homepage Forums Miscellaneous Naval Simulations UBOAT

I have been keeping my eyes on this one as it traveled through EA. With release imminent, next week, I pulled the trigger and bought the game.

I'm a sub guy, no doubt about it. My post history here at SimHQ includes very long AARs about different careers I have played in Silent Hunter. My home library is stuffed with submarine books. Blair's Hitler's UBoat War is my current reading, for at least the tenth time. I am interested in all things WW2, but especially so the naval side, and especially-especially, submarines and the war they fought. So I've been keeping an eye on this, hoping it will be good. The start was not so promising, but there have been many improvements and additions, and I finally felt it had matured to the point where I had to give it a go.

This thread will follow my adventure through the game. The threads I like to read are those which talk about the game play. What is it like to play? What choices and decisions must be made? Get in to the head of the player. Watching videos or reading comments like 'it's better than SH5!' just don't do it for me. So that's what I plan to do, and I hope you find it interesting.

UBOAT releases August 2, but maybe the game is currently in it's final state? Not sure about that, but even if it is, I expect many additions and improvements as we go.

UBOAT is currently selling for US $30 on Steam

UBOAT @ Steam

Install size is a little under 40 GB.

I installed and fired it up and I cannot say what I will ultimately think about it, but my initial impression was that this could end up being an all-timer for me. The attention to detail, and focus on historical accuracy seems top notch. In a sense it's most of what I could dream up that I would add to SH3 or SH4. The crew are no longer placeholders for immersion, but functional, essential. Need to turn on the blowers after surfacing? Tell that dude to go do it, and he does! It will take time for me to find the right level here, between full control and automation, and it could end up an exercise in frustration. We will see. Crewman have traits, and skills. Medals are awarded, promotions are gained. Some are not of requisite temper, freaking out when danger's afoot, which on a sub, can lead to disaster. Pipe down mate! Knock him out, Franz. Shut him up! Others are made of sterner stuff, and you can recruit and replace crewman, if you can afford it, to hopefully dial in a crew that will faithfully serve you regardless of how hard you are being hunted or how many depth charges are raining down.

One thing that I think I won't be so keen on, is how UBOAT is mission-focused. Rather than go out on a free-hunt sort of patrol, the focus is more on completing assigned missions, such as inserting an agent on enemy shores, or sinking a specific ship identified by BdU. Boarding ships to acquire technology, and this sort of thing. Free patrols are a thing, I think, and I suspect over time will become more central to how we play this game. I'll write a lot more about this aspect as I get deeper in to it.

One thing that I am very much looking forward to is the fact that yours is not the only submarine in the ocean. Can't wait to see how this plays out, and it is something I've wanted in Silent Hunter forever. I want to be setting up on a ship, and just before firing, seeing it blow up in my face. Pack attacks, rescues, meeting at sea to transfer a new Cross or obtain spare parts or enough fuel oil to return home. Not sure if any or all of this sort of thing is in the game, but that's where my head is, and looking forward to discovering it.

My first adventure is the first campaign in the list, which sees the player take command of the VIIB U-48 in September of 1939. I needed to do some training first, and learned how to provision my boat. Not only torpedoes, but you need to have enough food, and the more variety the better. Medical supplies, sonar decoys and so on. Morale's a thing, or 'Discipline' as the game calls it, and a good skipper is always aware of the welfare of his crew. These are the sorts of things that take Silent Hunter's approach and flesh it out, make it even more sim-like. We will see how well I think it is done.

After making all of the selections, it takes time to load, a day or two to get it all on board, which is the sort of touch that adds authenticity to the proceedings.

Next we were assigned some navigation and diving instruction, and that went well. It's simple to plot new courses, do the dives, set speed and depth. I left my berth in real-time on the bridge, just soaking it all in, watching the gates swing open to allow us out of the port. Walking through the boat is a delight, passing the crewmen assigned to the engine room, or sweeping the deck. Opening closets to see what's inside, and that one's the head. The interior is really fantastic. Not all that different than say SH4, but better, more alive, imparting the sesnation that you are on a real boat with a real crew who go about their duties and spend off time playing cards or sleeping.

Next up is torpedo training, and here I ran in to some trouble. I wonder if my difficulty setting choices conflict with the training. I set everything to hardest setting, because this is how I want to play, but I think it fouls up the way the tutorial is supposed to walk you through a solution and fire the fish. Not sure, but it clearly didn't go as designed, so I'll give that another go later.

All in all, my first impressions of UBOAT are superb. I think I happen to be well-suited to a game like this, or maybe the other way around, but I've been at this a long time, as many here at SimHQ have as well, and I think this game will prove a winner. I loved just making my skipper, choosing his clothing and accessories, which is the sort of thing I almost universally ignore in other games. His name is Otto Popp. Let's see how he does

I attempted the torpedo training again, first trying to change my settings, but that doesn't seem possible after starting a career. So I needed to start anew and chose to re-do the training missions in order. There's no requirement to complete them, but it gave me a chance to acclimate more to the mechanics and UI.

I had the idea I would play in first-person restricted mode, like I do in Silent Hunter, but that locks you out of the section view, which is the side-on compartment point of view. And as the game is as much of a management game as a submarine sim, having this makes things easier, plus it's just cool to look things over, issue commands from this perspective and watch the crewmen carry out your orders. Having outside views also makes the port-side operations a lot faster, when in first-person I was needing to actually walk everywhere, climb ladders, open hatches and the like, which is fine, but takes longer. There's an achievement called Ace of the Depths which requires completing any campaign with 90% difficulty settings, and I'd like to qualify for that down the road, but for now, more relaxed settings are good. Like the visibility meter, which details your surfaced visibility, sound signature and all the factors that contribute. Having this on streamlines learning how it all works, and I can shut it down after a few missions.

My first settings disallowed torpedo solutions from crew members and the tutorial requires this when it asks the player to right click on the target ship to start the procedure. With it disabled, you're stuck. So if you want to do this tutorial be sure to wait to crank up the settings. I want to fire my torpedoes, operate the TDC, solve the solution manually. You can assign crew to these stations and arrive at it all rather automatically if you wish.

After using torpedoes and the deck gun to sink a couple ships, there are a few more training missions, a practice patrol in the North Sea with some trouble to deal with, another showing you how to install upgrades to the boat, dismiss and recruit crew and these sorts of things. Training for Otto Popp and U-48 is now complete. The boat has been provisioned for war patrol (with a mix of G7a and G7e). Time to put it to the test.

I gave this a spin. Did the tutorials and my first mission. I was supposed to drop a spy off to get intel on Portsmouth, the drop was one of the bays just to the west of it. I figured I'd sail there at night, hunker down during the day just outside of the bay and try to push in at night. Good in theory, and I eventually got it to work, but I failed multiple times. I did save it at the start of the mission. I never knew why I kept failing and resorted to save scumming.

It turns out that the shallow water I beached my Uboat in for the night was just a hair shallower than periscope depth. I told my crew not to use the periscope because I knew that it would get spotted this close to the mouth of a bay with traffic going in and out. Turns out that only works for the attack scope, if you're at periscope depth the crew will always try to use the observation scope which always got spotted. The only way around that was to take control in first person of an officer, order them to the observations scope and lower it, then just sit staring at the lowered scope view all day. It was tedious. I wish there was just a command to keep it lowered and according to the forums it used to be a thing, so it's either broken or they hopefully put it back in.

Once I dropped the spy off and got back into the channel I was told to make a diversion at Portsmouth. So I caught a gunboat unawares as it was leaving port with my deck gun. It raised all kinds of hell and several boats from all over the AO were called in to look for me. Luckily I skedaddled as soon as that gunboat went down so I was long gone when they showed up.

It's a neat little sub game. Has a focus on the crew morale and it's the first one that really took noise, light, morale, supplies, fuel, and air quality to this degree.

I gave this a spin. Did the tutorials and my first mission. I was supposed to drop a spy off to get intel on Portsmouth, the drop was one of the bays just to the west of it. I figured I'd sail there at night, hunker down during the day just outside of the bay and try to push in at night. Good in theory, and I eventually got it to work, but I failed multiple times. I did save it at the start of the mission. I never knew why I kept failing and resorted to save scumming.

It turns out that the shallow water I beached my Uboat in for the night was just a hair shallower than periscope depth. I told my crew not to use the periscope because I knew that it would get spotted this close to the mouth of a bay with traffic going in and out. Turns out that only works for the attack scope, if you're at periscope depth the crew will always try to use the observation scope which always got spotted. The only way around that was to take control in first person of an officer, order them to the observations scope and lower it, then just sit staring at the lowered scope view all day. It was tedious. I wish there was just a command to keep it lowered and according to the forums it used to be a thing, so it's either broken or they hopefully put it back in.

Once I dropped the spy off and got back into the channel I was told to make a diversion at Portsmouth. So I caught a gunboat unawares as it was leaving port with my deck gun. It raised all kinds of hell and several boats from all over the AO were called in to look for me. Luckily I skedaddled as soon as that gunboat went down so I was long gone when they showed up.

It's a neat little sub game. Has a focus on the crew morale and it's the first one that really took noise, light, morale, supplies, fuel, and air quality to this degree.

Agreed, although I've only just started and whatever I might not like has yet to show up. Maybe ships sink too fast?

Another thing to add to your list is UBOAT deals with survivors, which is ignored in Silent Hunter. You can rescue and land them, or offer provisions, which is a neat touch. Prize rules, ship boarding are also a focus here missing from SH.

I'm a systems and routines guy and this game appeals to me for this reason too. Mixing management and sim usually proves suitable, in the same way that Motorsports Manager appealed to me. So far I'm digging this game, and it's only just begun. I reckon we'll see many additions and improvements as we go.

One thing that struck me is there is no diving alarm. Did U-boats not have one? There are maneuvering bells, but no Klaxon or gong when diving.

With training compete, which took three weeks, it was time to set sail on our first mission on September 21. Four were available, three to patrol specific grids in the western approaches, and one minelaying mission. I chose an area patrol in AM grid, northwest of Ireland. We went north roundabout the British Isles. I don't know if mines are thing -- with a minelaying mission on offer I rather suspect they are -- so I'll treat it as if there are minefields about. Dived the boat immediately on a couple of aircraft contacts enroute, but otherwise entered the Atlantic with no action to speak of. I don't know yet if ship traffic is persistent, and ships are sailing complete routes from here to there, or if the game spawns loners and convoys in a bubble from the player? Or something else.

The grid missions require you to complete a certain distance within it, with side objectives on this one of 7,000 tons of merchant shipping, and we received a radio message from BdU to sink a specific ship which was reported to be carrying new hydrophone technology to Liverpool I think it was, and it would be a blow to the enemy to put it on the bottom. Throughout the cruise we had been making routine sound sweeps, periodic dives to 40 meters to see what we can pick up on the sound gear. As skipper you have to assign these stations, run a schedule, let everyone get some shut eye, or pull a shift yourself. The player can freely move between each officer and assume their duties or go first person view.

Close in off the north coast of Ireland on October 1, we finally picked up a contact on one of these sweeps. Multiple screws detected, a convoy. Surfaced and set off in that direction, unsure yet of their course. Soon after this we got the request to sink the specific ship, which I assumed would be in the convoy we had just found, but really, it could be anywhere. I guessed though it was just a mechanic the game throws at you, and picks a ship out and assigns it as a target. All rather gamey if I'm honest, as this was not a thing in the war, control assigning specific ships out of convoys, other than obvious ones like sink the jeep carrier fool! Anyway, it's a game and I want to accrue renown and cash, so I'll play along. The convoy was well escorted with at least one four-stack destroyer and several corvettes. It was night and I found myself submerged right in their path.

I found myself in such a position, rather than out on the flank quarter where I'd prefer to be on my first convoy attack, because this game handles detection and tracking in a good way. In those Silent Hunter AARs I posted, when I mentioned using map contact updates, I reasoned that WW2 boats had tracking parties, a number of men assigned to running a plot and collating the data they gathered. Using MCU for me represents this, but I don't like how it has unfailing accuracy. In most good SH mods the direction or allegiance are not shown, but the position is precise. I want the accuracy to be dependent on the quality of the crew and other factors. And this is how it is handled in UBOAT. Contacts appear on the map when picked up by hydrophones, but approximate positions and courses, and as you put more officers and sensors on the effort the more precise the marker becomes. I'd guess that as my crew gain experience I'll see some difference, but maybe not? But it imparts exactly that sense of teamwork, of a crew, that is missing in SH. These sorts of things give UBOAT a bit of a RPG feel. Ship's smoke too is better than Silent Hunter. It can be seen over the horizon, which feels perfect.

Having started over with relaxed settings, this first attack was done with a sort of automated process. You assign officers to the stations, and then order them to calculate a solution. Again, the more crew and sensors you have on the job, the faster it gets done. When submerged, an officer each on the hydrophones, observation scope and attack scope will 'work together' to arrive at the solution, determining automatically the target's course, AoB, speed and type. Once the solution accuracy reaches a suitable percentage, you fire the torpedoes with a button and off they go, gyros set. You can alter torpedo speed, depth and salvo spread. It's all pretty detailed, and torpedoes need constant routining while on patrol, especially electrics. Torpedoes need to be warmed, tubes flooded. Most of this can be set to automatic, or you can choose to be more hands on if you want.

With the convoy bearing down on me I would be able to fire from both ends and set up on a 4,500 ton mast-stack-mast freighter passing astern. My very first war-shot in UBOAT was a good one, detonating just behind the superstructure and it slowed and heeled out of line. Turning to the bow tubes I needed to quickly avoid a freighter bearing down on me by scooting forward and then spotted a warship sailing in the next column. Looked like a cruiser, and the crew identified it as County class. It wasn't an escort I don't think, just sailing in convoy at about 7 knots and I hit it with a two-fan and it blew up and sank. By now the escorts were looking for me, it was midnight and they had searchlights on. I took a shot at a four-stack destroyer clipping along at 24 knots just to see if I could hit it and missed.

With one more torpedo loaded up front I looked for the target ship and finally found it sailing in the last position of the far column. A medium freighter of about 5,500 tons, we hit it from point blank range of 500 meters with a T2 electric, waiting for it steady on it's swing as it constant helmed, alerted to the attack. The crew abandoned ship and it stood on it's stern, but must have grounded, or one watertight compartment still had enough air in it to give it just enough buoyancy to keep the bow sticking out of the water. With the escorts closing in I went deep, but that's just 100 meters here and I was a little worried. Two corvettes ganged up to drop several long patterns around me, quite unnerving, but we managed to evade them and slipped away after a couple hours. My crew was 'stressed' but none broke. One crewman had flipped out in one of the training missions, by design, and he was cashiered upon return to port and replaced.

We surfaced to air the boat and secure the recharge and radioed control of our adventures, which is also how you get paid. Can I be DF'd? I don't want to tempt fate so I wait until nightfall and then move away. The ship hit with the stern tube did not sink I guess and I set a search pattern along the convoy route hoping to find it straggling but it got away. The target ship with the bow sticking out was polished off with the deck gun. I see the journal, but does it show tonnage somewhere while on patrol? I reckon that was about 15,000 tons, 10k for the cruiser. With the side mission to get 7,000 tons of merchant shipping not yet met I remain on patrol. We came outbound on one engine so have plenty of fuel and only need about a quarter tank to get back to Wilhemshaven. With the right settings you are offered to end the mission and teleport back to base, but I think I'll sail home. Maybe I can get a couple more first.

Training was cool, but this first real patrol has been a lot of fun.

This shot shows the map screen soon after we had detected the convoy. Something didn't add up quite frankly, as the message directing U-48 to target the specific ship noted the ship was inbound to England, but the report gave a course of 275, which is away from England. And ON convoys are 'outbound north'. This didn't present any difficulties, but this sort of information could possible lead you astray.

There are several map styles, and I've only used the default so far, but I will check out the others. You can see our objectives, including the name of the target ship, the SS Point Pleasant Park. In the upper right is information like time at sea, depth under keel, wind velocity and current coordinates. In the lower right are the officer portraits. Officer on left is routining the torpedo in tube 3. Continuing to the right, there is an officer in the diesel engine room, the radio, hydrophones and finally, the skipper, on the bridge. Top right are icons to monitor your boat (battery, fuel, etc). Speed, depth and rudder telegraphs are here as well. Compressed air is vital to a submarine of course and you need to get in the habit of turning on the compressor as soon as you surface, to replace that which was used to blow ballast when surfacing.

I think that radio message actually had said Liverpool TO Halifax, and was not in error.

Anyone know why I am not getting achievements? I've done Scapa Flow, sank 15k, won IC1, IC2, Knight's Cross with Oak leaves and more, but no achievements have fired.

Thinking that when I had accidentally opened the console I might have disabled them, I started a new career in U-96, starting in January of 1941 (type VIIC out of La Rochelle) and sank 17k in merchant shipping on first patrol but still no achievement.

I worked out the achievements. These were only recently added, and can currently only be gotten in the unstable beta branch. They will be wiped when the full release hits in a couple days, so we can start over.

One of my favorite things about this game is the fact there are other submarines out there. They send contact reports, or request assistance, and it seems, actually attack and destroy enemy shipping. Yesterday, while on patrol in the North Sea, we received a message to look for a U-Boat which had not been heard from. We arrived at the location and found the boat adrift. Sent a boarding party to investigate and they reported all on board dead from a mine (which didn't sink the boat!). We were then instructed to put it under which we did with the deck gun. I like feeling part of a wider effort, and seeing kameraden at sea.

Thomsen!



I did the Scapa Flow mission, to re-enact Prien's famous sortie. Unbelievably it all went well and we sank Royal Oak at anchor and slipped out despite a massive number of warships looking for us. There are mines I believe, as the game suggests, though I have yet to see any. Sub nets too, and these were an obstacle on the infil and exfil at Scapa Flow.

Royal Oak as it is called in the (early access) game, but which is actually Rodney or Nelson, with the distinctive all turrets forward.




The nicely done mission summary screen

Switching to the unstable beta branch was both exciting and disappointing.

The standard version you get when buying or installing the game now is a version from January. So when you swap over to the beta it reveals many additions and improvements.

I was thrilled to see that the steps I need to take to conduct routine sound sweeps are all now contained under one button. Superb! It's not just a matter of diving in this game and then surfacing like it is in Silent Hunter. In UBOAT I need to order the dive, assign an officer to the various stations like the hydrophones and scopes. Then order surface after a short interval, reassign the officers and start the compressor to replenish the compressed air. This beta has a button that does all this in one click.

It also has additional boat types (II, VIIC/41) and more campaigns as well as other additions. Looking forward to the full release

It was disappointing because I had noticably worse performance, especially mini-pauses that break the flow.

Just re-installing this after reading through your thread. I've been futzing around in unmodded Silent Hunter III and IV the last few months and had actually forgotten about 'Uboat' (and Wolfpack) so this is timely lol. I messed around with Uboat when it first went in to EA but went back to SH series, but since the full release is this week I guess I should get some training in prior. I'm looking forward to reading more of your adventures. Cheers!

If you crash dive, the alarm will sound. You can trigger it (or cancel it) manually on the telegraph. If that is the alarm you are looking for!

Yes, thanks. I'd expect something for any routine dive too, like on US boats. It's a fine point I have to say I am not sure what the historical answer is. I must find out!



I think it's worth it. When this game released it got a knock as the Sims in subs, but since then the game has taken a slightly different course, and has become more like the other sort of 'sim'. I really like it so far. I've dropped about 30 hours in to it already. There are a few things I don't like or wish to be added or altered, but overall I'm impressed with UBOAT and am having a good time with it.

I talked about how cool it is to have other submarines out there with you. These boats can also send beacon signals, which was the primary method of course that U-Boats used to gather. It works beautifully, homing me in. And now we have two boats working over the convoy, splitting the defenses. No sweeter sound than distant depth charging. The AI boats seem to prioritize escorts too, or maybe it's just worked out that way. In one convoy attack in the North Sea, all that survived were one merchant ship and a lonely corvette, and no warships were sunk by my boat in this encounter. Having AI boats adds so much. Silent Hunter should definitely have this. But we've known this forever.

I am using relaxed targeting, allowing crew members to calculate the solution. But I've fallen in to sort of a hybrid approach. The only difficult thing in torpedo attacks, when having map contacts on, is determining speed. Angle on the bow is easy, and range is too, using the map tools. I have no nomograph in the game here, which is what I use in SH to find the target's speed. The crew are very useful for working out the speed.

Targeting data can be entered manually in the UZO or attack scope screen. Works perfectly as long as I know -- or guess right -- the speed. In convoy attacks this is nice since it speeds everything up, rather than waiting for the crew to do it. It also allows me to be more effective at night. Visual range is short at night, and if a player is not using the 'darker nights' setting, he can see a lot farther than the crew, who are considered to be using the darker nights, reducing their view range so much that surface or periscope attacks at night become very difficult, due to how close you need to be to the target to calculate the solution automatically. I think I'll print out a nomograph.

I was going to comment on the awards system. In my first career I won the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves too quickly, as I thought and was awarded before the Knight's Cross, which was skipped over. I started a new career when working out achievements, and this time around it has been better paced. I had done Scapa Flow in the first career, and that battleship must have been worth a lot. Because in this new career the Knights Cross was awarded at about the right time, with around 100,000 tons sunk. 200,000 was the threshold for Oak Leaves during the war. I don't see anywhere that the game is keeping a running total of my tonnage, but adding up each patrol so far it is close to 100k, probably a little over. Playing with 'semi-realistic' torpedo reliability means the fish rarely fail, so big bags are easier to get, and my best patrol so far is 43,000, not including warships, which are not tallied for whatever reason, but probably factor in to the awards system.

Aircraft are no joke, as it should be. Planes should be the biggest threat to survival in a U-Boat game. Tempting fate I have yet to be sunk (61% difficulty) but aircraft have been close to pulling it off. It feels really good, and they will get me one of these days.

Destroyers and corvettes I'm still working out. My last patrol in the North Sea (April 1940) I did a couple convoy attacks. Reaching attack position and firing torpedoes has been straightforward. But once the the warships are alerted by the hits they come looking. They found me and hunted pretty relentlessly, for about three hours. I kept feeling like I had given them the slip, but they managed to reacquire my boat. Not that deep here so it was nailbiting and I loved it. Having sound bearings on the map (and improved hydrophones with all-around coverage) allows me to react in real-time, keeping my silhouette narrow. Without this I maybe would have been sunk. I have the AI set to medium difficulty at the moment.

I took a mining mission, which is maybe the first time I've ever laid mines in a sub game? Can't recall it, maybe in SH2 or something? The location was off the island of Portland in the Channel. It all went well, never even saw a warship until I had left the channel. I wonder if those mines can sink a ship later in the career, and if I would get notification?

I've taken some screens which I forgot to attach before leaving for work, and I'll add some more later.

Full release on Friday

I kind of wish the torpedo tutorials were made a bit better in the less glitchy sense, and less rigid in how you approach a target ship and find the firing solution. I've replayed the attack on the small freighter three times, twice 'by the book' and once my own approach. Each time finding a new freeze up point or endless loop lol. Once from navigation derp, once from missing an instruction to order the XO to the attack scope (I was on the attack scope, yet for some reason my XO couldn't replace me lol), and once an endless loop unable to clic on the enemy ship info box despite the vessel being in visual range. But I suppose once one gets out of the tutorial mission then you are free to do as you please. I wonder if the glitches I'm getting aren't from using the time acceleration? Iirc that used to be a thing in SHIV. My only other gripe is the camera movement which is not a big deal.

Anyway, whinging aside, I've spent about four hours getting comfortable enough to start a fresh early war campaign when it comes off EA on Friday. The '39-42 period is probably my favorite anyway, so I'll start September '39 and see how long I last. I'd like to play hardcore but I dislike micro-managing in games though as I find that terribly unrealistic imo.

I like being able to set up my own divisions and work schedules via the game interface-- I used to keep my roster of crew/officers on paper when playing SHIII/IV, along with the watch change times. I also enjoy the pace of UBoat, it seems less gamey than SH series, and I'm getting the distinct feeling that patience is really king here. Overall I'm finding the immersion quite good, regardless of game mode chosen (I also really like the ability to walk around in the boat, lol). Definitely going to get a bunch of hours in.

Ha I just noticed Thomsen! in your sig, a line I used above when showing the other U-Boat.

Good flick.

I cannot say what might have gone wrong on your tutorial attempts, but here are a few things I do when using the crew solutions.

Assuming submerged periscope attack, I put three men on the job. Skipper goes to the attack scope, XO to the observation scope and best soundman on the 'phones. A fourth officer goes on the TDC, another on depth keeping and one on command station (seven officers with the last guy in a free role). In the tutorial you won't have so many officers yet, so both scopes and phones are priority. All three scopes and phones guys can then be put on the solution calculation, speeding it up (there are also skills you can assign later to speed this up by about 25%). Or you can assign them to different targets in a convoy or task force to be working out several solutions at the same time, but more slowly. As a solution passes 70% I might switch one officer to start the next target. Once shots are fired, all get switched to a new target (if present)

Once the solution is generated well enough to allow you to click the torpedo interface, I open it up and flood tube(s). This is important to do early, since the gyros will start off wherever it was last used. So if your last shot was a stern shot, it takes quite a while for that to be cranked around 180 degrees for your bow shot. Use the map to watch it work, and I bet this is the cause of many of the complaints I see where the player says the torpedoes went in the opposite direction.

Once torpedoes are fired, it is necessary to click the X to close the tubes overlay or your next shots will still be on the last target attacked.

I recall having trouble replacing me on the attack scope too in the tutorial, but I was new and just assumed it was because I didn't know what I was doing. Out on patrol in the career proper I no longer have this issue, but maybe it's because of my routine now to put each officer on the same stations every attack. I like routines lol.

Routines are good especially in the heat of a fight, allowing you to think on the current situation instead of wasting time fungering around, or forgetting to order someone to do some needed task. I think part of my trouble in the torpedo scenario was my own impatience, momentarily forgetting that orders take time to be implemented, like course changes, depth changes etc. (unlike SH, where for the most part, orders were instantaneous). I'd not thought of the gyro settings and so on being set prior to flooding the tubes, (hurr durr, lol) and how that would affect the shots, especially in the deterioration of a solution as the enemy draws nearer or we close in. Thanks for that! Good reminder. I'm hoping to re-run the torpedo scenario this evening just so I can get the 'rewards' (if any- I think it's some purchasing power...coin...)

Yes indeed. There is command delay, a nice touch. I've always liked this sort of thing going back to Combat Mission Barbarossa. Having an officer on the station, plus helpers, plus maybe experience? will reduce the delay.

There are also specialization points you will earn which are assigned to ratings, and allow you to do things like reduce diving time.

The gyro thing caught me by surprise. I would think the gyro is on the torpedo, and each one would be loaded aboard with a standard gyro setting, likely 0 degrees. But maybe that's not how it works, and it is a ship-mounted device that sets something on the torpedo? I need to learn about this

It's definitely something to leave in settings, the solution drawn on the map, until you've watched it working a few times. Otherwise torpedo track would appear rather random.

Once you get through training and head out on patrol it will all fall together I think. I'm interested in your progress and experiences, so please keep posting.

Here are a couple of the shots I snapped, to whet the whistle in advance of the full release.

I keep droning on about having other submarines out there with you, and how awesome that is, but here my U-48 surfaces after being held down by convoy escorts for three hours. In the background sails the remains of the convoy. The light above the ships is from the escorts firing snowflakes. The other U-Boat was still in contact, possibly, or probably, helping me finally shake my tormentors.





Here is the attack periscope view, with the targeting data entered at the bottom. In UBOAT, angle on the bow is a positive number if the target ship is sailing from port, and a negative number when approaching from starboard






Images may be too dark, depending on your monitor/settings I guess

The map in UBOAT is very nicely done. There are several types available, and I mean to check them all out, but I really like the default (paper) map. It has the German naval grid as you'd expect, and is dynamic to reflect the state of the war ashore. Here you see the invasion of France has begun. By the time I returned from this patrol, and refit the boat, France had fallen and we now have bases on the Atlantic Coast. Nation allegiance is shown, and occupied countries labeled. It also leaves all of my scratch on the map persistently, which, over time, starts to show the patterns and locations where my attacks have been coming, to help piece together a picture. Very nice




On my last completed patrol we were assigned the BF grid near the western end of the Channel, but enroute were reassigned a patrol sector in the North Sea. While so engaged, we got a report from U-53 of a convoy which had just departed Hartlepool, headed for London. Homing in on U-53's beacon signal, we found the convoy very, very close inshore, in very shallow water.

Pinned against the shoreline, the ships were sitting ducks. Sent one to the bottom, which made the others scatter, and a tanker ran right on to the beach. U-53 then arrived and sank another ship, while we blew up the stranded tanker.

Here you see the other boat firing a torpedo which sank the target, while my U-48 closes in on the 11,000 ton tanker.



This is the section view, showing all compartments and machinery, with the sailors resting or performing their tasks

I *think* I'm ready, having run through the tutorials and brushed up on tactics. The torpedo tutorial finally completed...sort of...enough that I feel comfortable. I'm set at about 70% realism, normal mode not hardcore to start. Once I get used to the whole management thing, I'll probably set it harder. Is anyone using the 'food use' setting? If so, what are you looking at for onboard food supply? I haven't looked to see what the daily consumption is. Has anyone determined if the weight of food, supplies, torps, ammo etc actually affects the subs performance as the items are consumed? I'm unsure as to how much has been simulated.

I had it turned on, but I didn't pay much attention to it on the short, early war patrols I've been on so far.

Reading wikis and forums has a ton of conflicting information. The consensus seems to be less variety of food with higher stacks. Otherwise it'll pull from all different sources and so you'll use tons more food per day. Consumption rate is 6 units perday, but it seems to pull that from every stack, so if you had 3 types of food, you'd actually burn 18 units per day. If you had just a giant sack of potatoes, it would just be 6 units per day. I don't know if that's fixed yet or not. Also, running on 5x speed seems to cause food usage to be much higher than it should. You do get a small morale bonus for having a variety of food though. I also don't know if crew size/number of officers has any changes to that.