UBOAT News

Dear captains,

There is a new patch ready for version 2024.1.

[h3]Localization:[/h3]
- French localization update by FvJ and Placebo.
- Ukrainian localization update by vovanvoks.
- Japanese localization update by かねのもうじゃ.
- Russian localization update by Hard.

[h3]Crew:[/h3]
- Sailors assigned to officers are no longer counted towards overwork penalty if they don't do anything.

[h3]UI:[/h3]
- Fix: It wasn't possible to use map drawing tools on areas covered by contact visualizations (blue / green contact arcs).
- Fix: After loading another game state in-game, the silent running and alarm buttons in the TAB menu were remaining in the previous state, and potentially weren't reflecting the actual state of a silent run and an alarm.
- Fix: In the machine room and the torpedo room of Type II U-boats, there was a carry water button appearing in the bottom UI, but it didn't make sense in the case of these U-boats as the water may flow freely between the rooms.
- Fix: If an attempt was made to scroll text in a radio message view using a mouse wheel, the view was closed instead of scrolling the text.
- Fix: Assignment name was sometimes not fitting into the text area for some assignments in some languages.
- Fix: If a map drawing tool was toggled, something was started to be drawn and then another tool was toggled without completing the previous drawing, the previous drawing would remain on the map and wasn't possible to remove.

[h3]World:[/h3]
- Fix: Sometimes sunk merchant ships were later displayed as having an unknown origin and an unknown destination. This problem may stick around for a while in the old game states but should disappear after some time passes in-game.
- Fix: Fixed probably all causes of a relatively rare situation where after sinking a ship with a certain name, a new one could be encountered with the same name shortly after. This problem may stick around for a while in the old game states but should disappear after some time passes in-game.
- Fix: After leaving a submarine pen and docking in another pen nearby, the leading officer from the previous pen could remain and duplicate.

[h3]Graphics:[/h3]
- Fix: Asset loading error that could cause various issues: pink particle effects, sailors with missing jacket geometry, etc.
- Fix: Unusual, intense reflections around the lens of an observation periscope on Type VII and both periscopes on Type II.

[h3]Achievements:[/h3]
- Fix: If certain steps were performed, it was possible to obtain a Needle In a Haystack achievement for sinking a ship in a group smaller than 15 ships.

[h3]Modding:[/h3]
- When binoculars are used in manual mode, from now on an attempt is made to load a fullscreen overlay from such a path: "Images/Periscope Overlays/Binoculars Fullscreen". This allows mods to use a different overlay for the binoculars than for UZO.

[h3]General:[/h3]
- Fix: In some cases, the amount actually paid for various U-boat upgrades was lower than initially declared in the UI (sometimes they were completely free).
- Fix: Autosave on dock wasn't working if a quick return to port was used.
- Fix: Sometimes the external hatch wasn't being closed, even though the entire crew entered the U-boat. Consequently, the sailor responsible for flooding the tanks would await closing the hatch indefinitely.
- Fix: Quick mission completion wasn't working correctly if it was clicked while using a device in manual mode (for example, a periscope).
- Fix: In some cases, if a ship was accidentally hit by its ally, it could take away credit for sinking from the player.
- Fix: Fixes to various errors spotted in logs sent using a bug reporting tool.

Yours,
DWS

Dear captains,

There is a new patch ready for version 2024.1.

[h3]Localization:[/h3]
- Japanese localization update by かねのもうじゃ.

[h3]Simulation:[/h3]
- Added periscope and UZO graticule illumination in a dark weather.

[h3]Technical:[/h3]
- Fix: Resolved incompatibility with Intel graphic processing units that was leading to various artifacts being displayed near ports.

[h3]Missions:[/h3]
- Multiple patrol assignments with the same destination are no longer offered at the same time.
- Added objective markers that point wolfpack formation spots. Please note, that they will appear only for wolfpacks formed after the update, but the coordinates can be also read from the HQ message saved in the journal.
- Fix: Japanese submarines could sometimes remain permanently at the rendezvous spot after a mission.
- Fix: It's no longer possible to change torpedo run depth during tutorial #3. Instead, their depth is automatically set to 1.5 meters.
- Fix: Dirty interiors modifier may no longer appear during tutorials.
- Fix: Reworked tutorial #4, so that all officers remain selectable during its duration. Previously they were becoming unselectable to prevent assignment to stations that were later explained how to use.

[h3]UI:[/h3]
- Adjusted how cursor highlights work in the main menu settings.
- Added a loading hint that explains that navigator may cease to work in publicly known areas like ports, as it's not possible to get lost near them.
- Fix: Gazala mission was lacking an objective description at the mission selection screen.

[h3]World:[/h3]
- Fix: Resolved issue with Italian fishing boats spawning in German ports and later becoming hostile after Italian surrender, causing entire port to become alert.
- Fix: Brest submarine pen wasn't visible on the world map.
- Fix: After undocking and docking at a different slot of a submarine pen, warehouse worker and a recruitment officer could duplicate.
- Fix: Brest submarine pen wasn't already built in the late starting scenarios that had all other submarine pens built.

[h3]Graphics:[/h3]
- Fix: NPC U-boats weren't affected by the ambient lighting present inside submarine pens and were looking a bit out of the place, if they docked there.

[h3]Achievements:[/h3]
- Fix: Battleship Hunter achievement change from Patch 12 was rarely working in practice.
- Fix: Researcher and Safe and Sound achievements could be obtained in campaigns that started at a later date than those mentioned in their descriptions.

[h3]General:[/h3]
- Time compression is now limited to x12 during torpedo launching, since higher time compression could decrease salvo accuracy, especially if FPS wasn't high enough.
- Fix: If certain steps involving saving and reloading were performed, it was possible for a single shell or rocket damage to multiply many times and become unreasonably high.
- Fix: If scroll at the screen edges option is enabled, the map is no longer being scrolled when the game's window doesn't have an active focus or the cursor is outside the window.

Yours,
DWS

Dear captains,

There is a new patch ready for version 2024.1.

[h3]Localization:[/h3]
- Ukrainian localization update by vovanvoks.
- Japanese localization update by かねのもうじゃ.
- Russian localization update by Hard.

[h3]UI:[/h3]
- Fix: Inconsistent text alignment was present for save file info when text was long enough to be wrapped.
- Fix: Capacity bar no longer appears when cargo hold contents are viewed on an inspected merchant ship.
- Fix: When a stadimeter wasn't present on the used periscope, the stadimeter button wasn't changing visually and was still looking like it would be active. Also, added a tooltip that explains why it's not available.
- Fix: When an observation periscope was used manually on a Type II, the depth visualization control was displaying an attack periscope instead of the observation periscope.

[h3]World:[/h3]
- Reworked Brest submarine pens to make them compatible with the lowest tides possible in the area. Each bunker now features a water gate with a regulated water level on the inside.

[h3]Ships:[/h3]
- Fix: NPC U-boats had audible propellers, even when they were docked.

[h3]Graphics:[/h3]
- Fix: Dashed lines on puppet state territories were moving during a high compression travel.
- Fix: When ballast tanks were flooded on Type II U-boats, for a few seconds, there was a moving water surface visible in FPP near the ceiling near the loading hatch.
- Fix: When a scene visible during an external interaction was closed, for a fraction of a second, it could be visible with a wrong lighting.

[h3]Audio:[/h3]
- Increased volume of ambient sound in the hydrophone. Also it now varies depending on the direction, when bearing is adjusted.
- Fix: Music and ambient audio could stop to play, when there were many ships nearby due to hitting a sound effects limit in the engine.

[h3]Achievements:[/h3]
- Battleship Hunter achievement can be now achieved also by sinking battleships travelling in a group with other warships rather than only in a convoy.

[h3]General:[/h3]
- Fix: Aircraft could sometimes end up in the water, if they were loaded during a high compression travel. This could cause issues, especially during tutorial #4.
- Fix: Type II U-boats had a stadimeter present on their observation periscopes. It was removed to be in line with Type VII.

Yours,
DWS

Dear captains,

There is a new patch ready for version 2024.1.

[h3]Localization:[/h3]
- Russian localization update by Hard.
- Japanese localization update by かねのもうじゃ.

[h3]UI:[/h3]
- Added a new gameplay setting to determine, if dates in the game should be displayed in U.S. or British date format. This setting is present only when the game is running in English.
- Fix: Improved formatting of dates in all languages.
- Fix: Mouse wheel no longer zooms in or out the view, when mouse is over any scroll list or outside of game's window.
- Fix: Double clicking a portrait of any officer was entering into FPP mode of that officer in all cases with the exception of a radioman working in the radio room. It was changed to work consistently in his case too.
- Fix: Character role dropdown was scrolled very slowly when a mouse wheel was used for that.
- Fix: When a radioman was asking for resupply, the button for cancelling that request was flickering when hovered with a cursor and was hard to click.
- Fix: Changed the associated sound effect to a better fitting one when a bow decoration or torpedo paint is swapped.
- Fix: Resolution change confirmation popup background wasn't covering the entire screen in case of high resolutions and wasn't capturing clicks.

[h3]Graphics:[/h3]
- Fix: On Type IID, rain could remain visible on a part of the deck in the side view after U-boat had submerged.
- Fix: Conning tower of the U-boat could sometimes appear too bright and washed out after loading a game state, in which there were NPC U-boats nearby that had the same emblem.
- Fix: Occlusion culling wasn't working correctly in Brest submarine pens. It was affecting performance a bit and there were errors in the game's log.
- Fix: Improved the look of a highlight on a diesel compressor on Type VII U-boats, previously it had an irregular shape that wasn't looking well.
- Fix: Diesel compressor internal elements, visible in the section view, were too bright.
- Fix: Foam spray behind dinghy departing from the U-boat was looking a bit wrong.

[h3]Crew:[/h3]
- From now on, when an officer leaves the U-boat during an external interaction, his helpers are unassigned from him and it's also no longer possible to assign any new helpers when he is not on the ship.
- Fix: After diving below periscope depth, sometimes one of the sailors was moving around the boat, starting various actions and stopping them right away without a clear reason.

[h3]Simulation:[/h3]
- Fix: It was too easy to sink ships with a 20 mm gun.
- Fix: On Type IIA and Type IID, the crew wasn't suffocating when air quality was dropping to zero. Also, water wasn't accumulating in the bilges as it should when realistic bilges were toggled on.

[h3]Missions:[/h3]
- Fix: Quick mission completion button was requiring too much fuel to return to port.
- Fix: Mission with detonating a railway wasn't possible to complete in Czech.

[h3]Achievements:[/h3]
- Fix: "Fresh air..." achievement could be received by loading a saved game state file from another player who completed it at any point in the loaded playthrough.

[h3]Modding:[/h3]
- Fix: Modifiers to a DamageProtection parameter on ships weren't applied when they were defined in the sheets.
- Fix: Changes to equipment and entity modifiers in the data sheets are now updated in the loaded game states (although only to new instances of that equipment / entity).

[h3]World:[/h3]
- Added better defences to Thames.
- Fix: Aesthetical fixes to Kiel.

[h3]General:[/h3]
- Voice language is now set to English by default, when the game is launched for the first time and the game's language is English.
- Fix: When an automatic route was plotted from Kiel to areas north of Britain, the route was entering and leaving Kiel canal without need. It was also indirectly affecting tutorial #4, if it was started in Kiel.
- Fix: Certain hotkeys were accessible on a character customization screen and could cause various issues when used (for example, a hotkey for journal).
- Fix: Side view camera was sometimes positioning itself incorrectly, when it was simultaneously zoomed in or out and switched between the deck view and interior view.
- Fix: Fixes to several errors spotted in logs attached to bug reports.

Yours,
DWS

Dear captains,

There is a new patch ready for version 2024.1.

[h3]Localization:[/h3]
- French localization update by FvJ and Placebo.
- Japanese localization update by かねのもうじゃ.
- German localization update by Ruby.

[h3]Crew:[/h3]
- Sailors promoted to officers now always start with energy at 100%.
- Fix: There was a timeout after ordering a dive, during which it wasn't possible to assign an engineer to manage diving planes station.
- Fix: Sometimes sailors could become stuck in an idle animation, while performing an order on the valves and were blocking other crew members from accessing them.
- Fix: It wasn't possible to order flooding the tanks on valves without selecting any officer first, even though all other orders present there were accessible in such a way.

[h3]Graphics:[/h3]
- Fix: There was a bright pixelating outline around periscope lenses when any upscaling was in use (DLSS or FSR).
- Fix: Decreased flickering due to aliasing on the gangway between the U-boat and the ports.
- Fix: Volumetric lighting was sometimes much more intense than intended during sunsets and sunrises, for example in Kiel.

[h3]Missions:[/h3]
- Gibraltar crossing assignment now grants the Mediterranean flotillas emblem (a donkey).
- Fix: In tutorial #4, if the game was running in a low enough resolution to not fit all portraits in the map view, it was possible for radioman's portrait to temporarily disappear during the mission.
- Fix: A rare issue in mine planting assignments where mines were not being loaded despite freeing up space for them.
- Fix: Corrected flotilla change assignments initiated on demand. These assignments were previously awarding budget and reputation upon completion, even though that wasn't intended and there were no rewards listed in their description.

[h3]Technical:[/h3]
- Optimizations to rendering on CPU and GPU side.

[h3]Ports:[/h3]
- Added imports and exports to ports that didn't had them defined.
- Fix: It wasn't possible to dock in Copenhagen.
- Fix: Aesthetical fixes to Rotterdam.

[h3]General:[/h3]
- Fix: After unlocking Eagle's Nest, the access to it was lost after reloading a game state.
- Fix: Fixes to several errors spotted in logs attached to bug reports.

Yours,
DWS