OpenSSN is a submarine simulation (subsim) which tries to emulate the behaviour of modern submarines. The player is placed in command of a submarine and is able to move about in a deep ocean environment.
Combat missions are now being added to OpenSSN, and ships with sonar will run from torpedoes and, if they can detect the player, will return fire.
I've always been a fan of subsims and played commercial games, but couldn't find a modern subsim for open source operating systems (such as Linux and FreeBSD). Danger from the Deep is available, but it's stictly for World War II u-boats, and has relatively high graphics requirements. Looking around I found a half dozen or so subsims that had begun and dropped away shortly after beginning development.
The LinuxSSN project had laid a solid foundation before the developers dropped the project and I decided to pick up where they left off. The heart of OpenSSN comes from their project and attempts to further their work.
The OpenSSN project is licensed under the GNU General Public License, version 2. The LinuxSSN project was also GNU GPL licensed and we carry on that tradition. Copyright Jesse Smith jessefrgsmith@yahoo.ca Please see the LICENSE file for further details.
Data files, missions, artwork and images included in OpenSSN are licensed under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal license. Please see the ART-LICENSE file for full details.
To build OpenSSN you'll need a C++ compiler (GNU's Compiler Collection is recommended) and the following development libraries:
SDL SDL_gfx SDL_image SDL_mixer
Assuming the above libraries are installed, it should be possible to build OpenSSN with the following commands
tar zxf openssn-1.4.tar.gz cd openssn make
Once OpenSSN has built, an executable file (called openssn) will be placed in the top level directory. From there the game can be run with the command:
./openssn
The following command line parameters are recognized:
-w Run in windowed mode, this is the default -f Run in full screen -s Enable sound effects -v Display version number and exit -h Display help and exit -m Load a specific mission
The player's submarine can be controlled with either the mouse or keyboard commands. The following key commands are recognized.
Pilot the submarine.............. Plus key Increase sub's speed Minus key Slow down Left keypad (4) Turn left Right keypad (6) Turn right Down keypad (2) Dive deeper Up keypad (8) Rise toward the surface Q Go up one thermal A Hold depth here Z Go down one thermal S Surface X Go to periscope depth
System controls................... F1 Sonar screen F2 Map screen F3 Weapons station F4 Helm console F5 ESM signals screen F6 Radar screen F10 Take screen shot TAB Select next target Delete Increase map scale Insert Decrease map scale Up, down, left, right Manipulate map P Pause the game Page Up Compress Time Page Down Slow time ESC Quit
Weapon controls T Load a torpedo N Load a noise maker U Unload a tube F Fire a tube
Each of the weapon station keys should be followed by a number indication which tube should be loaded or fired. The tubes are numbered 1-6.
Sonar controls G Send active sonar pulse. E Extend sonar array R Retract towed sonar array W Hold towed sonar in place
Did you find a bug? Would you like to request a feature? Did you patch something and want to share it? Send an e-mail to jessefrgsmith@yahoo.ca. Please place "OpenSSN" in the subject line.