Article Type: Preview
Article Date: July 17, 2001
Go Back To Part I
Prologue
“Officer of the deck, come to periscope depth.”
“Periscope depth, aye, sir.”
“Raise the ESM mast as soon as we reach the surface.” A minute later mast was raised and ESM reported in.
“Conn, ESM, I have three contacts bearing 300 degrees. A Kuznetsov, Designate Master 1, and two Slava class, sir, designate Masters 2 and 3. Masters 1 and 2 are making 15 knots. Master 3 is making 12 knots. I have two airborne contacts bearing 340, approximately 12,000 yards. Helix ASW choppers, sir.”
“Fire control, Conn, Match ESM bearings and shoot, tubes three and four, Master 1.”
“Conn, fire control, match ESM bearings and shoot, tubes three and four, Master 1 aye, sir.”
“Tubes three and four fired electrically, Captain.”
“Sonar, report all contacts. Diving officer, twenty degrees down angle on the planes. Make your depth 300 feet, heading 210. Fire control, reload tubes three and four with ADCAPs.”
Before we reached 300 feet we had another torpedo in the water. This one, like the earlier one, failed to acquire. Just before reaching 300 feet we heard a single explosion. Another HARPOON had hit home—but which target?
When the noise had died down I changed course to 280 and came up to 250 feet. Our friend the Akula had cloned himself. This time we had two sonar contacts.
“Conn, sonar, new sonar contact bearing 310, designate Master 4. Second contact bearing 320, designate Master 5. Both are Akulas, sir. Master 4 speed is 12 knots and heading 095. Master five speed is 10 knots and heading 090.” The TMA operators went to work and came up with a range of 24,000 yards for Master 4 and 30,000 yards for Master 5.
It was time to rattle the cage. “Diving officer, make your depth 350 feet.”
“Make my depth 350 feet, aye, sir.”
“Firing point procedures, tubes one and two, Master 4. Set pre-enable speed for 30 knots.”
“Firing point procedures, aye, sir. Set pre-enable for 30 knots.”
“Conn, diving control, we are at 350 feet.”
“Match sonar bearings and shoot, tubes one and two, Master 4.”
“Weapons are running hot, straight, and normal sir.”
Campaign
Things sometimes appear to move slowly when running silent and deep in Sub Command. It can take agonizingly long to get a good contact and a firing solution.
Then suddenly things move quickly, and the tension is palpable.
Launch of a Tomahawk Antiship Missile:
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Target Display  |
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| Launch Panel |
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| Jiangwei Launches Defense |
As you know, Sub Command will ship with a number of campaigns as well as single missions and advanced multiplayer capabilities. Here are some opening screens from the first campaign in the Seawolf.
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| Campaign Selection |
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| Campaign Selection |
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| Briefing - Page 1 |
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| Briefing - Page2 |
While I’ve only had a short time in the first campaign, the world is much more alive than in Jane's 688I Hunter / Killer. In fact, except for the similarity in the look of the interface screens, there is little to compare. Those with a lot of time in 688I will immediately recognize the difference and never look back.
Ships and aircraft are active, engaging one another. Wandering into the wrong area at the wrong time can be a problem.
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| Single Missions |
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| Single Missions |
The single missions that appear in the late alpha appear very diverse. From rescuing downed pilots to insertion of special forces, to the more typical screen penetration and task force support. There is ASW support, under ice missions, and of course the surgical strikes. Whew, a lot of mission types will keep the learning curve constant for players who want to do it all.
This obviates the need for automated crewmen. You can select from the four stations individually, automating only the tasks you don’t want to be involved in. When it comes time to learn TMA, you can turn off that crewman. If you want to be the skipper but handle fire control yourself, you can play it that way, automating the other three positions.
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| Broadband Display |
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| Selecting Towed Array |
But this time around, you can fight the war from either side. There are a variety of missions from both sides, and naturally, choosing the Russian side will limit your choice of boat to the Improved Akula or the Akula II.
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| Escaping Kilo Class Boat |
I was pleased to hear the Russian accented voices for the Russian crew. But I was pleased and surprised at the different mood music. The mood music for the American subs is unobtrusive but sort of predictable and I might turn it off. But the mood music for the Russian subs is very Slavic, somewhat dark in tone and very good. I’ll definitely leave it on.
Oddly, I thought I would stick with the Seawolf and 688I, leaving the Akula experience to others. But after nosing around the ship stations and hearing the music and voices, I’m suddenly interested in the Russian submarine experience.
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| Oscar Class on the surface. |
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| Akula II Ship's Control |
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| Akula II Broadband Display |
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| Akula II Narrowband Display |
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| Akula II Target Display |
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| Akula II Launch Panel |
While the voices and music help greatly with atmosphere, I was a bit disappointed in the mission debrief screen. It’s simply too antiseptic, and the screens are identical for both American and Soviet subs. It could be that Sonalysts has simply invested their resources where it really counts—in gameplay—but it’s unfortunate that a little more artistry didn’t go into this dimension.
How could the debriefings be improved? The use of images, perhaps a naval office setting where one clicks on a folder to open it, then select various tabbed pages for various data: weapons use, resources used, mission goals accomplished or not, etc.
Did I mention a very sophisticated mission editor? Here are some images of the interface screens.
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| Mission Editor |
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| Mission Editor |
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| Mission Editor |
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| Mission Editor |
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| Mission Editor |
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| Mission Editor |
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| Mission Editor |
It looks like this mission editor will fulfill the dreams of many undersea nuke fans. I have a feeling that I’ll be spending a few hours (probably way too many) in here myself. With a sim this sophisticated and a mission editor as powerful as this, we are looking at serious longevity in Sub Command. It’s obvious that Sonalysts has a winner here.
Various Ship Stations and Mission Status Screens:
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| Weapon Loadout |
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| Weapon Loadout |
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| USNI Reference |
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| Graphics Options |
