
- Realistic modelling of environment (water physics etc)
- Lots of different playable submarines
- Lots of missions

I'm a huge fan of roguelike games as well as minecraft. Freedom of choice is my kind of gaming. I always prefer non linear and open ended games to high quality graphics and such. So you shouldn't worry about graphics. What I think is that your game is going to attract certain groups of gamers so you should consider more features. Randomly generated ocean could be one thing. The setting should follow your available building techniques. You can't have nuclear reactors on a ww2 game for example. I think this game would certainly be on my play list and why not even test list. As far as submarine info, maybe other members can help or even Wikipedia. I have betatested 3 or 4 roguelike games and I really enjoy them. I don't if my reply answers your questions but I just wanted to point those things out. I hope to see some progress.
Keep up friend

Julhelm · 02-20-13, 03:21 AM

So is this almost something akin to FTL with subs?

TheGeoff · 02-20-13, 05:10 AM

Thanks for the replies guys, good to see some interest!

I definitely plan to include as much random/procedurally generated content as possible. The ocean and weather conditions will almost certainly be generated on the fly, and the engine is coded to be as versatile as possible. Ideally once the submarine editor is finished players will be able to create virtually any submarine imaginable, with the game able to simulate how it behaves under pressure, how well it functions with damaged components etc. This sounds pretty optimistic but at the moment it's all going according to plan!

I hadn't heard of Faster Than Light before Julhelm, but I looked it up and it does indeed look fairly similar to what I had in mind. I'm hoping to model the individual subsystems with a greater degree of complexity than what I've seen in FTL though - for example, the mathematical model for a pressurised water reactor I coded today takes into account the reactor's maximum power rating, the loading on the steam turbine, the pressure in both the primary and secondary coolant circuits, the temperature of the fluid in the primary coolant circuit, the positioning of the control rods, and the damage condition of all of the relevant pumps, heat exchangers, turbines and pressure vessels. It sounds complicated but the result is a versatile, realistic model which can handle any situation the player can throw at it. Since my game will be free there isn't any commercial pressure to rush through development and oversimplify things! I'm intrigued by the combat and navigation systems in FTL though, I might pick up a copy and see how it all works.

TheGeoff · 03-08-13, 04:05 AM

Hello again subsimmers!

I've made a fair bit of progress on my roguelike sub sim and I thought I'd release what I've done so far. It's not much of a game yet - there are no missions, and no terrain features, just a single submarine in an endless, bottomless ocean. I'd like to see what people think of it so far!

Download Here:
http://rapidshare.com/files/4084177128/subcommander.exe
(it's 1.2mb or so)

At the moment, you can:
Control the nuclear reactors (don't let the core get too hot!)
Control the diesel backup generators
Dive and surface the submarine (if you dive too deep the pressure will crush the hull and the boat will flood)
Look through the periscope (the periscope can't be fully controlled yet though)
Launch torpedoes and order the crew to reload the tubes
Battle fires and flooding in emergencies

The main bug you'll probably notice at this stage is that the crew are immortal. Even if the submarine is burnt out and completely flooded the crew will continue wandering (or swimming) around their assigned compartments, waiting for orders. The firefighting AI is also pretty simplistic at this stage, so crew ordered to extinguish a fire will wander over and pat it out with their bare hands. One of these days I'll get around to implementing buckets, hoses etc!

Many of the control panels on the submarine are not yet functional - at the moment everything is controlled by the Reactor Control Panel, Power Sys. Control Panel, Maneuver Control Panel and Weapon Sys. Control Panel. So don't bother trying the others

Temporary controls used for debugging purposes:
Press TAB to start a fire, press left control to crack walls/floors and damage objects. These allow you to set up a disaster for your crew to deal with. If you set fire to the torpedo room or the reactor coolant pumps.... well, you'll probably get what you deserve! As explained in the game, press F to order crew to extinguish fires and R to order repairs.
Press left shift+D to view the FPS monitor. If the game runs at more or less than 12FPS please let me know!

Please post any thoughts and feedback here! Whether you love it, think it's rubbish, can't figure out how to play, found a bug, have some advice, or are completely indifferent I'd love to see your comments

Deamon · 03-08-13, 12:14 PM

Ohhh, a new subsim project. How cute!

Is this sort of subsim life ?

ReallyDedPoet · 03-23-14, 08:34 AM

Keep up the good work : )

TheGeoff · 03-23-14, 08:56 PM

Will do

By the way everyone, I don't think I've mentioned it before but (because of the way the crew experience/skills system works) it's possible to 'train' crew so they're better prepared for a disaster. Find an empty, unimportant area of the sub with nothing explosive nearby and use Tab to start fires or Left Ctrl to damage walls/floors/objects, then order the crew to extinguish the fires and repair everything. The crewmen will become more proficient at skills they practice regularly, so when a real emergency occurs they will be able to deal with it more quickly and efficiently.

This is a similar process to the training drills run on real submarines to keep the crew disciplined and well-prepared. I doubt they actually set real nuclear submarines on fire just to keep the crew on their toes but it's the same principle!

Tango589 · 03-25-14, 01:05 PM

Just out of curiosity, would it be possible to make this game touch screen compatible, so I can play it with the stylus on my Win 8.1 tab?

edit: I have trouble shutting down both reactors and pumps, then restarting from cold without various things breaking. The worst is a loss of coolant, which causes an irreversable temperature rise and meltdown. Should equipment be this fragile?

Also, I've tried shutting down the reactors and running on the diesels with all vents open and the system purging, but the genny room O2 level still diminishes. Could the inclusion of a snorkel help with this?

TheGeoff · 03-26-14, 09:57 PM

Making it playable on a tablet would be very tricky - there are so many keyboard commands it'd be difficult to completely replace it with on screen controls. But I plan to expand the mouse functionality soon (so you can click switches, buttons etc) so I'll see how I go with the touch screen stuff then, if it doesn't seem too hard then you might be in luck.

Shutting down and restarting the reactors should be pretty safe... only thing to watch out for is running the pumps too fast, which can cause damage to them. Also make sure the pumps are running at full speed before you start raising the control rods. But I can't think of anything which would cause the components to start breaking - maybe it was just random failures which happened to affect the reactor? Increasing sub_reliability in gameoptions.ini should improve that if failures are happening too often. I'll look into it though - there's always the possibility of a bug sneaking in and causing failures to happen too often.

Loss of coolant is pretty deadly though, at the moment the only way to fix it is to return to port. I have an idea for fixing this which I will add to the next version. After all, the coolant is just water so there's no reason it couldn't be replaced while the sub is underway.

And thanks for letting me know about the diesel engine problem, I'll tweak the rates for the engine air consumption and ventilation system to fix that. Or maybe add a snorkel, but I think the functionality would be pretty much exactly the same as the purging system.

TheGeoff · 03-28-14, 07:46 AM

Version 0.21 released!
Download here: http://goo.gl/PsBCbK

Changelog:

AI controlled ships can now move around, and warships will actively hunt down your submarine if you are detected. Sonar is now simulated for all warships which were historically equipped with it. Anti submarine weapons are also simulated: many warships are equipped with depth charges, ASROC missiles or mortar systems like the RBU-6000. Evading destroyers is now a real challenge! If detected it's best to stay submerged, move slowly (less than 5 knots is best) and try to either escape or reach a position where you can launch a torpedo at the attacker.
Passive sonar is now simulated for your submarine. Note that the sonar display is clearest while moving slowly and completely submerged - moving quickly, especially while surfaced, will add a lot of noise to the display and make identifying contacts difficult. Your sonar has a 'blind spot' directly behind your submarine due to interference from the submarine itself. No active sonar, narrowband info or towed arrays yet but they're planned for future updates.
Related environmental effects are also simulated, like the thermal layer in water which can distort sonar signals. The depth of the thermal layer varies with ambient temperature, currents etc but it is generally shallow (or non-existent) near the poles and deep near the equator. It is marked in blue on your depth gauge.
Bilge pumps have been added. Select them like a control panel and press + or - to turn the pump up or down, or Z to toggle the pump fully on/fully off. Pumps are more effective at shallow depths.
The submarine layout has been changed slightly.
It is now possible to replace lost coolant fluid in the nuclear reactors. The coolant reservoir is simulated (part of the primary coolant pump) and will take damage over time as coolant leaks out. Stopping the leak then repairing the reservoir will replace the coolant. It's important to identify the source of the leak and fix it BEFORE you repair the reservoir, otherwise the coolant may leak out faster than you can refill it.
Added a couple more ship classes and weapon types.
Made explosions slightly less common and slightly more damaging.
Several other bugfixes, including tweaking the rates for oxygen use in the diesel engines and the rate crewmen breathe.

Enjoy! As a special request, could you please let me know how difficult (or how easy) you find fighting destroyers, frigates etc?
(A good way to get some quick action is to play as West Germany and immediately sail east to Rostock, where you will almost always find some East German ships)

Robsoie · 05-17-14, 04:20 AM

Thank you very much, i really like that new version.
On a patrol i managed to sink my first warship from the sonar -> press T and + or - to try to match the signature -> weapon station -> spacebar without visually seeing it.

And those panels , gauge and levers that are now mouse controlled, it's really great.

On a long patrol (started in China) i was above Canada and surfaced, i was having most of the crew repairing the heavy damage an explosion in the torpedoes room caused.

Still moving , and while at the map display, with fast travel active i pressed 1 (the zoom in) i got an "Illegal Memory Adress" error message.
Odd because i have done this a lot during that patrol without a problem.

The surface radar was turned off, i had no contact message from sonar and all i can think that was different than usual was that many of the crew members were working on repairs.

2 of them were "nauseous" after having to make some repair in the reactor room.

Tango589 · 05-17-14, 05:30 AM

I can't get the mouse to control any of the panels. What could be wrong?

I've got mouse control enabled in the game option, although it does say that mouse control: 1 is (limited) mouse control.

TheGeoff · 05-17-14, 06:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robsoie

Thank you very much, i really like that new version.
On a patrol i managed to sink my first warship from the sonar -> press T and + or - to try to match the signature -> weapon station -> spacebar without visually seeing it.

And those panels , gauge and levers that are now mouse controlled, it's really great.

On a long patrol (started in China) i was above Canada and surfaced, i was having most of the crew repairing the heavy damage an explosion in the torpedoes room caused.

Still moving , and while at the map display, with fast travel active i pressed 1 (the zoom in) i got an "Illegal Memory Adress" error message.
Odd because i have done this a lot during that patrol without a problem.

The surface radar was turned off, i had no contact message from sonar and all i can think that was different than usual was that many of the crew members were working on repairs.

2 of them were "nauseous" after having to make some repair in the reactor room.

Thanks for the detailed bug report! Really helps. Looks like there is a fairly uncommon crash which can occur when travelling very close to the north pole, I'm looking into a fix for it now.

Quote:

I can't get the mouse to control any of the panels. What could be wrong?

I've got mouse control enabled in the game option, although it does say that mouse control: 1 is (limited) mouse control.

That's very strange - all of the control panels except the bilge pump should be working now. If you're running it fullscreen, try running it windowed. I'll see if I can find anything else which could be causing it.

02-18-13, 07:15 AM	#1
TheGeoff Planesman Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: 37°47'S 144°58'E (Melbourne, Australia) Posts: 198 Downloads: 27 Uploads: 0	Working on a new submarine sim: Sub Commander - advice needed! EDIT: Latest Version: 0.28 Download Latest Version Here: https://wirrawaysoftware.com/downloa...ander_0_28.zip (Download, then unzip the entire folder and run subcommander_0_28.exe) VirusTotal link (to prove the file is safe): https://www.virustotal.com/en/file/4...ddaf/analysis/ (An obscure Russian antivirus program returns a false positive but the more mainstream, trustworthy programs show it is safe) Tutorial: https://goo.gl/FUzqOW A (slightly outdated) guide/manual is now included in the .zip file, titled 'guide.txt' Submarine Development Tools: http://goo.gl/MxBNIc Made a custom submarine? Share it here! Sub Commander is a free, independently developed roguelike submarine simulator with an emphasis on realism and freedom of choice. Originally, the game was envisioned to be a kind of cross between Dwarf Fortress and the film K-19 The Widowmaker but it is rapidly growing to a full featured submarine warfare simulator. Eventually I plan to simulate all aspects of cold war era naval and aerial combat, so the player's submarine will be in the midst of a dynamic, procedurally generated global war. One of the main focuses of the game is dealing with accidents and emergencies aboard the submarine. Nuclear submarines are hugely complicated pieces of equipment and there's a lot which can go wrong - fires, flooding, radiation leaks, lack of oxygen etc are all accurately simulated. Careful management of the crew and the submarine's automated systems is essential to conquer these threats and complete your mission successfully. In some ways, it's like a much more complex version of Faster Than Light aboard a submarine (without the fancy graphics unfortunately!) While the simulation of the onboard systems is highly detailed, I have tried to ensure the game is accessible to almost anyone and the learning curve is not too steep. The graphics are very basic but I try to keep them clean and functional - but I admit great graphics were never a priority for this game. Key features: - 38 nations represented in game, 36 of which are playable - AI controlled forces consisting of 23 classes of ships and 10 types of aircraft, all with historically accurate armaments - Huge in game map covering the entire globe, with more than 80 cities (uses high-res NOAA sea depth data) - Realistic physics-based modelling of fire, fluid dynamics and radiation aboard the sub - Extremely detailed submarine with accurate models of all important systems Full Mac and Linux compatibility is planned eventually. In the meantime, players have reported it is possible to run the game through Wine on Linux and Wineskin Winery on OSX. The following instructions were posted in the Reddit thread for the game by user arcsey: "Use Wineskin Winery. Create a wrapper with Wineskin 2.6.0 (current version) and use WS9WineCX13.1.0 as your engine. Just move the subcommander_0_21 folder into Program Files and set subcommander_0_21.exe as the executable. It should run fine without having to change any other settings." Sub Commander is under active development, with new updates released anywhere from once a week to once every couple of months. Any feedback, suggestions or bug reports are greatly appreciated! Edit: A lot of people have recently asked about where to send donations / if I will make a Kickstarter etc. I'm amazed and honoured that people think this is a project worth donating to! I want to make it clear that Submarine Commander will always be completely free, and that I do not in any way expect donations. But if you love the game and really want to make a donation to the project, you can send a donation via paypal to subcommandergame@gmail.com Thank you! Screenshots (v0.20): Nuclear reactor management Navigation Activating fire supression system Download links for previous versions: Version 0.27 http://goo.gl/9avGXB (Alternate link: http://goo.gl/cGHk7P) Version 0.25 http://goo.gl/eAy0BO Version 0.24 http://goo.gl/owcu6w Version 0.23 http://goo.gl/9lOLz2 Version 0.22 http://goo.gl/Qpr0w1 Version 0.21 http://goo.gl/PsBCbK Version 0.20 http://goo.gl/1PzpZK Version 0.19 http://goo.gl/7J74vm Version 0.18 http://goo.gl/3bcZ4K Version 0.17 http://goo.gl/cRdSoM Version 0.16 http://goo.gl/wwMJqL Version 0.15 http://rapidshare.com/files/17135265...ander_0_15.zip Version 0.14 http://rapidshare.com/files/12651374...ander_0_14.zip Version 0.12 http://rapidshare.com/files/22452707...ander_0_12.zip Version 0.10 http://rapidshare.com/files/16935040...ander_0_10.zip Version 0.09 http://rapidshare.com/files/10539065...ander_0_09.zip Version 0.08 http://rapidshare.com/files/89995876...ander_0_08.zip Version 0.07 http://rapidshare.com/files/33112993...ander_0_07.zip Version 0.06 http://rapidshare.com/files/34811829...ander_0_06.exe Version 0.04 http://rapidshare.com/files/4084177128/subcommander.exe Last edited by TheGeoff; 01-22-25 at 06:35 PM.

02-18-13, 11:10 AM	#2
Red October1984 Airplane Nerd Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Texas Posts: 6,243 Downloads: 115 Uploads: 0	Wow! Looks great! Keep on working! I don't have any questions at the moment...but it looks great. __________________

03-08-13, 04:05 AM	#6
TheGeoff Planesman Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: 37°47'S 144°58'E (Melbourne, Australia) Posts: 198 Downloads: 27 Uploads: 0	Hello again subsimmers! I've made a fair bit of progress on my roguelike sub sim and I thought I'd release what I've done so far. It's not much of a game yet - there are no missions, and no terrain features, just a single submarine in an endless, bottomless ocean. I'd like to see what people think of it so far! Download Here: http://rapidshare.com/files/4084177128/subcommander.exe (it's 1.2mb or so) At the moment, you can: Control the nuclear reactors (don't let the core get too hot!) Control the diesel backup generators Dive and surface the submarine (if you dive too deep the pressure will crush the hull and the boat will flood) Look through the periscope (the periscope can't be fully controlled yet though) Launch torpedoes and order the crew to reload the tubes Battle fires and flooding in emergencies The main bug you'll probably notice at this stage is that the crew are immortal. Even if the submarine is burnt out and completely flooded the crew will continue wandering (or swimming) around their assigned compartments, waiting for orders. The firefighting AI is also pretty simplistic at this stage, so crew ordered to extinguish a fire will wander over and pat it out with their bare hands. One of these days I'll get around to implementing buckets, hoses etc! Many of the control panels on the submarine are not yet functional - at the moment everything is controlled by the Reactor Control Panel, Power Sys. Control Panel, Maneuver Control Panel and Weapon Sys. Control Panel. So don't bother trying the others Temporary controls used for debugging purposes: Press TAB to start a fire, press left control to crack walls/floors and damage objects. These allow you to set up a disaster for your crew to deal with. If you set fire to the torpedo room or the reactor coolant pumps.... well, you'll probably get what you deserve! As explained in the game, press F to order crew to extinguish fires and R to order repairs. Press left shift+D to view the FPS monitor. If the game runs at more or less than 12FPS please let me know! Please post any thoughts and feedback here! Whether you love it, think it's rubbish, can't figure out how to play, found a bug, have some advice, or are completely indifferent I'd love to see your comments Last edited by TheGeoff; 03-08-13 at 04:18 AM.

03-23-14, 08:34 AM	#8
ReallyDedPoet Canadian Wolf Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Canada. The one and only, East Coast Posts: 10,888 Downloads: 946 Uploads: 5	Keep up the good work : ) __________________ Back in the Day

03-25-14, 01:05 PM	#10
Tango589 Still crazy as ever! Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: A little south of sanity Posts: 3,377 Downloads: 180 Uploads: 1	Just out of curiosity, would it be possible to make this game touch screen compatible, so I can play it with the stylus on my Win 8.1 tab? edit: I have trouble shutting down both reactors and pumps, then restarting from cold without various things breaking. The worst is a loss of coolant, which causes an irreversable temperature rise and meltdown. Should equipment be this fragile? Also, I've tried shutting down the reactors and running on the diesels with all vents open and the system purging, but the genny room O2 level still diminishes. Could the inclusion of a snorkel help with this? __________________ Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way... Last edited by Tango589; 03-26-14 at 11:44 AM.

02-20-13, 03:21 AM	#4
Julhelm Seasoned Skipper Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: The Icy North Posts: 693 Downloads: 189 Uploads: 0	So is this almost something akin to FTL with subs?

02-20-13, 05:10 AM	#5
TheGeoff Planesman Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: 37°47'S 144°58'E (Melbourne, Australia) Posts: 198 Downloads: 27 Uploads: 0	Thanks for the replies guys, good to see some interest! I definitely plan to include as much random/procedurally generated content as possible. The ocean and weather conditions will almost certainly be generated on the fly, and the engine is coded to be as versatile as possible. Ideally once the submarine editor is finished players will be able to create virtually any submarine imaginable, with the game able to simulate how it behaves under pressure, how well it functions with damaged components etc. This sounds pretty optimistic but at the moment it's all going according to plan! I hadn't heard of Faster Than Light before Julhelm, but I looked it up and it does indeed look fairly similar to what I had in mind. I'm hoping to model the individual subsystems with a greater degree of complexity than what I've seen in FTL though - for example, the mathematical model for a pressurised water reactor I coded today takes into account the reactor's maximum power rating, the loading on the steam turbine, the pressure in both the primary and secondary coolant circuits, the temperature of the fluid in the primary coolant circuit, the positioning of the control rods, and the damage condition of all of the relevant pumps, heat exchangers, turbines and pressure vessels. It sounds complicated but the result is a versatile, realistic model which can handle any situation the player can throw at it. Since my game will be free there isn't any commercial pressure to rush through development and oversimplify things! I'm intrigued by the combat and navigation systems in FTL though, I might pick up a copy and see how it all works.

03-08-13, 12:14 PM	#7
Deamon Commodore Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Germany Posts: 642 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	Ohhh, a new subsim project. How cute! Is this sort of subsim life ?

03-23-14, 08:56 PM	#9
TheGeoff Planesman Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: 37°47'S 144°58'E (Melbourne, Australia) Posts: 198 Downloads: 27 Uploads: 0	Will do By the way everyone, I don't think I've mentioned it before but (because of the way the crew experience/skills system works) it's possible to 'train' crew so they're better prepared for a disaster. Find an empty, unimportant area of the sub with nothing explosive nearby and use Tab to start fires or Left Ctrl to damage walls/floors/objects, then order the crew to extinguish the fires and repair everything. The crewmen will become more proficient at skills they practice regularly, so when a real emergency occurs they will be able to deal with it more quickly and efficiently. This is a similar process to the training drills run on real submarines to keep the crew disciplined and well-prepared. I doubt they actually set real nuclear submarines on fire just to keep the crew on their toes but it's the same principle!

03-26-14, 09:57 PM	#11
TheGeoff Planesman Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: 37°47'S 144°58'E (Melbourne, Australia) Posts: 198 Downloads: 27 Uploads: 0	Making it playable on a tablet would be very tricky - there are so many keyboard commands it'd be difficult to completely replace it with on screen controls. But I plan to expand the mouse functionality soon (so you can click switches, buttons etc) so I'll see how I go with the touch screen stuff then, if it doesn't seem too hard then you might be in luck. Shutting down and restarting the reactors should be pretty safe... only thing to watch out for is running the pumps too fast, which can cause damage to them. Also make sure the pumps are running at full speed before you start raising the control rods. But I can't think of anything which would cause the components to start breaking - maybe it was just random failures which happened to affect the reactor? Increasing sub_reliability in gameoptions.ini should improve that if failures are happening too often. I'll look into it though - there's always the possibility of a bug sneaking in and causing failures to happen too often. Loss of coolant is pretty deadly though, at the moment the only way to fix it is to return to port. I have an idea for fixing this which I will add to the next version. After all, the coolant is just water so there's no reason it couldn't be replaced while the sub is underway. And thanks for letting me know about the diesel engine problem, I'll tweak the rates for the engine air consumption and ventilation system to fix that. Or maybe add a snorkel, but I think the functionality would be pretty much exactly the same as the purging system.

03-28-14, 07:46 AM	#12
TheGeoff Planesman Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: 37°47'S 144°58'E (Melbourne, Australia) Posts: 198 Downloads: 27 Uploads: 0	Version 0.21 released! Download here: http://goo.gl/PsBCbK Changelog: AI controlled ships can now move around, and warships will actively hunt down your submarine if you are detected. Sonar is now simulated for all warships which were historically equipped with it. Anti submarine weapons are also simulated: many warships are equipped with depth charges, ASROC missiles or mortar systems like the RBU-6000. Evading destroyers is now a real challenge! If detected it's best to stay submerged, move slowly (less than 5 knots is best) and try to either escape or reach a position where you can launch a torpedo at the attacker. Passive sonar is now simulated for your submarine. Note that the sonar display is clearest while moving slowly and completely submerged - moving quickly, especially while surfaced, will add a lot of noise to the display and make identifying contacts difficult. Your sonar has a 'blind spot' directly behind your submarine due to interference from the submarine itself. No active sonar, narrowband info or towed arrays yet but they're planned for future updates. Related environmental effects are also simulated, like the thermal layer in water which can distort sonar signals. The depth of the thermal layer varies with ambient temperature, currents etc but it is generally shallow (or non-existent) near the poles and deep near the equator. It is marked in blue on your depth gauge. Bilge pumps have been added. Select them like a control panel and press + or - to turn the pump up or down, or Z to toggle the pump fully on/fully off. Pumps are more effective at shallow depths. The submarine layout has been changed slightly. It is now possible to replace lost coolant fluid in the nuclear reactors. The coolant reservoir is simulated (part of the primary coolant pump) and will take damage over time as coolant leaks out. Stopping the leak then repairing the reservoir will replace the coolant. It's important to identify the source of the leak and fix it BEFORE you repair the reservoir, otherwise the coolant may leak out faster than you can refill it. Added a couple more ship classes and weapon types. Made explosions slightly less common and slightly more damaging. Several other bugfixes, including tweaking the rates for oxygen use in the diesel engines and the rate crewmen breathe. Enjoy! As a special request, could you please let me know how difficult (or how easy) you find fighting destroyers, frigates etc? (A good way to get some quick action is to play as West Germany and immediately sail east to Rostock, where you will almost always find some East German ships)

05-17-14, 04:20 AM	#13
Robsoie Machinist's Mate Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 130 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Thank you very much, i really like that new version. On a patrol i managed to sink my first warship from the sonar -> press T and + or - to try to match the signature -> weapon station -> spacebar without visually seeing it. And those panels , gauge and levers that are now mouse controlled, it's really great. On a long patrol (started in China) i was above Canada and surfaced, i was having most of the crew repairing the heavy damage an explosion in the torpedoes room caused. Still moving , and while at the map display, with fast travel active i pressed 1 (the zoom in) i got an "Illegal Memory Adress" error message. Odd because i have done this a lot during that patrol without a problem. The surface radar was turned off, i had no contact message from sonar and all i can think that was different than usual was that many of the crew members were working on repairs. 2 of them were "nauseous" after having to make some repair in the reactor room.

05-17-14, 05:30 AM	#14
Tango589 Still crazy as ever! Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: A little south of sanity Posts: 3,377 Downloads: 180 Uploads: 1	I can't get the mouse to control any of the panels. What could be wrong? I've got mouse control enabled in the game option, although it does say that mouse control: 1 is (limited) mouse control. __________________ Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way...