Development updates
 

Hey!


Time for an update!
I have been working on performance improvements and graphical improvements.
Here you can see the progress of my new water shader which is alot cheaper performance wise, which allows alot more resolution of the water mesh.
I've also managed to add reflections of the sky, explosions and objects, allthough it's abit too clear atm.
https://youtu.be/3UsOA3lWpEQ


Cheers!

Some new FX in the works.


https://c10.patreonusercontent.com/3...nYI_T2Uu9nE%3Dhttps://c10.patreonusercontent.com/3...nk-8Z4z8_MY%3D

Here is another video with the new water and wip FX in action:
https://youtu.be/Q_atHyzQAKY

Another small graphical fix that does alot for the immersion, a new bow spray, slightly overdone here though:
https://youtu.be/TvzZMJTaH5s

I am currently working on adding dynamic shadows to the game engine. So far they are added to the Scharnhorst model, but as you can see there is still room for improvements. Mainly the resolution and the so called 'shadow acne'. https://youtu.be/GNcFy8XMVJg

I hope you are all staying healthy and are having a good start of the new year!
Allthough last year was crappy in maaaany ways, it saw good progress for Battleship Command!
As many may know, I've been learning programing and 3D-modelling as I work on Battleship Command, and during 2020 I made many revelations regarding performance and graphics.
So in the demo, that is very near, you'll (compared to the april 2020 demo) spot much better graphics and performance.
I have changed the way textures and models are loaded into the simulation and improved the UV-maps, this has resulted in:
-Loading times reduced to a few seconds, from what was a few minutes before.
-Ram usage reduced to aprox 1.2gb instead of 4-5gb as in previous versions.
This all have of course improved the frame rates which has allowed for higher resolution of for example the water mesh!



Cheers! :salute:

Hey!


My GPU melted recently, so I had to use an old card which made it hard to work on the 3d world stuff for a while.
But now I have my new card installed so I can show some progress again.


I am testing different ways of implementing terrain.
And now I've found a nice way to render all of Europes land masses in a rough way.
Terrain will have very little purpose/priority in BCS but it's still nice to have.
Now I just need to sync it with the ingame map so I can start creating convoy routes in the north Atlantic.



https://battleshipcommand.files.word...2.24.01.80.png

The ingame map is in sync with the terrain and I started to create a mission with randomly spawned ships randomly chosing between hundreds of routes.
Time to switch on the radars and hunt tonage until the fuel bunkers are dry...


https://youtu.be/kgiO9TS6SbY


https://battleshipcommand.files.word...3.15.11.82.png

Time compression has taken some time to implement since there is so many things affected by it.
All the AI's movements needs to be compressed, all the Scharnhorst boiler and turbine actions as well as the steering and calculations of headings towards waypoints.
A big problem was that when compressing time, the ship was steering too hard and the violent rudder action prevented the ships to gain a straight and steady course.
But it looks like I've solved those issues now!
The terrain generation is not very pretty at the moment.
But what a joy to be able to take a trip through the channel!


https://youtu.be/fPgWr11Ggjo

I thought it was time to create a Discord, so feel free to jump in for a quick chat about the game progress and discuss ideas!

https://discord.gg/DtHGqb7Ucx

Out on patrol with five Deutschland class ships when suddenly three Nelson class battleships appeared in the fog.
https://battleshipcommand.files.word...3.29.34.33.png


At around 15km distance all guns where firing rapid salvoes and hits were recorded on both sides.
https://battleshipcommand.files.word...3.29.16.60.png


I quickly lost two of my pocket battleships to the heavy 16" shells of the Nelsons...
https://battleshipcommand.files.word...3.32.48.44.png


But before the battle was totally lost, one Nelson succumbed due to flooding.
https://battleshipcommand.files.word...3.33.29.51.png

I've been back in the shipyard working on some new targets.
Here's a nice freighter, still missing some details and improved textures.


But she floats!
https://battleshipcommand.files.word...3.51.10.81.png
https://c10.patreonusercontent.com/3...st20iaUSkHk%3D

https://c10.patreonusercontent.com/3...AvQ_Dh1e9h0%3D
https://c10.patreonusercontent.com/3..._ubyyazRhrE%3D
And sinks....
https://battleshipcommand.files.word...2.28.28.51.png

https://c10.patreonusercontent.com/3...ACk35ZpFvzc%3D

Nice to see you have not lost heart despite all the quietness around here :up:

Maybe you should contact iambecomelife to see if he wants to share some of his merchant ship models with you, would speed up the process and free you from that more tedious part. :ping:

And he is a brilliant modeler, his ships are incredibly good looking for the small poly count they really have. :yeah:

Hi Hitman!
Nah, I've come too far to give up on this project! I have so much love for this idea and vision, so I would finish it even if it would just be me playing it in the end.

It has crossed my mind to contact him, I am really impressed by his models and I try to learn from him.
I wish he would make a tutorial on modelling ships!!
The reason I am not contacting him is that I am not sure if and how my project will go commercial. So I can't offer any deal regarding license or payment at the moment.

My plan is to release my "ship importer tool", which will let anyone import ship models to the sim.
Build a model in .3ds, load it into the tool and setup where the different FX (funnel smoke, wake) should spawn, scale the ship to the game, setup collision box, add your turrets and write in the values needed (topspeed, armor values, cargo type, ammo, caliber, fuel and so on).
Then the tool will convert the model to my file format, create the config file and the ship will be spawnable in the campaign or mission editor.

https://battleshipcommand.files.word...3.04.52.81.png
https://c10.patreonusercontent.com/3...j7mlxjFfJG0%3Dhttps://c10.patreonusercontent.com/3...njXNGl8tbFI%3D

That sounds awesome! :Kaleun_Cheers:

Hey everyone!

I hope you all are having a good summer!
I have been travelling and visited a few new museum ships that I havn't seen before. So good times!

Code wise I have been working on AI vs AI combat, and added a few new ships.

Here's some photos from a recent battle I set up:

The German force consisting of a few Hippers, Deutschlands and a Scharnhorst.
https://battleshipcommand.files.word...1.21.33.99.png


The Brittish force.
https://battleshipcommand.files.word...1.22.36.05.png


Around 15km in between the opposing fleets.
https://battleshipcommand.files.word...1.20.07.56.png


It got sweaty very fast with the Hippers sinking one after the other.
https://battleshipcommand.files.word...1.18.02.46.png


Soon enough I was also targeted.

https://battleshipcommand.files.word...1.19.48.55.png


Heavy list starting to develop.
https://battleshipcommand.files.word...1.20.55.34.png


Hipper firing.
https://battleshipcommand.files.word...1.21.57.87.png


A Brittish cruiser dead in the water.
https://battleshipcommand.files.word...1.23.05.09.png

That three stacker has seen better days. :hmmm: I guess it's a historical result, German cruisers were better (on paper) than the British county - type cruisers (because of course the Nazis didn't really care about abiding by the treaty limits)... Nice pictures.

Yes, that County got unlucky!
They were a very even match the Hipper and the County. I believe the Hipper only had slightly better armour, but nothing that made a huge difference.
So the winner would probably the one who scored the first hit.


In the above battle there was a KGV class battleship who pulverized all my Hippers...


Cheers mate!

I am currently working on AI behaviour and the "quick mission" mode, but I needed a break from the code and decided to update my T2 tanker model:

https://battleshipcommand.files.word...2021/08/t2.jpg

Great work, I like how much attention you paid to the rigging. Now since I can never leave modelers alone ..:haha:

will there be lots of great particle effects? Burning/leaking oil would look nice and dramatic; I like simulators that have different types of fire/smoke depending on what you hit. Also survivors in rafts/boats? Maybe with a small bonus for capturing enemies with intelligence, like in U-Boat?

And even better, I would LOVE to have you able to blow off a ship's bow/stern with the other half still floating - this happened to several torpedoed WWII tankers, like the "Esso Nashville"..

https://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/1461.html

The front half of "Esso Nashville" ended up on the bottom of the sea and is popular with scuba divers from North/South Carolina to this day...the back half survived the war and sailed for many years! :)