P = P0 + ρ·g·h
1 atm + (1025 kg/m³ · 9.8 · h)/101325
Hydrostatic pressure grows roughly 1 atmosphere every 10 metres. ROV pressure hulls (titanium or syntactic foam) must resist this crushing force while thrusters fight drag and near-zero visibility forces reliance on sonar and floodlights.
- Depth — sets hydrostatic pressure and hull stress; battery drains faster as thrusters fight compression and cold.
- Thruster Power — spins the 4 vectored thrusters faster, increasing speed and battery drain.
- Light Intensity — floodlight brightness; visibility stat approximates how far light penetrates the dark water.
- Hover / Patrol — switches between station-keeping and a survey sweep path.
- Deploy Arm — extends the manipulator arm used for sampling, mirroring real ROV science tasks.
Real-world use: ROVs like Jason and Hercules use exactly this pressure/thruster/lighting trade-off to explore hydrothermal vents and shipwrecks over 4000 m deep.