Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Naval Estimates: The Dreadnought Age and its development.
Please reach us at contact@navalestimates.com if you cannot find an answer to your question.
What is Naval Estimates: The Dreadnought Age?
Naval Estimates: The Dreadnought Age is a naval grand strategy wargame set in the era of dreadnought battleships. The game focuses on deep design, management and construction of ships and fleet, and tactical combat.
What will the game cost?
Nothing. Naval Estimates will be free, in the tradition of deep, community-driven simulations like Dwarf Fortress Classic and Aurora 4X: complex, long-lived, transparent, and built with its players.
That changes what we ask of players. Rather than wishlists and purchases, the invitation is to play, test, share designs, report problems, and help shape the simulation.
What period does the game cover?
The game focuses on the dreadnought age, beginning in 1900 and following the rapid technological and political changes of the early twentieth century. The first installment will focus on the period up to 1930, with extensions planned as development continues.
Which nations will be playable?
Six are playable in the current build: the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States, Japan, France and Italy.
The full roster covers the eight major naval powers of the time: the United Kingdom, United States, Germany, France, Italy, Russia, Japan and Austria-Hungary.
A number of naval minor powers will also be playable: Sweden, the Netherlands, Turkey, China, Spain, Chile, Brazil, Argentina and Greece.
Is the game historically scripted?
The game begins from a historical world, but it is not intended to simply replay history.
Nations have their own strengths, limits, geography, fleets, budgets and strategic problems, but decisions made during play can push events in different directions. The aim is to capture the pressures of the period, not force a fixed timeline.
What does ship design involve?
Ship design is built around the major decisions naval architects and governments had to make: displacement, speed, armour, armament, machinery, range, cost and construction time. This includes a dedicated designer for naval guns and their mountings.
Will there be tactical battles?
Tactical combat is planned as part of the game, but focus is shared with the long-term development of the navy: designing ships, managing programmes, responding to rivals, and making decisions before the battle ever begins.
How does it differ from Rule the Waves or Ultimate Admiral: Dreadnoughts?
Naval Estimates shares a lineage with both - it is a naval grand strategy wargame born of years spent playing and modding games like them - but it makes different choices.
Compared with Rule the Waves, the engineering goes deeper: guns, mountings and hulls are designed individually in dedicated designers rather than chosen from broad parameters, so the design decisions of the period are yours to make in full. Compared with Ultimate Admiral: Dreadnoughts, the centre of gravity is the long game - budgets, programmes and rival navies - rather than standalone battles.
And Naval Estimates is free, built openly with its community rather than sold as a product.
Is there a release date?
There is no final release date yet. The project has been in development since December 2025.
The first free public build launched on 24 July 2026, free and playable in your browser on itch.io, and it has been updated regularly since. It showcases the core ship design systems.
What does the current build include?
The public build focuses on the design side of the game, covering the gun, turret and ship design systems.
Six navies are playable - the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States, Japan, France and Italy - with 1905, 1912, 1920 and 1928 as start dates. A guided tutorial covers the gun and turret designers, with the ship design chapter still to come; you can also leave it aside and explore the designers freely.
You can save and share your designs, view them in a 3D viewer, and enter the weekly design competition on the Discord.
What platforms does it run on?
The first free public build runs in the browser, hosted on itch.io - there is nothing to download or install, and system requirements are minimal.
The optional 3D ship viewer needs WebGL, which any up-to-date browser provides.
Desktop builds for Windows, macOS and Linux are on the Downloads page.
Who is making the game?
Naval Estimates is an independent passion project by Elouda, built on decades of interest in naval history and warship engineering, and shaped by years of modding naval wargames. The full story is on the About page.
How can players get involved?
You can follow @NavalEstimates on Twitter/X or Bluesky, and join the Discord to get regular development snippets and additional information.