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Destroyer: The U-Boat Hunter News

The U-Boats Strike Back

Dear Destroyer fans,

As we move ever closer to version 1.0, there is a lot to look forward to, but also many obstacles to overcome. We are at an exciting (but at the same time difficult) point in development where we are stretched thin between working on the campaign, applying current gameplay fixes and adding new features to the game. Each of these on its own would be a big workload for our little team, but handling all three at the same time is really causing the project to almost reach critical mass.

However, we are steadily moving forward and, hopefully, tackling some of the issues you have observed as we go. Our newest feature is the Uboats’ ability to attack our destroyer and the remaining escorts. This is a feature that has been requested since the very appearance of our demo, and although this is not something that you will see every five minutes, then again, attacks like these did occur, especially if the U-boat captain was desperate, or driven by opportunity.

Next, we once again took a close look at some of the most frequent complaints by the community, namely depth charge hit detection. It already got a major overhaul two updates ago (with the added option to increase the explosion size of your depth charges), yet it seems like the transition to the new version of Unity actually messed with more than just graphics - it also affected several key game mechanics. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience, and we hope that, with the current update, we have been able to correct all the bugs that appeared during that transition.

Regardless, the current update introduces the reworked depth charge system that we promised a few months ago: a new set of colliders (both for depth charges and the U-boat itself), a new way in which damage is calculated (including a much bigger chance for critical hits that can obliterate the U-boat instantly), and recalibrated targeting, to go in line with all of the above.

On top of that, we made sure that the U-boats will now be intimidated more easily and for longer periods of time, depending on how much damage they have been dealt. Escorts’ speeds have also been increased to make them more flexible and maneuverable. As always, all these and other small fixes have been introduced following your comments and requests.

We hope that this new update will be to your liking, and, as always, we wish you many successfully defended convoys!

Artur Salwarowski
Destroyer Lead Designer
Iron Wolf Studio
🔗 https://linktr.ee/ironwolfstudio
🗨️ https://discord.gg/qcDF2ZZ


Changes in this update:
  • U-boats attack our destroyer and escorts
  • New U-boat controller
  • Ambush fixes
  • Depth charge hit detection and targeting reworked
  • U-boats now forfeit the attack for longer when threatened or damaged
  • Escorts are now faster
  • Lookouts report floating debris
  • CBDR corrections


https://store.steampowered.com/app/1272010/Destroyer_The_UBoat_Hunter/

New Update v0.9.28!

Dear Destroyer fans,

As we keep on working to bring you version 1.0, most of our programming efforts are focused on providing the best campaign experience that we can deliver. In the meantime, we have upgraded our project to a more recent Unity version in order to enhance the visuals and make the most of the technological solutions available to us at the moment.

Therefore, our new update mostly focuses on the visual side of things - new sky, new volumetric clouds, enhanced VFX, and a new performance mode to allow for smoother running on older machines (full list of upgrades below). Please rest assured, however, that future updates will once again introduce significant gameplay upgrades, and, among them, even a few that will be utilized in the campaign that is to come.

That is not to say we have not improved any gameplay aspects - the new update brings a complete overhaul of the CBDR system and we are confident that with its next iteration, we will be able to implement collision avoidance. This will make for a much less stressful experience when hunting with other escorts, which has been a challenge so far. So yes, we are definitely on track to tackle this issue and our programmers are working on it as I am typing these words.

Another thing we are preoccupied with is a complete overhaul of the U-boat controller which should allow us to further improve enemy behavior. Yes, we have already made numerous corrections thanks to your feedback, but we continue to work on this aspect as there are always things that we can (and will) improve. Sadly, we are also certain that regardless of what we do, there will always be voices in the community complaining about U-boats making 20 knots when submerged and making turns on the spot… Well, there is only one thing we can ask those players to do: please send us screenshots of your DRT as a proof, or it didn’t happen ;)

Anyhow, we are very pleased that Destroyer is becoming bigger and better every day, and we are also happy that it has just become prettier. As usual, you can find the full list of upgrades below.

Happy hunting!

Artur Salwarowski
Destroyer Lead Designer
Iron Wolf Studio
🔗 https://linktr.ee/ironwolfstudio
🗨️ https://discord.gg/qcDF2ZZ


  • New sky graphics
  • Volumetric clouds
  • complete weather system overhaul, allowing for more weather variety
  • Improved water physics
  • Upscaling: DLSS, FSR, TAAU, and CAS are now supported
  • New performance mode to enable smoother running on older machines
  • Improved VFX (Starshells, 5-inch guns muzzle flash)
  • Improved visuals in depth charge camera view
  • Added lens flares
  • Smoother searchlight movement
  • Fixed oil leak visuals
  • New CBDR system
  • small bug fixes


https://store.steampowered.com/app/1272010/Destroyer_The_UBoat_Hunter/

New Update!

Dear Destroyer fans,

Christmas is drawing near and we are excited to bring you another Destroyer update in anticipation of this celebrated time of the year. As always, we focused on responding to the most frequently recurring issues in your feedback, and the difficulty to sink submarines seemed like an important point for many of you. Therefore, we have decided to introduce difficulty level settings which allow you to both control how many submarines attack, but also how powerful your depth charges are. This way, you can make your engagements less intense and hone your skills against smaller wolfpacks, but, even more importantly, beginners can increase their depth charge efficiency and score their first kills much earlier. Of course, players who enjoy a real challenge can always choose ‘realistic’ depth charges and leave things as they are.

On top of that, we have taken a close look at the whole depth charge system, as many of you have reported point blank hits which would result in no damage to the U-boat. We took this issue very seriously, and so we ran extensive tests from top to bottom in order to pinpoint the problem. And, as it has turned out, it was all due to a small graphic glitch that would sometimes displace the visual effect of the explosion - consequently, it seemed like you were hitting, although you were not (and vice versa). With this issue out of the way, the depth charge window should now give you a much more reliable insight into how your DCs are exploding.

We have also run repeated tests of the TRR, and we are happy to confirm that it has been working perfectly all along. However, let’s not forget that the faster you go and the deeper you drop, the higher the chance to miss, and in the most extreme situations, even the slightest mistake will make you miss by a lot. To compensate for it, depth charges now hit harder at ‘medium’ and ‘deep’ to reflect the idea that the water pressure from the explosions would be much more devastating at greater depths. Second of all, we have increased the spread of the broad (distracting) depth charge salvos. While less deadly, such attacks nevertheless have a good chance of scoring hits and should positively affect your ASW efforts.

Lastly, we have implemented a handful of little fixes here and there (full list below) and we can already say that the next update will have a few aces up its sleeve. On the other hand, we are still struggling to make CBDR fully reliable, and we apologize it is taking so long. We hear you, also when it comes to collisions with other hunting escorts - we are dedicated to our project and we will fix all such outstanding issues - it simply takes time, especially for a small team like ours.

To sum it up, we would like to thank you very much for your patience. We are very glad that so many of you are enjoying the game in spite of its Early Access shortcomings. Although we haven’t been very active on the forums recently, please rest assured that we continue to analyze your feedback and that all your concerns will be addressed in future updates. We hope that you will stay excited about Destroyer as we press forward towards version 1.0 with its campaign mode.

Having said that, we would like to wish you a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, and many victorious battles!

Artur Salwarowski
Destroyer Lead Designer
Iron Wolf Studio
🔗 https://linktr.ee/ironwolfstudio
🗨️ https://discord.gg/qcDF2ZZ


Full list of changes for version 0.9.26:
  • Difficulty levels implemented (wolfpack size and depth charge efficiency)
  • Depth charge camera fixed: no displacement of explosions
  • Broad DC patterns now cover a significantly larger area
  • CBDR corrections + introduction of foghorn (more fixes incoming)
  • Fixed a sonar bug that sporadically blocked ‘radar aim’ for resurfacing U-boats
  • Last 20 messages in the message log are now saved
  • Upon loading a saved game, the game resumes in the same location (station)
  • Revised UI in main menu (difficulty level and battle variant selections)


https://store.steampowered.com/app/1272010/Destroyer_The_UBoat_Hunter/

Steam Awards ahead!

Heyho everybody!
We hope you enjoy yourself diving deep into Destroyer: The U-Boat Hunter!

It's once again the time of the year! The autumn sale is in full swing and comes with
its annual celebration of video games: The Steam Awards.

And that's where you come in.
We're proud of the work we put into Destroyer and obviously feel that it is the best game ever developed - and if you only think the slightest bit alike, nominating us only makes perfect sense, right?

These are the awards for which we feel most eligible:

  • Best Game you Suck At
  • Game of the Year
  • Innovative Gameplay


If you prefer to nominate us for other awards, that's great as well!
Thank you so much for your support and your help with nominating us for the Steam Awards!

Iron Wolf Studio

The Ambush Update is here!

[h3]Dear Destroyer fans,[/h3]

We would like to thank you for all the kind words regarding our last update. Since that time, we have been working on a new ‘ambush’ battle variant that should give you a new tactical perspective and make for a more search-oriented, slightly slower kind of gameplay. Here’s the most important changes that the new update brings into the fray:

  • New ‘ambush’ battle variant with a modified opening cutscene
  • Interview with our ASW expert (new content for the supporter pack)
  • Quality of life improvements and bug fixes on the DRT station (e.g. auto-plot now resumes instantly following change of scale)
  • U-boat dive/surface speed has been reduced
  • Air support is now more successful at suppressing U-boats


Of course, please do let us know how you like the new update! We are already working on the next one which will bring a major improvement in the depth charge system. This update is just around the corner and it will again introduce a couple of small fixes alongside the main feature that will make your depth charge drops more varied and deadly!

Please stay tuned for more, and, as always, happy hunting!

Artur Salwarowski
Destroyer Lead Designer
Iron Wolf Studio
https://linktr.ee/ironwolfstudio


https://store.steampowered.com/app/1272010/Destroyer_The_UBoat_Hunter/