Posted June 10, 2022 by Commodore Shawn
This week focused on two major areas of improvement and a whole host of polishing and bugfixes.
As I described last week, I changed the way sonar detection works, so that facing and angles is important. You now also have the option of travelling slowly and deploying a towed sonar array to further increase your ability to detect other submarines to the sides and rear.
The towed array only works when you are holding a steady course, and moving slowly. Moving quickly can damage the array, and the array will not function during sharp turns.
A lot of my testing this week was around minisubs, trying to make them more effective, useful, and survivable. In addition to improving their attack behavior there is now a wider range of command options. You can order them to travel out to a point (useful for scouting), or force attack a non-hostile target (useful for starting a war from a safe distance).
Minisub health was increased across the board, as was their use of countermeasures. Also a new minisub type was added. The Finch is a variant on the Sparrow, trading one torpedo and the cannon for increased speed and range. It's a very useful scout, with only light combat ability.
Xenosea now has a few voiced lines as well, Mrs Commodore has lent her voice as the XO of your submarine. She's provided some of the introductory narration and some audio hints during gameplay. Expect more in the future as well.
The last major feature left in the milestone of work is adding sonar ghosts, as elaborated on last week. Once that's done I plan on moving on to the next milestone, the focus of which is on fleshing out the Hudson area by adding more NPCs, dialogue, and quests. I'd also like to add some variety to the terrain and add a minisub capable of salvaging.