Wolfpack

[Asid]

[Asid]

Status update
12/23/2022



Hello, everyone!

First of all, we would like to wish you happy holidays, and a great new year!
We would also like to extend a special thanks to our testers, and the community at large for your positive attitudes and your constant encouragement of this project.

2022 has been a massive year in terms of Wolfpacks development, and while the new features have yet to reach you - don't worry, they are just around the corner! For early 2023 we are looking at a massive patch, with tons of new and exciting features that will radically transform the way you play Wolfpack!

Once again, we wish you the happiest of holidays, and a happy new year!

The Wolfpack Team

[Asid]

Status update
01/06/2023


Hello everyone!

The holidays are now over and we are back working as usual. The log system developed to prevent griefing and cheating was almost finished in December, but there are still a few more things to sort out. We are currently giving this high priority, and as soon as it is finished we will make the final additions to the diesel engines.

Koji has moved on from the radio room and is now working on updating the sonar room. Einar is working on improvements to the conning tower, adding missing gauges and other details. Axel has continued working on the next iteration of the menues. He is currently looking at re-working some modules, as well as adding selectors to categories and adding the first iteration of audio ux.

The Wolfpack Team

[Asid]

Status update
01/13/2023


Hello everyone!

Work on the diesel engines continues. Oscar has implemented gauges which measures individual cylinder pressure. He also created a flame for the check valves.

Axel has reworked the modules from last week, and has reworked some problematic areas. He has also started to look into introducing better icons where needed to improve the user experience. Unfortunately audio did not get done and had to be postponed to the coming week.

Einar is creating new assets for the conning tower and Koji is modeling equipment for the sonar room.

[Asid]

Status update
01/20/2023 5:01 PM


Hello everyone!

This week Oscar has been working on the diesel engine. The diesel engine takes into account the temperature, friction, oil pressure, air flow and diesel flow for each cylinder. You can use the starter air, diesel throttle, starter lever, check valves, oil valves, diesel flow valves, supercharger and clutch. You can also operate the air intake and exhaust valves for both the diesel engine and the ventilation system.

Axel has been wrapping up the remaining stuff in most of the UI, including reworking the player items, the U-boat pen is still in need of some improvement which should be the last thing before another test version goes out to testers, hopefully early next week.

After feedback processing the goal is to start implementing the new UI for beta/release.

Einar is working on the new conning tower, adding more equipment and detail for authenticity. Koji has made improvements to the new radio equipment, correcting minor errors as well as optimizing the materials.

[Asid]

Status update
01/27/2023

Hello everyone!

This week Oscar has continued working on the diesel engine, balancing the different variables. During preliminary testing of the e motor we found some problems with the e motor that will be addressed next week.

Axel has wrapped up the second iteration of the UI rework, including more audio effects and a reworked submarine pen. A build is heading to the testers today, and we eagerly await their feedback!
Einar has added a lot more detail to the new conning tower interior and Koji is working on textures for the new radio equipment.

The Wolfpack Team

[Asid]

Status update
02/03/2023


Hello everyone!

This week Einar has finished the first iteration of the new conning tower interior. Oscar has been working on the diesel room - It is now possible to flood the engine and ventilation system if you dive with the vents open.

Axel has been fixing bugs in the UI preview according to reports on mantis from the testers, and is now in the process of starting the UI integration into the actual game. Version 3 of the UI preview should contain full functionality for improved testing/iteration. Koji is working on textures for the new radio equipment.

[Asid]

Wolfpack Wednesday
Mon 9 Oct 2023



Community Event

For more information regarding community events, see the Wolfpack Community Discord https://discord.com/invite/SH2Rg42

Community events are not organised by the Wolfpack devteam, but please keep to Wolfpack Community standards.


Event Host
Colonel Frost

Event Host notes
This is a regular community-organized event open to the general population of Wolfpack players. Space is limited. New players are welcome. Captains will be drawn from the cadre vetted and trained for multi-boat tactics published in the base-line division-level rules of engagement. (New players are not required to have read these in advance, but they may be of assistance in understanding what we are doing.) Crews will be assigned to boats from the player pool present in the "open lobbies only" voice channel of the official Wolfpack Discord (WPD) at https://discord.gg/8NVeN7d3. There is an optional sign up link in WP Operations (WPO) Discord: https://discord.gg/3myJa57H. Signing up on WPO will get you an auto ping 30 minutes before the start. Signing up is not a commitment to play or even to show up, nor it is a guaranty there will be space. If you arrive late, you will be assigned to a boat if and when a slot opens. Expect the event to consume three hours. If you need to leave early, you may do so without penalty. Communication is in English, though occasionally we have a Brazilian boat whose crew speak Portuguese. The RoE and other useful information can be found in the Operation Order linked in WPD "looking for game" with the game ad.

Upcoming Event Starts Wed, 11 October 2023

[Asid]

Update 0.26 - Open Beta
Fri, 22 December 2023




Hello everyone!

We have been hard at work this year, bringing lots of new features to Wolfpack, and we really wanted to release all of them for you this christmas. However, our testers discovered a big network bug just a few days ago, which desyncs the client for a few minutes each time it occurs.

Despite our best efforts, we were unable to resolve it in time for this release. Addressing this issue will be at the top of our list after the Christmas holidays.

We have decided to release the current build on the public beta branch anyway, so that you can see the progress we are making. Going forward we will avoid extended periods of private/closed betas, and push updates to the public beta instead, so that everyone can see and test new features.

You can find instructions on how to access the beta branch at the bottom of this announcement.

Disclaimer: For those of you who intend to try multiplayer regardless of our disclaimer, testers have reported that setting wind speed to 1 produces much more stable network conditions at the moment.

For a detailed overview of the exciting new features introduced in this update, please refer to the non-exhaustive list below.

We sincerely appreciate your patience and understanding during this period and extend our warmest wishes for a fantastic Christmas and joyful holidays!

Thank you,
The Wolfpack Team

Two Completely New Crew Slots
We've expanded the crew capacity, allowing for a more dynamic and immersive gameplay experience. Now, you can enlist a larger team to manage various aspects of the submarine.

Completely Remade UI
A comprehensive overhaul of the user interface provides a more intuitive and visually appealing design, enhancing the overall accessibility and ease of navigation for players.

Updated Voice and Sound
Immerse yourself further in the undersea environment with enhanced audio quality. The updated voice and sound systems contribute to a more realistic and engaging gameplay experience.

Updated Interior Model: Conning Tower, Radio, and Sonar Room Models
We've meticulously redesigned the interior models, including the conning tower, radio room, and sonar room, bringing a new level of detail and authenticity to your submarine exploration.

Support for Full Text Localization
The game is now equipped to support full text localization, providing players worldwide with a more inclusive and personalized experience in their preferred language and the ability to create custom language packs.

Import/Export Missions
Enjoy the flexibility of creating and sharing missions. The new import/export feature allows you to seamlessly exchange mission files with other players, fostering a collaborative and diverse gaming community.

Import/Export Settings
Customize your gaming experience by importing and exporting settings. This feature enables you to easily share and replicate personalized configurations with other players.

New Mission File Format
The introduction of a new mission file format enhances compatibility and ensures smoother sharing and loading of missions within the game - this new mission file format is the groundwork for more expansive and varied missions in the future.

Reworked Radio System
Experience an improved and more realistic radio system, offering enhanced communication functionalities and adding a layer of authenticity to your submarine missions.

Reworked Enigma System
The Enigma system has undergone significant improvements, providing players with a more challenging and intriguing cipher experience during gameplay.

Anti-Griefing Measures
To promote fair play and collaboration, we've implemented anti-griefing measures. Critical system usage is now logged, and player permissions are determined by their rank, ensuring a balanced and enjoyable multiplayer environment. Ranks are assigneable by the crew captain.

Playable Electric Motor System
Dive into the intricacies of submarine operation with the addition of a playable electric motor system, offering a new dimension to your strategic decisions.

Playable Diesel Engine System
Gain more control over your submarine's propulsion with a playable diesel engine system, allowing for diverse and tactical approaches to navigation.

Simulated Battery and Electric System
Experience the complexities of submarine power management with a simulated battery and electric system, adding depth to your strategic decisions and overall gameplay.

Want to know more?
The best place for community outreach will always be on our steam page and in our Community Discord.

Found a bug?
You can report bugs in #bug-reports in our Community Discord.


Accessing the public beta branch
Step 1:
Right-click Wolfpack in your Steam library.

Step 2:
Select “Properties” in the drop-down menu.

Step 3:
Select “Betas” in the menu on the left.

Step 4:
Select “beta” in the opt-in drop-down menu.

Steam should now prompt you to update Wolfpack to download the new version, if you wish to revert to another branch, you can use the same instructions.

[Asid]

Introducing The Wolfpack Academy
Thu, 28 December 2023



Attention, kameraden!

Embark on an odyssey of submarine mastery with the unveiling of our Wolfpack Academy Series!

Whether you're a greenhorn stepping onto the U-boat deck for the first time or a seasoned captain seeking to fathom the unfathomable, our Academy Series is your portal to the dangerous world beneath the waves.

Each unique station in the game has its own dedicated tutorial video, and a corresponding certificate exam available on Subsim!

The entire playlist can be found here and at the bottom of this announcement, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq8sChw2A9M&list=PL6ZuUwjUfenbp2x-H4UJj_lg1LALMTebb

Please note, currently the electrical machinist and engine chief tutorials are being updated and will be released soon!

If you prefer tutorials in text, our community member Fox has made an awesome self-teaching guide for engine operation here https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3120248752&snr=2_groupannouncements_detail_

Until' next time, may your sonar be sharp and your torpedoes true!
The Wolfpack Team

[Asid]

The Wolfpack Community Localisation Project
Thu, 4 January 2024



Greetings, Commanders!

We're happy to announce a fantastic opportunity for our community to get involved and make Wolfpack even more accessible to players worldwide.

The Wolfpack Community Localization Project https://github.com/NiclqsGER/wolfpack-localization is a localisation project started and run by community member 'Niclas', with others.

In Their Own Words:
"Since the release of update 0.26, Wolfpack supports community-created languages. This project aims to create and maintain community-driven translations for Wolfpack in various languages. Our goal is to ensure that players from different countries can enjoy the game in their native language."


How Can You Contribute?
Visit the GitHub repository here https://github.com/NiclqsGER/wolfpack-localization to access the project. Whether you're fluent in multiple languages or just want to help with a specific one, your contribution is valuable. Follow the guidelines provided, suggest translations, and let's work together to bring Wolfpack to a global audience.

We hope you are enjoying the new content on the beta, all the best!

[Asid]

January Community Events
Mon, 8 January 2024



Greetings, everyone!

We're diving into the new year with a sea of exciting community events. Happy hunting, captains! Unless otherwise mentioned, signups and setup happens in our Community Discord.

Note: All dates and times are in CEST (Central European Summer Time)!


Wolfpack Wedesday
10/1, 17/1, 24/1, 31/1 - 1:00 AM CEST

Hosted by Colonel Frost


This is a regular community-organized event open to the general population of Wolfpack players. Space is limited. New players are welcome. Captains will be drawn from the cadre vetted and trained for multi-boat tactics published in the base-line division-level rules of engagement. (New players are not required to have read these in advance, but they may be of assistance in understanding what we are doing.) Crews will be assigned to boats from the player pool present in the "open lobbies only" voice channel of the official Wolfpack Discord (WPD) at https://discord.gg/8NVeN7d3. There is an optional sign up link in WP Operations (WPO) Discord: https://discord.gg/3myJa57H. Signing up on WPO will get you an auto ping 30 minutes before the start. Signing up is not a commitment to play or even to show up, nor it is a guaranty there will be space. If you arrive late, you will be assigned to a boat if and when a slot opens. Expect the event to consume three hours. If you need to leave early, you may do so without penalty. The RoE and other useful information can be found in the Operation Order linked in WPD "looking for game" with the game ad.


Torpedo Thursday
4/1, 11/1, 18/1, 25/1 - 1:00 AM CEST

Hosted by Colonel Frost

This is a regular community-organized event open to the general population of Wolfpack players. Space is limited. New players are welcome. Captains will be drawn from the cadre vetted and trained for multi-boat tactics published in the base-line division-level rules of engagement. (New players are not required to have read these in advance, but they may be of assistance in understanding what we are doing.) Crews will be assigned to boats from the player pool present in the "open lobbies only" voice channel of the official Wolfpack Discord (WPD) at https://discord.gg/8NVeN7d3. There is an optional sign up link in WP Operations (WPO) Discord: https://discord.gg/3myJa57H. Signing up on WPO will get you an auto ping 30 minutes before the start. Signing up is not a commitment to play or even to show up, nor it is a guaranty there will be space. If you arrive late, you will be assigned to a boat if and when a slot opens. Expect the event to consume three hours. If you need to leave early, you may do so without penalty. The RoE and other useful information can be found in the Operation Order linked in WPD "looking for game" with the game ad.


Wolfpack Italia Weekly

10/1, 17/1, 24/1, 31/1 - 9:00 PM CEST

Hosted by frappa10


This is the event of the italian community of wolfpack italia, everyone is welcome

[Asid]

[Asid]

End of year update 2024
Fri, December 20, 2024



Hello everyone!

Christmas and New Year?s are getting close, and we?d like to give you an in depth update before the holidays!

Our vision
Our goal is for Wolfpack to become a server based, truly open world game, with permanent progression and optional pvp. Players will be able to travel anywhere in the world, docking at friendly ports, and resupplying between missions.

To read more about this, check our previous post on the subject.

This requires a lot of changes, since the game is currently built around a session based peer to peer mode, with no save states or progression.

Work this past year
To achieve our vision, we have spent the last year rewriting most of the game?s core systems. The biggest change is that the game is no longer played in a single area, but rather in a continuous open world space with longitude/latitude coordinates. This means that all systems that use positions had to be rewritten. This includes rewriting the map system, collision detection and resolution, and all physics simulation.

We have written our own terrain handler, and rewritten the water system to handle global currents and wind conditions.

We have written new net code from scratch, with a clear separation between server and client, making it easy to run dedicated servers. The new net code is also much more restrictive in what information is sent to which player, and it contains a lot of safety features that the old code lacked, which will be necessary to prevent cheating in pvp.

We have also remade the player controller, so that interactions with systems in the u-boat are more consistent, and we have added an inventory system for handheld equipment.




What?s left to do before the next release?
Right now, all server side systems are complete, and we need to make some updates to the client side to match. Specifically, the client side needs to handle the new water and land systems.

After this is done, we will release a test version to our testers, and bug fixing can begin.
When we have a somewhat stable version, it will be pushed to the public beta, and there it will stay until it is bug free, after which it will be pushed to the main branch.


What will version 0.27 contain?
The next release will have the new map system in place, as well as the new character controller and net code. This release will not have an open world game mode, since that will require us to design missions and a global AI director - Systems that are being designed, but will not be completed by the time this is released.




Beyond 0.27
While Oscar has been preparing the 0.27 patch, Axel has been working on the new AI system, and Einar has been working on the playable corvette. The new AI, and an alpha version of the playable corvette will be included in patch 0.28.


A new AI system
The new AI system will have a tactical as well as a strategic layer that act independently of each other. The strategic layer manages the world state, and directs convoys, escorts, and fleets around the world. The tactical layer handles movement and decision making of individual units and groups of units in the local map (when you are loaded into the game and can see them).

The tactical AI is currently able to handle multiple convoys, fleets, as well as aircraft, coastal defences, mine fields, and more.
Work on the tactical AI is mostly complete, as most underlying systems have been finished.
What remains is implementing individual behaviours, such as specific attack patterns for escorts.

The strategic AI will be added as Campaign Mode is being developed, and will be continuously iterated upon as Campaign Mode expands and reaches its full potential.


The playable corvette
Our goal for the playable corvette is a fully equipped multiplayer corvette, and a server based dedicated player versus player mode. We will not be modelling the under deck compartments, but the deck and housing interiors will be fully accessible and will have all equipment.



The corvette will have the following stations:

    - Wheelhouse - EOT, Rudder control.
    - Radio compartment - Radio transmitter and receiver, Typex encryption machine, radio direction finder, radar.
    - Asdic hut - Asdic/sonar equipment and controls for releasing depth charges.
    - Bridge - Searchlights, intercom telephones and voice tubes.
    - Deck gun.
    - AA gun.


Progress on the corvette
As of now, basic versions of the hull and superstructures such as housing, masts, funnel and stairs have been modeled. The first station of interest is the wheelhouse, where the rudder wheel, EOT, compass has been modeled and partly textured. Equipment for the Asdic hut is also under development, and a previous version modeled by Oscar is coming along nicely. With the fundamental equipment of the wheelhouse modeled, Einar is now working on the deck gun station.



Coding wise, many of the systems for the corvette can be lifted straight from the u-boat with little to no modification to the code, such as guns and steering. The more unique systems, such as radar and active sonar/depth charge systems will have to be implemented from scratch, so they will take a bit longer to put in.

We will add a playable alpha version of the corvette in version 0.28. At this point the rudder, EOT and guns will be usable. The other systems will be added one by one as they are completed.


Final thoughts

Our initial goal was to release a version to the test or beta branch before the end of the year, but we are not quite there yet. There are still things we need to finish in order to put a ribbon on it and send it off. We are very excited about things to come in the near future, and we hope you are as well.

Happy Holidays, and we?ll see you in the new year!

[Asid]

January Development Update
Thu, 30 January 2025



Hello everyone!

This month we have started to integrate the new AI system into the game, and we have started work on saving and loading the world state and units. We have also continued work on the client side handling of the water, and continued work on the corvette model.

AI System
We have started to integrate the tactical AI system into the game. The tactical AI is responsible for steering individual units, as well as groups of units. When a convoy is attacked, it is the job of the tactical AI to decide how many of the escorts it can spare to hunt down the u-boat.

The new AI system can handle ships, aircraft, coastal artillery, anti aircraft guns and hazards like mine fields. It is built to navigate in the global world map.

Saving, Loading and the Mission Editor
We have introduced save and load functionality for missions. Missions will in the future be able to be saved and resumed when the host machine turns off?even in online multiplayer, on dedicated servers and normal peer-to-peer hosts. The state of an individual u-boat can also be saved, such that when you return to a specific server, your U-boat will be where you left it.

The new mission editor will use the same format. The mission editor is also being reworked to a full 2D view where you can place units, assign groups, create custom objectives, use waypoints and triggers to construct complex scenarios?as well as linking multiple missions to form ?story arcs?.

Missions and save-files are saved to simple text files and can be easily shared. Missions will have the same Steam Workshop functionality as today.

Playable Corvette
The playable corvette is under development and coming along nicely. Einar is currently modeling the deck gun to high fidelity, and will continue working on the remaining stations of the corvette.






What?s next?
Our highest priority is still to release a playable version of the game as soon as possible! We are making sure that all of the core systems that we need to run the open world game mode are in place, so that we don?t have to make any structural changes that introduce bugs after the code has already been tested.