Is the campaign fun?
 

Hi,


I'm not a customer of this game, because I prefer more hardcore simulation like SH3, but since the dev is updating it regulary (and it's avaliable on GOG DRM free), it got my attention.


I'd like to know what are your thinking about the campaign. Is it fun? Do you have impact in the history? Does it have some strategy?


My fear is that the campaign could be just a series of ships/target spam, sink few of them, and you win or lose. I'd love it would have some deep, like, if you sink oil tankers, the nation could lose some mobility... etc. I know this is a silly example, but you get the idea what does mean for me a "dynamic campaign".


An old, but great example of 'campaign' could be the game of The Ancient Art of War in the Skies, where depending what you attack or lose, the war would go in one or other direction.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbg0XHod8bw




Thanks

I suggest you check out Jiveturkey's streams/youtube series and see what you think. The campaign does have win conditions but the missions to get there oscillate between a set of fixed 4, tankers and tenders, invasion force deterrence, sub hunts (Boomer/attack subs) and land strikes. You'll be seeing a lot of the first 3, before the 4th unlocks as you accrue enough VPs to get towards the end of the campaign, the final mission of which will most likely be a Boomer hunt.

But yeah just watch some gameplay and figure out if you want to purchase. I did because I wanted to play a modern sub game as I've never experienced one. I enjoy it for the stalking, and running for my life while under attack.

In the South China Sea campaign, I check all local ships for a Chinese or Russian flag. If one is being flown, it will be sinking beneath the waves.

Nice to know the effect that it has on the nation pertaining. The Russians should mind their own business.:03:

Also, any intel ships that that can detect a surfaced sub at a distance? We could get extra points.

Thanks for the replies, I had been watching some Jiveturkey videos, unfortunately I didn't see too much depth. No info if you are wining or lose, or any minimal strategic sense. I will wait a bit more... hopefully next update.

The action seems fun, tho :)

There should be more strategic depth. I have been taking out Chinese-flagged...anything. my bosses say nothing. The radio room needs more action.

No meaningful historic strategy employed. it's a tactically accurate game which happens to appeal to hard-core sub simmers. In answer to your original question, yeah, it's fun.

...and, from my perspective at least, that's NOT A BAD THING. Occasionally, some folks' pursuit of absolute accuracy gets in the way of making the game session fun. I can completely understand why some folks want that level of detail and I applaud their ability to play at that level. Personally, I have no illusions about my ability to run a whiz-wheel or navigate by celestial fixes....and if it stops being fun, my desire to invest time in it goes away.


My two cents...consider these the ravings of an over-tired simmer who's happy to have found a new source of entertainment. :Kaleun_Cheers:

Yes, the game is surely fun for the action you get when making evasions or attacks, there is an 'action camera' showing everything if you like.
But the game is far from playing in arcade-style, most aspects of a submarine are simulated quite well and you must use good tactics to succeed. Use naive techniques and you will regret it soon...

The campaign can last very long unless you succeed in every encounter, but even then it will take awhile until the opponent country is defeated. There is a moving frontline that changes according to how well you do in the war.
The game plays out like the classic 'Red Storm Rising' but with much better visuals and game mechanics. And with mods you have plenty of subs to chose from and you can play the opponent's side (and their subs).


To my taste the game has a surprisingly high re-playability, the battle situations are quite different each time. What the game does NOT simulate are the sub interiors and battle consoles although there is a periscope view and a damage section where you must take decisions to prioritize repairs. Else you have the choice between a pure tactical map view or a combined action view + reduced tactical view which you will see in most game videos.

For sim's I use 'Dangerous Waters' (DW - not that I'm any good at it). It does have more strategic aspects as well as more interior control of the boat. A bit too much for some. There's a good RA mod for DW too.
CW is a lot more fun though and the graphics are much nicer.

What ruins my fun is encountering something which utterly destroys my willing suspension of disbelief. Navigation minutiae aside, a dedicated and robust strategic module for a game like this would do wonders for immersion. Instead it's just you and your boat against the world, vs. you/boat as part of a larger integrated whole, where I can do my part in helping my side win without the entire weight of the conflict riding on my slender shoulders. [and that is leaving aside any of the various tactical...quirks that have been discussed to death here by now.]

I remember Dangerous Waters, Sub Command and Jane's 688. In these sims more focus is actually placed on strategic elements, enemy units are part of a bigger picture in the war effort and you can edit interesting and long scenarios if you want. To succeed you will have to do well in a serie of missions, and not just in a random encounter put together by a Random Number Generator (RNG).

Such inclusions would be fine in Cold Waters, I agree completly.
It would be the best idea for future updates of CW: Expand on larger series of missions that are *linked together* while keeping the excellent randomness of particular encounters. By doing so the player would certainly feel that he has a precise and important place in the war, playing a campaign of 10-15 single missions that are logically linked together - but different each time you play.

I think this is possible with the current engine of CW.


Another road to take for future updates would be to focus on a more immersive feeling *onboard* a submarine, meaning the game would include a command room + an engine room to give the orders you are currently giving (operation + damage repairs). This would be a nice addition to the only periscope view and the somewhat meager 'compartment and damage window'.


I would like CW to take the first road: Better campaign missions.


Whatever, I would certainly pay additional money for a good DLC :yep: