Nov 21, 2021

UBOAT - nihilcat

Dear skippers,

Today we are ready to release the next major update to UBOAT - B130. This time there won't be unstable version testing and the update shouldn't affect your existing saved game states. Our intention is to keep things this way moving forward as we get closer to leaving the Early Access.

To keep your expectations on a correct level, while this update adds a respectable amount of new content, it doesn't add new ports and submarine pens - we are working on them for quite a long time and plan to publish them in version B131.

Having that said, let's move on and discuss the additions of this update!

The war is over

We completely overhauled how the end of war looks like in the game. With this update, you will encounter historically-based messages from the high command during that time like the Rainbow Order (Regenbogen-Befehl) and surrender instructions on 8th May 1945.

Since you will receive conflicting orders, you will have a choice, if you want to scuttle and leave your u-boat or surrender to the enemy. Technically, nothing will stop you from ending things Rambo-style though.

When you leave your ship, you will now see a nice summary of your u-boat's entire service.

Fast mission completion

We decided to cut some travel time from the game and from now on, you will be able to finish your mission right after completing the main objective. The return trip will happen automatically with an immersive return cutscene.

If you prefer to live through everything in the game, you can disable this option in the settings, but we encourage you to give it a try. It makes the gameplay much more dynamic.

AOB tool

This update introduces AOB tool to the game. It's possible to switch between the regular course tool and AOB at any time and the angles will be converted accordingly! Both tools are now also updated in realtime to reflect bearing changes of your current target.

Reporting changes

We felt that there wasn't enough benefit from taking the risk and sending your reports on the sea. We wanted to fix that problem in this update. Right now your reports will loose some of their original value as the time goes on, since they become less relevant to the command with the passage of time.

There were also other related changes:
- When you dock in a port, all reports are handed in automatically without use of the radio.
- Regular sailors no longer can send radio messages. Radioman officer is required for such a task.

Damage model improvements

We reworked the damage model used for NPC ships to on average make torpedoes with magnetic setting (MZ) more effective than with the impact setting (AZ).

We listened to your feedback and did detailed testing, which confirmed that torpedoes with MZ setting were less effective than AZ ones, while it should be the other way around.

Our testing on medium GRT merchant ships indicated that MZ torpedo had a 65% chance to completely disable a ship, while AZ torpedoes had a 85% chance to achieve that. After this rework MZ torpedoes have a 95% chance to completely disable a medium GRT merchant ship, while AZ torpedoes have 70% chance, which should be much closer to reality.

Polishing

Since we are getting closer to the stable release of the game, our main focus was to polish the existing content and repair problems. Some of such changes include:

- There is now an intro movie played before a new campaign is started.
- New loading hints and backgrounds.
- Crewman's hair now appears under a cap in a fitting way instead of disappearing. There is a model adjustment prepared for each cap-hair pair.
- Many changes to the content added into the journal to improve its readability and organization.
- Balance pass of experience points and Iron Cross points gained for various tasks.
- Added an integration with rich presence feature in Discord.
- Fixed a problem that the music played through the radio wasn't detectable to the enemy hydrophones.
- And much more!

Full changelog

You can read the full changelog of this update here: FULL CHANGELOG.

Yours,
DWS

Oct 11, 2021

Update: B129 Hotfix 4

UBOAT - nihilcat

Dear skippers,

A fourth hotfix for B129 is now ready for download. It brings new bug fixes and general improvements to UBOAT.

This update doesn't affect saved game states in any way. If you would like to find out more, please take a look at the changelog below!

Changelog

Localization:

- French localization update by FvJ and Placebo.
- Italian localization update by BeeTLe BeTHLeHeM.
- Russian localization update by Hard.
- Korean localization update by Zaswedx.
- Turkish localization update by tokyo.
- Chinese localization update by SparrowSHEN (Q:173678441).
- Spanish localization update by Tordo.
- German localization update by Ruby.

Graphics:

- Fix: Damages on the conning tower weren't restored after loading a game state.
- Fix: Improved alignment of various elements on Illustrious-class and Bogue-class aircraft carriers.
- Fix: Highlight that appears after moving a cursor over a distant ship was appearing noticeably above the ship, if realistic Earth curvature rendering was enabled in the settings.
- Fix: C3 merchant ships contained a white element without a texture after being damaged.
- Fix: After loading a game state with a smoker on the conning tower from the main menu and then again in-game, the cigarette would turn pink.

Physics:

- Improved physics behaviour consistency between time compression scales. This change fixes the issue with u-boat's velocity changing considerably after enabling a time compression.

Simulation:

- Fix: G7a torpedoes range now depends on the selected speed setting (5 km for the fastest, 7.5 km for the medium and 12 km for the slow).

World:

- Fix: A small fraction of the merchant ships was trying to trade goods from source to target port that didn't match the export list of the source port and their cargo holds were empty as a result. Example: a food transport from GB to CA.

User interface:

- Added possibility to assign the same outfit to all sailors.
- After entering customization screen from the crew list and then leaving that screen, the game is now returning back to the crew list instead of closing all views.
- Fix: Added explanation to the tooltips that appear after moving a cursor over orders present in the queue that right-clicking removes them from the queue.
- Fix: Improved consistency of the selected gun mode after leaving the gun and assigning the officer back again to it.
- Fix: Wounded and panicking sailor notifications were not present after loading a game state with wounded or panicking crew members.
- Fix: Fixed problem with displaying additional panels (management, journal) when opening them while camera was centered on an npc ship.
- Fix: After opening the task management view with officers for the first time, there was a "new shift" button present, but it shouldn't be there.
- Fix: After creating a new shift, a tooltip associated with it was wrong until the interface was closed and opened back again.
- Fix: If the entire fuel was bought from a port the fuel tank bar of the u-boat was showing zero fuel, until this interface was re-opened.
- Fix: Ensured that the game is going back to the same view that was active before certain fullscreen views were opened after they are closed. For example: entering and leaving the HQ or the radio manual mode.
- Fix: Manual mode button was missing after using the radio from the FPP view unless player switched to another officer and then back to the radioman.
- Fix: After a game state with a changed color filter in the periscope was loaded, the button in the UI was incorrectly displaying the default filter as the active one.
- Fix: Device manual mode was stopping to function correctly, if player pressed ALT while using it, then entered the Management view, entered a customization screen of any crew member and then went back.
- Fix: GRT indication was missing on the ship selection panel (as opposed to the panel that appears in the periscope's manual mode).
- Fix: GRT abbreviation in the periscope's manual mode panel wasn't translated to the local language.
- Fix: Portraits were appearing in the periscope's manual mode view, if player pressed ALT, entered HQ and went back.
- Fix: Ship's buoyancy bar wasn't updated in the periscope UI when any of the tools was open.
- Fix: Notification about resupply ship being sunk by the enemy, was not appearing in the majority of the cases.
- Fix: Course estimation tool in the periscope's manual mode was disabled, if player selected the target outside of the periscope UI and then entered the manual mode.
- Fix: After selecting a target for computing a torpedo course, saving the game state, quitting the game, starting the game, loading back the game state and changing the target, the target mark would remain on the previous target icon on the map in addition to the new one.
- Fix: Sailor status wasn't updated on the list after adding/removing him from the crew until the list was re-opened.
- Fix: Units of measurement weren't translated to the local language.
- Regression fix: Tooltips in the main menu weren't working since Hotfix 3.

Crew:

- Fix: Officers with a first aid in their schedule were not helping some of the wounded sailors.
- Fix: Officers having the "Medical Coordinator" skill, at least one helper and first aid in the schedule, could sometimes swap between two wounded characters in a loop.
- Fix: Medic moving towards a wounded sailor wasn't able to open doors on his way, if there was an order to keep them closed after passing.

AI:

- Fix: Resupply ships (milk cows) no longer try to fight nearby ships in any circumstances and prefer to escape whenever possible.

Missions:

- Fix: It was possible in rare cases to get punished by the command for sinking a ship that was a target in the side mission.
- Fix: Enigma and gold recovery missions now require from the player to free space for the diving suit in the storage before leaving the port, if it's missing.
- Fix: Map contact in the lost u-boat mission was sometimes moving in circles, if visibility was very low due to the weather.
- Fix: It wasn't possible to complete tutorial #1, if player bought the entire fuel from the port before starting it.
- Fix: If a game state was saved during tutorial #4 right after the friendly sub was sunk by the plane and then reloaded, the tutorial wouldn't progress correctly.

General:

- Steam Rich presence statuses are now localized into the end user's language. This change may take some time to propagate to all language versions of the game.
- Ship representations are now loaded into scene at a larger distance to make the experience more coherent.
- Fix: It's no longer possible to start a tutorial mission when there are survivors on board.
- Fix: Turm II and Turm IV description was slightly wrong. This change may take some time to propagate to all language versions of the game.
- Fix: LST ships were not being loaded and convoys with such ships were sometimes stopping in place (this class of ships starts to appear late in 1944).
- Fix: "Milk cow" supply ships were sometimes not able to reach the selected destination, if the path to it was complicated and were becoming stuck near the coast.
- Fix: Units were loosing an ability to drop depth charges and bombs, if they dropped them at least once and then a game state was saved and reloaded.
- Fix: Empire ships were not correctly identified by the crew. This problem wasn't affecting their torpedo solutions, but could be problematic, if player used their identification as a base for making a custom solution.
- Fix: After moving torpedo from one launcher to another, it wasn't possible to launch it.
- Fix: Time compression was sometimes stopped without a clear need during storms or if there was a friendly u-boat nearby.
- Fix: Increased precision of computing a total passed distance that is displayed during the mission summary.
- Regression fix: Fuel wasn't consumed in real-time, but only if the time compression was enabled (this problem wasn't affecting other resources).

Yours,
DWS

Sep 17, 2021

Update: B129 Hotfix 3

UBOAT - nihilcat

Dear skippers,

A third hotfix for B129 is now ready for download. It brings new bug fixes and general improvements to UBOAT.

This update doesn't affect saved game states in any way. If you would like to find out more, please take a look at the changelog below!

Changelog

User interface:

- Fix: There was a slight offset in the bearing displayed in the periscopes and UZO.
- Fix: Launch toggles near torpedo launchers in the UI didn't had their state preserved after closing and opening the launchers UI back again.
- Fix: Tooltips that describe port were appearing after hovering mouse over the port officers.
- Fix: It was possible to purchase reputation upgrades that were marked as inaccessible.
- Fix: Lock tip in the periscope could appear above some of the periscope tools.

Missions:

- Fix: Enigma recovery mission wasn't progressing correctly in some cases.
- Fix: After pulling the diver back during the Enigma recovery mission at the last stage, it's now possible to resume the story (after sending the diver again) at the stage where it was left.
- Fix: In the side-mission with an ally calling for help, player was sometimes receiving supplies from the ally instead of sharing his own supplies.
- Fix: After being damaged by the plane in the tutorial #4 and leaving the game on its own for long time, the leak was eventually repaired automatically by another engineer and it wasn't possible to continue with the tutorial.

Technical:

- Major memory usage optimizations - largest gains are at the lowest settings.
- Updated Unity from version 2019.4.29f1 to 2019.4.30f1.

Crew:

- Fix: All officers could silently knock out a panicking sailor, while only leaders with an appropriate skill should be able to do it.
- Fix: Permanent assignment of a sailor to officer in the management view was sometimes stopping to work.

Localization:

- Major Korean localization update by Zaswedx.
- Chinese localization update by SparrowSHEN (Q:173678441).
- Czech localization by Spid3rCZ.
- German localization update by Ruby.
- Italian localization update by BeeTLe BeTHLeHeM.
- Spanish localization update by Tordo.

Physics:

- Ship wrecks are now becoming slightly buried in the seabed after sinking and become much more immobile at such point. This change fixes various physics issues on high TC due to interaction with the seabed.

General:

- Fix: Fixed a second CTD on launch issue related to multi-screen setups.
- Fix: After destroying the tanks in Aruba, leaving the area and coming back, the tanks were there again.
- Fix: Game states saved right after completing the tutorial #2, #3 or #4 could in some cases not load.
- Regression fix: NPC ships weren't anchoring correctly since Hotfix 2.

Yours,
DWS

Sep 10, 2021

Update: B129 Hotfix 2

UBOAT - nihilcat

Dear skippers,

The second hotfix for B129 is now complete. It brings new bug fixes, general improvements and balance tweaks to UBOAT.

This update doesn't affect saved game states in any way. If you would like to find out more, please take a look at the changelog below!

Changelog

Optimizations:

- Optimizations focused on improving performance when a high time compression is in use on the map.
- Improved performance when there are many contacts present on the map, for example after using "Detect" command in the console.

Graphics:

- Periscope bearing now looks better on screen resolutions above 1080p.

World simulation:

- Fix: Ships could at some point disappear, without a clear explanation, if the convoy to which they belonged to had spread out over a very large area.
- Fix: When a large group of ships was divided into a few smaller ones, all ships were disappearing and appearing again after a short while.
- Regression fix: While moving away from a group of ships, it could at some point change a position without explanation since Hotfix 1.

Technical:

- Rolled back Unity from version 2019.4.30f1 to 2019.4.29f1.

Physics:

- Fix: When sailors were going into a ragdoll state, they were instantly moving into a lying pose. This behaviour was increasing chances of unusual ragdoll behaviour, like getting stuck inside the walls.
- Fix: Added a collider to the external hatch, to ensure that ragdolled characters won't ignore it.

User interface:

- Fix: "Unlock" tip was appearing in the periscope's view after rotating it 180 degrees from the locked target.

Localization:

- Italian localization update by BeeTLe BeTHLeHeM.

General:

- Selling prices are now by default lower than the buying prices. Only officers with the Merchant skill may buy and sell everything at the equal price. This fixes an exploit, where it was possible to buy items with an officer having the Merchant skill at a reduced price and then sell them at a full price with another officer.
- Fix: Game was instantly crashing at startup on certain systems. It was linked to multi-monitor setups.

Yours,
DWS

Sep 5, 2021

A large update: B129 is ready!

UBOAT - nihilcat

Dear skippers,

Version B129 is now the new stable version of UBOAT. It's the largest update to the game that we made thus far and hope that you will enjoy it!

The list of changes is very long. We prepared a quick summary below and invite you to take a look. It's not a complete list, but some of the top highlights.

Campaign

The largest addition in this update is a campaign that adds a much needed variety to the usual u-boat's service of performing patrols.

During the campaign, your u-boat will have to travel all around the world and engage in special activities.

Most of the missions in the campaign are based on well documented operations that actually happened during World War II, some are based on stories and rumors that we found intriguing and one is a result of artistic liberty although it's also strictly rooted in history.

Prize rules and newspaper stories

From now on, your u-boat may sink all shipping that is headed towards the blockaded enemy ports. Also, some enemy ships are now flying a false flag as a deception. If you suspect that either of these things may be true, you can send your team to inspect a neutral ship and find out the truth.

Such less obvious targets are more likely to carry a very valuable cargo. If you manage to sink them, you may get an additional reward and maybe even appear in a newspaper.

Languages

This update brings a Portuguese and Czech translations into the game. They are a result of dedication and work done by Roliçonho (Portuguese) and Spid3rCZ (Czech) from the community.

There also were major updates to all of the existing languages:

Russian by Hard.
Spanish by Tordo.
Chinese by SparrowSHEN (Q:173678441).
Turkish by tokyo.
Italian by BeeTLe BeTHLeHeM.
French by FvJ and Placebo.
...and of course German by Ruby.

Warm thanks guys!

Supply ships

Submersible supply ships of Type XIV also called "milk cows" are now part of the game. You can receive them as a reward for various campaign missions. They are an invaluable help, while performing missions near the American coast!

Bogue-class aircraft carriers

These carriers are used by U.S. Navy and Royal Navy and complement the existing Illustrious-class already present in the game.

New navies

This update adds Spanish, Portuguese, Argentine and Swiss navies with hundreds of historically correct ships.

We also added hundreds more ships to existing U.S. and British navies.

Quality of life improvements

Removed loading splash screens

The paused loading screens whenever u-boat enters a coastal area are now gone. Everything happens in the background instead.

Reworked radio

Radio was reworked from the previous list interface into a separate screen that is much more immersive and feels more appropriate.

New time compression level

Newly added 140x time compression level dramatically improves the flow of gameplay. You will be unable to live without this one once you get used to it.

Reworked campaign setup

Each update so far was adding new realism settings to the campaign setup. We felt that this screen needed an update to make it more pleasant and easier to use for the new players.

Optimizations

Despite adding a lot of new content, this version due to added optimizations is most likely going to have higher FPS and less stutter than any previous release. Enjoy! ːsteamthumbsupː

Crew management

Immersive damage control

Sailors now autonomously react to leaks on board and try to block them on their own before an engineer arrives to make the final repairs. Everyone involved in the damage control now places various utilities around and stacks boxes to access a highly elevated damage.

These changes together make the damage control much more immersive and life-like in our opinion!

Discipline rework

Discipline was reworked in this update into a new system. From now on, discipline usually changes over long periods of time, while newly added stress may rise and fall much more quickly during the combat and spread panic on the ship.

These two mechanics are interlinked together, so if the discipline is high on your ship, you will likely not have to deal with stress effects in most battles.

Sailors working at the radio

Since this update, regular sailors work at the radio station when there is no officer present. This way, you will get notified whenever an incoming radio transmission appears and don't have to keep your radiomans at work 24/7.

Skill system overhaul

The skill system was completely overhauled. Many existing skills were reworked and there are numerous new ones added.

New leader skills: Navigator, Gunner, Personal skills, Supporter.
New engineer skills: Pyrotechnic, Engine specialist, Handyman, Torpedo Mechanic.
New radioman skills: Propeller recognition, Radio usage practice.
New language skills: English speaker, French speaker, Spanish speaker, Portuguese speaker and Linguist.
New personal skills: Merchant, Thrifty, Runner, Thorough, Tough.

Simulation

Long-range hydrophone detection

Previously, due to technical limitations, only nearby propellers in the range of up to 15 km could be heard when hydrophone was used manually. This update has reworked many underlying systems to allow you to hear them from any distance from which hydrophone was historically able to pick them up.

Funnel smoke above horizon

Funnel smoke is now visible from a much higher distance than before, even when the ship emitting it is hidden behind the horizon.

Hydrophones dead zone

Previously, dead zone was present only when player was using hydrophone manually on the u-boat. This update ensured that AI is affected by it in the same manner.

Balance pass for device noise levels

Noise levels of all devices on board were reworked to make them more realistic and provide a more balanced gameplay.

Food management

Food management in the game is now optional. You can disable this module, while preparing a new campaign.

Graphical improvements

Crews on NPC ships

This update adds NPC crews on all ships and aircraft. They are looking much better than before, walk around the decks and do various work.

Volumetric lighting effect

Volumetric lighting is a fog-like effect that is most intense near the light sources as they light up particulate matter in the air. It's a quite mood building addition in our opinion.

Subsurface scattering effect

Subsurface scattering is a subtle effect that makes people appear more life-like by propagating the light through skin.

We first added this effect a long time ago, but certain rendering upgrades made it incompatible and we had to remove it before the first release of the game. This time we added a new, lightweight implementation that shouldn't have a noticeable effect on the performance.

Diesel exhaust effect

Torpedo overhaul

Animated torpedo launches

Torpedoes no longer appear in front of the launcher, but instead the torpedo launch sequence is now fully animated ːsteamthumbsupː

FAT and LUT torpedo programs

Torpedoes now exist in FAT and LUT variants that have a built in program which in case of a miss start to steer the torpedo into a special zig-zagging pattern that increases a chance to hit another random target inside the convoy.

Magnetic and impact detonators

Before launching a torpedo, you will now have a possibility to determine, if you want to use an impact or magnetic detonator. They both have their strong and weak points, so choose wisely!

Reworked torpedo detonation effect

Torpedo detonations were completely reworked and are much more satisfying than before!

Map improvements

Paper-like skin

A new map skin was added that looks more paper-like than the others. It's now the default look of the map.

Spoiler-less markings

We removed all spoilers from the map markings and from other parts of UI. You will no longer know ahead what you are dealing with and experience that thrill of meeting the unknown vessels in the middle of ocean.

Miscellaneous

New items

This update introduces various new items for the purpose of simulating a more realistic shipping in the game. These items include:
- Iron ore.
- Coal.
- Tea.
- Tobacco.
- Grains.
- Rubber.
- Tire.
- Gold.
- Valuables.
- Lumber.
- Money.
- Karabiner 98k.

Prisoners of war

It's now possible to rescue survivors from sunk ships and shot down aircraft and carry them back to port for a reward. You will be especially rewarded for bringing back captains, first engineers and pilots.

Full changelog

If you would like to read the whole changelog, please follow this link: Full changelog.

Yours,
DWS