Great thanks Genbrien, very nice of you to say

Well about complex management, I do remember a podcast from Three Moves Ahead saying how in every case, somewhere in the world there will be public for any additional feature - I think they were talking about CMANO. Can't fault them, I believe they're actually right, but I have to say that giving the player the control over hangar and flight deck spotting ain't exactly the priority. So, yeah, we'll keep it simple and yet entertaining for now

We will probably launch of Steam if we are not offered other alternatives. Steam does allow for some extra perks, and we are really keen on providing the game with achievements to broaden its mainstream appeal. But we're far from being ready for a store page. We'll wait for a vertical slice first, otherwise it's just style over substance.

Videos will be easier to access once our website will be set-up. Unfortunately our dear SimHQ forums have issues with embedded videos as of late, not sure what is happening... But here is a list of what was shown so far

https://youtu.be/xb6mp9OIrlQ

https://youtu.be/2YdtUFkXLNA

https://youtu.be/3Z1-n1Irwc0

https://youtu.be/1JoS0JKjVi8

https://youtu.be/jOvfbNeg-24

https://youtu.be/0Ymg95e-86Y

https://youtu.be/dpWyJQqe5bs

https://youtu.be/xaWSGimbIz4

https://youtu.be/Tj9mt2GZNO0

https://youtu.be/sHjHwR2F0Os

Enjoy
I'll be back soon with a working website address. The contents are under review as we speak. Cheers!

In the meantime, here are a few candies - so that Dash can see we are really serious about providing everything we need for target practice, whether it's the air or the surface kind
Here they are, enjoy

The Lexington class model, updated to our current standards









Yorktown class in her MS21 livery (that pretty much means Big E, as she was the only one which got painted that way)











Additional views of the South Dakota model





Additional views of the Atlanta model





Pensacola and her unique main battery configuration



Our cute little Mahan DD class







Benson class, on her way to join the roster







North Carolina, in the works

I'm drooling!!!!

Wait wait! I had forgotten Myoko, oops....!
Isn't she lovely (and SUPER LOW POLY, actually, makes her all the more attractive)

Keep on drolin', that's what keeps us goin' !

I haven't read the whole thread, but wow, looking great! Are you using the Outerra engine?


Also, when the battleships fire, will their recoil and energy release be so intense that the seas will be disturbed and the deck will roll ever so slightly(unless all of them fired at once)?

Hello! And Thanks!

No, the engine is home-brew! Easier for us, as our dev made it himself and knows it to the last bolt. That way, whenever he has a problem, he's not out there filing a ticket to support - he kicks his own butt instead

The super advanced graphics and physics for gunnery might have to wait for that "surface engagement expansion pack" (c) F4UDash4
For now the firing of a gun will not have an effect on the physics of the ships. Yes, seas will be disturbed but in all honesty it's eye candy (as it is in every game out there, including World of Warships). So, no ballistics-induced roll, but in real life it is barely noticeable compared to actual sea-state induced roll (which will be present though!). On the other hand, near-misses will be simulated, and so will underwater hits. This means advanced ballistic-induced physics on the receiving end, at least

I promise not to charge royalties for your usage of the phrase!




Recoil effects on the firing ship are vastly overstated in most media, so no problem with this at all. I would like to see huge billows of smoke and fire at the muzzles however!




YES! This is the important stuff!!

I have to admit that I am super interested!
Near misses and underwater hits will be a great thing.

Thanks gents

A little update. We're really close from going public and announce the game proper, but I thought that you'd enjoy a little sneak peek.

Unfortunately videos still have issues - instead I'll make screenshots of their cover and you'll just have to click on them to watch them.

We were busy with designing the sound in-game sound engine, so that we might finally leave the world of silence. That was a lot of work under the hood, naturally it is not super graphic, but if you have working ears and a good sound system, I am pretty sure that you'll appreciate the difference
Here's the contents, taken from our den at Grogheads. Enjoy and don't hesitate to leave a comment, it's always much appreciated - even when it hurts! ^^

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

We are *that* close from announcing the game and launching the website, but as Robot said you sure are entitled to a little additional update before everything goes live.
As of late we were not very loud as most of the work was done under the hood, providing the engine with all the perks one would expect from a modern game - starting with actual sound. I must say the result ain't half bad, but naturally I am a bit biased. I'll let you judge by yourselves.

Here's our test-bed of a TBD and its twin-wasp roaring, with our sound engine tech in motion.



As you can see, that's true 3D sound right there. It changes with the distance, changes with your viewpoint, and it's real, variable stuff that follows the actual regime of the plane's engine.

The TBD itself is now our reference as our future standard for planes (at least Allied planes) in terms of art and details. Its livery is a fine reproduction of a VT-2 mount from Lexington. You might have seen it last year when the late and unfortunate Paul Allen and his team found Lady Lex at the bottom of the Coral Sea. Here is a reference:



Here are some in-engine views of the work in progress from a few days ago, with work done on reflections and materials.





Our 2D artist is not only good at painting pixel planes and beautiful dioramas, he is also in charge of the portraits gallery. The family is getting bigger everyday. We will eventually have 30+ portraits, most of them depicting actual officers historically involved in carrier combat back in 1942. A cookie for anyone you'll be able to identify in there (except for the fourth chap, whose destiny is to be our kind default sailor-guy, and whose face was originally randomly generated).



Meanwhile, our 3D artist has been very busy with modifying our plane models in order to optimize them further and set a standard for future integration. Like our 2D artist, he has been working on the TBD to produce the original basic texture mapping that will be used as the reference for paintjobs.



Still, he still found some time to work on a few ships - here's a Benson and a very early WiP shot on a PT-Boat, two very common visitors you might come across between Lunga point and Florida island.





We also started the in-game integration of the Flag Plot space. As you might remember, the Flag Plot is to be the main hub for the player, from which he/she will be allowed to access all stations (2D map, maneuver board, ouija board, pilot roster, the air ops board, etc...) by clicking on it or using keyboard shortcuts. It is expected to eventually look like the original concept art, and we only just started processing the larger chunks of the scene into the game proper. Our dev is also working hard on the lighting, as it will have a real effect on the overall feeling and mood. Here are some shots, including concept art, research, light tech business & some of the very early furniture being placed around the room.

First, this is the result of the research and immense talent of our 2D guy. I can't emphasize again enough how blessed I am to have people like him and the rest of my team by my side in this adventure, for it is quite the thrill to marvel at how much creativity and work they seem to put in everything they do.





Here is some basic lighting work:





Of course, the in-game 3D part itself is super WiP, textures and final models are still to be done. But, hey, at least, in two years from now you might be able to say "I was there before it looked cool!"







And, last but not least, our sound engine now also includes environmental effects. You will find below, yet again, a very early attempt at making it work, with the sound of the ocean, of the ship, and flight deck announcements (we'll feature the boatswain's call, the P.A. and even the bugle) all packed in one short video. Again, nothing too big or fancy, all of these are placeholder sounds and might look like very small progress, but it is coming together, step by step. Let's hope we can go the distance, but so far... so good!

In the meantime, enjoy the view and the mood, and see you soon! :coolsmiley:

Great work!

I know the gist of this post was sound... but the ocean in the second video, especially the last 10 seconds.... man that is incredible!

Good work !

Thank you Gents.

It seems I will have to keep working hard in order to get Dash interested all the way until the moment he will be allowed to actually fire a naval gun in anger - even when you show the man a packed, roaring flight deck, he still only sees the water :P

looks really great!

Think I'll re-install IL21946 in the meantime haha

The obvious detailed and loving work the team is putting in really shines through, you've got a great thing going on Admiral

Thank you, you two! Let's hope that we won't let you down...!

Hello there ladies and gentlemen!

Would some of you be kind enough to help us unfortunate devs have a look at our website before we go live Friday with a formal announcement (and topic ;))?
I came to realize that Wordpress formating does translate very differently from a browser to another, and the more users the better experience feedback I'll get before we set sails, especially if you're not checking the internet from your desktop rig.

https://drydockdreams.games/

Thank you in advance to any player with a little time on his/her hands!

For now the only major bug is a small color-based CSS inadequacy across all platforms in the blog section (comment and category footer area) that we expect to solve by tomorrow. But any other observation will be welcome. Then we'll move forward, at last!

Great thanks

Btw - here's the latest video, now that embedding works again
Nothing really new for anyone who has been following the project, but it's good to be able to pack all this in one single file - and gratifying too!

Looking great Admiral, both on my Swedish PC and my iPhone.

Website looks fine to me, Chrome Version 77.0.3865.90

For some reason the video imagery doesn't look quite as sharp as others you've posted previous. Still very good but just a little different. Or it could be me.

One nit to pick: When ships guns fire I'd love to see the smoke produced to linger a bit longer rather than dissipating in just a couple of seconds. Same for smoke from funnel.

Thank you, the both of you!

@F4U max quality is 1080p, that might explain why some video shorts are a bit less crisp as they were in their standalone form. Had to fit the lower common denominator, as they were not all recorded with the same settings over the months.

FX are super WiP of course. The compilation and its content are there mainly so that we might have some materials to apply for subsidies. We'll have actual teaser and trailers for "public consumption" in due time - with lingering smoke and all, fear not

This project is looking great. I love the artwork too. Is there any chance of allowing the player to jump into the cockpit of a flight and fly it like a combat flight sim even if simplistic? Either way this looks excellent. Love the attention to details and immersion.