AOD out of the box functions that SH3 didn't have.
 

I like SH3. But look at the differences out of the box between the two. Crazy that a game made years later didn't have the same at a minimum. Wasn't for modders adding some of these......I won't add atmosphere, etc. as though AOD does better in these gray areas too, I'll just list black/white functions.

1. Abandon boat
2. Varying crash dive times (not just between sub types either).
3. Correct and realistic Allied air power, etc.
4. Accurate damage model.
5. Radio reports that follow the historical timeline that are pertinent to your boat. I.e., don't use radio because of rdf, etc.
6. FIDO torpedo attacks.
7. Wolfpacks. Not only that the player could call in, but they would also send signals to call in the player to a convoy.
8. Accurate convoy and escort group sizes.
9. Realistic sinking/damage.
10. Accurate and helpful hydrophone situational awareness.
11. Challenging, realistic AI. Even with the great work done in the megamods, the SH3 AI pales in comparison.
12. Ability to save the game almost anywhere, anytime.
13. Time compression that can be used at any level without it affecting the game.
14. Convoy evasion tactics; zig-zag, etc. Along with this, escorts that have unpredictable search patterns while escorting.
15. Accurate weapon power.
16. Moonlight affects visibility (still not in SH3).
17. Weather affects ship speeds. Along with this, a weather system that worked.
18. Different depth charge types modeled.
19. Different escort attack types modeled.
20. Affect on boat (leaks, etc.) if running on silent running.
21. Flags, crew, and pennants on your boat.
22. Accurate, working RWR function (still not in SH3).
23. Ships fire flares when hit.
24. A chronometer that is accurate with torpedo impact time estimates.
25. Depth charge explosion effects briefly masks your noise.
26. Milk cows
27. Convoy ship noise could be used to cover your subs submerged noise. (not modeled in SH3).
28. Your sub underwater speed affected your sonar man's ability; to fast, he wouldn't hear anything. Not so in SH3.
29. Your sonar man couldn't detect things with the sub surfaced. (Took Hsie to fix this in SH3. What a silly, basic flaw).
30. Sunset/rise information.
31. Huff-duff.
32. Ability to send radio message from periscope depth as in real life. Still not available in SH3.
33. Much more accurate torpedo failure rates even including the various mods for SH3.
34. Better AI "listening". I.e., if one chooses to do repairs or load torpedoes, it can increase the chance of detection. Not so in SH3.
35. Single ships actually do evasive maneuvers if they spot you vs. the silly snake dance done in SH3.
36. As in real life, close depth charges can result in no damage but can result in displacing the sub's depth up or down.

Off top of head. Probably more; maybe I'll add them as I remember them.

I started a similar thread before SH5 came out.

https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/sho...d.php?t=160755

I agree. It's weird how so many features which were present in classic subsims have disappeared over the years.

Good link. Imagine the time they could devote to more important work if they just didn't do things like:


- no silly opening movie.
- no silly music files.

- no external views, event camera, etc.


etc, etc.

I still play AOD! Still stands the test of time. If it had manual targeting I’d never leave the house.....

You fellas familiar with this?

http://web.archive.org/web/200312270.../contents.html

These guys ran a campaign using AOD. I try and abide by the “phase 5” realism rules in there to heighten the experience (under realism settings). Check out phase 6 for some laughs!

Me too ! Also, thanks for the links below.

Looks like that info. there is from the Sub Commander's Handbook.

Ha ! Found all the other links on that site. Very good info. and a few laughs too !

I was a member of Abaddon’s Wolfpack group back in the 90’s. Have been trying to find a group like it ever since!

That’s great to hear! I’ve always loved that site. A lot of thought and care went into it, that’s clear. I took a lot of inspiration from it for the campaign I run for Wolfpack to be honest. Now, we’re not on the level of the uniforms etc, but we have guys doing KTBs, role playing in game (which Wolfpack as a co-op sim is really designed for), etc.

I wonder what became of Abaddon?

In the middle of 1942 with my latest AOD campaign. Under a convoy, using it's noise to hide from three escorts. What a great, great game.

AOTD has external view. It is called Torpedo camera. Pick a target and press F10.


It can be disabled from the options though (options, not realism).

I know thanks. My point was more to mean if developers didn't waste time on the items I listed maybe more would be devoted to more important parts.

Welcome aboard!
 

:Kaleun_Salute:Walter Kurtz!:Kaleun_Salute: & tarkalak!

Oh wow, I remember that group! When I was a teenager I used to print out their stories to read because my computer was too slow & old to play AOD (25 mhz and MS Windows 3.1, lol!) Finally when I was about 17 my parents bought a "mighty" ~300 MhZ desktop and I was able to play it myself - no sound but still great times! :Kaleun_Salute:

I now have it working in an emulator and still play it when I take a break from modding the Silent Hunter series.

Still play it every day, if possible. Started a new career with U 115, Type IID.:Kaleun_Salute:

It is always fun to play the Type II in AOD. In 1940 the Allies don't have good ASW, but you are in a sub with no deck gun and only six torpedoes. And you have to deal with the torpedo crisis.

Pretty unfortunate that for all the massive improvements in computing by the year 2005 and beyond, SH3 and SH4 failed to handle dud torpedoes properly, while an ancient game from the 1990's does a perfect job of it.

I recently modded SH4 to have a 100% dud rate for the Mk14 as an experiment, and the torpedoes STILL worked about 66% of the time. Very annoying.

I doubled the values in the hsie.ini file of his SH3 patch as the dud rate was more or less nonexistent with the default values.
Gives around a 40% failure/dud rate now for the relevant time period which isn't to bad.

Another one you could add is modelling the curvature of the earth. It is not visible on the map, but the boat actually follows the great circle. If you are near UK and choose a point directly west near the US/Canada the boat will go WNW initially and then turn southwards as you get closer.

Good point. Funny how a mid 90's game model all these items and newer games could not without modding heavily.:Kaleun_Thumbs_Up: