Last year, developers from the studio Wargaming actively testing a new class of ships in the popular multiplayer project World of warships, namely Submarines. Submarines can now be tested on test servers, but for now, we suggest you familiarize yourself with the material in which the authors shared details about creating new combat vehicles for their game.
When creating a new class, the developers of Wargaming sought to find the perfect balance between the authentic feeling of conducting underwater combat and maintaining the natural dynamics of the gameplay. One of the ways this has been achieved is through three different positions in the water. The first is the location on the surface, favoring replenishment of oxygen and short breaks, but leaving the player vulnerable. The second is periscope depth, which allows you to attack and remain invisible. The latter is a complete immersion, which is an ideal disguise, but depriving you of critical information about the state of the battlefield.
A lot of attention was paid to the various subtleties of the gameplay mechanics of the new game class. So, the submarines are equipped with an active sonar, allowing you to more effectively monitor your goal through the periscope, increasing the chances of an accurate hit. At the same time, players are constantly at risk of being discovered, since each “activation” of the sonar gives the location of the submarine on the enemy’s minimap.
Ships equipped with catapult aircraft can use them as a means to detect enemy submarines. If one appears in the field of visibility, the aircraft begin to pursue, but if the submarine goes under water, then they begin to circle over its last known position.
Based on numerous test builds with a submarine class, Wargaming systematically makes a variety of edits, including global improvements or local fixes. The developers carefully monitor the feedback of the players, motivating them both to personally test the submarines in battle, and to fight against them, so the authors want to achieve a strict balance between different classes.
The production process of game submarines was also noticeably different from other ships. On average, Wargaming specialists spent about 6 months building battleships, while work on one submarine takes 2-2.5 months. This is primarily due to the smaller size of the submarines. So, for example, the same battleships, the average ship – 350-420 thousand polygons, the average submarine – 40-70.
But along with smaller dimensions come other nuances. Submarines are equipped with a huge number of moving parts and details. Recreating all these elements so that the machines are extremely authentic and reliable, requires a lot of time and effort.
The necessary research on submarines was also given to things such as artillery weapons modeled in a state of readiness for immersion, even despite the fact that they were not directly involved in the game process.
The same applies to the details that these submarines use mainly in the port. Bollards, spiers and other equipment hidden under the deck, as well as fencing, removable masts, dumbbells, flags and navigation equipment – all this was reliably modeled, as you can see for yourself by looking at the submarine in the port between battles.
Together with the addition of submarines to World of Warships, the developers had to spend a lot of effort to create a beautiful and optimized underwater world. Various visual effects, such as the refraction of light through a turbulent sea, were achieved through the effects of post-processing. Separately, the authors note the fact that when rendering light rays on water, various factors, such as the speed and size of waves, the direction of the wind and the position of the sun, were taken into account.
Artists made sure that the underwater landscape did not sink in the dark shades of deep waters. Here the visual effect of the sonar comes to the rescue, which is an acoustic wave pulsating from the submarine and emphasizing the relief of the surrounding surfaces.
Another important aspect of the “underwater” picture is the volumetric lighting, which can best be observed with high settings of graphic options. Due to the special rendering technique, game light is separately calculated on various segments of the game space, after which the effect is summed up, due to which the image under the water acquires smooth and natural transitions of lighting.
In addition to the visual envelope, a lot of work was also spent on creating the correct and appropriate sound accompaniment for submarines. Wargaming notes that the sound in World of Warships follows three important points:
- The audio department actively uses modularity and works with mixes so as not to increase the size of the game client once again.
- Sound effects are designed not only to complement the atmosphere of the game, but also to assist players in every possible way, often in an unobvious way.
- World of Warships does not strive for the most reliable and realistic sound, some of the recorded sounds are reliable when more like “cinema” and vivid effects fill the other.
In the case of submarines, the sound can vary from the state on which the ship is located (surface, periscope depth, depth), as well as the position of the game camera. And sinking to the bottom, users can hear atmospheric ambient, setting the tone for what is happening.
The initial launch of World of Warships took place on PC in 2015.
Read also: Former IGN editor: Ratchet & Clank’s new part in development for the PlayStation 5 and, possibly, will be released at the start of the console.
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