UBOAT News

Dear skippers,

There is a new patch available for 2022.1. Changelog:

[h3]Locales:[/h3]
- Chinese localisation update by Alex Zheng, JM-LeiDao, 36 D, Xenon_Tennessee.
- Portuguese localisation update by AlexShuma.
- Japanese localisation update by Surumeika1987, Largo, [JP]AWPsan, 泥遊戯, Mononok Kori.
- French localisation update by FvJ and Placebo.
- Russian localisation update by Hard.
- Italian localisation update by BeeTLe BeTHLeHeM.
- Czech localisation update by Spid3rCZ.

[h3]Missions:[/h3]
- Increased frequency of missions with changing flotilla from Kiel to Wilhelmshaven.
- Fix: The optional objective about staying undetected in Gibraltar passage assignment was always marked as a success, even when player was detected.
- Fix: Wolfpacks are no longer commonly organized before May 1941.
- Fix: It wasn't possible to perform Norwegian Campaign missions from Kiel. This fix requires a fresh start to function. If your game is affected, we suggest moving to Wilhelmshaven to finish this campaign.

[h3]User interface:[/h3]
- Fix: Clicking with a right mouse button on a green dot that points mission target in Gibraltar passage assignment wasn't plotting a route towards it.
- Fix: Dialogue subtitles no longer appear in HQ view.
- Fix: After receiving a reply from the command about resupply request, the notification about unread messages was appearing, even though the message was appearing on the screen right away.
- Fix: The notification about unread messages wasn't appearing after loading a game state with unread messages.

[h3]Graphics:[/h3]
- Fix: Small lighting artifacts on Turm II.
- Fix (regression of 2022.1 Patch 18): NPC ships could spawn without texture having a white hull.
- Fix (regression of 2022.1 Patch 18): It was possible for two characters working near Enigmas in HQ to sit in the same place and overlap with each other.

[h3]Modding:[/h3]
- Fix: Neural Network Physics component should be now useable from the mod projects.

[h3]General:[/h3]
- Fix: The newly added setting about disabling torpedo salvo previews wasn't correctly saved into the game states. This meant that this setting was possible to change mid-campaign and the current state was shared by all campaigns.

Yours,
DWS

Dear skippers,

There is a new patch available for 2022.1. Changelog:

[h3]Localisation:[/h3]
- Chinese localisation update by Alex Zheng, JM-LeiDao, 36 D, Xenon_Tennessee.
- French localisation update by FvJ and Placebo.
- Czech localisation update by Spid3rCZ.
- Japanese localisation update by Surumeika1987, Largo, [JP]AWPsan, 泥遊戯, Mononok Kori.
- Spanish localisation update by Miguel Haakon.
- Turkish localisation update by Narberal Gamma.
- Portuguese localisation update by AlexShuma.
- Russian localisation update by Hard.
- Ukrainian localisation update by vovanvoks.
- German localisation update by Ruby.
- Polish localisation update.
- Fix: Improved fonts used by Spanish localisation.

[h3]Simulation:[/h3]
- It's now possible to make your boat harder to detect for the enemy asdic/hydrophone operators by moving close to another ship with working propellers or by moving inside a convoy with many ships nearby.
- Non-alarmed warships are now less effective at detecting u-boats using hydrophones and asdics.
- The damage inflicted on the u-boat by high water pressure at great depths (as indicated by the red section of the depth meter) was slightly reduced, to make it more viable to hide under the thermocline.
- Sight range in moonless nights was considerably reduced.
- Thermocline depth is now a bit more varied and is now often slightly higher than it used to be.

[h3]User interface:[/h3]
- Added a short congratulatory message from the command on the screen that appears when a campaign objective is completed.
- Added icons to the tooltip of notification about survivors to help with distinguishing between different survivor types, such as a captain and chief engineer.
- Added a label to the shop window that indicates when the fuel tanks are full.
- Clicking with a right mouse button on the notification about less important incoming messages is now marking all of them as read.
- Added an information about speed and range of each torpedo type in their respective descriptions.
- Added a confirmation popup when an attempt is made to overwrite an existing game state.
- Changed icons for torpedoes with a revised Pi1 pistol to have them labeled as Pi1+ instead of having a star in the corner.
- User interface scale set in the settings is now applied also to the loading screen contents.
- Added notifications about completing certain optional objectives during assignments like sinking a certain tonnage during a patrol.
- There is now a lunar phase shown on the weather state icon that appears in the map view.
- Added a label with the ending date of the campaign objective on its details screen.
- Torpedo icons now have color-coded detonator types.
- Fix: The notification about background loading wasn't appearing in some situations where something important was being loaded.
- Fix: The notifications about new messages were often appearing again some time later after dismissing them with a right mouse button.
- Fix: If a character customisation option was highlighted and previewed on the character, and then player left the character screen entirely, the previously highlighted item would be worn by the character, even though it wasn't confirmed.
- Fix: Group contact markers from the map could remain visible in HQ scene.
- Fix: There was a redundant scroll visible, if cursor was moved over an item with a long description in the storage user interface and then moved over a blank slot.

[h3]Settings:[/h3]
- Added a new gameplay setting that allows to specify, if time compression should be stopped after receiving a low priority message (for example, from another u-boat). The default behaviour is now not to stop the time compression in such cases.
- Added a new realism setting for disabling torpedo solution previews, as well as additional information that comes with it, like the estimated salvo hit angle.

[h3]Interactions:[/h3]
- Fix: When neutral ship trading with an Allied port was inspected, the documents could clearly state that the ship is headed towards the Allied port (making it a valid target), but the story was ignoring that fact.

[h3]Crew:[/h3]
- Fix: Blue light and leader's iron fist skill weren't decreasing noise made by an engineer loading or performing maintenance tasks on the torpedoes, while it was explicitly mentioned in the iron fist skill description that it has an effect on it.
- Fix: Crew was reporting flames on deck on enemy ship, even if the ship wasn't seen at the moment.

[h3]AI:[/h3]
- Various improvements to NPC u-boats behaviour during wolfpack attacks.
- Fix: If player ordered a neutral vessel's crew to evacuate and then attacked that vessel, the alarm bells would activate on the ship, even though there was nobody left on the ship.

[h3]Audio:[/h3]
- Reworked the sonar ping sounds on the u-boat's hull. They are more frequent, consistent and their volume depends on many factors.
- Fix: The ticking sound audible during the use of a chronometer was improved and is now looped correctly.
- Fix: Background music could become permanently muted after watching cutscene with orchestra, on return to port.

[h3]Missions:[/h3]
- The mechanism that selects side missions during patrols was reworked in a way that should provide more variety and a break from repeating the same mission types frequently.

[h3]Ports:[/h3]
- Fix: Cars no longer spawn on roads that don't connect with any other roads.

[h3]Graphics:[/h3]
- New models for the civilian official suits.
- Civilians no longer stand near war maps in HQ and appear only near Enigma machines.
- Changed the texture of a newspaper that lies on one of the tables inside the u-boat.
- Fix: Moon light intensity wasn't affected by the current lunar phase.
- Fix: Lighting on conning towers other than Turm 0 was wrong inside the submarine pens. The affected conning towers had a blue tint on them like they would be out in the open rather than inside a building.
- Fix: Various shadow artifacts on the light casted by Flower-class spotlights.
- Fix: Corrected a typo on one of the electric engine labels.
- Fix: Some types of ships weren't having damage decals displayed on their hulls after being hit.
- Fix: Turm I and Turm II conning towers were having some artifacts on them in rainy weather.

[h3]Modding:[/h3]
- Fix: Mods referring to assembly "com.unity.standardassets.Runtime" couldn't be compiled by the game.

[h3]General:[/h3]
- Lifeboats with a crew evacuated from a ship are now numbered.
- U-boat upgrades now have a minimum installation time of 5 hours. None of the upgrades are installed instantly.
- Fix: Potassium absorbers were present in a warehouse in La Rochelle even before completing the associated HQ task that unlocks them.
- Fix: The warehouse icon inside submarine pens is now correctly centred on the warehouse worker.

Yours,
DWS

Dear skippers,

There is a new patch available for 2022.1. Changelog:

[h3]Localisation:[/h3]
- Japanese localisation update by Surumeika1987, Largo, [JP]AWPsan, 泥遊戯, Mononok Kori.
- Portuguese localisation update by AlexShuma.
- Czech localisation update by Spid3rCZ.
- Turkish localisation update by Narberal Gamma.
- Spanish localisation update by Tordo.
- Ukrainian localisation update by vovanvoks.
- Italian localisation update by BeeTLe BeTHLeHeM.
- German localisation update by Ruby.
- Polish localisation update.

[h3]User interface:[/h3]
- Improvements to new decoration and campaign progress screens.
- Added a separate notification type for less important messages, like communications from the other u-boats. This notification is less intrusive and helps to quickly distinguish important messages from the common communications from the other ships.
- Crew fatigue modifier to discipline is now displayed in the discipline tooltip, even when the ship is docked in the port. There is an information added, that the modifier is currently inactive.
- Added a dedicated icon for the equipment upgrade action.
- Fix: Radio message about completing the Scapa Flow assignment was displayed in its full form, rather than shorter form, on the button used for sending the messages.
- Fix: Notification about interrupted radio transmission was sometimes appearing during quick return to port or while skipping time in port.

[h3]Crew:[/h3]
- Free vacations now last for 14 days instead of 21 days. As a drawback, the fatigue is growing slightly faster than after a longer break.
- Fix: Character controlled in FPP could start to move on his own after moving through the hatch from the control room to battery room no. 2.
- Fix: It's no longer possible to leave the port, when there is more sailors on board than allowed by the current limit (it was possible to achieve by completing Enigma recovery assignment).
- Fix: Officers were continuing to wear items that they were given on the group selection screen for external interaction after cancelling it (for example, a diving suit).
- Fix: Sailors could sometimes not return to their duties defined in the schedule after vacation for the duration of the first shift. The limit of sailors possible to assign to officers could also increase for the duration of the first shift.

[h3]Simulation:[/h3]
- Sight detection range at which groups of ships are spotted (funnel smoke, masts etc.) is now much more affected by bad weather than the direct sight range at which individual units are told apart. This fixes situations, where for example, it was possible to spot smoke over horizon in a heavy fog at a few hundred meters.

[h3]Graphics:[/h3]
- Fix: Map camera was often slightly vibrating during movements, especially if temporal anti-aliasing was enabled in the settings.
- Fix: Labels on the ships weren't appearing at distances from which it should be technically possible to read them through a periscope.
- Fix: View through UZO and periscopes was very bright in dark fog, much brighter than the other views.
- Fix: After returning from the map to a view close to the u-boat after at least a few hours of travel, the reflections on the sea and other objects could look wrong and don't match the current weather.
- Fix (regression of B129): The dynamic wetness effect on the u-boat's hull wasn't working since a few major versions back. This fix may have a small impact on the performance.

[h3]Ports:[/h3]
- Aesthetical fixes and improvements to Wilhelmshaven.
- Fix: Cars try to avoid turning into blind roads to avoid turning 180 degrees back.

[h3]Missions:[/h3]
- Fix: Green dot that points mission targets, wasn't always centred on the u-boat's wreck in the Enigma recovery assignment.

[h3]Audio:[/h3]
- Sound effect for course change is now quieter.

[h3]Modding:[/h3]
- Vacation data from the data sheets is now updated after loading a saved game state. There is no need to start a new campaign for changes to show up.

[h3]Technical:[/h3]
- Fix (regression of 2022.1 Patch 15): Random issue with loading saved game states.

Yours,
DWS

Dear Skippers,

We are happy to let you know that UBOAT is going to leave the Early Access formula next year with the next major update. We are already working on this update for some time. We build it to be a quite large update that will improve some of the remaining weak spots of the game that we could identify, as well as complete the content.

We are also going to implement the remaining features from our previous roadmap into this update, aside from those that we already implemented in 2022.1.

Further along the way, we will be revealing what to expect from this Full Release update. Follow our announcements, if you are interested in an early peek.



On a side note, apart from the next major update, we are still going to release at least two smaller patches for 2022.1.

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank all the people who are with us and help us, you - players for your suggestions and support, the translators for their hard work, and our contributors and testers.

Yours,
DWS

Dear skippers,

There is a new patch available for 2022.1. It's here to fix one issue introduced by the previous patch released earlier today. Changelog:

[h3]Localisation:[/h3]
- Portuguese localisation update by AlexShuma.
- Ukrainian localisation update by vovanvoks.
- Spanish localisation update by Tordo.
- German localisation update by Ruby.

[h3]General:[/h3]
- Fix (regression of 2022.1 Patch 15): It wasn't possible to turn off the radio music.

Yours,
DWS