Sim:WTF
With the Fleet is a first-person WW1 naval simulation. It is very social, very realistic and quite literal:
- No orbiting cameras – players use their eyeballs
- No typing chat – players talk to each other
- No ships devoid of humanity – dozens of AI- and player-sailors work together on each ship
- No HUDs or GUI busyboxes – players manipulate the 3D equipment of their ship in the most literal way that is still pragmatic
What is the Status?
Recent Windows and MacOS playtests demonstrate multiple player- and AI-actuated sailors walking the deck of a destroyer, using the equipment on board and conversing via VOIP and speech recognition. Development continues toward creating a global game continuously running and able to support large battles with multiple players aboard each ship.
Anyone who feels they might be able to contribute artwork, coding, or other expertise are welcome to inquire to join a playtest.
Design Principles
With the Fleet will be a massively-multiplayer naval simulation with a first-person perspective set in the period 1890-1925. It is under active development and is currently in a demonstrable prototype form.
My design tenets repudiate those of pretty much every other naval game.
- each player is a sailor, not a ship
- you have a role – some players command others
- you see from your sailor's eyes, not from a voyeuristic ship-orbiting camera
- there will no neon "HUDs" overlaying the screen
- you will feel like you belong to a "band of brothers"
- you will learn something
- the pace will be slow – the action will be momentous
- submarines and aircraft are ancillary to the real fun
See Also
- Cheat sheet for playtesting
- Developer's Blog
- Youtube Playlist of Development videos
- Videos of Fleet Action Imminent, the single-player "prequel", which was broader in scope
