Subcom13 (Submarine Commander)

Introduction

Subcom13 is a submarine warfare simulation mode set on a fictional 1000x1000 nautical mile coordinate grid. You command a submarine (or crew one with other players) and must navigate the open ocean, engage hostile surface and air contacts, manage your ship's reactor and crew survival, and complete objectives relayed to you over encrypted radio.

The mode features:

• Real-time navigation on a virtual overworld map with heading, speed, and depth control
• Nuclear and diesel-electric submarine propulsion options
• Weapons systems: torpedoes with acoustic homing, fire control consoles
• Sensor suites: passive and active sonar, surface radar
• Environmental simulation: hull breaches, flooding, water accumulation, and atmospheric pressure
• NPC hostile contacts: surface combatants, aircraft, and enemy submarines with AI
• Mission objectives: sink cargo ships, patrol sectors, escort allies, recon, rescue, and ambush
• Crew management: track individual crew health, oxygen status, injuries, and assignments
• Single-player mode: toggle via admin panel to allow ghosts to operate machinery

Submarine Controls

Your submarine is controlled from the bridge consoles. Each console is an Alt+Click interaction.

Helm Control Station

The primary navigation console. Controls heading, speed, and depth.

Reactor Control Station

Manages the two nuclear reactors. Each reactor operates independently.

Reactor Meltdown: If core temperature exceeds 1000 C, the reactor melts down. This creates an explosion in the reactor room, a lethal radiation burst, and fire. The meltdown is permanent and disables that reactor. All crew on the submarine feel the screen shake.

Flooding Effects: When the reactor room floods, coolant pump effectiveness degrades proportionally (100% at 0cm water, 0% at 100cm). Power output is also reduced. At 100cm water depth, both reactors are automatically SCRAMMED.

Power Output: You need at least 5 MW total (combined from both reactors) to run the nuclear turbines for full-speed propulsion (30 knots).

Auxiliary Systems Console

Controls environmental systems and battery power.

Radar Console

Surface detection system. Only works when surfaced.

Sonar Console

Underwater detection system. Works at any depth.

Weapons Control Station

Torpedo fire control system.

Torpedo Stats: 40 knots, 800 unit range, 250 base hull damage. Homing torpedoes track the target automatically. Different weapon types have different effects: torpedoes and missiles deal full hull damage, depth charges deal area damage across multiple hull sections, and naval guns deal 1/3 damage.

Radio Console

Encrypted command communications. Receives mission objectives and displays mission status.

Compartment Status Panel

Damage control console showing the status of all submarine compartments.

Tactical Map Display

ASCII grid-based tactical map for situational awareness.

Flooding & Water Physics

When your submarine takes damage (torpedo hits, depth charges, crush depth), hull breaches can occur, flooding compartments with seawater.

How Flooding Works

1. Hull Breach: A damaged hull wall loses integrity. When it fails, water begins pouring in.
2. Water Accumulation: Deck tiles accumulate water measured in centimeters (0 = dry, 200 = fully flooded).
3. Water Spreading: Water flows to adjacent tiles within the same compartment, equalizing depth.
4. Bulkhead Containment: Internal bulkheads are watertight by default. If a bulkhead is destroyed, water flows through it to adjacent compartments at 10% of water depth per tick (max 3cm).
5. Blast Doors: Open blast doors allow water to flow between compartments. Closed blast doors block water flow.

Water Depth Effects

Flooding Interactions

• Engine Room Flooding: When water reaches 50cm in the engine room, diesel engines are forcibly shut down. Diesel throttle is forced to 0.
• Reactor Room Flooding: Water degrades coolant pump effectiveness. At 100cm, both reactors are automatically SCRAMMED and power output drops to zero.
• Fire Extinguishing: Water above 50cm automatically extinguishes fires on that tile.

Bilge Pumps

Located in various compartments. Activate by clicking them.

• Standard Bilge Pump: Drains water from its tile and adjacent tiles. Uses 15 kW.
• Emergency Bilge Pump: Drains water from a single tile only. Uses 8 kW.

Hull Breach Sealant Sprayer

An automated device that scans for breached hull walls and seals them with fast-curing polymer. Each use consumes one unit of sealant (100 units total). Requires power to operate.

Atmospheric System

Each compartment has independent atmospheric simulation:

• Oxygen (O2): Consumed by breathing. Depleted O2 causes suffocation. Replenished by the O2 generator.
• Carbon Dioxide (CO2): Produced by breathing. High levels cause respiratory distress and CO2 poisoning.
• Pressure: Normal = 1 atm (101.325 kPa).

Ventilation Ducts

Link compartments together for air sharing. All ducts with the same vent ID form a network. Air gradually equalizes across the network.

Fire System

Fires can start from explosions, reactor meltdowns, or admin commands. Fire spreads across deck tiles and damages crew.

Fire Mechanics

• Ignition: Fires start on internal deck tiles. Each fire burns for a set duration.
• Spread: Each tick, fire has a 5-8% chance of spreading to adjacent sub_deck turfs within the same compartment.
• Damage: Mobs on burning tiles take 3-8 burn damage per tick (15% chance per tick).
• Smoke: Random smoke effects spawn on burning tiles.
• Extinction: Water above 50cm automatically extinguishes fires. Fires do not spread through watertight bulkheads or closed blast doors.

Vessel Roster

Player Submarine

Hostile Surface Combatants

Hostile Submarines

Hostile Aircraft

Neutral / Mission Targets

AI Behavior

Hostile NPCs use a three-state AI with tactical movement:

Detection Triggers:

• Passive Sonar: NPC detects you if your noise level exceeds their threshold. Noise increases with speed and active sonar use.
• Active Sonar Ping: If you use active sonar within the NPC's sonar range, they instantly know your position.

Tactical Behavior:

• NPCs circle in a random direction around you while attacking
• They fire one weapon at a time with cooldown management
• If you move too far away, they switch to HUNT to chase you

Crew Management

The submarine tracks individual crew members and their status. Crew are automatically detected when they board the submarine.

Crew Member Status

Each crew member is tracked with:

Crew Tracking

The submarine automatically:

• Detects crew members when they board
• Updates their health, oxygen, and location status
• Removes dead crew from tracking

Mission System

Missions are relayed to you over the radio console. Complete objectives to earn mission points and progress through the game.

Mission Types

Mission Frequency

Missions arrive periodically with a brief delay between objectives. Check your radio console regularly for new orders.

Single Player Mode

Single-player mode allows ghosts to interact with submarine machinery, enabling solo play without other human crew.

How to Enable

1. Open the Server tab in the game menu
2. Select "Toggle Single Player Mode"
3. Requires admin privileges

Effects

When enabled:

• Ghosts can interact with all submarine consoles and physical machinery
• Dead players can operate systems while observing

When disabled:

• Only living players can interact with machinery
• Ghosts cannot operate systems

Physical Machinery (Interior)

These objects exist on the submarine's interior and can be interacted with directly.

Quick Reference

Lighting

The submarine has two types of interior lights:

• Normal lights (alwayson/sub): Respond to submarine battery power. When battery is charged, lights are on. When battery is empty, all normal lights go dark.
• Emergency red lights (alwayson/red): Always on regardless of power state. These serve as battle-station lighting and emergency illumination.
• Emergency strobes (alwayson/red/emergency): Brighter red lights that blink on/off as emergency beacons. Used in critical areas.