If I buy this game?????

[Ssgt_Wolverine]

Hello!

I wanted to have your inputs about what fo I do next after buying this game? What I mean is there anything I should know on what mods, patch, campaigns if any, to download first.

I am interested but am still not sure about it, is there any support for the game? is there any players still playing it, is there any Clan or what ever you call it? Online play is it good?

Anything you tell me might help me for sure to make my mind about this game.

Thank you! :salute:

[FIREWALL]

Hi SW :DL

I just got the sim myself a few days ago.

Yes there is a patch.

And it is recommended to use the mod LWAMI 3.08

I understand it fixes alot of stuff.

I'm in the learning stage myself so, not much help.

But, we have alot of guys here willing to help.

btw, there is a DW forum here to answer your questions better than I can.

[Ssgt_Wolverine]

Hi SW :DL

I just got the sim myself a few days ago.

Yes there is a patch.

And it is recommended to use the mod LWAMI 3.08

I understand it fixes alot of stuff.

I'm in the learning stage myself so, not much help.

But, we have alot of guys here willing to help.

btw, there is a DW forum here to answer your questions better than I can.

Thanks for answer, and I have added you to my friends list. Maybe we can play some game online helping each other learning the ropes of this sim, no?

[OneShot]

You might want to take a peek at the CADC (see my signature for link) ... and discover a nice source of information and helpful people for DW.

[Ssgt_Wolverine]

You might want to take a peek at the CADC (see my signature for link) ... and discover a nice source of information and helpful people for DW.


Well thanks for the link very nice of you, looks impressive! :salute:

[AchtAchtel]

Patching (1.04) and modding the game (LwAmi 3.09 by Luftwolf&Amizaur) is necessary, but I would also recommend installing GameSpy Arcade. However many players do not use it, DW was made to natively to work with it and it does.. like a charm. GameSpy is of course free to use, only quick registration needed. Try finding enemies there on fridays, 20:00 UTC.

Regards.

[FIREWALL]

You might want to take a peek at the CADC (see my signature for link) ... and discover a nice source of information and helpful people for DW.


Thx OneShot :up: A wealth of info there. :salute:

[goldorak]

Hello!

I wanted to have your inputs about what fo I do next after buying this game? What I mean is there anything I should know on what mods, patch, campaigns if any, to download first.

I am interested but am still not sure about it, is there any support for the game? is there any players still playing it, is there any Clan or what ever you call it? Online play is it good?

Anything you tell me might help me for sure to make my mind about this game.

Thank you! :salute:


There is no official support anymore from SCS, but the game is kept alive by some really really cool modders. There are different mods available, Lwami was the first, it is still being updated and is very challenging. It corrects most bugs of DW and imrpoves the database, as well as doctrines, ai behaviour etc... Also adds a lot of new units in the database. The only downside is that is doesn't add new playables. This is where Alfa Tau 3 and RA keep the stone rolling. Alfa Tau is based on Lwami but adds a whole lot of new playables (italian subs and frigates, russian subs, helos, airplanes etc...). Very well done and available on subguru's website. The other mod RA is being done by the russians and goes beyond what is done in Alfa Tau. Some units such as the frigate are vastly improved (giving you very precise control on the helos for example). This mod is still in beta, so its not publicly available.

People still play online. Thing is there is no dedicated server, so the players must agree beforehand when to play. Also nobody can enter a game already running. Thats why playing in a virtual fleet is the number one option, you can also find freelance players on cadc (another excellent website dedicated to dw, besides subguru and of course subsim).
You can learn more easily and rapidly when playing in multiplayer with other experienced players. Some will even teach you the different units. It makes the entry barrier so to speak much easier on the newbie. :DL

If you like multiplayer, wait till you try multiplayer-multistation that is several people manning a same unit. Think big, a scenario where you have 10 players, 2 on a same sub, 2 on a p-3, 4 on 2 akula II's and 2 on a frigate with asw helos. There is a lot of fun coming your way. The really cool thing is DW doesn't use a lot of bandwith so even with small upload speeds you can host games for 8-12 players, sometimes even more.

[Ssgt_Wolverine]

Patching (1.04) and modding the game (LwAmi 3.09 by Luftwolf&Amizaur) is necessary, but I would also recommend installing GameSpy Arcade. However many players do not use it, DW was made to natively to work with it and it does.. like a charm. GameSpy is of course free to use, only quick registration needed. Try finding enemies there on fridays, 20:00 UTC.

Regards.

Hello!

The game was already patch with 1.04, but I went on Commanders Academy & Dive Center to get the mod: LwAmi 3.09 So thank you. And BTW I don't understand S.....T of the game yet. :damn:

[Ssgt_Wolverine]

There is no official support anymore from SCS, but the game is kept alive by some really really cool modders. There are different mods available, Lwami was the first, it is still being updated and is very challenging. It corrects most bugs of DW and imrpoves the database, as well as doctrines, ai behaviour etc... Also adds a lot of new units in the database. The only downside is that is doesn't add new playables. This is where Alfa Tau 3 and RA keep the stone rolling. Alfa Tau is based on Lwami but adds a whole lot of new playables (italian subs and frigates, russian subs, helos, airplanes etc...). Very well done and available on subguru's website. The other mod RA is being done by the russians and goes beyond what is done in Alfa Tau. Some units such as the frigate are vastly improved (giving you very precise control on the helos for example). This mod is still in beta, so its not publicly available.

People still play online. Thing is there is no dedicated server, so the players must agree beforehand when to play. Also nobody can enter a game already running. Thats why playing in a virtual fleet is the number one option, you can also find freelance players on cadc (another excellent website dedicated to dw, besides subguru and of course subsim).
You can learn more easily and rapidly when playing in multiplayer with other experienced players. Some will even teach you the different units. It makes the entry barrier so to speak much easier on the newbie. :DL

If you like multiplayer, wait till you try multiplayer-multistation that is several people manning a same unit. Think big, a scenario where you have 10 players, 2 on a same sub, 2 on a p-3, 4 on 2 akula II's and 2 on a frigate with asw helos. There is a lot of fun coming your way. The really cool thing is DW doesn't use a lot of bandwith so even with small upload speeds you can host games for 8-12 players, sometimes even more.

Thanks for all of this info but I cannot find the Alfa Tau download even if I went on the website you have mentioned in you thread, can you supply a direct link for me please. And I cannot find either the RA mod also.

Thank you! :salute:

[goldorak]

Hello!

The game was already patch with 1.04, but I went on Commanders Academy & Dive Center to get the mod: LwAmi 3.09 So thank you. And BTW I don't understand S.....T of the game yet. :damn:

Don't try the frigate :haha:, choose something more simple such as an akula 2 (mostly because of its simple sonar screen). Once you get the basics right, go with a 688 or seawolf. If you want something challeging a Kilo could well suit you. Keep the frigate for the end its worth it. :)

[Ssgt_Wolverine]

Don't try the frigate :haha:, choose something more simple such as an akula 2 (mostly because of its simple sonar screen). Once you get the basics right, go with a 688 or seawolf. If you want something challeging a Kilo could well suit you. Keep the frigate for the end its worth it. :)

Thanks again for the info, I will follow your advice. :woot: :salute:

[goldorak]

Thanks for all of this info but I cannot find the Alfa Tau download even if I went on the website you have mentioned in you thread, can you supply a direct link for me please. And I cannot find either the RA mod also.

Thank you! :salute:

For Alfa Tau :

http://www.subguru.com/AlfaTau3-1.exe

RA mod is not publicly available.

[Ssgt_Wolverine]

For Alfa Tau :

http://www.subguru.com/AlfaTau3-1.exe

RA mod is not publicly available.

Again thank you very much! :salute: :sunny:

[Shearwater]

This may be a stupid question, but being a newbie myself (okay, got the sim 7 months ago, but didn't play it until recently and am still very much in the learning process):

For all us newbies here, what does Lwami actually do, and why is it necessary? Or to phrase it differently: What difference does it make? Does it make the game, in some sense, easier, because platforms and behave more like you would expect them to do (in comparison to real life)? I understand that it modifies the doctrine files, but I actually don't understand what that really means.

Generally, I'm a bit sceptical towards modded games - I prefer the vanila version :) but I guess that such mods are probably the only way to keep DW alive, let alone correct bugs that may (still?) be present, and since so many people have put a lot of effort into it, I might as well give it a try. Perhaps it's something I wouldn't want to miss, but for the time being, I don't even know what it does ;)

[Dr.Sid]

You simply must read all the readme. There is no way around it.
Some modifications add crucial features, like helo dipping sonar, some are cosmetic (some new models), some tweaks performance of weapons and sensors, which can make some missions unplayable (but same happened even for official patches).
As long you don't really mind bugs in official version, and you don't want to play MP with people who use LWAMI, you don't really need it. You can save it for the moments you will think you know everything in the game and you need something new :)

[Shearwater]

Thanks for the reply.
some tweaks performance of weapons and sensors, which can make some missions unplayable
That's exactly what I'm afraid of ;)
but same happened even for official patches
and that is simply annoying :cry:
I think that I'll just play through the campain (which should take a couple of months/years/decades :D) before I install any mods and go for MP. Also, since LWAMI is already 3.09, it looks like I'd have to read a lot of readme files before I get a picture of what this mod really does, so for the time being, I'll just stick with the 1.04 stock version :up:

[Blacklight]

LWAMI doesn't make the game unplayable. Just the opposite is true. There are however some missions in the stock campaign that are impossible to do with LWAMI due to stuff tweaked to be more realistic. MOST missions and multiplayer missions are made with LWAMI in mind.

LWAMI comes with the Jonesoft Mod Enabler so you can have it installed and use the mod enabler to activate or deactivate the mod as you see fit.

[Molon Labe]

I think that's a pretty good approach. Don't worry, it won't take too long before things about stock DW start bugging you and you'll wonder if anything's been done about it. LuftWolf and Amizaur started with stock DW too, so the more you play it the more you'll understand exactly how they felt when they started the mod. (Oh, and by the way, the readmes are cumulative, so you only have to read the latest one)

As for "some missions becoming unplayable," by "some" he means one: Vladivostock, the first stock campaign mission. Can anyone think of any others? OK, I can add one: Race of the Cripples, from Bill's Red Storm Rising campaign. Out of dozens, possibly hundreds of missions out there.

If you'd like, I can explain in detail why those missions don't play well with LWAMI ("unplayable" is a bit of an exageration too; I've beaten them both with LWAMI active). The short version is that these missions were built around, or compensated for, deficiencies in stock DW. LWAMI corrected the underlying problems, which caused the missions to not play as intended. For the vast majority of old missions, fixing the things that are broken leads to them playing better, not worse.

Another thing to keep in mind is that LWAMI has been around long enough--and been the "standard" mod for long enough--that a majority of missions created in the last few years have been built around the mod. You're a lot more likely to run into compatibility issues going the other way. Just to give you an example, every mission I've ever designed with an Akula and an ASUW objective also has AEGIS ships around, to prevent the Akula's side from "automatically" winning by firing salvoes of SS-N-27s right from the beginning. When played with LWAMI, some missiles may get through and cause significant damage, but it won't be decisive, and the other side has a chance to react to the attack. Played with stock DW, most of the missiles get through, mission accomplished, not a damn thing the other side could have done about it.

[Dr.Sid]

Yes sure, don't get it wrong .. it will take some effort to find some mission which will have troubles. And stock missions are not without problems at all, and some may be even fixed by LWAMI.

I will correct my statement .. only don't install LWAMI if you don't understand some stuff in the readme. LWAMI will help you especially if you understand what it does.

[Shearwater]

Hello!
I wanted to have your inputs about what fo I do next after buying this game? What I mean is there anything I should know on what mods, patch, campaigns if any, to download first.


I recommend to get yourself the manual. After trying to come to grips with the sim for about seven months with no avail (with a couple of larger intermissions, that is), I finally decided to order the manual, although it's a bit pricey (even more so if you're living outside the US and have to pay additional shipping fees. $36.95, or €28,89, was about three times the price of the game itself).

Something which I can also recommend, in case you can get it somehere: Have a look at the 688(i) Hunter/Killer manual. Although the game is from 1997, not much has changed in terms of interface (naturally, you now have four subs instead of one, but the basic elements are virtually the same for every sub, except the sonar suite for the Russian boats). However, I found that sometimes it does a better job at actually explaining things, not just describing.

Additional "non-official" documentation can be found on the subguru-homepage. I know it has already been mentioned, but I would like to draw your attention to the documents at the beginning of the page :) Things I found particularly helpful are the "Landlubber's Survival Guide" and "TimmyG00's Tactical Manual". They nicely explain why you should do certain things. However, how to do it, you depend on the (official DW 570 page spiral-bound expensive and extensive) manual.

Hope this keeps you busy for a couple of weeks :ping: