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Old 06-22-16, 09:59 PM   #1
lolballz
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Join Date: May 2016
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Icon14 Anyone remember 'Iron Wolves?'



It was multiplayer-only and rather arcade-like (not a true simulation by any stretch), but it had a convincing naval atmosphere [especially given its graphics' limitations] and one hell of a community...as I remember. There were two rival nations ('Red' and 'Blue') and you had seven generic (i.e. they looked and performed the same for each side) vessels to choose from (see descriptions at end***).

There was one particular occasion in that game where two long-time players (myself a noob at the time) became involved in a very agitated battle in the forums, which very much expressed itself in the game. Their names were Popeye and Bousch and, while I don't know exactly how their tiff started, it was war (Bousch went so far as to create numerous player accounts just to mock Popeye, playing as characters with names such as 'Gay Popeye' etc.). It came to pass that there I was one day, scanning through my periscope for an escort I'd been trying to bypass, when Bousch spawns right in front of me (you spawned, randomly, almost anywhere on the map). Surprised at first, he being so close in the periscope that I could not see his nametag (too high/out of screen...it's color would have denoted he spawned on my team), I launch a torpedo thinking he's the escort I'd been scanning for. Just as I do, I cut my engines... making myself invisible to his passive sonar. Off in the distance is Popeye, shooting at something else. My torpedo hits Bousch, who rapidly concludes that the explosion of my torpedo was Popeye shooting at him. He immediately sails over and sinks Popeye with a torpedo salvo...in spite of Popeye ALSO being on our team. The two proceed to cuss at each other non-stop for the next few hours...both thinking the other had shot first. LoL...!!!

In all, however, Iron Wolves had a great concept where a simple yet reasonably strategic and community-based, naval-themed game was concerned. Does anyone happen to remember why it dried up? The men who developed 'Enigma: Rising Tide' I had thought tried to buy it, but its owners wouldn't sell.


***IRON WOLVES' VESSELS
...available to ALL players:

SUBMARINE
The basic submarine was considerably slower on the surface, but more agile (especially submerged) and faster diving than the 'heavy' submarine. It had four forward torpedo tubes. Paying players had access to this vessel in unlimited supply, while non-paying players earned one (or a corvette) from completed tanker missions. Given its relatively weak durability, lack of a deck gun, slow surface speed, but quick diving time and tight turn radius, I likened this submarine to a Type II U-boat.

TANKER
Slow and unarmed, most of these were AI-controlled. Non-paying players, however, could sail them to earn either a corvette or a submarine for every set of coordinates reached. Paying players sailing them would earn either a destroyer or a 'heavy' submarine for the same (paying players had an unlimited supply of the corvette, 'improved' corvette, and basic submarine). These were the 'Liberty Ships' of the game (although called tankers, their 3D model more closely resembled the Liberty Ship/Patrick Henry class).

CORVETTE
Slow but highly agile, the corvette was armed with a single turreted gun and depth charges. For paying players, sinking a submarine with a corvette (or any vessel) earned a destroyer. There were no kill-based rewards for non-paying players - a corvette or a basic submarine was earned by completing tanker missions. I likened this vessel to the Flower class. While slow and suffering from limited armament, it was the savior of many a tanker...forcing surfaced subs to dive and break pursuit [the deck gun of a 'heavy' submarine had equal strength to the corvette's gun, but the heavy submarine would not win a durability contest].

...exclusive to paying players:

'HEAVY' SUBMARINE
Larger, slower diving, more sluggish in maneuvering, but faster on the surface and more formidably armed that its smaller cousin, the 'heavy' submarine had four forward torpedo tubes, a deck gun (equal in power to a corvette's gun), and two aft torpedo tubes. It's greater durability made it able to endure greater depths for longer periods. I likened this submarine to the Type IX U-boat, as it did not have the 'agile' feel you'd expect of the Type VII (the basic in-game submarine, meanwhile, being too slow).

'IMPROVED' CORVETTE
Like the basic corvette, but with improved speed and, in addition to its armament of a single turreted gun and depth charges, it had hedgehogs (exclusive to this vessel, hedgehogs were the only forward-firing ranged weapon in the game that was effective against submerged subs). While called the 'improved' corvette, I likened this vessel to the Black Swan class sloop as, with its greater speed and ranged forward anti-submarine capability, it was truly capable of being an independent sub HUNTER (whereas the basic corvette pretty much had to act as a tanker escort).

DESTROYER
The destroyer was the fastest vessel in the game, and combined two turreted guns with four torpedo tubes (port/starboard) and depth charges. It's guns combined with its durability made a number of them a match for shore batteries. A well-placed torpedo salvo, meanwhile, could see it better the light cruiser in a duel. Paying players earned a destroyer by sinking a submarine (either variety). Sinking a destroyer with a submarine (""), meanwhile, earned them a 'heavy' submarine.

LIGHT CRUISER
With four turreted guns and six torpedo tubes (port/starboard), the light cruiser was the only vessel in the game with the power and durability to knock out a shore battery solo. This, however, also tended to make it the enemy's highest priority target. Paying players earned one by destroying a shore battery, while sinking one earned them either a destroyer or a heavy submarine (depending on whether it was sunk by a surface vessel or a submarine respectively).
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