A few questions from a new DW user

[Sgian Dubh]

Hi all,

I have had SC since it came out, but held off on DW because I don't like buying things online and because I wanted to see what the reports on it were after it had been out for a while.

Anyway, for the 688I ans SeaWolf, what are the biggest changes in sub operations b/w SC and DW. THe interfaces appear identical, or nearly so. I am starting the process of reading the manual, but I was hoping someone could give me the highlights.

Second, should I turn wind and currents on or off? I have been reading a number of comments on this, but there is not a clear consensus in the material I have read. I have stock 1.03 installed now, but I am considering installing the (insert acronym here) realism mod for things like having the helo AI use the dipping sonar. I am probably going to spend a fair amount of time in the FFG to start, just for a change of pace. I am a pretty serious flight simmer, so while the prospect of the helo and Orion intrigue me, I suspect I would be unhappy and frustrated with the flight model, etc. So I am not going to go there just yet.

I spent a fair amount of time in the game last night and so far I am really liking what I see. The only disappointment so far is the lack of being able to set waypoints for the FFG or sub. This was a frustration in SC as well, and I had hoped that DW would have addressed this.

For me it is just a level of micromanagement that I wish wasn't there. I would like to be able to issue course,speed and depth changes in advance (to resolve contacts) and then be able to spend my time on the sensors knowing that the XO would take care of moving the ship so I can spend 100% effort on figuring out where, when and at what to shoot.

Ah well. Such is life. My only other comment is that I wish higher levels of TC were possible. Perhaps there is a way to increase this by editing a config file?

[timmyg00]

The only disappointment so far is the lack of being able to set waypoints for the FFG or sub. You can set waypoints for all playable units; it's in the right-click menu for ownship, or you could simply press the Insert button on your keyboard.


My only other comment is that I wish higher levels of TC were possible. Perhaps there is a way to increase this by editing a config file? Pardon my ignorance... what do you mean by TC?

TG

[Sgian Dubh]

Timmyg00. That is great to hear about the waypoints. Thanks.

TC=Time Compression.

Thanks for the quick reply

[timmyg00]

TC=Time Compression. DOH!

TG

[Sgian Dubh]

Anyone want to venture an opinoin on turning current and winds on or off?

I have the off right now, but if they don't cause any major problems I'd like to try with them on.

[SKeeM]

Anyone want to venture an opinoin on turning current and winds on or off?

I have the off right now, but if they don't cause any major problems I'd like to try with them on.

I just cant even think of a reason why you would turn them off. Its not like they can affect game performance like a graphic setting. Just why? I ask.

[MaHuJa]

Currents, at least, have a tendency to behave weirdly, regarding things like cavitation speeds and the like. I never investigated if it made sense or not, but few missions use currents in the first place.

In a few missions, waveriding may cause a bigger problem, since a sub may pitch too much and hit the bottom if surfaced over a shallow area, e.g. the start of sicilian wedding.

With most missions, that have more than a couple units, all but the most powerful computers will have trouble at the max of 16x, so I don't see the need to increase it further.

SC used a stepping 1-2-4-6-8, DW does the "binary series" 1-2-4-8-16.

The interfaces for the subs are mostly identical, and the improvements are rather subtle. For example, the esm station now also shows the emitter you are detecting. Or the enhanced acoustics model, which can only be seen in the behaviour of the sonar, not in the sonar screen layouts.

One last thing about waypoints - you can doubleclick on a waypoint to set a new speed, depth, etc, but so far I do not think it works...

[Sgian Dubh]

Excellent. Thanks for all of that.