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.
| 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 | |
| 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[1] | 2010 | Wreck of the RMS Titanic | |
| 2003/2005 | Alternate history World War II | ||
| 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[2] [3] | 2016 | ||
| Silent Depth 2: Pacific[4] [5] | 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) | |
| 2007 | Pacific Theatre (World War II) | ||
| 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![6] | 1986 | ||
| Under the Ice | 1987 | Cold War | |
| Virtual Sailor | 1999 | ||
| Wolfpack | 1990 | World War II |
The adventure game (1989) by Sierra On-line contained a submarine simulator portion.
The vehicle simulator game (2006) by Koei features submarine hulls & puts the player through several submarine piloting missions, though several other missions are also restricted against submarine use.
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.[7]
