View Full Version : AOD Still Rocks
I started a new AOD game today, mainly because I want to see some wolfpacks. In April 1941 I was transferred to the 3rd Flotilla in La Rochelle and given command of U-114, a Type IID boat, with orders to patrol Grid AM97. I reached AM97 and soon afterwards U-398 reported a convoy heading into English waters north of me. Hours later Bdu gave me orders to intercept the convoy. After diving to avoid several aircraft I sighted a heavily escorted convoy in shallow waters. Depth under keep 18 meters, not good. Nevertheless, I positioned myself at periscope depth in front of the convoy and stopped my engines. Remaining undetected I found myself in perfect position to attack a 15,000 ton troop ship, 500 meters away. I launched all 3 of my torpedo tubes. All three hit the target and sunk the ship. Great first kill. Just minutes later my sonarman detected high speed screws. Upon checking my periscope sure enough a destroyer was heading my way. I rung for silent running and begun to move away. While at silent running my bilge pumps overflowed and I hit the bottom. I decided to stay at the bottom, and wait for the escorts to give up. After hours of pinging and a few depth charges the escorts finally gave up and continued with the convoy and I was able to escape. Despite it's age AOD is still a lot of fun to play.
The last line of the SHII review said "Silent Hunter II will be replacing Aces and SH1 as the new WWII subsim benchmark." Come on, SHII didn't even have a dynamic campaign. SHIII on the other hand is a great game, but there are features that I sill miss from AOD. Mainly wolfpacks, and a more complex and interactive radio system. Not to mention you could abandon ship when the going gets tough. AOD is still a great game.
Sailor Steve
08-20-08, 05:02 PM
As is SH1, and for the same reasons. The main reason I prefer SH3 over AOD is simply that part of being in the navy for me was actually being on the water, and seeing the sights going in and out of port; something that only comes with the newer graphics.
I agree - AOD is still well worth playing, and in some respects is still the best of them all.
MarkShot
08-20-08, 05:35 PM
AOD had game play and atomosphere. A very immersive balance.
Also, certain modeling regarding LOS & acoustic detection probably were better modeled in AOD than SH3 (with or without any of the total mods).
And don't forget you got all of that out of the box!
I do play SH3/GWX2 and I have to say that the graphics are a form of immersion in themselves. I only wish the game play was more solid.
In my opinion, AOD, SH1, and SH3 (+mods) each has strengths to offer and respective weaknesses. So, I play them all.
Sailor Steve
08-20-08, 06:35 PM
Mark, you're alive! Good to see you still read these threads. Good to hear from you, too!:sunny:
Mark is indeed alive. And everywhere! He is an active and primary voice at the Matrix Forums.
MarkShot
08-20-08, 08:21 PM
This must be yank my chain day.
What's this "Mark's alive"? Did someone pronounce me dead?
And where/how do you guys, Sailor Steve and Eugene know me from?
---
I haven't dived for a while. I tend to go from genre to genre. I went from subs to trading/money/strategy games to geo-political games, but I think it's time to go back out on patrol. I definitely don't want the War to end without me! :) Ich bin zeruck gekommen!
Syxx_Killer
08-20-08, 08:59 PM
AOD is what got me into sub sims. I loved it back in the day. I loved just watching the ships sink (I still do in in SH3 and SH4). I had Command: Aces of the Deep and played it to death. I still have the box and everything. To this day that game has a certain aura about it that just hasn't been matched. I wish there was a modern version of the theme music from CAOD out there. What better way to go out on patrol than to listen to that old tune! Come to think of it, I'd also like the Silent Service music for SH4 and the CAOD music for SH4: UBM. :88):arrgh!:
Today I got a reminder of how much more difficult the game is. On my next patrol while on my way to my patrol area I spotted an escort in bad weather heading straight for me. I dove to 150 meters and changed direction. Unfortunately my stern was hit with depth charges damaging the rear hatch and the electric engines. It said my electric engines were critically damaged. Despite this my speed didn't change, so I decided to go to 170, and stay submerged. Soon on my map I got 6 escorts detected by hydrophones. As one was making a pass over me I tried to go to flank and turn but the game wasn't bull****ting me about the engines because I couldn't gain any speed. I got hit by a few more depth charges causing damage in almost every compartment. I tried to blow ballast but it was too late and the last depth charge burst my pressure hull.
Sailor Steve
08-21-08, 02:54 PM
As I told Mark privately the only place I know him from is these forums. It's just that one day he was posting a lot, and then not, and it was nice to read a post from him again.
As for AOD, yeah, there are still some things at which it hasn't been beat. When SH3 was still under development and discussions were rife concerning what it would contain and do, I posted once that I'd be happy for an AOD2 with SH2's graphics.
nikimcbee
08-21-08, 03:41 PM
AOD is what got me into sub sims. I loved it back in the day. I loved just watching the ships sink (I still do in in SH3 and SH4). I had Command: Aces of the Deep and played it to death. I still have the box and everything. To this day that game has a certain aura about it that just hasn't been matched. I wish there was a modern version of the theme music from CAOD out there. What better way to go out on patrol than to listen to that old tune! Come to think of it, I'd also like the Silent Service music for SH4 and the CAOD music for SH4: UBM. :88):arrgh!:
I cut my teeth on GATO. AOTD was great, but it had some bad bugs in it which would raise their heads every now and then.
MarkShot
08-21-08, 03:48 PM
AOD does atomosphere and game play really, really well. Of course, it looks like a cartoon, but subsimming is a state of mind ... otherwise unlike flight simming which should be an awesome panorama.
I've always found modded SH3 to have some amazing acoustic sensitivity that probably is not reasonable. AOD is much better in this regard. You can maneuver, dive deep, and slip by a screen (with the convoy mainly coming to you). Modded SH3 gives escorts passive detection capabilities that any modern navy would be proud of today.
Certain convoy behaviors in AOD are much better. Convoys will zig every few hours and around Sun set and rise. It can be really hard at times to approach. Modded SH3 saw improvements in course changes more than previously, but you can still draw a straight line and often find them 10 hours later.
The are other areas where SH3 is weak ... LOS and visibility behavior. I've covered that elsewhere. Additionally, poke up a scope and watch the escorts not follow any fire discipline and shoot the each other to pieces as they target your scope. Another thing which is amusing is escorts blowing themselves up on their own DCs.
SH3 (and mods) is great, but if you can look past the cartoon graphics of AOD, you will find a gem of a game waiting for a serious sub captain to take the helm.
MarkShot
08-21-08, 03:51 PM
As I told Mark privately the only place I know him from is these forums. It's just that one day he was posting a lot, and then not, and it was nice to read a post from him again.
Yes, it was very kind that Steve personally welcomed me back to the site. I did gaming guides for online air combat and stuff, but didn't think anyone connected me much with subs. Happy to be back.
MarkShot
08-21-08, 04:03 PM
SHCE is very good.
Some problems were the incredible amount of enemy traffic. They simply over did it trying to make the game easy to find the enemy.
Now, unlike SH2/PA and SH4, SH1 made it easy to get into the action, since the patrol areas were pre-made maps. Skip the long transit or having to travel in TC at 2048 or 4096. On the other hand, I like in AOD staying with a convoy for four days and hitting right before sunset over and over again. You cannot do that in SHCE, because you run off the map in day or so.
SHCE escorts are generally better I think than SH3 escorts (especially out of the box). However, AOD has the best most challenging escort behavior, patterns, and coordination. SHCE was a little weak on making escorts vulnerable to "down the throat" shots. In real life, a destroyer is a fast and agile ship which when bow on does not present too much profile. Not the idea adversary to play chicken with. It was not accident that ramming was an acceptable tactic to deal with a shallow sub.
I play SHCE with a house rule that the escorts are not fair game. In AOD, that is not necessary, since they are hard to take out and not worth the use ordnance.
This must be yank my chain day.
What's this "Mark's alive"? Did someone pronounce me dead?
And where/how do you guys, Sailor Steve and Eugene know me from?
Mark, I knew you were alive, and not departed from the scene because of your gracious and indispensible presence over at the Matrix forums, especially the COTA, HTTR, and related forums. You would recognize me, except that there and only there I have to be "Laramie" because someone had already taken my "normal" name, Eugene.
MarkShot
08-21-08, 04:29 PM
Nice to bump into you again.
Have fun subsimming, Eugene!
MarkShot
08-21-08, 08:39 PM
I am just starting a new patrol as I write this in a career which I have been playing the last two years. Excuse me I have to lay in a course to North America, Der Fuehrer has declared war on those mongrel Americans. The game of mock neutrality is finally over. Those dogs will now watch their tankers split and burn without site of their beaches! :)
Ah the heavy throb of the diesals and the gentle rock of the boat side by side. Here some shots of our last hours ashore:
http://home.comcast.net/~markshot/tempimages/aod001.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~markshot/tempimages/aod002.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~markshot/tempimages/aod003.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~markshot/tempimages/aod004.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~markshot/tempimages/aod005.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~markshot/tempimages/aod006.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~markshot/tempimages/aod007.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~markshot/tempimages/aod008.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~markshot/tempimages/aod009.jpg
MarkShot
08-21-08, 08:48 PM
The Sun is up! Here is one issue with AOD. The magic red circle that even when submerged gives you visibility information at the surface! :)
http://home.comcast.net/~markshot/tempimages/aod010.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~markshot/tempimages/aod011.jpg
MarkShot
08-21-08, 09:01 PM
Bad omen! Only a few hours off the French Coast an Allied search plane forces up to go down. I don't mind the diving practice for the crew, but it bothers me that the Luftwaffe cannot give us air cover at least until we clear the shallows. That fat morphine addict!!!
http://home.comcast.net/~markshot/tempimages/aod012.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~markshot/tempimages/aod013.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~markshot/tempimages/aod014.jpg
Sailor Steve
08-22-08, 12:30 AM
Two non-graphic things I didn't like in AOD:
1) While the weather seems to be dynamic in that when you go out on deck it has changed since last time, I noticed that while running in high TC it actually repeated itself - foggy at 0200, sunny at 0800, partly cloudy at 1000, overcast at 1400; over and over, every day. Not a big deal, as SH1's weather was variable but stayed the same all day, and changed exactly at midnight every night.
2) Situational awareness. I liked the single white line representing the noise of a convoy far away, but I never liked being able to put up the periscope and automatically see every single ship marked on the map. While I much prefer the way I have SH3 set up (Assisted Plotting Mod - the only ship that appears on the map is the one you mark with the periscope), AOD was still a great improvement on Silent Service, in which every ship showed up on the map even when you were 300 feet down. On the other hand I did have some fun with SS 'dogfighting' with several destroyers at once and firing torpedoes from a safe depth.
No way am I knocking AOD or SH1 - just remembering that there were things I thought could have been better even then; and things I actually prefer in the newer sims.
MarkShot
08-22-08, 09:48 AM
I never noticed the timing of weather changes. Interesting.
One big difference from AOD and SH1 was that in AOD escorts were constantly banging away with ASDIC. In SH1, they would go to an alerted state only when something happened.
That's why I try to play all three in rotation when I am subsimming as they all have their strengths and weaknesses. I actually have maybe about 30-40 pages of notes on the three comparing and contrasting mechanics. It helps me rapidly transition between games ... so I know what works when.
MarkShot
08-22-08, 09:52 AM
I've left SH2/PA out of my best list. SH2/PA was a superb piece of modding work. The PA team managed to take a totally deal linear campaign and give it life. Also, their work was so highly moddable that me (a non-modder) was able to write a post processor to correct bugs and enhance their generated scripts.
However, what killed SH2/PA for me was the fact that you could not save and load a patrol. What a shame ... otherwise, I might still have it loaded. Even SH3 has save/load problems, but not to the extent SH2 did. I never understood and anyone could program a game that cannot handle saving/loading. Amazing!
* It's said that SH3 saves shouldn't be done submerged.
Buddahaid
08-23-08, 01:50 AM
Ok, can't resist any longer. This was the first subsim I bought, and loved it even if I preferred Fleet Boats. I reloaded COAD and AOD to my computers several weeks back, and fell in love again. It's great to massage the roots now and then.
Buddahaid
KriegsMarine
08-24-08, 12:19 PM
AOD is a pretty awsome game, i always love to ask my sonar man to play the '' Long Long Way to Tipperary " for all the crew members whenever we take out a big fat British convoy. haha, " it's a long long way to Tipperary, and my heart is right there ..." ;)
ohh...! there is an incoming radio message from BdU, sorry guys, i really gotta go. godspeeed!
I wish Vivendi took a team of programmers and handed them over AOTD to give it a modern graphics engine, milk cows and manual TDC. Not even touching a code line of the rest, it would be instantly the BEST ever subsim produced to date. :rock:
MarkShot
08-24-08, 03:38 PM
Agreed ...
Yes, there are a few game engines that if they kept their core logic and only updated the graphics, they would immediately be winners. I would include in this:
(1) AOD
(2) SMG - Sid Meier's Gettysburg
(3) RTD - Sid Meier's Railroad Tycoon Deluxe
MarkShot
08-24-08, 08:23 PM
Steve,
One thing I notice about AOD while playing it today is that the cycle of the waves is proportional to the number of CPU cycles. (It's very easy to raise and lower this in DOSBOX.)
Sailor Steve
08-25-08, 12:20 AM
Interesting.
It didn't really bother me; it's just that people used to complain about SH1's every-night-at-midnight weather change and say how wonderful AOD was by comparison. When I noticed that it stuck with me. I would park in the fog and go to high TC while standing on the bridge. It was funny.
nikimcbee
09-08-08, 01:02 PM
Agreed ...
Yes, there are a few game engines that if they kept their core logic and only updated the graphics, they would immediately be winners. I would include in this:
(1) AOD
(2) SMG - Sid Meier's Gettysburg
(3) RTD - Sid Meier's Railroad Tycoon Deluxe
I totally agree with Gettysburg! There's no good Civil War gams on the market.
I totally agree with Gettysburg! There's no good Civil War gams on the market.
Ditto. Gettysburg is one of the very small handfull of games that has never been uninstalled and always gets moved to any new pc I buy. I was thrilled that I was able to get it to run on my Vista laptop.
MarkShot
09-08-08, 08:30 PM
I actually have SMG archived at the moment (had it as part of the CWC). Also, had WNLB and ANGV, but they don't come close to SMG.
Did you need to use a slow down utility to make adress SMG's map scrolling?
SMG is superb:
* A simple elegant interface.
* Games typically go back and forth until the very end. (which is often extended).
* Every spoken line meant something specific to the game.
I even developed by own mod manager for SMG.
As I write this right now, I am playing RTD.
Want to see my showcase of a Classic Game, then check:
http://www.wargamer.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=307087
I actually have SMG archived at the moment (had it as part of the CWC). Also, had WNLB and ANGV, but they don't come close to SMG.
Did you need to use a slow down utility to make adress SMG's map scrolling?
No, never tried any utility, I just started using the right mouse button to recenter and move it that way.
SMG is superb:
* A simple elegant interface.
* Games typically go back and forth until the very end. (which is often extended).
* Every spoken line meant something specific to the game.
I would also add the SMG (for me anyway) was the last of the 'great manual' games (I invented a new category:D ). Both the main game manual and the Reynolds tactics guide you actually wanted to read like a good book, and made a great game even better.
nikimcbee
09-08-08, 11:48 PM
I totally agree with Gettysburg! There's no good Civil War gams on the market.
Ditto. Gettysburg is one of the very small handfull of games that has never been uninstalled and always gets moved to any new pc I buy. I was thrilled that I was able to get it to run on my Vista laptop.
Whoa? How'd you do that? Was it Vista 64?
Ditto. Gettysburg is one of the very small handfull of games that has never been uninstalled and always gets moved to any new pc I buy. I was thrilled that I was able to get it to run on my Vista laptop.
Whoa? How'd you do that? Was it Vista 64?
Home Premium. All I did was copy the entire game folder from my XP box to the laptop. I did need the Firaxis Win2k compatibility patch to get it to run (which I don't use on the XP box). It looks a little stretched on the latpop's widescreen display, and you don't get the pre-battle map animations (moving arms across the map), videos, etc. But the game plays fine otherwise.
CptGrayWolf
09-12-08, 05:25 PM
'Boat on the surface captain', 'Now running on diesel engines!'
Woa I'm not the only one playing AOD! :D
I personaly think they're too many little (and not so little) things wrong with SH3 to make it my number 1 subsim. Here's just a few of these little things that drive me nuts in SH3; I can't even enter the name Christopher Werner, not enough space. Where is La Rochelle? The water depth is way too shallow (in the bay of Biscay for example). Then there's the 'big ones', no wolfpacks, no convoy zig zags, no dynamic radio communications. I'm not sure if all these things I've mentioned have been modded, but still... I remember for a while my SH3 folder became a huge bloated modded monster. But I digress, I don't want to turn this into a SH3 bashing post. SH3 does have some things that it does well, like manual targeting, great eye candy and ear candy too! (hehe ear candy...)
But in the end, AOD is the game that makes me feel like in the Das Boot movie.
I remember reading somewhere that the AOD programmers watched Das Boot over and over again, and it shows!
Aces of the Deep, still king of the atlantic!
Yes, I agree. The main thing that made me leave AOD in the end was the lack of manual targetting (And even if it had, the graphics are not sharp enough to get accurate data of the target), something that SH3 simulates quite well. But I miss a lot the atmosphere and specially the Wolfpacks. I have not done a single campaign/patrol with a Type VII in the Atlantic with SH3, I find it too stupid to locate a huge convoy and engage it in kamikaze style. So my SH3 careers have always been limited to the Mediterranean, Black Sea and Type IX long range patrols.
AOD still rocks :rock:
Robert Fulton
01-17-09, 03:46 PM
And AOD had a nice manual, and a huge fold-out map.
The white victory flags were very cool. I suppose they are available via a mod in SH3?
nikimcbee
01-18-09, 11:23 PM
And AOD had a nice manual, and a huge fold-out map.
The white victory flags were very cool. I suppose they are available via a mod in SH3?
I still have the map. I keep it in one of my u-boat books.
surf_ten
01-27-09, 10:14 PM
I know this is an old thread but I could help reminessing on Aces of the Deep. What a classic game. I too have kept the original box, manual, and map. I had the command version where you could use voice activated commands. However I don't think it worked right. I tried loaded in up on my XP a couple of years ago box but it threw an error when I tried to put out to sea.
Dynamix the developer made some great games (Red Baron, Aces over Eupore & Pacific). I loved reading their manuals they gave a good history lesson concerning the war and the various sub commanders and their carreers. AOD even included interviews with the real U-boat aces such as Otto Krestchmer and couple of others whom I don't remember. It's a shame the games today just don't seem to be created with the same tender luvin care and attention to detail. Slap a coat of nifty pixels and shove it out door seems to be today's standard for game developement.
johnlax
01-31-09, 12:41 PM
guys can someone help me out here what do I have to do ( or get ) to make CAOD work on my PC. I have XP and really want to get back into CAOD. Someone told me that we need some kind of free software patch or program to make this work we attempted to load CAOD and it started up but did not go very far. Can someone help with this?? Thanks. I had SH III but had a hard drive crash and every time I go to relaod it it tells me my id number is not correct and frankly I am unwilling to once again add the many mods I had on it to make it workable. I would be happy to do CAOD at this point thanks!!!!!
If you have a modern PC with much memory, you need a memory allocator (see Alloc.exe on my Mediafire page) to reduce the amount of free memory. For me this works.
guys can someone help me out here what do I have to do ( or get ) to make CAOD work on my PC. I have XP and really want to get back into CAOD. Someone told me that we need some kind of free software patch or program to make this work we attempted to load CAOD and it started up but did not go very far. Can someone help with this?? Thanks. I had SH III but had a hard drive crash and every time I go to relaod it it tells me my id number is not correct and frankly I am unwilling to once again add the many mods I had on it to make it workable. I would be happy to do CAOD at this point thanks!!!!!
I don't know about CAOD, but you can simply play AOD with DOSBox. I use the frontend D-Fend reloaded. Loading up DOS games with D-Fend can't be any easier, I love it.
Besides, AOD is better than CAOD. You can play it in fullscreen, no sound glitchs and other reasons I forget right now.
You can play it in fullscreen, no sound glitchs and other reasons I forget right now
True, but in CAOD you can use the 2:1 mode and actually have double pixels than the original 640x480, giving you a working resolution of 1280x960 :yeah:
True, but in CAOD you can use the 2:1 mode and actually have double pixels than the original 640x480, giving you a working resolution of 1280x960 :yeah:
With D-Fend Reloaded (DOSBox) you can play around with all kinds of resolutions. :yep:
I got the CAoD memory problem fixed by going to msconfig, boot.ini, advanced, and setting /MAXMEM.
Unfortunately it still crashes whenever I try to program FATs/LUTs.
How the heck do you form wolfpacks?
DES_SNIPER
11-25-09, 10:21 PM
Ahhh....good ol Aces of the Deep.:)
Spent may hours skipping high school for that game...and where did it get me...oh yea, many more hours of game play:D
no really, as far as I can remember, it was one of the first subsims that would allow you to use different torps.
Der_Meister
03-30-10, 06:01 PM
I gotta bump this thread. Is anyone still playing AOD? I prefer this over GWX3.0! Not only are the wolfpacks and dynamic radio amazing, but it seems as though the destroyers are more realistic (ie., behave like humans) than those in GWX. Now I can actually slip through a screen without being detected running silent at 80m :-?
And to get wolfpacks, once you spot a convoy, go to your radio and click "contact report", and BdU should start directing Uboots to your location if there are any nearby.
Amazing game :rock:
Buddahaid
03-30-10, 08:35 PM
I hate the map where you stay in the center. Blows any concept of distance traveled, but that's my only beef.
St. Cobra
03-31-10, 12:35 PM
I had this game many many years ago. It was good but not as lifelike as Silent Hunter 2. I think the aces campiagn was more interesting until I tried the subsim add on missions for sh2, they were very unpredictable. It was the first time I played a subsim where I was escorted to sea by a destoyer and was attacked by a British sub.
Sailor Steve
05-25-10, 09:58 PM
I'm waiting on a new video card so I can play some of the newer SH3 mods without crashing.
So while I'm waiting I broke out my copy of AOD and loaded it up. For some reason it's only working in a small window, but it's working great! It's easy to forget how much fun this old sim is!:rock:
For some reason it's only working in a small window, but it's working great!
Steve try loading it up with D-fend reloaded, then you can choose "start in full screen" mode. You can also try hitting Alt+Enter, that usualy makes the window fullscreen.
Sailor Steve
05-28-10, 11:08 AM
Steve try loading it up with D-fend reloaded, then you can choose "start in full screen" mode. You can also try hitting Alt+Enter, that usualy makes the window fullscreen.
WOOHOO! Did the trick! Thanks!:rock::D:sunny:
I still think the campaign was the best I've seen in a sub sim. I don't just mean the patrols but the whole shebang: The medals and promotions, transfers, the nightclub - the feel of being part of a world beyond you and your boat. The radio comms and the wolf packs just added to it. Winning a knights cross always felt like a real achievement.
The other thing I loved - and it's still not been done anywhere near as well in any of the Silent Hunter games (not even the first one,) was the damage management. There seemed to be a thousand different things that could get damaged and most of them could take a long, long time to fix.
And coming back into port with the pennants flying - :up:
Sailor Steve
05-28-10, 08:27 PM
The other thing I loved - and it's still not been done anywhere near as well in any of the Silent Hunter games (not even the first one,) was the damage management. There seemed to be a thousand different things that could get damaged and most of them could take a long, long time to fix.
And the way it looked. This is still the most realistic damage information method - looking at the things the LI has circled on the blueprint while he tells you what is wrong and how long he things the repairs will take. Others are much prettier, but this is the only one that's real.
And you don't have to allot the repair crews...that's his job.
Randomizer
05-28-10, 10:28 PM
Another AOD feature dropped from subsequent titles; when you run short of fuel BdU will set you up with a unique RV with a U-tanker within the proper historical time frame that you have to sail to and then may only provide enough fuel to get home. No torpedoes, just fuel.
Also your boat leaks and needs to be pumped out regularly and at depth you're using compressed air to blow the water out and that makes noise! Not good when being hunted.
Another AOD feature dropped from subsequent titles; when you run short of fuel BdU will set you up with a unique RV with a U-tanker within the proper historical time frame that you have to sail to and then may only provide enough fuel to get home. No torpedoes, just fuel.
Also your boat leaks and needs to be pumped out regularly and at depth you're using compressed air to blow the water out and that makes noise! Not good when being hunted.
And when you went to silent running it switched te bilge pumps off, didn't it? You had to go faster on deep silent runs or you would start sinking.....and a career could end with you becoming a POW....
I've got Alpha Protocol waiting for me at home but I think I'm going to reinstall AOD when I get home tonight instead!
Sailor Steve
05-29-10, 10:32 AM
:yep:
"We must run the pumps to maintain depth, Herr Kaleun!"
Gotta love it!:rock:
Another AOD feature dropped from subsequent titles; when you run short of fuel BdU will set you up with a unique RV with a U-tanker within the proper historical time frame that you have to sail to and then may only provide enough fuel to get home. No torpedoes, just fuel.
Say what? I have played AOTD for years and didn't know there was a refuel feature!!! :o :damn:
What do you have to do for BdU to send you to a milk cow, simply status report when fuel is low? :hmmm:
Sailor Steve
05-30-10, 03:54 PM
:rotfl2::rotfl2:
I have to admit I didn't know about the refueling either; but in my case, just as in SH3, I never played past 1940.
A really great game. But every time I start it and see the graphics, I immediatly end the game.
Randomizer
05-31-10, 09:30 AM
Say what? I have played AOTD for years and didn't know there was a refuel feature!!! :o :damn:
What do you have to do for BdU to send you to a milk cow, simply status report when fuel is low? :hmmm:
Remember that U-Boats in AOTD has much greater than historical range so you generally expend torpedoes long before you run short of fuel. However, when you send a status report to BdU, it includes your fuel state, generally OK but if you no longer have enough fuel to reach a friendly port and you are operating in the historical U-Tanker years this can happen. A status report where you get the low fuel warning can result in a response from BdU ordering you to refuel and a yellow tanker icon appears on the strategic map. You then have to close with the tanker and refueling is automatic. I never figured a way to determine bingo fuel using AOTD's primitive fuel gauge but clearly remember several refueling operations in the game. As I recall, there is one line referring to this in the manual (remember when games had useful manuals?) but it was largely undocumented. 15-years later a good chunk of the SubSim community would sell assorted body parts for this feature in SH3 or SH5.
15-years later a good chunk of the SubSim community would sell assorted body parts for this feature in SH3 or SH5.
15 years on, I would sell assorted body parts for a whole bunch of features from AOD to be in Silent Hunter...
ryanglavin
06-04-10, 06:46 AM
This game still rocks 16 years later. LIVE ON !
Sailor Steve
06-04-10, 09:45 AM
A really great game. But every time I start it and see the graphics, I immediatly end the game.
Well, there is that. I like the modern way of watching the harbor stuff in the newer games. But AOD still gets my attention from time to time.
Gosh, who cares about purdy graphics. It's all so relative anyways. In just a couple years time, a kid will post how SH5 looks so dated, then a few years after that SH6 will look old, etc.. etc.. ad infinitum.
The best graphic card will always be your mind's eye anyways. A quick example; the AOD crew are just static pictures, yet they are as real to me (if not more so actually) than the fully animated 'robots' in SH3. All I needed was a static picture, and my mind's eye did the rest. Kinda like reading a book. :yep:
edit: and I'm about to lose it soon if I see another 'SH5 is an amazing subsim' followed by a screenshot :haha:
Sailor Steve
06-05-10, 12:59 PM
edit: and I'm about to lose it soon if I see another 'SH5 is an amazing subsim' followed by a screenshot :haha:
Well, there are people who like submarines and history, and there are gamers, who want nothing more than to play the latest coolest bestest looking eye-fest.
This is why I much prefer The Longest Day to Saving Private Ryan.
My problem is I have been to sea, and I've been to war, and I would rather sail through the harbors than go sink things. So, while I agree that AOD is still the best sub sim available, I have to have my SH fix just so I can relax by dockside and look at the sights.
Also I get jazzed by the whole ships-getting-names thing, and I've spent hundreds of hours cataloging thousands of ships for SH3 Commander, with many of both still to come.
So I'm a graphics whore and I spend all my time working on a mod for SH3. What can I say? That makes me biased. :sunny:
Randomizer
06-05-10, 01:11 PM
Good post, IanC you have achieved a target round!
I suppose a majority of computer gamers place their imaginations on hold when the monitor lights up. They expect the programmers and graphic artists to build their virtual world rather than using their own brains to do so.
Jusy plain lazy? Looking for the quick and easy audio-visual fix? Programmed by TV and computers not to think for themselves? Something else? Who knows? For many it is far easier to let somebody else, total strangers worshipped as Game Developers, to create the details of their virtual worlds but I prefer to do as much as possible for myself.
For me immersion is all about what is going on rather than merely what I am seeing. I find nothing immersive about a computer generated crew resembling nothing more than mobile dummies in a programmed diorama. I will trust my own imagination to create an immersive gaming experiance and AOTD, SH3 and SH4 can certainly deliver the means to do that, non-state of the art graphics and all.
Being hunted by a late war Hunter-Killer ASW Group that is more than capable of executing your destruction in AOTD can be a rivetting and absorbing experiance without being a sound and light spectacular.
____________________________________________
"Oh! Stupid TV ruined my imagination."
Bart Simpson when banned from watching Itchy and Scratchy cartoons.
Karasunx
06-09-10, 06:18 PM
I never knew there were so many features in AOD. Admittedly I just played it for the sake of sailing around and sinking ships (I was 13 when I played it). Sadly, most games are going the route of Hollywood where flashy eye candy replaces substance. SH5 is a damn good looking game, but I have far more fond memories playing AOD or Wolfpack where there was only the interface screen. Now I'm going to have to dig up my old copy and dust the old girl off.
Robsoie
06-21-10, 09:21 AM
What i like in AOD are these moments, when you have looked around a convoy, saw no escort in it, and too focused on the convoy you have not made a 360 with your periscope.
So you decide to target one ship and begin to move at flank speed at periscope depth because you were a bit too far.
Then you hear some pings, followed soon enough by the sound of a destroyer engine roaming the sea and suddenly you see in the periscope in a different direction from the convoy :
http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/6006/clipboard01vf.jpg
And you hear "something" being dropped in the water, 3 or 4 times .
There are few games that can bring you into that feeling of panic mode :)
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