2d subsim - would you play it?
 

Hey there,

new here and have a question.

Consider a modern submarine scenario and kind of a realistic sim. Most of the games out there are 3d games.

My question is: Would you play a modern subsim made in 2d? I mean realistically you just have all the stations of a submarine, no outside view, going surfaced is not often used at all... So you just have your stations (sonar, radar, weapons and so on, well there is the periscope, dunno what to do about that then). So how important do you see real 3d in such a sim? Would it be worth to make just a 2d game? Would you think this is boring like hell?

I think you must describe it more detailed.
A 2D Submarine Simulation is like Silent Service I.

Game play is key. I used to really enjoy The Hunt For Red October and one of the other older ones that I can't remember the name of now... The only bad thing about THFRO for me was that I was on a Commodore 64, and had to do multiple disk swaps, seemingly constantly... I do not ever recall coming up close enough to the surface to use the periscope... I still like to play Commander Keen, which is a really old side-scroller game, in 2D... Solitaire is 2D, etc. How much fun is the game? You could build in 2D initially, and add 3D components later. Sort of a "proof of concept". The SSI / Aegis Silent Hunter is still one of my favorites, and I still play it. Ubisoft bought it, and eventually made SH5, which is very 3D, but doesn't work as well as the first version - and "play" factor? It won't run hardly without extensive modding...

I am not overly concerned with graphics but as others have posted gameplay and the simulation aspect is more important to me.

welcome aboard!
 

Anyone else remember a game from 1990 called Action Stations?

It was a WWII naval sim. Graphics we minimal as it depicted the CIC battle map. But it was one of the more enjoyable and exciting naval sims I played as all the effort was in the historical accuracy and the game play instead of graphic eye candy.

I remember playing that on my 386 and how slow the calculations were and when I upgraded to the blazing 486 with the extra fast 25mhz processor how much faster the math went.

It was a good example of how a good simulator does not need glitzy graphics to be enjoyable.

Wow, thanks for all your answers! Really appreciated!

:Kaleun_Salute:

I'm going to try this. Don't expect too fast results. Obviously some kind of 3d will be needed at least for periscope stuff and so on which shouldn't be an issue.

I think the better the simulation is the importance of catchy 3d graphics fades a bit.

My short answer is no, I would not play it.

But to expand on that, if the gameplay were exceptionally compelling, of course I would. I struggle though, to envision such a game. How can you make 'station keeping' compelling? That's for the developers to figure out I suppose.

However.... I would love to see an operation level sub game. Something where you are taking on the role of Admirals Lockwood or Donitz for example. This could certainly work in a 2D game. Sort of like Europa Universalis but for submarines.

Imagine having control over patrol locations and ULTRA info. Protecting sea lane communications, prosecuting the tonnage war, deciding which new technologies to run with and which to shelve. Who do you promote to command, who gets relieved?

Imagine a completely dynamic campaign. Does the fact that that sub you sent out is failing to respond or transmit mean it's gone, or simply a faulty R/T? Analyzing enemy shipping traffic reports to best place your boats. An enemy that reacts to what you do, and you to it. Will you send that boat back to Mare Island for refit, or send it out on another patrol, possibly one too many for the boat or the strain on the crew?

The possibilities are many, and I would buy this game provided it was truly dynamic and had the complexity and unpredictability of a game like EU IV.

There is another WW2 game... admittedly not a naval game... which is simultaneously both 2-D game and sim. It's called "Battle of Britain II" and you can choose whether to play it as a campaign strategy game, combat-sim or both. You can play an armchair campaign using an authentic Operations Room map and procedures... as a Luftwaffe player you can direct small raids right up to enormous attacks by bomber flotillas, with squadron upon squadron of escorts... then at the click of the mouse jump into one of the participating aircraft (as pilot, gunner or bombardier) once the action is under way. Are there any naval games just like this? I don't know.

What you described in your post sounds pretty interesting actually. Add a choice of playing the convoy commander (where do I put my meager antisub forces and do I hold the convoy or split it up?). I would seriously consider that sort of game if the historical simulation was up to snuff

I think it depends on how realistic it was, if It had the depth of SH3 but was limited to 2D I would give it a go. It's certainly an interesting idea, I think the main problem would be the periscope.