ABOUT THIS PROJECT AND MY DESIGN PHILOSOPHY
This Project is dedicated to WWI submarines, especially those of the imperial german navy. The purpose of this project is to explore and reconstruct the technology of the WWI submarines and its functionality in a high fidelity, its physical behavior, tactics and put the player in to the first person perspective, means letting him move freely inside the sub and on the deck, interacting with all the elements of it, letting him experience the simulation like he would be on board of a real sub and putting him as close as possible to the real thing without getting his feets wet.

I want to break with the average complexity and want to explore the submarine operations in all of the details that are usually left out in average commercial sims, means for example to incorporate authentic and complete operational and diving procedures. While flightsims evolved steadily and reached higher and higher complexity levels, the historical submarine simulators seem to have stagnated in the past, leaving me and many other behind dissatisfied. Being a real simulation, the gaming will be absolutely anti-arcadish. A game for adults so to say.

THE IDEA AND HOW EVERYTHING BEGAN
The idea of a submarine simulator that has a submarine with interiour modeled fully in 3D, have thrilled me so much that i finally have started with my own project. I played once the demo from Mike "Red Oktober" Hense submarine simulator that was done this way and took place in the cold war era. I was totally impressed from the incredible immersion that even low ditailed 3D interiours create. I was totaly into it, after playing it and that finally have encouraged me to start a similar project but which plays in a different era, exploring the beginnings of the submarine era and delivers submarine warfare in it's purest and most basic form.

THE SPIRIT OF THIS PROJECT
I started this project literally knowing nothing about this subject. One of the first things during my researches i did, was to collect old books which were mostly accounts published around 1933. The era alone gave an odd new feeling to me, or rather an old feeling like paging in the past. I started to read this accounts and was immediately consumed by them beyoned the point of no return. This books reflected a unique spirit that I haven't expected and never experienced before. This books were eminating this spirit, this books were alive! It was really a new experience for me. It was not like all the other books I read so far. I think I was never so immersed into books like into this ones. This books really put me back in time. This accounts were like a fresh breeze in my face. It really filled me with new life and a new spirit. It was unbelievable. This books were written in a different time from different minds in a very different way, a refreshingly different way. When I read this books i can almost see me standing on the bridge and the fresh breeze in my face breathing life into me. Oh, i fell so hopelessly for it.

As i started to read this accounts, i was reading and reading and reading. I couldn't stop reading anymore. I was never so immersed into any books before. I sucked this spirit up like a vampire and i wanted more and more and more of it.

The WWII accounts are already very different than the WWI counterparts. In WWII the minds didn't had the same degree of freedom anymore and this is what makes it so different. The u-boat people in WWI were much more free in their decission making. The BDU haven't micromanaged every of their moves, and there were not so many standards and rules, they had more room to invent new things, it was a new weapon and the infancy of the u-boat war and chivalry of their service men gives a certain innocence to its spirit. It was a pioneering time and this is so refreshing different. As I was reading and reading this accounts, i couldn't believe my eyes. I recognized the unexploited potential of a WWI u-boat sim and it blew me away. All i could say was that i need to do a sim that is just like this. A u-boat sim that reflects this spirit in some way and puts the player into a very different, almost forgotten era. This is probably the biggest goal that i persue.

Oh, how I love this spirit! This spirit immediately took over my mind. This spirit became my guidence and inspiration. This is a virtual memorial to this men and their spirit. And this is what drives me so much ever since. What an awesome subject!

THE PURPUOSE OF THIS PROJECT AND THE TARGET AUDIANCE
The purpuose of this project goes beyoned pure gaming. So it's not only for gamers but generally it's supposed to become a platform for all who simple want to find out more about this subject through information coupled with experience. Due to this reason and because of my big interest in this exciting subject it will contain a wealth of informations about it. So at the end it's supposed to get a museal and historical value.

Extraordinary research successes that we had and have will allow us to give the audiance a deeper insight in to the subject. I want to point out in particular that the most informations are in germany and in german and that a lot of this informations will be accessibly for non german people who are interested in this subject through this project. Given this, this website is also supposed to become a comprehensive history site that deals with technical, tactical and operational details in a depth that i have missed on the web.

THE MAIN FEATURES
The main focus in the first releas will be on:

Furthermore and since this simulation will be probable more complicated to play than the average simulators, it will provide a comprehensive training scenario or what i would call a virtual academy. Not just a few tutorial missions but a systematic and comprehensive introduction ( what i always missed in other simulations ) that pulls you through all releavant subjects.

In Imperial U-Flotilla you will have to do more than just firing torpedos during your patrols. Other things you will have to deal with are for example:

All rights reserved © 2004 Imperial U-Flotilla 1914-1918