A submarine simulator is a video game in which the player commands a submarine. The usual form of the game is to go on a series of missions, each of which features a number of encounters where the goal is to sink surface ships and to survive counterattacks by destroyers. Submarine simulators are notable for the highly-variable pace of the game; it may take hours of simulated time to get into position to attack a well-defended convoy, and sub simulators typically include an option for players to adjust the ratio of real time to simulated time up and down as desired.
Most submarine simulators use World War II as the setting; its submarine warfare was lengthy and intense, the historical material is extensive, and the limited capabilities of the period's submarines place a high premium on game playing skill. Games usually feature either US submarines in the Pacific Ocean, or German U-boats in the Atlantic Ocean. Another popular category is modern attack submarines, especially those of the also known as "688s" after the hull identification number of the first vessel of the class.
Game displays generally include an overhead map or "radar" view, showing the submarine and any ships whose position can be detected, the periscope view if the sub is close enough to the surface, a set of gauges showing depth and course, and a boat plan showing torpedo availability, damage to various subsystems and other in-game issues that may arise.
The first submarine simulator available to the civilian public was Thorn EMI's Submarine Commander of 1982.
Titles Name Year Setting 1914 Shells of Fury 2007 World War I Battle Submarine 1995 688 Attack Sub 1988 Cold War 688(I) Hunter/Killer 1997 Aces of the Deep 1994 World War II AquaNox series 1996–2020 Hypothetical future conflicts Archimedean Dynasty 1996 Hypothetical 27th century conflict Barotrauma 2023 Moon of Jupiter, distant future Cold Waters 2017 World War III Command: Aces of the Deep 1995 World War II Dangerous Waters 2005 Danger from the Deep 2003 World War II Das Boot: German U-Boat Simulation 1990–91 World War II Deadly Tide 1996 25th century alien invasion Depthcharge 1977 Deep Fighter: The Tsunami Offensive 2000 Fictional undersea nation Dive to the Titanic 2010 Wreck of the RMS Titanic Enigma: Rising Tide 2003/2005 Alternate history World War II Fast Attack: High Tech Submarine Warfare 1996 GATO 1984 Pacific Theatre (World War II) Harpoon 1989 Cold War The Hunt for Red October 1987–90 Cold War Hunter Killer 1989 World War II Iron Lung 2022 Fictional moon, distant future Operation Neptune 1991 Fictional planet Periscope 1966 Radar Mission (Mode B) 1990 Red Storm Rising 1988 World War III Sea Wolf 1976 Silent Depth: Submarine Simulation 2016 Silent Depth 2: Pacific TBA Silent Service 1985 Pacific Theatre (World War II) Silent Service II 1990 Pacific Theatre (World War II) Silent Hunter 1996 Pacific Theatre (World War II) Silent Hunter II 2001 Battle of the Atlantic (World War II) Silent Hunter III 2005 Battle of the Atlantic (World War II) Silent Hunter 4: Wolves of the Pacific 2007 Pacific Theatre (World War II) Silent Hunter 5: Battle of the Atlantic 2010 Battle of the Atlantic (World War II) Silent Steel 1995 SSN-21 Seawolf 1994 Cold War Steel Diver 2011 Fictional 20th century conflict Submarine Commander 1982 World War II Sub Battle Simulator 1987 World War II Sub Command 2001 Cold War Sub Culture 1997 Fictional undersea nation Sub Hunt 1982 Sub Mission 1986 SubRoc-3D 1982 Subwar 2050 1994 Tom Clancy's SSN 1996 Fictional US-China conflict over the Spratly Islands U-boat 1994 World War II Uboat 2024 World War II Up Periscope! 1986 Under the Ice1987 Cold War Virtual Sailor 1999 Wolfpack 1990 World War II
The adventure game Codename: ICEMAN (1989) by Sierra On-line contained a submarine simulator portion.
The vehicle simulator game Naval Ops: Warship Gunner 2 (2006) by Koei features submarine hulls & puts the player through several submarine piloting missions, though several other missions are also restricted against submarine use.
AUV simulators There are also a number of simulators available for underwater robots such as AUVs. These simulators are commonly used by research institutes for testing robot control and coordination algorithms before or during the development of a submarine. One of them is UWSim, the Underwater Simulator, which was developed in the IRSLab for marine robotics research and development. UWSim started with the RAUVI and TRIDENT research projects as a tool for testing and integrating perception and control algorithms before running them on the real robots and has continued its development until today.
See also Maritime simulator Vehicle simulation games
References
External links Subsim.com, a comprehensive information and review site IRSLab UWSim