Hello everyone!
Since our Steam release, we’ve been so happy to see our players coming up with their own ways of enjoying Barotrauma. In fact, independent communities with their own Discord servers, like the Barotrauma Extended Network, the Barotrauma Public server, Yeet Fleet or the Deep Divers RP server, and the Barotrauma Steam group, have been around even before we made it to Early Access. (And those are all English speaking – other language hubs like Russian Barotrauma on VK are harder for us to keep track of!)
We try to share stories, custom subs and other cool mods on Twitter whenever our radar catches them, and we’ve been happy to see some really impressive works on our Steam Workshop – check them out if you haven’t yet!
As you may also have seen on Twitter, there was recently a community event that we decided to cover in a bit more detail. In short, a submarine building competition hosted by a group of players, called Summa Barologicae.
The competition
The contestants had two weeks to build a fully functioning submarine based on a pre-announced specification, and the submissions were then tested and judged by the community hosts. Here’s the victory post, by Evan_:
“The first sub-building contest of Summa Barologicae has been concluded. The task was to finish a bare hull our team meticulously welded together from random parts that were lying around. We got many fun submissions, and many opportunities to use that pun. Evaluating was hard and naturally very subjective, but all of our judges cast their final scores.
It’s unnatural to me to say a sub is better than another one. It may fit my style, mood or plan for the evening more, but what’s an annoying flaw for one can be a great feature to the other – and vica versa. With that said, here are the vessels that received the highest scores from our judges.”
And the winner is…
…revealed at the very end! Take a look at all the submarines that entered the competition below, with comments also by Evan_. (We included Workshop links where we could, with more to be added when available.)
Toetoet Auto
by send me memes
This ship is as silly as it looks, and I love it. Engine is barely functional. Ballasts turn on and off, and it floods the ship when accessed. It’s airlock is cursed, and confines the captain to command when in use. Exterior visuals are just as twisted as the provided hull, or the matches we played on it.
Unsinkable II
by WubaVanWayne
Visually simple, but distinctive and solid, with some nice embelishments. I appriciate when plain and orderly doesn’t turn into dull. Systems function well, things are placed logically. And it has a lovely brig. A very reliable ship.
v15
by Orange
Very interesting and ambitious ship, but the version we got is… highly inaccessible. The stairs tend to eat the crew. I hope I’ll see the complex circuitry and cramped crawlspaces later in an updated design.
3rd place: Mako
by Perald Baxter
Sleek combat vessel. Some simple visual tricks make it fit the theme. Better armed and equipped than I like it, easy to do well with it. Restricted access to rooms gives me ambivalent feelings, but it has it’s merits. Torpedoes are always fun, complicating gameplay in an interesting way.
2nd place: Hackle
by Rabbit
The kind of madness I love. Few guns on the worst possible positions. Looks well equipped, but low on some critical supplies. There are a lot of readouts and buttons that do things, and the mundane user has absolutely no chance of figuring those out on the go. The ballast won’t pump when the reactor is on. If the contest were only about the flow of the game, that would be my favorite sub. I’m a silly, and I like a a maddening challenge.
1st place: Mud Dragon
by Stein
I hate this submission. Such hubris, aiming for the highest looks and engineering score. I did my best to undermine my opinion about it, while favoring the others. “Overgunned.” “Rational.” “Orderly.” It wasn’t enough. I could have ignored the flawless looks and that ingenious oxygen generator. But that weapon overcharge function is perfect, regardless if I look at it functionally, technically or visually.
Find Mud Dragon on Steam Workshop
What’s next?
Summa Barologicae are already gearing up for another, smaller-scale and Halloween-themed building event – find the details in their Discord.
After Halloween, we’re planning to team up with them: our submaster Ez AKA Chad Husk will participate in outlining the specification for the next submarine building competition, and the winning sub will be added to the game (although we must reserve the right to make alterations, if needed). So get your editors ready, we can’t wait to see what you build!
Are you brewing some cool event or activity that we haven’t heard about? Don’t hesitate to let us know – for us, this is the best part of developing a game.
P.S. Intimidated by the editors? We’ve got some guides for those to help you get started – find the submarine builder’s manual here and the character creator’s manual here. For more expert tips from seasoned veterans, visit our Discord where we’ve got channels dedicated to sub building (#baro-subs) and modding (#baro-modding).
