Submarine simulator

[thenewguy]

Hello all. I've been working on a new gaming project in an effort to bring a new submarine simulator to Linux. With a few exceptions, submarine sims are a genre of gaming we don't see much in the open source community and I hope to change that.

My project, OpenSSN, is in its early stages, but I've finally got something to demo for you. Players are able to pilot a submarine, detect nearby ships, fire torpedoes and sink enemies. So far the game just has one mission, but I'm hoping to expand game play soon.

If you'd like to help out, I can use some beta testers. Please check out the project at http://openssn.sf.net and feel free to send in any suggestions. My artistic side is pretty non-existent, so I'm happy to accept better artwork for the website and for the game itself. Cheers!

[BubbaBlues]

Looking forward to trying it when it comes in a .deb.

[thenewguy]

I am in the process of talking to the Debian game dev team about including OpenSSN. Once we get the details sorted out, I'm hoping the game will make its way down the chain from Debian to Ubuntu to Mint. Maybe by the end of the year.

[BubbaBlues]

Great. Linux needs more good games. Good luck with it.

[thatsallurspaceships]

Great, very likely a tactical Simulation i like.

[thenewguy]

Thanks guys. This morning I posted a new release (version 0.5) which improves torpedoes, features two combat missions and fixes some bugs. The sonar screen has been improved and things are coming together nicely. I've taken some suggestions from the Debian team to make OpenSSN make compatible with their license guidelines and I'm hoping the project gets adopted.

[dagon]

There is no sound man. For a submarine simulator I need someone crying "Tiefer!" and the sound of torpedos launching.
sounds!
sonar
control room

[thenewguy]

There is no sound man. For a submarine simulator I need someone crying "Tiefer!" and the sound of torpedos launching.
sounds!
sonar
control room

Fair enough, I'll put "add sounds" on my to-do list.

[DrHu]

http://www.listal.com/list/dive-dive-hi ... arine-sims
Nor much anywhere else, except for older games
--it might be that gaming has now been taken over by FPS or RPS, halo et all

I still miss air combat simulators, race car or rally games and of course submarine simulations..
--although I have some dos/windows games around such as Falcon and silent hunter; I haven't tried any of the more modern submarine simulations, since I really don't play that many games..

[thenewguy]

Something I've noticed is many subsims are first-person perspective, often with lots of dials and such. The game I'm working on is more in line with Seawolf (which is on the list linked to above). The focus of OpenSSN will be on the tactical situation. Players will be able to look at sonar and radar displays, but the game tries to focus on the over-head tactical map.

[thenewguy]

I've got a new release up on the site. Version 0.6 fixes a bunch of issues, improves the install process and features three missions. The source is available at http://openssn.sf.net

The 0.6 release was mostly bug fixes and improving existing features. Sorry, there isn't any sound yet. I'm hoping to add sound and a few new features to the next version.

[thenewguy]

I'm happy to report I've released OpenSSN 0.7. This version includes some important fixes, fixes the X11 disconnect problem and improves the sonar display. Sound support and a few effects have been added. The AI is improved, torpedoes work better and there's a new mission which pits the player and a friendly sub against four destroyers. Active sonar has been added too.
http://openssn.sf.net

Let me know what you think.

If you're compiling from source, the sound support requires the SDL and SDL_mixer libraries be installed.

[mikedex]

when will it be ready ? i want to play it

[thenewguy]

Do you mean when will it appear in the package manager? I'm not sure. OpenSSN was submitted to the Debian team for approval and it seems to have stalled there. The package is stuck in limbo where the build process, licensing and such have been approved, but no one has imported it into Debian's repositories. It's a matter of waiting now until a Debian developer finds time to sign off on OpenSSN.

I'm also looking at getting OpenSSN included in the Ubuntu App program, which would mean people using Mint's main edition would be able to access OpenSSN for free through the Ubuntu Software Centre.

While we wait on these you can compile OpenSSN yourself. If you download the latest version of the source, 0.9, there's a list of steps provided in the README file which will get the game up and running. http://openssn.sf.net


Update: OpenSSN has been submitted to the Ubuntu Software Centre for review. Hopefully it'll pass soon and we will see it show up in the USC.

[karliet]

Cant wait!!! i love simulators and would LOVE to try a sub sim are they just for piloting or can you do undersea combat as well??????????????????????????????????

[thenewguy]

Cant wait!!! i love simulators and would LOVE to try a sub sim are they just for piloting or can you do undersea combat as well??????????????????????????????????

The current version, 0.9, includes combat and semi-smart AI foes. There are nine missions thus far, seven of them are combat missions and the other two are scouting. I'm also looking for new types of missions and objectives, so feel free to contact the team through the website (http://openssn.sf.net) and make suggestions.

OpenSSN has been submitted to the Ubuntu Software Centre for review. If it passes all the checks Mint users should be able to access it in the software centre soon. No word yet from the Debian developers.