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Old 03-23-19, 03:11 PM   #1
Boris-Barboris
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Default DSubs - abstract multiplayer subsim

Downloads:
https://github.com/Boris-Barboris/dsubs_demo/releases


Pdf manual is bundled in the zip, or can be found in the repo:
https://github.com/Boris-Barboris/ds...ter/Manual.pdf


Discord:
https://discord.gg/7TFS98f


Client sources:
https://github.com/Boris-Barboris/dsubs_client



TLDR: 2D cold-war-techlevel DW-inspired sensor-focused subsim, multiplayer/singleplayer infinite quick battle scenario with bots and/or other players.




Hello everyone!

I'm Boris-Barboris and I would like to make the progress of my hobby project public knowledge. I'm steadily moving towards the technical demo stage and expect to be able to let the general audience test it till the end of 2019.

Reasoning

I was a great fan on Sonalyst's work on Dangerous Waters, as well as of DCS/LockOn simulator franchise. I have spent weeks in those titles, but the past is now long gone. Youth was gone as well, and so, gone was my blind respect for realism. Time grew much in value, and it is the time that was rarely respected by the simulator genre: realism dictates large intervals of wasted time and no gameplay just for the sake of realism. Time acceleration helps, but it is unsuitable for multiplayer - the prime thing I was enjoying in those games. I just want a fun PvP/Coop submarine-related game to play with real people for an hour or so. It appeared to me that the gameplay must be designed from the ground to account for higher desired combat intensity and lower time intervals.

Exactly 2 years before this post, March 2017, I have started my small project: DSubs (D for distributed), which I hope you will find in your favor.

Concept
  • Player controls one submarine. Everything that exists is submerged as well.
    The only thing I enjoyed in DW was sub warfare. I never cared about surface of the water, nor did I care for air. The fact that half the time I open some Cold Waters video and see some annoying helicopter spamming torps on the player's head tells me that I've made a right choice.
  • Not a simulator.
    No real submarines, no real weapons, no real geography. I am inspired by the real world, but have no desire to replicate it.
  • Literally no graphics
    I have no time for this anyways. Gameplay first. Whistles are easy to add later, core systems are not.
  • World is 2D.
    If there was a depth, there would be surface, and surface is of no interest to me. Either way, I cannot implement 3D world mechanics in so little time that I have. But I would like to: sound speed profile is an interesting mechanic of great gameplay value.
  • Ranges, speeds and timings are tuned for action.
    I expect the game to suit a working man with as little as 30 minutes of free time. Complete game loop cycle of spawn and death should be short enough for everyone.
  • Online only. Centralized server as an umpire.
    I like to play with people, so I focus on the multiplayer from the start. I will make single-player tutorials and a campaign system for loners but it will still require internet.
  • Focus on sensors and imperfection of knowledge.
    You only see what your submarine hull sees: the fact that you are alive, your ammo leftovers and the output of your sensors. Kills will not be reported, and the kill-feed/player stats will be significantly delayed.
  • Indiscriminate solo and cooperative play.
    The thing was written to be coop-capable from the start. Players can join the server solo, or join the other player and help him to control his submarine. I don't like "multi-station" concept, coop players share equally full control of the sub.
What is done (September 2020)
  • Submarine navigation control: target course and throttle.
  • Underwater rigid body dynamics.
  • Interesting enough sound propagation model, tuned for shorter detection range and faster action.
  • Completely server-side kinematics and hydroacoustics calculations: client is lightweight and ignorant.
  • "Fine by me" propulsor sound emission model: server-side real-time DSP to generate hydrophone signal and stream it to client.
  • OK active sonar model, picture slices streamed to client from server.
  • Client-side CIC (Combat information center) COOP server, that manages contacts, data samples, solutions, hydrophone trackers...
  • UI for hydrophone waterfall and active sonar sensors.
  • UI for contact management and TMA.
  • Towed hydrophone arrays.
  • Active sonar decoys.
  • Simple military bots.
  • Simple tutorials that cover most of the mechanics.
  • Coop control for all of the above.


Overview and tutorial walkthrough by SmartWargames:







Here is a short video, which demonstrates most core systems (coop, sensors, TMA, contact management):


Torpedo attack example:



What needs to be done
  • Manual (Done).
  • Campaign (In-progress)
After all of the above I would be able to go public alpha and see if the concept is viable.


I would like to hear your opinion on the concept itself, as well as to recruit some volunteers in order to test the existing features (sensor-related).

Thank you for your attention.

Last edited by Boris-Barboris; 03-28-21 at 03:25 PM. Reason: source link
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Old 07-02-19, 02:21 AM   #2
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Got some progress on the torpedo, namely:
  • got the guidance computer configurable: marchCourse, marchSpeed, activeSpeed, searchPattern, activationRange and activeCourse are being accepted and used.
  • Straight, snake and spiral search patterns working, albeit not configurable. That'll do for now.
  • fuel depletion logic is working, slower torp swims longer and generally covers more distance during it's lifespan.
  • active sonar seeker works and actually homes onto the moving target.
  • reused old quadtree code to handle simplistic detonation and kill checks.
Here is an example kinematic trace from the snake search test - flank speed torpedo intercepts player submarine going flank. On the right you can see active sonar image that is used to generate approach solution.



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Old 07-02-19, 09:23 AM   #3
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Default welcome back!

Boris-Barboris! THANKS FOR KEEPING US POSTED
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Old 07-25-19, 08:54 PM   #4
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Looks awesome! Which platforms will you support? happy to give a little bit of time to help test on Linux (or windows XP in a vm).
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Old 07-27-19, 07:47 AM   #5
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Well, as a DW player, I was insterested by the subs too, not the surface or air platforms. And the thing I really appreciated was the "where is it, and who is it?" phase. So keep on the good work, I'm very interesting with your concept!
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Old 07-31-19, 09:54 AM   #6
Boris-Barboris
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kellpossible View Post
Looks awesome! Which platforms will you support? happy to give a little bit of time to help test on Linux (or windows XP in a vm).

I develop on both Linux and Windows 10 machines. Judging by the conservative use of libraries, windows 7/8 32bit should be ok as well.

Thanks for the offer, though I'll probably just spin up my own ubuntu VM and ask some friends to test.
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Old 08-04-19, 07:18 AM   #7
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Got some nice weaponry progress:
  • Implemented ammo racks and tubes. I chose standard DW model of dry-equalized-open state machine with some QoL modifications, namely you specify desired state.
  • Implemented simple active sonar decoys.
  • Loadout screen where you can configure your sub, select one of the screws that can be chosen, fill your ammo racks.
  • Boring task of writing torpedo launch UI was simplified to the bare minimum required. I'll stick to numeric text input of parameters with visual feedback, that way I will not kill another month on this feature prematurely.
Here is an example torpedo attack video I recorded:

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Old 08-04-19, 08:12 AM   #8
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What to say... except keep up the great work!
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Old 08-04-19, 10:09 AM   #9
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Default welcome aboard!

gargozul!
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Old 08-04-19, 05:28 PM   #10
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A Warm Welcome To The Subsim Community > gargozu
Subsim <> Make A Donation <> See The Benefits <> Support The Community
SH3 – 4 - 5 Tutorials > Downloads > Other Useful Information > See Links in My Signature Below
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Old 09-13-19, 01:21 PM   #11
Boris-Barboris
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I've got passive bots that just swim around the arena and die for your entertainment, a simple infinite scenario, login/user registration, kill feed.
I'm getting really tired lately, so I would like to just push out what I have at the moment and have some rest of about a month from this side project. I'm writing a simple manual and expect to zip up a test Windows build this Sunday, so at least you'll have some taste of the controls.
Maybe if there will be enough people we'll even get some PvP action. It simply depends on our numbers and timezones.
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Old 09-14-19, 05:40 AM   #12
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Default First test release

Ok, here's the binaries:
https://github.com/Boris-Barboris/ds...bs-win-x86.zip


Pdf manual is bundled in the zip, or can be found in the repo:
https://github.com/Boris-Barboris/ds...ter/Manual.pdf


Feedback about UI, controls and core systems (acoustics) is welcome. I've got nothing else to offer at this point. Well, besides the usual blood, sweat and tears.
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Old 09-14-19, 11:02 AM   #13
Amiral Crapaud
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Oh man, you make it sound like you wanna throw the towel or something.
I am pretty convinced there's an actual game to be made and it doesn't require much more on the simulation side, from what I see. That could really be a (niche) winner.
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Old 09-14-19, 11:28 AM   #14
Boris-Barboris
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Amiral Crapaud View Post
Oh man, you make it sound like you wanna throw the towel or something.
I am pretty convinced there's an actual game to be made and it doesn't require much more on the simulation side, from what I see. That could really be a (niche) winner.
Nah, it's not that bad, but I do need a pause.
The problem is time. Things that seem like an hour job take days, day jobs take weeks, week turn into months. I'm afraid to make an actual enjoyable game of this thing in adequate time I would have to collaborate with other people.


May I ask you to try the controls? Don't want to get stuck inside an ergonomics echo-chamber with myself here.


UPD:


To crashy: Oh man, I'm pretty sure you got me there, detonator probably needs some tuning because your torp definetly homed onto me.

Last edited by Boris-Barboris; 09-16-19 at 11:17 AM.
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Old 09-15-19, 12:27 AM   #15
Amiral Crapaud
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Oh you actually have a battle royale mode on-going there I see? ^^
Interesting...!
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