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Steel Diver: Sub Wars |OT| Deep Deep Down

Neiteio

Member
Just played the Fish Tank level. Awesome map that is exactly as it sounds. The layout had the two sides staring each other down from opposite sides of the map. Both sides came to a stop and just waited for the other side to make the first move, haha. Subs were whizzing all over the place -- I must've had all eight onscreen at one point.
 
First thing I do in matches is try to find teammates, rather than enemies. In other games, I might be annoyed with a teammate "kill stealing", but in this game I love it when a teammate comes to save the day.

Funny, I've done the opposite - go out on my own and try to stealthily go near someone who's off to the side somewhere. It worked for me, and I'd down 1-2 subs in a match, and assist with another.

Then again, that was on the first day the game was available, so some people were completely inexperienced. The first guy I ever downed didn't even try to fight back, lol. Maybe I'll be in for a rude awakening if I try that again...

(I tried to play again today, but for some reason have connection errors.)
 
Just played the Fish Tank level. Awesome map that is exactly as it sounds. The layout had the two sides staring each other down from opposite sides of the map. Both sides came to a stop and just waited for the other side to make the first move, haha. Subs were whizzing all over the place -- I must've had all eight onscreen at one point.

One of my favorite moments on that map was when I found an enemy submarine by himself entering the log on the floor of the tank, and I was able to follow him close behind. I started mercilessly unloading torpedoes into his back, and he was forced to either slowly turn to try to face off against me, exposing the entirety of his side to be a torpedo target, or keep running with his back to me, being an easy target until he could make it out of the log! He wasn't quite able to do either, because I made rather quick work of him. I think between the two, however, he was turning around when I finished him off.
 

Gsnap

Member
The fact that there's no such thing as kill stealing, and the emphasis on teamwork, are the result of two factors that this game shares with World of Tanks:

1) You play as a vehicle that is far slower to maneuver and aim than a human character. This puts more emphasis on strategy and less emphasis on twitch-based reflexes.
2) You don't respawn during a match. Once your vehicle is destroyed, you can only spectate the match. Experienced players will learn that rushing into the open is not wise, and rushing headlong by yourself into where you know an enemy will be is only a good idea if you know exactly how you're going to handle the situation to engage the enemy on your terms, not theirs.

I personally prefer this far more than other competitive multiplayer systems. It makes you feel a thrill as you approach destruction, having the weight on your mind that if you can't make it out of this situation, that's it for the match!

Yeah. I've had my fair share of fun with CoD and things like that, but lately I've gotten tired of the "one man army" style of multiplayer. Especially the overemphasis on instant feedback, gratification, and stimuli in order to make things seem more worthwhile than they actually were. The game dedicates itself to the theme very well and lets the "epic" come about naturally.

Funny, I've done the opposite - go out on my own and try to stealthily go near someone who's off to the side somewhere. It worked for me, and I'd down 1-2 subs in a match, and assist with another.

That does seem viable as long as you can catch people off guard. I just always worry that I'll be found before I find, so I try not to isolate myself.
 

Neiteio

Member
One of my favorite moments on that map was when I found an enemy submarine by himself entering the log on the floor of the tank, and I was able to follow him close behind. I started mercilessly unloading torpedoes into his back, and he was forced to either slowly turn to try to face off against me, or keep running with his back to me, being an easy target, until he could make it out of the log! He wasn't quite able to do either, because I made rather quick work of him.
Ha, that's awesome. :) I just had a great moment on the Hot Springs map -- I was on the blue team and we were all in one spring, scoping out our surroundings. Eventually a red team member drifted through the hole in the fence separating the two springs. We literally surrounded him -- one to his left, and right, and front and back. After the threat was neutralized, we all went through the hole in the fence and into red territory together, which was badass -- it was like a whole battalion invading the enemy base. :)
 

John Harker

Definitely doesn't make things up as he goes along.
It's a sort of infinite demo, where you have all of the multiplayer functionality, but two submarines to choose from in the free version. You also get two out of 7 missions in the free version with 3 difficulties each (granted, even in the full version, you need to do well in the existing missions to unlock the rest). There's also a limitation on crew of some kind, but with only two submarines in the free version of 1 or 2 crew each, this shouldn't be much of an issue. Similarly, there's also apparently some kind of limit on the camouflage options you get, but in the entire day that I had spent playing the free version nearly nonstop, I never encountered said limit.

Even when you get the premium version (a 10 USD unlock), if that's the first thing you do before even playing the game, you will still only have that one free starting submarine until you play in the single player or multiplayer modes enough to unlock the other roughly 20 submarines.

If you advance to a high enough level in the free version where you could unlock submarines in the premium version, the game will unlock them for you and let you view them in your drydock, but you'll only be able to play in them if you do the $10 transaction.

Currently, every possible thing I've seen that can have money spent on it would cost just under 16 USD altogether. This breaks down into the $10 to get the premium version, 99 cents for each of five stylized historical submarines, plus taxes on all of them. There's no way that I know of to spend money on anything else.

Super helpful, thanks.
I'm just trying to pay close attention to how nintendo approaches this space.
 
Ha, that's awesome. :) I just had a great moment on the Hot Springs map -- I was on the blue team and we were all in one spring, scoping out our surroundings. Eventually a red team member drifted through the hole in the fence separating the two springs. We literally surrounded him -- one to his left, and right, and front and back. After the threat was neutralized, we all went through the hole in the fence and into red territory together, which was badass -- it was like a whole battalion invading the enemy base. :)
The way you phrased it, I suddenly wonder if the red submarines are in one gender's bath while the blue submarines are in the other? That level suddenly seems a whole lot more perverse than I remember....

Super helpful, thanks.
I'm just trying to pay close attention to how nintendo approaches this space.

So am I! I've been following news of this project since it was announced back in, oh, August of last year? I was intrigued to hear that Nintendo was making a F2P game (my favorite PC game is World of Tanks), which they apparently did some studying on the subject of. I was interested, if not excited, to see the result. I must confess that at first I was unhappy with the idea of having what seemed like a double paywall (an in-game shop only accessible after you pay $10), but it quickly impressed me (everything can be bought for just $16, with there not even being options, let alone gameplay that forces you, to pay anything more).



What also fascinates me is the future prospects if this game becomes especially successful: they wanted to avoid giving this business model to a larger franchise, in case players disapproved of it. If they deem this successful, could you imagine if a hypothetical Pokémon MMO was F2P but not P2W, similar to how this game manages to pull it off?
 

Gsnap

Member
Ha, that's awesome. :) I just had a great moment on the Hot Springs map -- I was on the blue team and we were all in one spring, scoping out our surroundings. Eventually a red team member drifted through the hole in the fence separating the two springs. We literally surrounded him -- one to his left, and right, and front and back. After the threat was neutralized, we all went through the hole in the fence and into red territory together, which was badass -- it was like a whole battalion invading the enemy base. :)

See, that's exactly what I'm talking about. You had an "epic" or "cinematic" experience because the mechanics allowed for it to happen naturally, rather than the game sort of trying to force it on you like I feel many games try to do.

I had a match where it was me and two teammates and the enemy only had one guy left. I was surfaced, getting air, and my teammates were tailing him. I noticed he was coming my way, so I figured he didn't know I was there. So I sink down and appear right in front of him cutting off his escape. Loved it. Couldn't see his face, but I know his eyes widened and something along the lines of "oh shit" escaped his mouth.

What also fascinates me is the future prospects if this game becomes especially successful: they wanted to avoid giving this business model to a larger franchise, in case players disapproved of it. If they deem this successful, could you imagine if a hypothetical Pokémon MMO was F2P but not P2W, similar to how this game manages to pull it off?

I'm intrigued by how the microtransactions work in that rusty's baseball game. The game looks boring, but the microtransactions are almost opposite of how they usually work. Play more to pay less, instead of pay more to play less.
 
See, that's exactly what I'm talking about. You had an "epic" or "cinematic" experience because the mechanics allowed for it to happen naturally, rather than the game sort of trying to force it on you like I feel many games try to do.

I had a match where it was me and two teammates and the enemy only had one guy left. I was surfaced, getting air, and my teammates were tailing him. I noticed he was coming my way, so I figured he didn't know I was there. So I sink down and appear right in front of him cutting off his escape. Loved it. Couldn't see his face, but I know his eyes widened and something along the lines of "oh shit" escaped his mouth.



I'm intrigued by how the microtransactions work in that rusty's baseball game. The game looks boring, but the microtransactions are almost opposite of how they usually work. Play more to pay less, instead of pay more to play less.

I agree with the natural memorable moment idea: this is the sort of game where you can talk with other players about it, and everyone can easily have different exciting stories to share! Contrast it with Battlefield 4, where the same situation would result in "...so I parachuted out as the building collapsed behind m-" "Yup, I've done that before!" "Me too, once!" Yahtzee had an Extra Punctuation article on this subject once. Even worse are QTE/cutscene-focused games.

I would like David Cage play and give his thoughts on this game (assuming he doesn't burst into flames at the sight of it, at least), because it seems to violate every last piece of his game design philosophy: F2P, virtually zero cutscenes (if not completely zero), no button prompts outside of training, incredibly short, separated matches, no story, fictional or at least stylized "character" design, you're not controlling a character that you're expected to connect to, living things are never seen in the game outside of box portraits and rescues, etc.



As for the various, even creative, monetization methods, these games prompted this (hilariously plausible) piece of satire: http://www.p4rgaming.com/investors-...ransactions-in-their-first-free-to-play-game/
 

Neiteio

Member
Man, when I think about it, Thursday was an amazing day for multiplayer Nintendo fans: Koopalings in Mario Kart 8, Little Mac in Smash Bros., and the stealth release of what might be Nintendo's next great multiplayer title, Sub Wars! This game really has all the makings of something as addictive as Mario Kart or Smash; it just needs a front-and-center big-budget release like those games. Hopefully the userbase they form on 3DS will justify a sequel on WiiU. I'm still in the same play session from hours ago. :-O
 
Man, when I think about it, Thursday was an amazing day for multiplayer Nintendo fans: Koopalings in Mario Kart 8, Little Mac in Smash Bros., and the stealth release of what might be Nintendo's next great multiplayer title, Sub Wars! This game really has all the makings of something as addictive as Mario Kart or Smash; it just needs a front-and-center big-budget release like those games. Hopefully the userbase they form on 3DS will justify a sequel on WiiU. I'm still in the same play session from hours ago. :-O
I'm interested in seeing if they continually add to this game the way that other big F2P developers do: additional maps, perhaps more leveling submarines, I can imagine more store submarines (I would buy a Type U-57 U-boat for its indirect Titanic connection!), and maybe regular rebalancing if they want to take a competitive route with it. Given the skill-based matchmaking option for online play and the existence of a local multiplayer mode, they quite possibly could! Regular updates like these could ensure this game an even longer life, just like with a fighting game or more typical FPS.
 

Neiteio

Member
I'm interested in seeing if they continually add to this game the way that other big F2P developers do: additional maps, perhaps more leveling submarines, I can imagine more store submarines (I would buy a Type U-57 U-boat for its indirect Titanic connection!), and maybe regular rebalancing if they want to take a competitive route with it. Given the skill-based matchmaking option for online play and the existence of a local multiplayer mode, they quite possibly could! Regular updates like these could ensure this game an even longer life, just like with a fighting game or more typical FPS.
Agreed. :) On a side note, I just realized you can change the color scheme of each pattern (and there's a handy default button if you want to go back to the original colors). I took a three-stripe pattern and made it orange, green and red, like Bowser. :)
 
Agreed. :) On a side note, I just realized you can change the color scheme of each pattern (and there's a handy default button if you want to go back to the original colors). I took a three-stripe pattern and made it orange, green and red, like Bowser. :)

I keep my I-400 in default colors for the sake of recognizability, because it's a rare sub to see in this game. All of my leveling subs, however, have a white front, black upper half, and medium blue lower half. To my mind, thiss scheme is standard modern submarine coloring for the upper half (black), camouflaged with the water around it from the underside (blue), but with a bow splash like they had on some American World War II warships, to give the illusion that the ship was always at speed so the enemy would lead the target by too much (on my subs, white nose). These of course all fail in-game, but I still like to overthink things like this.



Also, I feel that something can be said when people complained at the idea of Titanfall having 6 versus 6 maximum, and we're here having the time of our lives in 4v4, without Titanfall-like AI!

Even when I'm not actively battling in a match, such as when I have a wolf pack of teamates, fresh off of a kill, patrolling the map for the surviving enemy team members, it's still an experience to be had when you're heading at flank speed, maybe 10 miles per hour, staring at your sonar as you keep pinging, keeping your eyes peeled for any new white dots. There's also that feeling when, during this situation, you see that someone, somewhere in the map, just sank, so you do whatever you can to figure out if you just lost an ally (and if so, where, because the enemy is probably close by) or if your job just became that much easier. Furthermore, if the two teams end up equal in survivors during this sort of prowl, there's the added tension that you could be mere seconds away from an all out final battle!
 

Neiteio

Member
Just finished my first play session... WHOA! I played this for 5.5 hours?! (Granted, I did step away from the system for periods of times, but still)

Extremely entertaining game! Everything about it grows on you as you play. From the makers of Star Fox and F-Zero? I think this will someday be a classic regarded with similar respect, if it gains broad enough exposure.
 

Neiteio

Member
I keep my I-400 in default colors for the sake of recognizability, because it's a rare sub to see in this game. All of my leveling subs, however, have a white front, black upper half, and medium blue lower half. To my mind, thiss scheme is standard modern submarine coloring for the upper half (black), camouflaged with the water around it from the underside (blue), but with a bow splash like they had on some American World War II warships, to give the illusion that the ship was always at speed so the enemy would lead the target by too much (on my subs, white nose). These of course all fail in-game, but I still like to overthink things like this.



Also, I feel that something can be said when people complained at the idea of Titanfall having 6 versus 6 maximum, and we're here having the time of our lives in 4v4, without Titanfall-like AI!
I love reading all of the ship/sub trivia you have to share. This game is making me legitimately interested in submarines. :)

Prior to going orange/red/green, I stuck to turquoise and navy blue, reasoning it would blend in better with the ocean depths.

And regarding 4v4 -- it really works well here. The matches last just long enough to build up suspense, create an atmosphere, and result in some climatic confrontations, all without overstaying their welcome.
 
I love reading all of the ship/sub trivia you have to share. This game is making me legitimately interested in submarines. :)

Prior to going orange/red/green, I stuck to turquoise and navy blue, reasoning it would blend in better with the ocean depths.

And regarding 4v4 -- it really works well here. The matches last just long enough to build up suspense, create an atmosphere, and result in some climatic confrontations, all without overstaying their welcome.

Well, in the entire history of submarine warfare, there was only one known instance where a fully submerged submarine sank another fully submerged submarine, so I'm not sure if the interest in submarines will transfer into real life.

And about this game becoming a classic, this OT has only been up for a day or two and it's already 6 pages long, for an eShop game!
 

Neiteio

Member
Ouch, it really sucks when the opponent evades your missile and you hit an ally. :(
It sucks more when an ally doesn't seem to understand it's a team format and he/she just starts shooting you, lol.

Well, in the entire history of submarine warfare, there was only one known instance where a fully submerged submarine sunk another fully submerged submarine, so I'm not sure if the interest in submarines will transfer into real life.
I'm interested in the craft themselves. No one needs to have sunk in real-life for me to be interested! :)

And about this game becoming a classic, this OT has only been up for a day or two and it's already 6 pages long, for an eShop game!
Yep. This game will only grow in popularity as more people learn about it and try it out. So much fun. I know I'll be coming back to this over the weekend. :)
 

NeoRausch

Member
Somebody needs to explain to me how to find the crew members.
I know that you can see their approx. destination in the crew menu and the exact location by so are ping.
I've only once encountered the purple for (at the end of 1-3) but rushed to the goal because I was trying to get under 4 min.
i didn't get crew member and the purple dot never appeared again.


anyway: going premium today!

edit:
and how the hell I'm supposed to do 2-3 in under 5 mins.?
 

antonz

Member
Somebody needs to explain to me how to find the crew members.
I know that you can see their approx. destination in the crew menu and the exact location by so are ping.
I've only once encountered the purple for (at the end of 1-3) but rushed to the goal because I was trying to get under 4 min.
i didn't get crew member and the purple dot never appeared again.


anyway: going premium today!

The crew members are tiny people in a raft floating on the surface. so when you see the purple dot they are up above.
 

NeoRausch

Member
good thing that there are only 36ô fantastillion crew members to randomly find.

off we go!

edit:
and as we speak I've collected the first crew member! :D
 

GDGF

Soothsayer
Looks like it. Which sucks because I already almost have all the star medals.

Also online is still not working for me in Europe.

Online can be a bit wonky at times.

But I can always get one online mode to work when another doesn't. Try connecting worldwide if local isn't working and try random if skill match is giving you probs. Vice versa of course.
 

efyu_lemonardo

May I have a cookie?
Awesome thread title!!

Anyone here ever been in an actual submarine?

It is fun. I enjoyed the original steel diver for what it was though heavily flawed.

Wouldn't mind seeing them bring an HD version to the Wii U. Just a matter of higher quality assets etc. Gamepad does all the rest.
Honestly, when I first thought of asymmetrical multiplayer possibilities and a touch screen interface during the Wii U reveal, this is the kind of game I imagined.

I play World of Tanks, and this is the case in that game as well.

The fact that there's no such thing as kill stealing, and the emphasis on teamwork, are the result of two factors that this game shares with World of Tanks:

1) You play as a vehicle that is far slower to maneuver and aim than a human character. This puts more emphasis on strategy and less emphasis on twitch-based reflexes.
2) You don't respawn during a match. Once your vehicle is destroyed, you can only spectate the match. Experienced players will learn that rushing into the open is not wise, and rushing headlong by yourself into where you know an enemy will be is only a good idea if you know exactly how you're going to handle the situation to engage the enemy on your terms, not theirs.

I personally prefer this far more than other competitive multiplayer systems. It makes you feel a thrill as you approach destruction, having the weight on your mind that if you can't make it out of this situation, that's it for the match!

excellent post! agree with all of it.
 

mihon

Member
Wow, I'm completely hooked! This game is way more fun than I expected. I got the premium version and has been leveling up in the multiplayer.

The later ships, even being a little bit stronger, doesn't seem to break the balance too much. Teamwork in this game is much more important than sub stats.

Also, the more resistant subs generally have very poor mobility. Exploit that.

Something about torpedoes if anyone missed. There are 3 categories, short, medium and long. Besides indicating the distance they travel, short torpedoes are weaker but reload faster between shots. The opposite is true for long torpedoes.

Another cool little thing. Long range hits (indicated by a specific sound and text) have 1.5 damage. There was one game where I 2 shotted a guy because of this mechanic. Feels good.

Regarding online, it is kinda wonky. Lots of matchmaking errors... I guess the servers are getting hammered. The annoying thing is that when I get an error like that, my win streak is resetted :/. Gaining points has been sloooww...
 

moolamb

Member
Yeah, I was getting errors on both worldwide and continent. Figured it was just my shitty internet cutting in and out.

Dang... I'm really loving this multiplayer, wish I could play more. Ah well... Wait until they fix their servers I guess.
 
So does this fix the first one's problems?

This is a completely different game.

The first one is a slow motion racing/shooter game in 2D. This one is slow-motion first person strategy shooter in 3D, with a focus on levelling up and collecting new subs and crew members.

The thing they have in common are of course the theme, a lot of shared sounds and music and that they are both slow, and focus on decision making rather than reflexes.

I love them both, although I prefer the first one, which I believe could've been a true Nintendo classic had it had a more fleshed out universe and more missions. Visually the first one is a lot more pleasing too.

Oh and also, the morse chat is the most brilliant thing ever. Lovely. This game has really grown on me, it looks incredibly boring but it's just so much fun.
 
One manoeuvre I like to make

If I spot an enemy sub in an area by itself, wait for it to turn and move towards me, then slam my sub into reverse keeping the enemy sub in target. Because they're coming at me and I'm moving away, their torpedoes have further to travel to reach me (and usually detonate before they do) and mine shorter to reach them. Just be careful not to crash into the map's boundary line... (which does less damage than a sub torpedo anyway)

Fun game
 

cacildo

Member
The game is pretty fun. A lot of japanese people playing, hope theyre enjoying it too

My only grip with the game is the same i have with every online multiplayer game: you play, play... And then what?

Anyone in Australia/New Zealand having trouble playing worldwide games? Getting error code 018-0502?

Im far away from Austrália but i have a few of those errors too. Especially after a match.
 

Boem

Member
and how the hell I'm supposed to do 2-3 in under 5 mins.?

I would like to know this as well. The other (free) missions where easy enough to do perfectly, but this one seems impossible to me. I feel like there's something I'm missing in the way I approach the level.
 

gerudoman

Member
So, is anyone else experiencing continuous connection errors when trying to join a match or a rematch? Fortunately I still haven't been disconected in the middle of a battle yet, but it's impossible to have a decent winning streak because of that.

Not that I complain since it's free, but If I'd paid for the premium version I would be really pissed of. Maybe they wasn't expecting the servers to be that populated.
 

Banjoman

Member
is there anyone from Europe or Australia who has succeeded in playing online at least once? It seems like a "PAL zone" issue.
 

gerudoman

Member
is there anyone from Europe or Australia who has succeeded in playing online at least once? It seems like a "PAL zone" issue.

Yes, I'm european and I've played around 15 matches (international all of them, I haven't tried continental), but as I said half of the time I would get a connection error when joining them.
 

Camjo-Z

Member
I decided to just go for all of the DLC subs. The HMS X1 is a beast. a BEAST i tell you. Also I thought that the Blue Shark was the only returning sub from the original, but I see that Serpent and Manatee are now Sea Serpent and Deep Manatee.

And yeah, I've been getting a lot of errors too. I assumed it was just my shoddy internet, but I guess not. Usually it only takes one or two tries to get into a match but I've never made it past a winning streak of two without getting D/C'd. Hopefully they're working on making the servers a little more stable (certainly something to suggest on Miiverse or the Club Nintendo feedback page.)
 

NeoRausch

Member
is there anyone from Europe or Australia who has succeeded in playing online at least once? It seems like a "PAL zone" issue.

Germany here. played a ton online today. country and worldwide.
had a few disconnects here and there but overall it worked pretty good.
 
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