Hello everyone!

This month we have focused on implementing missions and new game modes.

In the current version of Wolfpack, two game modes are supported: Skirmish mode, and User generated missions.

The new version of Wolfpack will support two (other) game modes: Scenario mode and Career mode.

Career mode is a long form game mode, where players are free to roam the open world using fast travel, completing missions and returning to port to stock up for the next mission. A career is subdivided into chapters.

Scenario mode is a more focused, short form game mode, where the players are tasked with a single, smaller mission that can be completed in one play session.

Both modes are made with the same editor tools, and these will be made available to the players, so that they can create their own scenarios and careers. In both game modes, the game can be saved and continued later.

A career is subdivided into chapters. A chapter has a start and end date. A chapter is finished when the players have gathered enough victory points to win, or when the time runs out, in which case the chapter is lost.

During gameplay, the players are given missions. When a mission is successfully completed, each U-boat that participated is given a number of victory points, according to how much they helped to complete the mission.

In career mode, each u-boat must return to port to hand in these points to the global pool of victory points to complete the chapter. If the U-boat is destroyed on the way back to the port, the points are lost. In scenario mode, points are handed in as soon as the mission is completed.

Career mode can have any number of submarines participating at any given time.

Missions can have several different end states, and these can lead to different missions, depending how a mission was completed (or how it failed).

Missions can have one or several mission objectives. These can be things like “Destroy a specific unit”, “Sink x tonnes of merchants within a given area” and similar. In the mission editor, the victory conditions are represented as a graph of objectives. Objectives can be combined and negated in this graph using and/or/not statements.

This allows the user to set up arbitrary end states for missions, allowing the user to create multiple ways to complete (or fail) a mission. Since each end state can lead to another mission, multiple missions can be chained together to create cohesive story arcs.

Missions take place within the global world map. The world editor allows you to place air, land and sea units as you deem fit anywhere in the world. Units can be grouped and set up with various factions and nationalities, and directed with logical waypoints. You can also place static objects (docks, houses, mine fields, alarm loops and much more) for decorative and gameplay purposes.

You can place triggers and construct complicated logic chains with conditions to create long, in-depth missions that dynamically react to player actions, or to tell a more cinematic story.

Missions can be instantly played and paused within the editor to save time when authoring missions.

Chapters (containing a world state and one or several missions) can be shared on the Steam workshop directly from the editor, and can also be exported as standalone files.

We have added a range finder and a sextant to the player inventory.

Next month we will continue to work on the editor and other server side systems. After this we will start to look at the client side and UI/UX work. Once we have a stable version of the game, we will release it to the testers, and then to the public beta. At this time, we will also begin authoring the “official” Wolfpack campaign. This campaign will also double as a tutorial for new players and mission authors looking to create their own missions and campaigns.

Hello everyone!

This month we have continued to work on the game world. We have implemented Aircraft, Coastal artillery, Aircraft Carriers, Harbours and Airports.

In the current version of Wolfpack, the AI only exists as a single British convoy. The convoy consists of merchants and escorts, and they travel in a straight line until attacked.

The new AI system that we are developing consists of multiple AI unit types that can work in a global context and work with each other to achieve goals. The new AI system supports multiple nations, and AI from different factions can fight against each other. The new AI system also supports neutral units that do not participate in fights.

We have added harbours and airports to the new system. Harbours and airports hold ships and aircraft respectively. The AI system has an AI director that decides which ship needs to move to which harbour, and creates convoys to match those needs. If a ship gets attacked, the AI can decide to send out aircraft from the nearest airport or carrier.

New models are under production. We are currently focused on creating essential assets for the playable corvette, such as the deck gun.

During the next month we will focus on finishing all of the systems required for the open world / career mode to work. This includes some new units, such as mines, nets, detector loops and guard posts. This work also includes more work on the strategic AI, as well as an editor for missions, event triggers and logic.

Hello everyone!

This month we have been working on the mission editor and fast travel system. The editor is coming along nicely - We can spawn units, and save and load the world state. The fast travel system has been completed.

In the new version of Wolfpack, the game will not automatically update the player’s position on the map. The navigator will have to use real navigation tools to figure out where the u-boat is. The fast travel system is built around this concept.

When the u-boat is on the surface, and not in combat, the captain can open the fast travel menu in the map view, and enter a course and a distance to fast travel. The fast travel executes instantly, and the u-boat is now at the new location. If we try to fast travel through land or enemy units, the fast travel will be interrupted at the obstacle. The fast travel action will be automatically recorded in a log. It is now up to the navigator to update the u-boat’s location on the map, using a combination of terrestrial, celestial and radio navigation.

The world map is a height map consisting of ~17 billion pixels. We can not keep this whole map in memory at once, so the map is subdivided into smaller images that are streamed from the hard drive when we move around the world. We wanted fast travel to be instantaneous, so loading all of the images in the path of the fast travel track is out of question. To solve this we have implemented a quad tree. The quad tree allows us to make pixel perfect ray casts from any point in the world map. This makes it possible for us to have instant fast travel, without any loading time required.

The world editor uses the same map view as the world map, but with a different tool set. It allows the user to place units and groups of units using a drag and drop action. The units, and their state can then be saved and recalled. The same system will be used to handle save states during gameplay. These features are implemented, but the unit roster is incomplete. The editor also lacks an undo/redo feature, triggers, weather settings, mission logic, and a host of other functions that we want it to have in the future.

The editor can also be run while playing the game. This allows us to use the editor as a real time debug tool. It also allows the host to do real time editing of the game state, spawning in and out units during gameplay, potentially controlling units like a real time strategy game.

Why are we focusing on the editor and world map? The systems that handle the map and editor are part of the new system core. They are foundational to the new open world gameplay, and thus need to be developed to a working state before we release something for the testers. When these core systems are in place, we can very easily add new content like new units and missions without making any (possibly game breaking) code changes. Thus, the plan remains the same: Wrap up the development of these core systems, release it to the testers, and then, after a period of bug fixing, release it to the public beta.

Hello everyone!

This month we have started to integrate the new AI system into the game, and we have started work on saving and loading the world state and units. We have also continued work on the client side handling of the water, and continued work on the corvette model.

We have started to integrate the tactical AI system into the game. The tactical AI is responsible for steering individual units, as well as groups of units. When a convoy is attacked, it is the job of the tactical AI to decide how many of the escorts it can spare to hunt down the u-boat.

The new AI system can handle ships, aircraft, coastal artillery, anti aircraft guns and hazards like mine fields. It is built to navigate in the global world map.

We have introduced save and load functionality for missions. Missions will in the future be able to be saved and resumed when the host machine turns off—even in online multiplayer, on dedicated servers and normal peer-to-peer hosts. The state of an individual u-boat can also be saved, such that when you return to a specific server, your U-boat will be where you left it.

The new mission editor will use the same format. The mission editor is also being reworked to a full 2D view where you can place units, assign groups, create custom objectives, use waypoints and triggers to construct complex scenarios—as well as linking multiple missions to form “story arcs”.

Missions and save-files are saved to simple text files and can be easily shared. Missions will have the same Steam Workshop functionality as today.

The playable corvette is under development and coming along nicely. Einar is currently modeling the deck gun to high fidelity, and will continue working on the remaining stations of the corvette.

Our highest priority is still to release a playable version of the game as soon as possible! We are making sure that all of the core systems that we need to run the open world game mode are in place, so that we don’t have to make any structural changes that introduce bugs after the code has already been tested.

Hello everyone!

Christmas and New Year’s are getting close, and we’d like to give you an in depth update before the holidays!

Our goal is for Wolfpack to become a server based, truly open world game, with permanent progression and optional pvp. Players will be able to travel anywhere in the world, docking at friendly ports, and resupplying between missions.

To read more about this, check our previous post on the subject.

This requires a lot of changes, since the game is currently built around a session based peer to peer mode, with no save states or progression.

To achieve our vision, we have spent the last year rewriting most of the game’s core systems. The biggest change is that the game is no longer played in a single area, but rather in a continuous open world space with longitude/latitude coordinates. This means that all systems that use positions had to be rewritten. This includes rewriting the map system, collision detection and resolution, and all physics simulation.

We have written our own terrain handler, and rewritten the water system to handle global currents and wind conditions.

We have written new net code from scratch, with a clear separation between server and client, making it easy to run dedicated servers. The new net code is also much more restrictive in what information is sent to which player, and it contains a lot of safety features that the old code lacked, which will be necessary to prevent cheating in pvp.

We have also remade the player controller, so that interactions with systems in the u-boat are more consistent, and we have added an inventory system for handheld equipment.

Right now, all server side systems are complete, and we need to make some updates to the client side to match. Specifically, the client side needs to handle the new water and land systems.

After this is done, we will release a test version to our testers, and bug fixing can begin.
When we have a somewhat stable version, it will be pushed to the public beta, and there it will stay until it is bug free, after which it will be pushed to the main branch.

The next release will have the new map system in place, as well as the new character controller and net code. This release will not have an open world game mode, since that will require us to design missions and a global AI director - Systems that are being designed, but will not be completed by the time this is released.

While Oscar has been preparing the 0.27 patch, Axel has been working on the new AI system, and Einar has been working on the playable corvette. The new AI, and an alpha version of the playable corvette will be included in patch 0.28.

The new AI system will have a tactical as well as a strategic layer that act independently of each other. The strategic layer manages the world state, and directs convoys, escorts, and fleets around the world. The tactical layer handles movement and decision making of individual units and groups of units in the local map (when you are loaded into the game and can see them).

The tactical AI is currently able to handle multiple convoys, fleets, as well as aircraft, coastal defences, mine fields, and more.
Work on the tactical AI is mostly complete, as most underlying systems have been finished.
What remains is implementing individual behaviours, such as specific attack patterns for escorts.

The strategic AI will be added as Campaign Mode is being developed, and will be continuously iterated upon as Campaign Mode expands and reaches its full potential.

Our goal for the playable corvette is a fully equipped multiplayer corvette, and a server based dedicated player versus player mode. We will not be modelling the under deck compartments, but the deck and housing interiors will be fully accessible and will have all equipment.

The corvette will have the following stations:

• Wheelhouse - EOT, Rudder control.
  
• Radio compartment - Radio transmitter and receiver, Typex encryption machine, radio direction finder, radar.
  
• Asdic hut - Asdic/sonar equipment and controls for releasing depth charges.
  
• Bridge - Searchlights, intercom telephones and voice tubes.
  
• Deck gun.
  
• AA gun.

As of now, basic versions of the hull and superstructures such as housing, masts, funnel and stairs have been modeled. The first station of interest is the wheelhouse, where the rudder wheel, EOT, compass has been modeled and partly textured. Equipment for the Asdic hut is also under development, and a previous version modeled by Oscar is coming along nicely. With the fundamental equipment of the wheelhouse modeled, Einar is now working on the deck gun station.

Coding wise, many of the systems for the corvette can be lifted straight from the u-boat with little to no modification to the code, such as guns and steering. The more unique systems, such as radar and active sonar/depth charge systems will have to be implemented from scratch, so they will take a bit longer to put in.

We will add a playable alpha version of the corvette in version 0.28. At this point the rudder, EOT and guns will be usable. The other systems will be added one by one as they are completed.


Our initial goal was to release a version to the test or beta branch before the end of the year, but we are not quite there yet. There are still things we need to finish in order to put a ribbon on it and send it off. We are very excited about things to come in the near future, and we hope you are as well.

Happy Holidays, and we’ll see you in the new year!

Hello everyone!

We are still working on the net code update, but we have some big news.
Going forward we are going to focus on building a new way of playing the game, called Career Mode.
This means changing the development roadmap.

Career Mode is a free roaming, campaign-style game mode, with permanent progression.
In this game mode, you start in 1939 and can play through the entire war. When you quit, progress is saved, so you can continue your game where you left off at a later date. U-boats are free to travel throughout the entire world map, and can use fast travel to quickly traverse great distances.

Career Mode is designed to be the seminal Wolfpack experience—we will keep and continue to maintain the old way of playing wolfpack, now called Scenario Mode, where you play a game on a limited map with predefined objectives, without fast travel.

Our next release (0.27) will include everything in the current beta — along with the new stable net code, and the new world map.

After this release is bug free, we will focus on implementing Career Mode.
Here is an updated road map:

We've been made aware that there are breaking issues in the latest Open Beta build, this branch has now been reverted to the previous Open Beta build while we remedy these issues.

We will take steps internally to prevent similar issues like this from happening again in the future.

We deeply apologize for any inconvenience, and thank you all for your patience and understanding,
The Wolfpack Team

Hello everyone!

Today we have updated the open beta branch, with fixes and improvement for menues and the recognition manual.

We have more updates coming soon.

Hope you are enjoying the weekend,
The Wolfpack Team

Greetings, everyone!

Still looking for a valentine? How about some action at sea during one of our community events?
Unless otherwise mentioned, signups and setup happens in our Community Discord[discord.gg].

Note: All dates and times are in CEST (Central European Summer Time)!

Wolfpack Wedesday
14/2, 21/2, 28/2 - 1:00 AM CEST
Hosted by Colonel Frost

This is a regular community-organized event open to the general population of Wolfpack players. Space is limited. New players are welcome. Captains will be drawn from the cadre vetted and trained for multi-boat tactics published in the base-line division-level rules of engagement. (New players are not required to have read these in advance, but they may be of assistance in understanding what we are doing.) Crews will be assigned to boats from the player pool present in the "open lobbies only" voice channel of the official Wolfpack Discord (WPD) at https://discord.gg/8NVeN7d3. There is an optional sign up link in WP Operations (WPO) Discord: https://discord.gg/3myJa57H. Signing up on WPO will get you an auto ping 30 minutes before the start. Signing up is not a commitment to play or even to show up, nor it is a guaranty there will be space. If you arrive late, you will be assigned to a boat if and when a slot opens. Expect the event to consume three hours. If you need to leave early, you may do so without penalty. The RoE and other useful information can be found in the Operation Order linked in WPD "looking for game" with the game ad.

Torpedo Thursday
15/2, 22/2, 29/2 - 1:00 AM CEST
Hosted by Colonel Frost

This is a regular community-organized event open to the general population of Wolfpack players. Space is limited. New players are welcome. Captains will be drawn from the cadre vetted and trained for multi-boat tactics published in the base-line division-level rules of engagement. (New players are not required to have read these in advance, but they may be of assistance in understanding what we are doing.) Crews will be assigned to boats from the player pool present in the "open lobbies only" voice channel of the official Wolfpack Discord (WPD) at https://discord.gg/8NVeN7d3. There is an optional sign up link in WP Operations (WPO) Discord: https://discord.gg/3myJa57H. Signing up on WPO will get you an auto ping 30 minutes before the start. Signing up is not a commitment to play or even to show up, nor it is a guaranty there will be space. If you arrive late, you will be assigned to a boat if and when a slot opens. Expect the event to consume three hours. If you need to leave early, you may do so without penalty. The RoE and other useful information can be found in the Operation Order linked in WPD "looking for game" with the game ad.

We've addressed and improved the recognition manual filter, ensuring a smoother and more efficient experience.
Stay tuned for upcoming quality of life features that will further improve the recognition manual in the coming weeks.

Work on the network issues are currently in progress, and we're expecting to deploy test builds to our testers soon.

Thank you for your continued support,
The Wolfpack Team