More Subs... More Subs... More Subs

Ever since i got into this 'object oriented' type programming thing using Blitz TYPEs, I've managed to get quite a bit done...

... well, a lil bit anyway :)

I am seriously condsidering switching the Sub Sim over to Blitz code...

In no time at all i've managed to build a generic Ship 'class' and have added a lot of functionality to it...

It's not finished, but so far it's flexible enough for instantiating passenger ships, destroyers and submarines...

... has realistic (fudged to appear real) dynamics for ships as well as submarines (bouyancy and ballast diving, port/starboard thrust directional response, plus a few more things...

Here are some shots of the code in action...















Still got a ways to go... riding waves, reaalistic pitching movement, etc...

... but this is coming easier than anything prior.

--Mike

Looking good Mike :) I would increase the fog distance a bit on that bottom pic though.

Love that underwater shot - very moody. Dunno about uping the fog distance, though - maybe - depends how mirky the waters supposed to be. ;)

Looks great Mike :)

I think you should switch over..if it means you can finish it.
because frankly...we would like to play the damn thing..lol ;)

Zmatrix

The underwater shot is so cool! The others are good too, but that really 'feels' just perfect.

Fantastic, especially that last picture which is almost like a scene from a movie. Are you creating a simluation like "Silent Service"? (I played that quite a lot on the c64.) It is realistic, but not overcomplicated to control. So you would be in typical "Das Boot" situations where you have a destroyer ship overhead and hear the 'beep beep' sound. And you would have to decide between surfacing or staying under water when the boat is damaged but there are enemies above. I also remembered playing "Wolfpack" on the PC, but only one or two times, and found it a lot more complicated (but that was a long time ago).

I must have missed it earlier but if this is not in Blitz, what language is it written in?

wow... Thanks for the encouraging responses...

yeah, Z and Fuller... you guys know what i was going through with the other dev tool... actually, it looks like I've settled to coding the WWII sub sim in Rad and the NUC sub sim in Blitz. Making good progress with the Blitz code so far... so good that it MAY actually get finished.

It's gonna be a lil complicated Foppy... but so far there will be an option to play as the Captain, and all you need do is to give orders... the ai crew will actually carry out the tasks.

But if you want, the Captain can take over any station and 'hand fly' the sub or control any of the weapons or sensor stations (so far ai is only working with ships control and that isn't really working that well)...

... this will involve knowing what you are doing. For instance, the dive planes are a lot more respnsive at high speeds than slow, and if you're not carefull, you'll wind up in a dive that you can't pull out from before the sub exceeds crush depth.

Also, the diving controls are a lil involved... not really, but there's a lot of switches and blinking lights.

Successfully killing another sub will take a while, and you'll have to do a lot of things...

My big thing is to convey the real feel of being aboard a sub, so I'm shooting for the eye candy and sound immersion type thing...

... but there will be a lot of 'work' for each sailor to do in order not to sink the ship... in other words, you don't just press one button to dive...

Thanks again people... more to come...

--Mike

VERY nice. Just imagine how that water will look with the new cube mapping support, together with a cool skybox!

ooo yeah - the underwater shot is *really* atmospheric - dont change the fog distance, you may loose some atmosphere.

All shots look really good.

I think to get (or I should say, to keep) the right atmosphere, sound will also be very important. Looking at that last picture you can almost hear those typical underwater submarine "clunk, clunk, dzing, blooop blooop" sounds. If you know what I mean ;). (Not completely sure about the "dzing".) Have you seen "Das Boot", a movie like that should be a great source of information and inspiration!

I just found a great collection of submarine sounds like alarms and radar bleeps! Here:

http://www.steel.sakura.ne.jp/contents/sound/e_sound.html

(I don't know about copyrights but there is an e-mail address on the "home" page. Not recently updated though it seems.)

Not bad for an old man ;)

Ok I'm impressed!

Looks great! So Mike, how does it feel to use Blitz3d to build your Submarine game than with 3Drad?

Foppy

Das Boot is great - I've just bought the redubbed/remixed 'extended' version and it's one for the collection.

Red Ocktober
I've played a few sub sims and they always tout how realistic they are, which is fine, I haven't seen a sub sim yet that portrays your crew convincingly and makes you feel responsible for them as the captain. So perhaps an RPG factor could be brought in here?

Thanks Ravey... that was just what I was aiming for... an atmospheric scene both in and out of the sub.

Weibo... most definitely waiting for that!!! I saw Rob's demo... oooooh yeah...

Das Boot... yes... the definative WWII classic sub flic... one of the best... I got ya Foppy... yeah... gotta do all that...

Hey there Neuro... yeah, it's a lil different mindset, RAD and Blitz... the major difference is the lack of having to code work-arounds to get something done. And decimal points... I can now use decimal points... woooo hooo... :)

There are a few things I miss from RAD... but this'll pass :) actually, I'm still working a project in RAD, so...

MadJack... yes, definitely to be considered.

Anyway, I'll know that I've done it right when I descend down the ladder, and actually feel as if I'm in a sub.

Thanks for the input guys... gonna need all the help I can get...

--Mike