Suggestions from a submariner
Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2015 11:01 pm
I know Barotrauma isn't trying to be a simulator, but there's a few things I think could change that would make gameplay more in-depth and easier to a degree, while also adding some form of realism.
-The reactor/power system
First off, everything in a modern submarine runs off of steam. The reactor is nothing but a hot rock, it doesn't produce any electricity directly. What it does is superheat water, turn it into extremely high pressure steam, which is then ran through the engine and generator turbines in the engineering spaces. This allows the reactor to operate at a fixed level all the time, the turbines are what regulate power output.
Currently, the wiring system is limited by the controls of the reactor. It takes time to heat up/cool down, so if a component on a circuit is activated, often other things will shut off due to the power draw increasing and the reactor taking time to automatically adjust. The Navigation Terminal is the biggest example of this, doing something like turning on supercapacitors or multiple pumps often makes nav go out for a moment while the reactor compensates.
A fix to this could be the inclusion of generator turbines. You could have a dedicated "steam" wire for use between the reactor and engines/generators. The output of the reactor would have to be sufficient to meet the load of all components on the sub, but putting it higher than the turbines can use would blow them out with steam overpressure. Perhaps this explosion could be extremely lethal. Turbines regulate much faster than the temps of the reactor can, so they can quickly adjust to the power demands on the circuit. More turbines = higher reactor temp required to supply them all. For example, a ship with just an engine and one generator turbine might only require a temp of 3000, whereas a ship with 2-3 turbines might require 5-7000. Higher temp = more steam pressure.
This would also fix the problem of junction boxes shorting out due to too much power. With the current system, if all that's on a circuit is the nav terminal and some lights, if you turn off the terminal then all of the boxes will short out as the power is much higher than the load for the moments it takes the reactor to cool down. With quick reacting generators, things could switch on/off on a circuit and the supplied power would rarely be higher than the load for longer than a short moment.
-Railguns
Right now, sonar can detect enemies far outside visual range. These enemies should be able to be engaged from a distance via a radar screen. Perhaps when the railguns are manned, a "firing line" appears on the navigation/sonar terminals showing where the gun is pointed, letting the captain direct the gunners where to put rounds. Obviously, due to latency and the resolution of the terminal, this would be highly inaccurate against small monsters like shrimp. But it could be used to engage super huge monsters like Molochs, at least getting a shot or two in before they're right on top of the boat.
-Suits/Masks
I like how there's an attempt to nerf diving suits and keep people from always rushing to get one from the start, but the vision nerf could use some re-working. Instead of making everything darker/pulling in around the edges, it should just kill all peripheral vision. So you see perfectly clear in a cone out in front of your character, but pitch black behind, above, and below you. I also don't think masks should affect vision since they don't go over the eyes. I'm not sure how effective or possible it is with the limitations of the game, but an occurrence the other day gave me an idea. A player glitched when pulling my limp body around, so when I woke up, he was still "attached" to me. I could pull away, but I would always slowly be dragged toward him. I went outside the boat to fix something and found he could drag me all around the outside of the boat just by running around. Why not do something like this with breathing masks? On real-life submarines, we have EABs we put on and hook hoses up to valves mounted on the walls to get air from the tanks directly during fires and whatnot. Perhaps the rarely-used diving masks could be switch out with EABs, and valves connected to the oxygen generator (via the hold space and click method) mounted throughout the boat could be hooked up to for unlimited air (as long as there's power). The caveat would be they are tethered to that spot and can't deviate more than a handful of feet. During flooding casualties, people with welders and dive suits could run around repairing shit, but the players who didn't get to grab oxygen tanks or a suit could still stay alive by hooking up to a valve and waiting it out.
-Fire
Now sure how possible it is, but if fires could be implemented they definitely should be. Fire is the number one fear on any submarine, it's extremely lethal in that environment. Fires don't have to cause a lot of physical damage and all that shit, but they could suck the air from the boat extremely fast. So, for example, if the reactor blows up it should also catch fire and players wouldn't have long to put it out before suffocating to death. The pump in feature of non-ballast tank pumps would become useful for that kind of thing, but it's a tradeoff because putting out of a fire would also bring the boat down.
That's all I have for now. I'm a sonar tech, would love to pitch some ideas for the navigation system but I think it would end up being overly complex. Actual sonar systems aren't intuitive as far as reading/operating them goes.
-The reactor/power system
First off, everything in a modern submarine runs off of steam. The reactor is nothing but a hot rock, it doesn't produce any electricity directly. What it does is superheat water, turn it into extremely high pressure steam, which is then ran through the engine and generator turbines in the engineering spaces. This allows the reactor to operate at a fixed level all the time, the turbines are what regulate power output.
Currently, the wiring system is limited by the controls of the reactor. It takes time to heat up/cool down, so if a component on a circuit is activated, often other things will shut off due to the power draw increasing and the reactor taking time to automatically adjust. The Navigation Terminal is the biggest example of this, doing something like turning on supercapacitors or multiple pumps often makes nav go out for a moment while the reactor compensates.
A fix to this could be the inclusion of generator turbines. You could have a dedicated "steam" wire for use between the reactor and engines/generators. The output of the reactor would have to be sufficient to meet the load of all components on the sub, but putting it higher than the turbines can use would blow them out with steam overpressure. Perhaps this explosion could be extremely lethal. Turbines regulate much faster than the temps of the reactor can, so they can quickly adjust to the power demands on the circuit. More turbines = higher reactor temp required to supply them all. For example, a ship with just an engine and one generator turbine might only require a temp of 3000, whereas a ship with 2-3 turbines might require 5-7000. Higher temp = more steam pressure.
This would also fix the problem of junction boxes shorting out due to too much power. With the current system, if all that's on a circuit is the nav terminal and some lights, if you turn off the terminal then all of the boxes will short out as the power is much higher than the load for the moments it takes the reactor to cool down. With quick reacting generators, things could switch on/off on a circuit and the supplied power would rarely be higher than the load for longer than a short moment.
-Railguns
Right now, sonar can detect enemies far outside visual range. These enemies should be able to be engaged from a distance via a radar screen. Perhaps when the railguns are manned, a "firing line" appears on the navigation/sonar terminals showing where the gun is pointed, letting the captain direct the gunners where to put rounds. Obviously, due to latency and the resolution of the terminal, this would be highly inaccurate against small monsters like shrimp. But it could be used to engage super huge monsters like Molochs, at least getting a shot or two in before they're right on top of the boat.
-Suits/Masks
I like how there's an attempt to nerf diving suits and keep people from always rushing to get one from the start, but the vision nerf could use some re-working. Instead of making everything darker/pulling in around the edges, it should just kill all peripheral vision. So you see perfectly clear in a cone out in front of your character, but pitch black behind, above, and below you. I also don't think masks should affect vision since they don't go over the eyes. I'm not sure how effective or possible it is with the limitations of the game, but an occurrence the other day gave me an idea. A player glitched when pulling my limp body around, so when I woke up, he was still "attached" to me. I could pull away, but I would always slowly be dragged toward him. I went outside the boat to fix something and found he could drag me all around the outside of the boat just by running around. Why not do something like this with breathing masks? On real-life submarines, we have EABs we put on and hook hoses up to valves mounted on the walls to get air from the tanks directly during fires and whatnot. Perhaps the rarely-used diving masks could be switch out with EABs, and valves connected to the oxygen generator (via the hold space and click method) mounted throughout the boat could be hooked up to for unlimited air (as long as there's power). The caveat would be they are tethered to that spot and can't deviate more than a handful of feet. During flooding casualties, people with welders and dive suits could run around repairing shit, but the players who didn't get to grab oxygen tanks or a suit could still stay alive by hooking up to a valve and waiting it out.
-Fire
Now sure how possible it is, but if fires could be implemented they definitely should be. Fire is the number one fear on any submarine, it's extremely lethal in that environment. Fires don't have to cause a lot of physical damage and all that shit, but they could suck the air from the boat extremely fast. So, for example, if the reactor blows up it should also catch fire and players wouldn't have long to put it out before suffocating to death. The pump in feature of non-ballast tank pumps would become useful for that kind of thing, but it's a tradeoff because putting out of a fire would also bring the boat down.
That's all I have for now. I'm a sonar tech, would love to pitch some ideas for the navigation system but I think it would end up being overly complex. Actual sonar systems aren't intuitive as far as reading/operating them goes.