Closed beta starting soon!

[Artur Salwarowski]

Dear Subsim community,


The time to release the early access version of Destroyer draws near. As you know very well, we are making this game for genuine fans of (anti-)submarine warfare, and it is not an overstatement to say that we value and trust your opinion more than our own. Therefore, we would like to ask those of you who would like to participate in a closed beta to send an email to destroyer@ironwolfstudio.com. Those of you who do so will receive access to the beta and will be asked to fill in a feedback form so that we know how to best adjust the game to your preferences.

We will be starting the beta shortly, as soon as we manage to implement a few essential 'quality of life' improvements (such as the ability to save your games). If all goes well, we will be able to start the beta next week.

If you have any questions, suggestions, or anything else that you would like to let us know about, then please do so here. Once the beta starts, we will be very happy to receive feedback through the online form that you will receive access to together with the beta.

[Aktungbby]

[Furia]

I am clearly interested. E-mail sent!

[dsawan]

Interested too. email sent

[Artur Salwarowski]

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to let you know that we have received your emails and that we will be contacting you very soon about the beta. We were supposed to start last week, but there has been so much going on that we had to move it to this week instead.

We are currently finishing most of we wanted to get ready for you for the beta, and we are currently looking at Wednesday the 8th of September as the starting date.

We hope that you will enjoy the beta in spite of the delay and we are very much looking forward to your feedback once it goes hot.

Thank you very much for the response and we will definitely keep you posted regarding any and all developments.

[Artur Salwarowski]

Hi,

I just wanted to check whether everything is working fine for you and if you have any first impressions.

It would be best if we could get at least some early balancing feedback before the 12th of September, because after that the EA version will be released to influencers and the press.

Even more importantly, we would really appreciate the above feedback before the 19th of September, which would leave us a week to digest your feedback and introduce the necessary changes before the EA release happening on September the 28th.

Thank you very much once again for your participation.

[Sunnydas1]

September 28, 2022. Destroyer: the U-Boat Hunter is an interactive war thriller which seamlessly blends realistic WW2 anti-submarine warfare simulation with immersive tactical gameplay. Take command of a Fletcher-class destroyer and lead your escort group against German U-boats in the Battle of the Atlantic!












krnt.run
indigocard.ltd

[Aktungbby]

Sunnydas¹!

[Halcyon]

More feedback:

- I hit a u-boat with depth charges, and my lookout reported an oil slick, but the sub was still alive and operational. I'm no expert, but if the sub is leaking oil that means it has a hole in it. I don't see how it can remain at 100% combat effectiveness if there's oil floating on the surface

- was the submerged speed changed for u-boats? They still seem like they're going too fast and are able to dodge a depth charge drop almost every single time. It doesn't matter if I go at them head on or if I plan my approach and try to come at them from their stern. They will make a hard turn and I can never get the charges to land exactly on him (except for one time, which I already explained above...oil slick but no kill)

- to add on to the last point, my escorts also have the same trouble sinking a u-boat. I've heard them make depth charge run after run with the same results I usually have, which is not hitting the target or getting a report of oil and debris but the target isn't sunk. Are the u-boats invincible in this closed-beta build?

- the sonar indicator will go in the opposite direction of what you've set the circular arrow button on the right to be. I find I have to click that button twice to get the indicator to match the direction of what the button shows if you leave the sonar screen and come back, especially after contact has been lost (usually during a depth charge drop)

- I've seen the periscope briefly using the lookout station, but then it suddenly disappears even though the automated lookout is still calling out they can see a periscope feather. I point right at the bearing with binocs but still can't see it, even after shooting star shells. It seems to be a graphical glitch

- If you load starshells, sometimes you can't unload them or switch back to normal shells after firing a starshell burst

- Sometimes you can't unclick the "radar track" button for the gun if you previously clicked it but the sub submerged and you lost the track. This results in the player unable to manually rotate the gun turret

- When tracking a sub and you lose contact, if there is another sub nearby that an escort is tracking and giving you bearings for, that new sub will automatically switch to be the new target even though you're still maneuvering and trying to find the original target. This can result in the sonar snapping to the new target and making it harder to find where the cursor originally was to attempt to switch back to the old target to track it using the sonar

In all, combined with my first feedback report, I don't think this closed-beta build is ready for an early access release, especially if the u-boats are somehow set to be invulnerable.

[Onkel Neal]

That's good feedback

Originally Posted by Halcyon

More feedback:

- I hit a u-boat with depth charges, and my lookout reported an oil slick, but the sub was still alive and operational. I'm no expert, but if the sub is leaking oil that means it has a hole in it. I don't see how it can remain at 100% combat effectiveness if there's oil floating on the surface
[ ]

Historically, it was not unusual for a submarine to have a fuel leak, especially u-boats, as they used their ballast tanks as fuel tanks at times. The leak could be caused by damage, shipyard sabotage, or simply wear and tear. Only takes a small leak to leave a trail marking the boat's position.

- was the submerged speed changed for u-boats? They still seem like they're going too fast and are able to dodge a depth charge drop almost every single time. It doesn't matter if I go at them head on or if I plan my approach and try to come at them from their stern. They will make a hard turn and I can never get the charges to land exactly on him (except for one time, which I already explained above...oil slick but no kill)

They are tricky, and as a player, we have to trust the devs that their U-boat AI is legit. U-boats had severe limitations once submerged. But if the game limits the u-boats too much, it's not a challenge for the player. I know with Wolfpack, it's crucial to get this right.

- If you load starshells, sometimes you can't unload them or switch back to normal shells after firing a starshell burst

- Sometimes you can't unclick the "radar track" button for the gun if you previously clicked it but the sub submerged and you lost the track. This results in the player unable to manually rotate the gun turret

Same here. Looks like an area they will need to address. I also have hell when I am in Tactical and I go to change course or speed, half the time I end up reassigning Antler and Cat! The devs probably know this, but you are right to point it out.

- When tracking a sub and you lose contact, if there is another sub nearby that an escort is tracking and giving you bearings for, that new sub will automatically switch to be the new target even though you're still maneuvering and trying to find the original target. This can result in the sonar snapping to the new target and making it harder to find where the cursor originally was to attempt to switch back to the old target to track it using the sonar

Yes, it does get confusing, I'm thinking it would be great to have the DRT note the contact if it changes.

Also, would love to have the DRT retain the last one or two markings when switching from 1000 to 100.

In all, combined with my first feedback report, I don't think this closed-beta build is ready for an early access release, especially if the u-boats are somehow set to be invulnerable.

I think the version they release as EA will be improved over this closed beta version.
Also, the u-boats in the game always give away their position by being on the surface at the beginning of the game. Have you played a mission yet where they are quietly submerged and they torpedo a ship before you know they are there? Sounds like that should happen at the Hard difficulty setting... you get no indication other than possible hydrophone contact or scope visual detection -- IF you happen to be in the right place.

Thanks for the input, glad our notes compare.

[Halcyon]

Originally Posted by Onkel Neal

Also, would love to have the DRT retain the last one or two markings when switching from 1000 to 100.

This would be a great feature. The last two marks would let the player still discern a course and speed before waiting for the next mark right before rapid maneuvers.

And about W,A,S,D, personally I would like the ability to move the ship wheel using A and D (instead of click and hold dragging) and W and S to make speed changes without having to confirm them. Sometimes I like doing direct control during the final moments right before a drop and finding the click spot for the wheel, waiting for it to highlight green, and then holding and dragging is sometimes tedious.

Originally Posted by Artur Salwarowski

I've been wondering about how to prioritize all of this. Do you think we could come up with a list together, so that we could have a clear picture of which bugs and problems the community sees as the most pressing and urgent? We could then attack those issues head-on, and not worry if we are focusing on the things or not. What o you think?

You could use Trello and have people vote on marked issues, or go a step further and have a shared Google excel sheet between the developers and the closed-beta testers so we can freely add issues and check on the progress of existing ones.

[Furia]

I have played around 6 hours so far in (4 one hour and 1 time a 2 hours scenario)

I have already sent my feedback form as requested.
From what I have read here, the developers are also encouraging us to provide feedback here so I will share it here as well.

I have been Betat tester in a number of simulations and games, Dangerous Waters among others and one thing I have learned is that the most useful support to provide to the developement team besides effectively identifying busg is "constructive criticism".

So since I wish the very best for this tittle and I am excited to finally having a "modern software" Destroyer Simulator I am going to share here my feedback as constructive criticism and I have to say that other than the points mentioned below, the product is great. Super stable (0 crashes and excellent performance) easy to install and anyone with Naval Sim experience would understand how to operate it easily although I hope they develop a manual at some point.

Those of you interested in my feedback, open the spoiler. It is a long text.

 

While the game shows the development team has studied in great details the subject, the actual game provides more a "dogfight sandbox" than a submarine hunting experience.
There is no time to manage defensive deployments or strategy, the submarines zero on the convoy at flank speed from minute one. The submarine behavior is unrealistic (all time flank speed, awesome torpedoes that never fail and sink ships at first impact, submarines that despite being hit by the 5 inch guns continue attacking ant flank speed and changing depth like an Akula Class...even with a destroyer closing fast at 500 yards the sub goes periscope depth, fires and never misses and in some cases manages to evade the attack)
The game details are really nice, the interface/stations are awesome and user friendly but as a veteran sub-hunter player from Destroyer Command or Dangerous Waters I was looking more into the strategy, search patters, defensive tactics and some combat after that. Probably the actual game play may attract young players but sadly for people like me after playing one hour I am already tired and demotivated. On the 1 hour scenario we get up to 5 enemy kamikaze subs that attack a convoy defended just by a destroyer and a corvette and for a few minutes an airplane. An unwinnable scenario. I have managed to sink up to 2 subs on one of these but on the meantime the other 3 subs rain havoc on the convoy.
The option for the "custom battle" does not work so far. Maybe this may help to define a more credible scenario but you need to give the option to place the sub farther away so the escorts have time to maneuver and deploy and to engage the sub farther away from the convoy. The sub AI logic although much better now than on early demos, still needs A LOT of work.
On this actual Beta sometimes I had 3 escort ships fighting 3 different subs just below the convoy in what it looked like a fur-ball.
The lookouts should warn much earlier about possible collisions, actually when they inform you about close merchants, you are about to collide and with almost no time for reaction.
The airplane call out ETA 15 minutes but shortly after it calls in station ready for tasking.

In one of the missions, the visibility was extremely low, I would say less than 300 meters, however that was not a problem for the subs to zero on the convoy at flank speed and sink ships with laser precision using the periscope while I could not even see the merchants.
One of the things I miss most is the possibility of using hydrophones. Obviously in the actual game dynamic there is not much "search" to do since you are hooked to the sub from minute 1. I would like to be able to use hydrophones.
Sometimes while on the bridge the horizon is shaking as if you are driving in a road with some bumps instead riding in a ship.
I do miss more "environmental" sounds like wind, change of ship noises when speeding up, some alarms like battle stations or collision alert...
The guns and depth charges sound weird and the guns even when hitting the sub appears to have not much effect. I would like to have the chance of using the 40mm anti aircraft mounts when close to the sub

All in all I think the game has great potential and I believe the development team has done an awesome job in documenting and replicating a Fletcher Class destroyer. The interfaces/stations are great. However I am afraid this is not a game where the usual hardcore (Submarine or Destroyer Command players) will enjoy for long but they may get frustrated or bored after a few hours due to the behavior of the AI subs and the kind of game-play that this generates and this concerns me because I have great expectations for this title but the actual "sub hunt" we can do, does not correspond with my expectations of how a sub should behave or how the game-play should develop. Maybe there are players that like this "dogfight fur-ball style"
I would be great if you could also add a way to additionally incorporate a game mode that has a more historical "tempo" that allows longer search and hunt experiences and that have more credible AI submarines that when detected and attack do not continue kamikaze towards the convoy. As you know, in the real live the actual main task of the destroyer was to keep the subs away from the convoy by forcing them to submerge or driving them away. Here I have only managed to do this one after inflicting sever damage to one sub including generating an oil slick, but usually submarines simply ignore the destroyer un unless they are sunk they manage to eliminate several merchants easily.
Great ship, great stations, awesome possibilities. Just need a realistic sub behavior and game-play and then you have a winner.
In any case thanks for bringing the Destroyers back to life.
I wish you all the best and success with the game.

[Rebel]

in knowing how the dd does what it does will help me be a better sub capt