Some initial thoughts

[TigerQuoll]

#9134

So I’ve done a few missions on this one, and I’m getting into it.
It has the same issues that always make me cautious about flight sims, which is too many controls and mechanics, and a huge learning curve.
That said, by the time I did the tutorial and a couple of missions in the first campaign, I feel like I’ve got my head around most of it. At least I know what all the buttons do and how to interact with the game. As for being good at it – hah! Nowhere near.
I find myself having to do every mission several times, and mainly bumblef***k and exploit my way through. Even reading the mission briefing, I have almost no idea what I’m expected to do until I’ve done a lot of trial and error.
Which leads me to one big annoyance – permadeath. Sure, if you have enough money you get resurrected. But having to start from scratch when you’re deep in a campaign because you’re out of money is a bit disheartening.

But I do like the mechanics and the vibe. It’s actually really satisfying to blow up an enemy sub, and you feel really badass when you actually figure out how to exploit the thermal layers and sneak up on your target.

It looks good too, and runs reasonably well considering.

I think the sound effects are a bit lacking though. The minimal amount of music I can live with – it suits the atmosphere. But I’m pretty sure the sfx is purely FM synthesis, and in 1993/1994 it just seems a bit low-effort. They can sort of get away with it, again because of the setting – the kind of muffled, low-fidelity quality works with underwater, but I still think some samples would have made the atmosphere better.

A couple of other ways I think it could be better: more feedback when you get hit. A bit of camera shake would be nice. The amount of times I tried to do something only to find all my systems are damaged because of torpedoes I didn’t see…
I’m not sure how it could have been fixed, and it might just be an experience thing, but switching weapons is a bit choppy. I’ve gotten killed a number of times because I accidentally fired a bunch of decoys instead of rockets.

I feel like this post is mostly full of negatives, but honestly on balance I quite like this game. The unique setting and atmosphere, and the mechanics I feel are so strong, and most of my criticisms are either pretty minor or can be overcome with a bit of practice.

But here’s a few tips for beginners I’ve sort of figured out:

* First off, this is a STEALTH game, not a fast-paced dogfighter. (One of the things I particularly appreciate about it. How often do you see that in this era?) Make use of the thermal layers, move slow and try to sneak up on enemies. Hit hard and run away.
It can be a bit tricky with the low resolution and fidelity of the graphics, and I can’t say I’ve mastered it, but it’s definitely the way to go.

* You sub self-repairs. Don’t be afraid to hide, put on time acceleration and wait til your systems are all functional again.

* Play around with the 1-5 keys. They contain some crucial information and controls.

* Your wingmen have NO initiative of their own. This can be good and bad. Good because they don’t Leeroy Jenkins up all your stealthy plans, and bad because you basically have to remind them to wipe their own bottoms.
Use the ‘3’ key to give orders. Remember, “engage enemy” means they’ll harass but not fire. You need “attack enemy” for them to actually shoot. These options only come up conditionally.

[specialsymbol]

#9145

I loved the vibe of Subwar 2050 as well! I should try to get my GOG version to run.

In my opinion the manual does the trick, it really works for world building. Microprose had a knack for this, one of my favourite Microprose games (A.T.A.C.) had an awesome manual, too.

The thermal layer mechanic is really great, as you said it’s like a flight sim turned into a stealth game. It totally fits the underwater setting.

[TigerQuoll]

#9184

OK, so having played a bit more of this game now, unfortunately I have to admit stealth isn’t exactly working for me as well as I thought. At least not in the way I thought it should be used.

I can’t seem to have any success with torpedoes for starters – they’re just too slow. When loading out my subs I’ve actually been maxing out on rockets. They may do less damage, but you can load a lot more of them, and, due to their speed, I have a very high accuracy rate.
I’ve beaten two levels before I even realised it by just unleashing hell on enemy subs the instant I spot them.

I’m guessing this tactic will stop working so well in later missions, but for now I almost feel like I’m cheating!

[Pix]

#9186

I’m liking the sound of that tactic. Stealth is something of a last resort in this sort of game for me.

I fired it up for the first time last weekend and made it through the training campaign and one mission of the first actual campaign. My main problem is the lack of ammo and I’m also finding torpedoes don’t appear to be much more useful that rockets.

First impressions aren’t too bad. I just don’t feel like I really know what I’m doing yet after all that training. The authors definitely played Wing Commander but at least it’s not a straight clone and is doing something a bit different. I’ll spend a bit more time with it this weekend and see how I get on.

[TigerQuoll]

#9187

I feel like the stealth component is supposed to be used in two ways: just getting close enough to enemies to be able to launch about a trillion rockets at them, and to get out of dodge when things get too spicy, then go back and do it again.