As we move ever closer to version 1.0, there is a lot to look forward to, but also many obstacles to overcome. We are at an exciting (but at the same time difficult) point in development where we are stretched thin between working on the campaign, applying current gameplay fixes and adding new features to the game. Each of these on its own would be a big workload for our little team, but handling all three at the same time is really causing the project to almost reach critical mass.
However, we are steadily moving forward and, hopefully, tackling some of the issues you have observed as we go. Our newest feature is the Uboats’ ability to attack our destroyer and the remaining escorts. This is a feature that has been requested since the very appearance of our demo, and although this is not something that you will see every five minutes, then again, attacks like these did occur, especially if the U-boat captain was desperate, or driven by opportunity.
Next, we once again took a close look at some of the most frequent complaints by the community, namely depth charge hit detection. It already got a major overhaul two updates ago (with the added option to increase the explosion size of your depth charges), yet it seems like the transition to the new version of Unity actually messed with more than just graphics - it also affected several key game mechanics. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience, and we hope that, with the current update, we have been able to correct all the bugs that appeared during that transition.
Regardless, the current update introduces the reworked depth charge system that we promised a few months ago: a new set of colliders (both for depth charges and the U-boat itself), a new way in which damage is calculated (including a much bigger chance for critical hits that can obliterate the U-boat instantly), and recalibrated targeting, to go in line with all of the above.
On top of that, we made sure that the U-boats will now be intimidated more easily and for longer periods of time, depending on how much damage they have been dealt. Escorts’ speeds have also been increased to make them more flexible and maneuverable. As always, all these and other small fixes have been introduced following your comments and requests.
We hope that this new update will be to your liking, and, as always, we wish you many successfully defended convoys!
Artur Salwarowski Destroyer Lead Designer Iron Wolf Studio
Changes in this update:
U-boats attack our destroyer and escorts
New U-boat controller
Ambush fixes
Depth charge hit detection and targeting reworked
U-boats now forfeit the attack for longer when threatened or damaged
Escorts are now faster
Lookouts report floating debris
CBDR corrections
New Update v0.9.28!
Dear Destroyer fans,
As we keep on working to bring you version 1.0, most of our programming efforts are focused on providing the best campaign experience that we can deliver. In the meantime, we have upgraded our project to a more recent Unity version in order to enhance the visuals and make the most of the technological solutions available to us at the moment.
Therefore, our new update mostly focuses on the visual side of things - new sky, new volumetric clouds, enhanced VFX, and a new performance mode to allow for smoother running on older machines (full list of upgrades below). Please rest assured, however, that future updates will once again introduce significant gameplay upgrades, and, among them, even a few that will be utilized in the campaign that is to come.
That is not to say we have not improved any gameplay aspects - the new update brings a complete overhaul of the CBDR system and we are confident that with its next iteration, we will be able to implement collision avoidance. This will make for a much less stressful experience when hunting with other escorts, which has been a challenge so far. So yes, we are definitely on track to tackle this issue and our programmers are working on it as I am typing these words.
Another thing we are preoccupied with is a complete overhaul of the U-boat controller which should allow us to further improve enemy behavior. Yes, we have already made numerous corrections thanks to your feedback, but we continue to work on this aspect as there are always things that we can (and will) improve. Sadly, we are also certain that regardless of what we do, there will always be voices in the community complaining about U-boats making 20 knots when submerged and making turns on the spot… Well, there is only one thing we can ask those players to do: please send us screenshots of your DRT as a proof, or it didn’t happen ;)
Anyhow, we are very pleased that Destroyer is becoming bigger and better every day, and we are also happy that it has just become prettier. As usual, you can find the full list of upgrades below.
Happy hunting!
Artur Salwarowski Destroyer Lead Designer Iron Wolf Studio
New sky graphics
Volumetric clouds
complete weather system overhaul, allowing for more weather variety
Improved water physics
Upscaling: DLSS, FSR, TAAU, and CAS are now supported
New performance mode to enable smoother running on older machines
Christmas is drawing near and we are excited to bring you another Destroyer update in anticipation of this celebrated time of the year. As always, we focused on responding to the most frequently recurring issues in your feedback, and the difficulty to sink submarines seemed like an important point for many of you. Therefore, we have decided to introduce difficulty level settings which allow you to both control how many submarines attack, but also how powerful your depth charges are. This way, you can make your engagements less intense and hone your skills against smaller wolfpacks, but, even more importantly, beginners can increase their depth charge efficiency and score their first kills much earlier. Of course, players who enjoy a real challenge can always choose ‘realistic’ depth charges and leave things as they are.
On top of that, we have taken a close look at the whole depth charge system, as many of you have reported point blank hits which would result in no damage to the U-boat. We took this issue very seriously, and so we ran extensive tests from top to bottom in order to pinpoint the problem. And, as it has turned out, it was all due to a small graphic glitch that would sometimes displace the visual effect of the explosion - consequently, it seemed like you were hitting, although you were not (and vice versa). With this issue out of the way, the depth charge window should now give you a much more reliable insight into how your DCs are exploding.
We have also run repeated tests of the TRR, and we are happy to confirm that it has been working perfectly all along. However, let’s not forget that the faster you go and the deeper you drop, the higher the chance to miss, and in the most extreme situations, even the slightest mistake will make you miss by a lot. To compensate for it, depth charges now hit harder at ‘medium’ and ‘deep’ to reflect the idea that the water pressure from the explosions would be much more devastating at greater depths. Second of all, we have increased the spread of the broad (distracting) depth charge salvos. While less deadly, such attacks nevertheless have a good chance of scoring hits and should positively affect your ASW efforts.
Lastly, we have implemented a handful of little fixes here and there (full list below) and we can already say that the next update will have a few aces up its sleeve. On the other hand, we are still struggling to make CBDR fully reliable, and we apologize it is taking so long. We hear you, also when it comes to collisions with other hunting escorts - we are dedicated to our project and we will fix all such outstanding issues - it simply takes time, especially for a small team like ours.
To sum it up, we would like to thank you very much for your patience. We are very glad that so many of you are enjoying the game in spite of its Early Access shortcomings. Although we haven’t been very active on the forums recently, please rest assured that we continue to analyze your feedback and that all your concerns will be addressed in future updates. We hope that you will stay excited about Destroyer as we press forward towards version 1.0 with its campaign mode.
Having said that, we would like to wish you a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, and many victorious battles!
Artur Salwarowski Destroyer Lead Designer Iron Wolf Studio
Full list of changes for version 0.9.26:
Difficulty levels implemented (wolfpack size and depth charge efficiency)
Depth charge camera fixed: no displacement of explosions
Broad DC patterns now cover a significantly larger area
CBDR corrections + introduction of foghorn (more fixes incoming)
Fixed a sonar bug that sporadically blocked ‘radar aim’ for resurfacing U-boats
Last 20 messages in the message log are now saved
Upon loading a saved game, the game resumes in the same location (station)
Revised UI in main menu (difficulty level and battle variant selections)
Steam Awards ahead!
Heyho everybody! We hope you enjoy yourself diving deep into Destroyer: The U-Boat Hunter!
It's once again the time of the year! The autumn sale is in full swing and comes with its annual celebration of video games: The Steam Awards.
And that's where you come in. We're proud of the work we put into Destroyer and obviously feel that it is the best game ever developed - and if you only think the slightest bit alike, nominating us only makes perfect sense, right?
These are the awards for which we feel most eligible:
Best Game you Suck At
Game of the Year
Innovative Gameplay
If you prefer to nominate us for other awards, that's great as well! Thank you so much for your support and your help with nominating us for the Steam Awards!
Iron Wolf Studio
The Ambush Update is here!
Dear Destroyer fans,
We would like to thank you for all the kind words regarding our last update. Since that time, we have been working on a new ‘ambush’ battle variant that should give you a new tactical perspective and make for a more search-oriented, slightly slower kind of gameplay. Here’s the most important changes that the new update brings into the fray:
New ‘ambush’ battle variant with a modified opening cutscene
Interview with our ASW expert (new content for the supporter pack)
Quality of life improvements and bug fixes on the DRT station (e.g. auto-plot now resumes instantly following change of scale)
U-boat dive/surface speed has been reduced
Air support is now more successful at suppressing U-boats
Of course, please do let us know how you like the new update! We are already working on the next one which will bring a major improvement in the depth charge system. This update is just around the corner and it will again introduce a couple of small fixes alongside the main feature that will make your depth charge drops more varied and deadly!
Please stay tuned for more, and, as always, happy hunting!
Artur Salwarowski Destroyer Lead Designer Iron Wolf Studio
Upcoming Update and Sale
Dear Destroyer fans,
We would like to thank you for your continued feedback and support. We keep refining the game, and we are excited to announce a new update coming on Friday the 11th that will introduce a new mission variant that some of you requested in your comments. This update will be accompanied by a 25% discount on Destroyer that will be in effect from the 8th to the 22nd November, so if you are still on the fence whether to get the game, perhaps this is a good time to do it!
Hope you like what we have prepared for you and, in the meantime, we are already working on the next update! Please stay tuned for more new features and, as always, happy hunting!
Artur Salwarowski Destroyer Lead Designer Iron Wolf Studio
New Patch is live
Heyho everyone!
Upon hearing your feedback, we have made a thorough readjustment of the U-boat underwater speed and maneuvering. Following adjustments you will be able to find in the new version:
U-boat underwater speed averages at 4kn.
U-boats more often go into silent running at 2-3kn.
U-boats may achieve a maximum underwater speed of 6kn, although rarely and briefly.
U-boats dive to medium and deep more often, but due to lower U-boat speeds the hit probability has increased significantly.
Minimum turning radius for U-boat evasive maneuvers has been corrected.
Battles have been rebalanced to fit the new U-boat characteristics.
The number of ‘stealthy captain’ U-boats has increased to allow for more uncertainty and the need for better patrolling and sonar coverage.
We have also improved a wide variety of technical imperfections and applied a few fixes. The full list is available further below.
We are very thankful for all your input, as we believe the above changes are a huge improvement to the game. We also hope that those of you who were disappointed with their first experience will give Destroyer one more chance and will hopefully see that things are going in the right direction. If that is the case, we would be very thankful if you could let us know, either on the Steam forums or, even better, in your reviews. In any case, your feedback allows us to stay on the course, so we are very eager to know what you think.
Please rest assured, however, that the current game balance is not final, and that we will keep fine-tuning it according to your feedback, and in parallel with further evolution of the game. The next update will happen very soon and will introduce a new mission type: "Ambush" , along with further gameplay improvements.
Other improvements in this patch:
Longer missions possible in ‘custom mission’ mode (up to 10 hrs)
Fixed errors occurring whenever surfaced U-boats were eliminated with gunfire
Improved U-boat sinking reports, corrected info in the ‘contacts’ station
3D objects in ‘extras’ now allow for better viewing
radar aim corrected and should not get stuck to one target
searchlight corrected and should turn off as expected
Please stay tuned for more and, as always, happy hunting!
Artur Salwarowski Destroyer Lead Designer Iron Wolf Studio
Second Patch incoming!
Greetings fellow captains!
It has been about a week since we entered the unknown waters of Early Access - and what a week it was! Thank you for the continued support and your thoughts. Rest assured that we are reading all the comments and we will address all the issues that you have raised, U-boat maneuvering first and foremost.
Be it the Steam Forums, our discord, Subsim.com, or comments under YT videos - we have amassed a huge amount of feedback and we are now working to improve Destroyer accordingly.
The current patch focuses on eliminating a few annoying errors and introducing a handful of quick fixes. Meanwhile, we have been working on a major readjustment of U-boat maneuvers and we are planning to release an according patch very soon.
As Early Access is taken seriously by us, you can look forward to more fine-tuning, adjustments and content-patches down the line - so stay tuned and jump on our Discord !
This patch introduces the following:
Improved the CBDR to reduce erroneous behavior.
Improved searchlight behavior, should now turn on/off as intended.
The depth charge window now prioritizes player’s attacks and shows the correct camera.
Improved tactical board - escorts are now always on top and clickable.
U-boat surface kill behavior improved, should no longer lead to mission failure.
Thanks again and good hunting! Team Iron Wolf Studio & Daedalic Entertainment
First Hotfix Patch incoming!
Greetings fellow captains!
Thank you for your feedback and support during yesterday's launch of Destroyer into Early Access!
Despite our meticulous testing some issues went undetected and there was rough sailing for some. With this first hotfix we aim at the most severe issues that were encountered, especially the black screen block upon launch and after missions. Also we addressed the issues with widescreen display setups. Please understand that this is not the final solution, but it should make the game playable while we further look into this. To be honest, we underestimated the public demand and related effort in regards to this topic when prioritizing features for the Early Access release. Our sincere apologies to those affected.
This hotfix contains:
Video conversion to built-in Unity codecs.
Additional fade-ins and fade-outs disabled when playing videos.
Fixed black screen after mission completion.
Auto-adjustment to Widescreen resolution displays.
Of course we don’t stop with fixes and improvements here and continue to monitor your feedback while also conducting further internal testing and polishing in order to bring you the next patch asap. As a friendly reminder: Our Discord is always open and a great way to reach us directly.
Thanks again and good hunting! Team Iron Wolf Studio & Daedalic Entertainment
Destroyer: The U-Boat Hunter is out now!
Fire up your sonar, Destroyer: The U-Boat Hunter is releasing into Steam Early Access today!
Take full control of a Fletcher-class destroyer in Destroyer: The U-Boat Hunter - an innovative, cross-genre simulation game. Partake in thrilling procedurally generated battles with randomized weather, time of day and enemy attack patterns, allowing for a virtually infinite number of battle scenarios.
"Destroyer" combines the thrill of commanding an anti-submarine warship with the tactical challenge of managing a whole escort group protecting convoys against relentless wolfpacks. We went to great lengths to appeal to fans of realism and immersion, at the same time offering a great experience for beginners in the genre as well! Whether a military sim veteran or a fledgling captain, immerse yourself in a cinematic naval warfare experience and feel the thrill of the hunt!
To make this experience as realistic as possible, there’s over 300 voice reports recorded by both professional voice actors and navy cadets and experts for top-of-the-line immersion and situational awareness. You’ll be using authentic instruments and attack procedures from within a detailed Fletcher-class destroyer model with 5 locations meticulously recreated in state-of-the art 3D: the bridge, the combat information center, the sonar room, the gun director, and the lookouts’ station.
Destroyer: The U-Boat Hunter is out now in Early Access! Early Access, for us means, that we are making a promise and keep working further on the title, on both the content and polishing side.
That's why it is only natural, that we will keep you up-to-date with all the newest details right here in the Steam Forums, via Blogpost, or - if you want to get in contact real close with us, why don't you join our Discord server right "here"
