subROV News

Dear subROVers,

We are finally announcing the next phase of subROV's development!



Next December 2nd we'll release subROV into Early Access. The game is in a state where it is both stable and enjoyable, and we think it is time to share it with the world. 😁

To celebrate this, we've made a new trailer focusing on the sea life you will encounter during your dives, including whales, fish, and corals, some brought to a video game for the first time ever (certainly the deep sea corals). Here it is!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

We've also added a section about the Early Access to the main page, where we explain our plans moving forward. If you have any questions, suggestions, or ideas, by all means let us know:

• Through our Discord Server,
  
• Through Twitter,
  
• By email (info 'at' sqr3lab.com)
  

Happy ROVing -it's happening real soon! 😃⚓

Dear subROVers,

After five months online, we've deactivated the demo to prepare for a new phase in the game's timeline.



Initially we had planned the demo to be online only during last June's Next Fest, but eventually decided to leave it open indefinitely so that anyone could enjoy it outside of the event. In the months since, it has been played by thousands of people, many of whom have shared with us their thoughts and opinions on the game (thank you so much!). We feel the demo has fulfilled its purpose, and we're now deactivating it to focus on subROV's next milestone, which is... a secret! (but not for too long 😁)

We're very excited for the events ahead and can't wait to share them with you -stay tuned!

Happy ROVing! 😃⚓

Have any questions or suggestions? You can send us feedback in many ways:

• Through our Discord Server,
  
• Through Twitter,
  
• By email (info 'at' sqr3lab.com)
  

Seriously, keep in touch! we'll love to hear from you.

Dear subROVers,

We've updated the demo to v0.6.0. Let's take a look at the changes!



[h3]New Save System[/h3]
In addition to your overall progress and the discovered areas of the maps, the game now saves each dive's current objective, and the states of significant objects in the dive (such as the activated beacons in Hawaii).

[h3]New ROV SONAR[/h3]

Complete Rework
The ROV SONAR now works in a way that is much closer to its real counterpart, by showing the areas blocked by a projected beam gradually rotating around the ROV. We've also changed the grid and coloring, so it looks and feels very different from before.

Tracking Dots
When you ping your surroundings, you will see dots in the SONAR view tracking the positions of nearby relevant objects and creatures, in addition to the icons already present in the external view.



[h3]Other visible changes and Fixes[/h3]

• We've revised the ROV information panel. The Depth reading now has a dedicated subpanel with an icon indicating if the ROV is ascending or descending (sometimes it's not obvious, especially right before surfacing), and it works passively, even if the ROV is offline.
  
• Pressing the Quick Exit button has the same effect as leaving the map. This saves you the time of getting to the edge of the map after completing a dive's objectives, and helps streamline short dives (such as the certifications). In combination with the save system, things are snappier now 😀
  
• The map's grid is now static. In previous versions it was always centered on the ship, which was not practical.
  
• Camera views now keep correct proportions when changing screens (up until now they were just stretching to adapt to the screen they were at).
  
• The Humpback Whale should not get stuck on the surface anymore. (sorry! 😬)
  
• The main menu now shows random background images, the globe has a more satisfying spin and zoom, and we've revised the Gallery Layout.
  

[h3]Changes under the Hood[/h3]
Aside from the changes above, we've worked on other things that you won't see much or at all in the demo, but we'd like to share because they still represent important progress:

New Dives
Three at the moment: one where we'll search for DDT barrels off the coast of California, one where we'll track Humboldt Squid in Cocos Ridge, and another where we'll explore a seamount near the Phoenix Islands.

New Spawning System
We've made a new system that allows us to have fine control over which creatures appear and where, particularly in the water column. The system gives us flexibility to place creatures in specific spots if we need to, balancing hand-crafted with procedural content.

New Creature Behavior System
The creatures in the game now use (when appropriate) behavior trees to control their actions. This sets the foundation for custom behaviors per creature if we need to (e.g. Humboldt squid react to the ROV's light and let you get close... but only so much). We've also revised the creatures' overall movement system to make them swim around more gracefully.

[h3]And more![/h3]

• Dives now allow for custom parameters, such as Oxygen readings.
  
• Data buoys now can upload data to the ship (such as oxygen readings!😂).
  
• The light curve now fades smoothly at dark depths.
  
• Improved whale animations.
  
• Fixes and optimizations across the board (always!)
  

[h3]And lastly[/h3]
We've dropped support for 16:10 resolutions, at least for the time being. The game is designed with 16:9 in mind, and allowing for 16:10 has ramifications we'll have to assess calmly later on.

[h3]What's next?[/h3]
Moving forward we'll be focusing on content. There's already new content in the game (e.g. squid!) but we've opted not to add it to the current dives as that was not the focus of this update. We'll add as much new content (creatures, corals, wrecks, activities) as we can to gear up to the game's release, which is approaching rapidly!

Happy ROVing! 😃⚓

PS. Your feedback is very important to us. This update introduces lots of changes and though we've made our best to test everything, we'd really appreciate it if you'd let us know of any issues you find or thoughts you have on the game.

You can send us feedback in many ways:

• Through our Discord Server,
  
• Through Twitter,
  
• By email (info 'at' sqr3lab.com)
  

Seriously, keep in touch! we'll love to hear from you.

Dear subROVers,

We've updated the demo to v0.5.3, fixing an issue that reset the discovered areas of the maps when leaving the game, and making the two main dives of the demo available from the onset.



Up until now, going through the certification course was mandatory prior to going into full dives. This was meant as a way to minimize frustration by teaching the controls gradually, but we've seen people equally frustrated because the tutorials are, after all, a bit dry. Being able to fiddle with unrestricted controls will hopefully make new players want to learn on their own and take the certification course in a positive spirit. Hopefully 😂

NOTE: if you update the demo from the previous version, these dives won't unlock by default -you can either finish the certification like before, or reset the game (which also resets your profile).

The other change is most significant to people who invest time scanning the maps, as the updated areas are now kept between plays. We're amazed that some of you have scanned whole maps without this feature present -thank you for your commitment!

Moving forward, we're now working on creature behaviors -you can expect updates on this front very soon.

Happy ROVing! 😃⚓

Stay tuned: wishlist subROV, follow us on Twitter, and come say hi at our Discord Server!

Dear subROVers,

We've decided to not remove the demo today as planned but to leave it open indefinitely. This will make it accessible to people that are not usually on Steam, or find the game outside of the "event windows".

The scope of the demo will remain similar to what it is now, but it will be up to date with the game's overall progress. We will still organize playtests to get feedback on specific features, and we'll incorporate them into the demo when appropriate.

Enjoy the demo - happy ROVing! 😃⚓



Stay tuned: wishlist subROV, follow us on Twitter, and come say hi at our Discord Server!