We prepared a first video in a series that will introduce to you the features upcoming in B129. We will keep posting videos like this one every two weeks to keep you up to date with our progress. There is much more exciting news ahead.
[previewyoutube="LwIx2MOnOrE;full"]
Video transcript
Map improvements
We continued to work on the in-game map as we felt that it still needs some polish for the upcoming release. All map skins were upgraded and a new skin was added that maximizes the paper look.
Campaign
This update will introduce a complete campaign consisting of various kinds of missions. It will span through the whole war and will take place all over the Atlantic. You won't be forced to complete the campaign missions, but they will offer useful rewards that won't be possible to obtain otherwise.
Narration
We reworked how the narration happening outside the ship is presented in the game. It's now both more attractive and easier to interact with. What you see right now is a weather station placement mission that is part of the campaign. It also uses this new system to narrate the story.
There are dozens of other, big changes upcoming in this update. Stay safe and see you in the two weeks for more info!
UBOAT VR
A friendly studio from our country, GameFormatic S.A. decided to port UBOAT to VR platforms! It's a promising project that will allow the game to be played in a completely new way. If you enjoy playing games in VR, consider showing some support to the team behind it and giving hints about your preferences and expectations.
We are back with news about the upcoming update B129 and the future of UBOAT Early Access.
Next update
Update B129 is shaping up to be the most important update to the game thus far. It will introduce the remaining features from the initial roadmap as well as will move forward beyond it.
We will publish small teasers every two weeks to keep you updated and give you a general idea what to expect from that update. Stay tuned!
Early Access
After consultation with the publisher, we decided to extend the Early Access for a few months more to polish the game as well as we can for the upcoming final release. Keeping the game in Early Access allows us to move at a higher pace than will be possible later on. We hope that you will agree with us on this decision and that a few months more won't hurt.
This means that after B129 you can still expect at least one more major update to UBOAT before we leave Early Access for good.
Team changes
We are pleased to declare that Ruby joins our team as the community manager. Ruby now has the inside look into the latest news and work, so you can count on getting the latest information through him from now on. We hope that with his help our team will be doing a better job at communicating the progress.
Aside from that, another member is joining our ranks soon as a scene designer. He will help us build new port scenes, as well as prepare content for the new game mechanics that will be shipped in B129. This way our team will grow to five people.
You will hear more from us in the future. We also sincerely hope that you are well in these hard times.
Warm regards, DWS
B128 Hotfix 4
Dear skippers,
A fourth hotfix to version B128 is now complete. It again fixes some of the most often reported issues.
Warm thank you as always for the sent bug reports and for posting your feedback.
This update is fully compatible in regards of saved game states with the previous version.
Changelog
User interface:
- Fix: Radio notification was remaining on the screen, if transmission stopped. - Fix: After adding sailor to one of the teams in the management menu, some buttons there were previously on the bottom would appear on top of the UI. - Fix: Decreased work performance notification was often stacking without need and was appearing when leaving to the menu.
Sandbox:
- Further improvements that should prevent NPC groups from spawning too close. This could still occassionally happen, if enemy group was encountered when player was near NPC u-boats. - Fix: Radio transmissions coming directly from the headquarters were never disappearing, while it was intended for them to last usually around 10 minutes. This was causing some issues, because side-mission message could be received days after it was intended to happen and the target could be already hundreds of kilometers away. - Fix: Radio transmission could be transmitted for many hours, rather than as intended for around 10 minutes, if a high time compression was used.
Crew management:
- Fix: After compensating the ballast in the compartments by blowing some ballast, another officer was automatically flooding the tanks back again.
General:
- Background stories for recruits are now randomized in such a way to avoid repetitions. - Sonar ping is audible more often. - Time compression is now always disabled whenever something on the u-boat becomes damaged or any dialogue is started.
Yours, DWS
B128 Hotfix 3
Dear skippers,
A third hotfix for B128 is now ready. It fixes some of the most often reported issues thus far.
Warm thank you for the sent bug reports and for posting your feedback.
This update is fully compatible in regards of saved game states with the previous version.
Changelog
Technical changes:
- Unity engine update from 2019.4.13f1 to 2019.4.15f1.
Sandbox:
- NPC groups were often spawning too close, if player haven't detected them in any way before the meeting. - Improvements to side-mission frequency and their targets. For example, when player returns from a patrol there is no longer a requirement for side-missions to be contained in the patrol target area. - Fix: Side-missions couldn't be started in certain patrol squares due to a bug.
User interface:
- Regression fix: Radio transmission notifications weren't appearing.
AI:
- Improvements to NPC u-boat capture course computation. - Fix: NPC u-boats were still attacking crates from sunk ships that were floating on the water. - Fix: NPC u-boats could stop their engines for a very long time after the fight was over.
General:
- Regression fix: Intended music was often not playing during medal award ceremony.
Yours, DWS
B128 Hotfix 2
Dear skippers,
We just uploaded a second hotfix for B128. Like the last time, it fixes some of the most often reported issues.
It's fully compatible in regards of saved game states with the previous version.
Changelog:
Tutorial:
- Fix: Tutorials now automatically fix various problems that are not the part of the scenario: officers becoming tired and fuel, energy or compressed air running out. - Fix: Fourth tutorial at certain stages now forbids diving to stick to the scenario. - Fix: It's no longer possible to get lost on the sea, while returning from the second or third tutorial mission back to the port.
Animation:
- Fix: Admiral was moving very slowly forward over a very long periods of time. - Fix: Evacuated NPC crew on a pontoon could swap between sitting and standing position indefinitely.
General:
- Fix: Exclamation mark that appears above characters when they have something to say, was disappearing in the scene after reloading a game state. It was visible only above the portrait after that.
Yours, DWS
B128 Hotfix 1
Dear skippers,
A first hotfix for B128 is ready. It addresses some of the most common issues that were reported so far.
It's fully compatible in regards of saved game states with the previous version.
Changelog:
AI:
- Fix: NPC u-boats could sometimes attack crates from sunk ships floating on the water.
Map:
- Fix: Ulleungdo island had a wrong allegiance color assigned on the map.
Tutorial:
- Fix: During the fourth tutorial mission, if player switched light to blue before tutorial asked him to do that, it was necessary to disable blue light and enable it back again to continue. It was hard due to time slowdown. - Fix: During the third tutorial mission, if player submerged before reaching the second freighter, further tutorial orders couldn't be completed.
General:
- Fix: Undocking script could fail in specific circumstances and u-boat would start to move in a single direction indefinitely until the game was reloaded.
Yours, DWS
Major update: B128 stable
Dear skippers,
After a few weeks of intensive work on version B128, we feel that it's now shaped up and is ready for a stable release. With the help of the community we managed to squash hundreds of bugs and improve on all the newly added features.
Full changelog of version B128: https://steamcommunity.com/app/494840/discussions/0/2935742047979357314
Notice: This version is not compatible in terms of saved game states with the older releases. If your intention is to continue an ongoing campaign, please enter the game properties on Steam, click the BETA tab and switch to version B127.
Main features
Let's remind the two main features of this release:
Map
This is probably the most exciting change in this version. The new map contains dynamic country borders that reflect most historical events of World War II. There are also major battles marked in on the map. We hope that you will enjoy this change as much as we do!
Tutorial
In this version we added 7 tutorial missions into the game. They explain most topics needed to successfully proceed with your career through the game. These missions can be started at any time from any port in the game.
Aside from that, each in-game interface now has a dedicated help system that can be toggled by pressing the question mark icon in the upper right part of the screen.
Recent additions
Aside from the initially announced features, we added much more smaller improvements during the unstable version testing. The most important changes are:
Sandbox
- Unescorted trade ships are becoming less common over the course of war and by the end of the war most of them travel in convoys. - Convoy escort composition is now more varied and some more historically accurate. More countries will participate in the escort duties. - Escort carriers, battleships and cruisers are now always hidden inside the formation and don't act as an anti-submarine escort.
Crew management
- New action: Emergency ballast tank blowing, that helps to surface the ship at any cost. - New action: Ballast adjustment, to compensate negative buoyancy from the leaks, by blowing some ballast from the tanks. - New action: Preheat and load torpedo task was added to the crew schedules UI. - Officers now become tired when their energy reaches zero and they start to rest. They won't take orders until they recover at least 40% of the energy or there is any emergency on board (alarm, leaks, wounded crew or panicking characters). - Added many new backstories for the recruits written by the community. - Crew now makes noise detectable to the enemy. Switch light to red or blue to let them know to be quiet. - Torpedo loading and preheating now also makes noise.
AI & naval simulation
- Added Huff-Duff devices on the enemy surface vessels. They are installed starting with 1941 and allow enemies to locate radio transmissions at a range of up to 24 km. Early Huff-Duffs don't allow to pinpoint position, but instead only tell that the radio transmission is originating dangerously close. If enemies detect your radio transmission with an early Huff-Duff, they won't know your position, but only know that you are nearby. Better Huff-Duffs will direct enemies directly at your ship. - NPC ships are now much better at avoiding the coast and port structures. - Enemy escorts are much better at deducing possible u-boat position after a torpedo hit, especially at high AI difficulties.
Economy overhaul
- Basic T1 torpedoes, bread and potatoes are now free to ensure that the u-boat will always be able to continue the duty. Only one free type of food is allowed in the warehouse at a time, to disallow gaining discipline bonuses for free. - Decreased prices of other types of torpedoes to match the new approach. All rewards for assignments and sinking ships were considerably decreased.
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We will now focus on the next major update - B129. Feel free to post your requests and suggestions to participate in the further development.
Please take a look at the initial announcement to read more about all the major features introduced this release: https://steamcommunity.com/games/494840/announcements/detail/2877195252819396742
Yours, Deep Water Studio
Accident is out now with Launch and Loyalty Discount!
Friends of our friends are also our friends!
There is a new game Accident from our friends in Duality Games on Steam, so if you have one of these games, you can grab Accident with a 15% Launch Discount and 15% Loyalty Discount.
We care about our shared Community, so we want to give you an opportunity to get our games in the best possible deals. If you have any of these games, there is an extra 15% off waiting for you, so don’t hesitate and grab some fun!
Games combined with Loyalty Discount: Thief Simulator Car Mechanic Simulator 2015 House Flipper Train Station Renovation Drug Dealer Simulator 911 Operator Cooking Simulator Tank Mechanic Simulator UBOAT The Beast Inside Lust for Darkness Plane Mechanic Simulator
Kind regards, PlayWay Team
B128: Major update hits the testing branch
Hello skippers!
We are back with the next major update to UBOAT. We feel that this update is an important milestone towards the full release and we put a lot of effort to make it happen.
We secured additional funding from the publisher to put additional work into the game. For this reason, we decided to deviate for a moment from the original roadmap and put work into the areas of the game that are important, but were somewhat left behind before, like the in-game map. These changes were often requested by you on the game forum.
Considering the above, we now expect to release the full version of the game in January, rather than a fourth quarter of this year. We hope for your patience and understanding as it's for the greater good in the end!
Without further introductions, let's move on and explain what can you expect from this new update!
Map
This is probably the most exciting change in this version. The new map contains dynamic country borders that reflect most historical events of World War II. There are also major battles marked in on the map. We hope that you will enjoy this change as much as we do!
Tutorial
In this version we added 7 tutorial missions into the game. They explain most topics needed to successfully proceed with your career through the game. These missions can be started at any time from any port in the game.
Aside from that, each in-game interface now has a dedicated help system that can be toggled by pressing the question mark icon in the upper right part of the screen.
Technical improvements
Realism settings
There are two new realism settings: AI difficulty and economic difficulty.
AI difficulty affects how good enemy crews are at detecting your u-boat, which directly affects the combat difficulty of the game.
Economic difficulty on the other hand, affects the cost and availability of various goods in the ports. In this version, we introduced resource shortages in Germany at the last stages of the war and high economic difficulties make them quite dramatic and more realistic. Besieged ports like La Rochelle may often lack most of the goods needed to sustain your ship.
Pathfinding improvements
It's no longer necessary to plot paths in ports manually as they are computed automatically around the port structures. Aside from that, there were numerous other improvements in this area, for example NPC ships can now effectively avoid collisions with each other even in tight formations and it's much easier to avoid entering coastal areas by accident as the new paths avoid them automatically whenever possible.
Hunt-class destroyers
These destroyers along with River-class frigates, which also started to appear in this version, are used by Royal Navy and many new navies introduced in this update:
Polish Navy
Free French Navy
Royal Norwegian Navy
Royal Netherlands Navy
Free Belgian Navy
Royal Hellenic Navy
Body shape variations
Each sailor now has a different body shape. It may be adjusted at the customization screen.
Patrol changes
Patrols are now performed on smaller Kriegsmarine grid squares, which were implemented in this version. We always felt that previously patrol areas were too undefined and large.
Simulation improvements
Most of the Royal Navy escort ships are now equipped with ASDIC devices since the beginning of the war, which are later upgraded to newer, historically correct types. By the end of war, many of the enemy escort ships are also equipped with radars.
Enemy hydrophone operators are much better at detecting u-boats. We felt that they were lacking a lot since B127, as the enemy convoys started to be much more spread out since then, while escort ships balance wasn't adjusted for that change. It's now going to be again, much harder to stay undetected while sneaking into convoys.
Graphics
Contact shadows
UBOAT is an open world game with vast open scenes. Such conditions are not ideal for the common shadowing techniques that were producing blurry results at times. We decided to implement raycasted contact shadowing technique for that reason. It's commonly used in the games from this year and now UBOAT also joins that party.
Screen-space reflections
Previous implementation of the screen space reflections (SSR) effect in the game was quite outdated and was affecting performance on the high screen resolutions. We updated it using the latest Unity implementation as a reference and optimized for the specific use case of our game (mostly water).
This new version is both faster and more precise, producing reflections where previous implementation was failing to do so.
8K interior textures
Most u-boat interior textures are now present in the highest resolution and use better BC7 compression that fixes various colouring artifacts that were previously visible especially on gray surfaces. This shouldn't affect overall VRAM usage as textures are loaded to fit a set limit, but please let us know in case of problems.
Optimizations
We are optimizing the game at each occasion and this time we optimized it quite a lot! While the game may run a bit slower than before after you run it, if you disable the newly added graphic effects, it should almost certainly run faster than before and use less memory.
We also updated the engine UBOAT is built on to the latest version: from Unity 2018.3.4 to 2019.4.11. Despite the numeration pointing to a one year, it's actually two years of progress from the engine developer as the newer version was released just two weeks ago.
Save system
Saved game state files should be at least 30% smaller since this version, while both saving and loading should be faster.
We fixed the infinite loading screen issue that was still there in B127 despite our earlier effort. If this would happen again, please remember to drop us a save and a log file and it will be our top priority.
Warning
This version is currently present on the unstable branches on Steam and GOG. It may still need some polish and there may be leftover issues from the work done.
Mods may need an update to work well with this update as most aspects of the game were modified. We will do our best to help mod authors. Please come by to the B128 discussion thread on the forum, if your mod was affected.
With your help, we are hoping to release this version on the stable branch as soon as possible.
Yours, Deep Water Studio
B127 Hotfix 4
Hello!
A fourth hotfix for version B127 is now complete. It fixes the last issues in the game that could cause an infinite loading of saved game states, where the loading wheel was animating indefinitely.
It's fully compatible in regards of saved game states with the previous version.
We are going to focus mostly on the next major release now, namely B128. We will post more details about this update as soon as we become sure about its final shape and complete more of the work ahead.
Changelog
Fixes:
- Infinite loading issue fixes based on the bug reports.
