Some questions about DW

[Robsoie]

Hello,

I am a long time player of both 688 and SC , and continue to play both for different reasons.
So far, these 2 subsims have satisfied me a lot, and were wasting enough of my free time to not add on top of it another even bigger scale subsim like DW.

Recently on a store not so far of my home, i noticed an old unsold box titled Dangerous Waters, very very cheap too. This argument made me consider now acquiring it, though the free time wasted will not be easy to fix

But before doing so, i would like to hear some answers from you DW veterans about some points i read on subsim since i discovered the website :

-Is Dangerous Waters stable now that it will not be patched anymore by sonalyst ?
I remember reading so much crashing report that this alone added a lot more weight to me decision of not buying it, and even if it is that cheap now i am not willing to begin to enjoy a product just to end in frustration by regular CTD .

-Apparently there is a realism mod "LWAMI" that improve and balance the sim a bit more, i remember having read that at some point the LWAMI mod wanted to implement the whole SCU/SCX database. Has it been done ?

-There was some threads here mentionning that some users had regular stuttering during the gameplay even with nearly nothing else than a sub in a mission, while for them in comparison SC was perfectly smooth even when having a very lots of platforms in a single mission.
Has this been fixed in the latest version of the game, or are some DW users always annoyed by this problem ?

-Recently i found this thread in archive demonstrating a bad detection flaw in DW that was not existing in SC at all. Was this big problem fixed in the latest version of the patches, or is it always present somehow ?

-As i read that the LWAMI mod, on top of creating a better balance and improving the realism, fixes some DW bugs that are always present despite the latest patch, it is obviously a must download to the game.
But does it mean that like SXC/SCU for Sub Command it will make every stock missions and campaigns unplayable, as the different detection ranges, the different weapon loadout can change totally what was supposed to happen in a stock SC mission :
I remember an escort the tanker mission in which you must detect and destroy some enemy subs ambushing the tanker, but SCX/SCU gave some kind of surface missiles to those enemy subs, leading the tanker to be destroyed a minute after the mission start.

-If the previous problem exists then in DW , is there some reworked for LWAMI version of the stock campaign/missions ?

-There was a difference in term of gameplay between the games 688 and SC concerning the 688, so concerning the subs, is there a difference between the SC and the DW simulation of the 688, the Akula and the Seawolf , or are they exactly the same as in SC ?

Thanks for any answers

[goldorak]

You have got to be joking referencing threads 4 years old !!!
Man, the game has drastically changed and improved since then.
Otherwise people wouldn't still be playing it in single and multiplayer don't you think ?
There was a 1.04 official patch, Lwami is up to version 3.10 (not yet released but very near) and we have 2 SCX-SCU type mods Alfa Tau and RA.

[Robsoie]

Well, i know there was a patch from my searches on this board, but that does not tell me if that detection bug was ever fixed, as apparently it seems none noticed the bug anyways out of this 4 year old thread at that time.
And it does not tell me how much stable DW is now after patched as i can always find some CTD reports, and i don't see that much people posting about their game experience anymore.

And does LWAMI include the SCX/SCU database as apparently it was intended, or is it for further updates ?

But anyways, unfortunately the box was not Dangerous Waters, but Hostile Waters, my eyes played me lol , so i'll certainly keep patrolling with 688 and SC for more time

[goldorak]

Originally Posted by Robsoie

Well, i know there was a patch from my searches on this board, but that does not tell me if that detection bug was ever fixed, as apparently it seems none noticed the bug anyways out of this 4 year old thread at that time.

Well you can imagine that if that bug wasn't fixed this forum would have plenty of threads crapping the game and the community would have dissolved. Nobody plays a broken game 4 years after release, not even the Falcon 4 community. Of course it was fixed, and it was fixed in one of the first patches if I recall correctly.

And it does not tell me how much stable DW is now after patched as i can always find some CTD reports, and i don't see that much people posting about their game experience anymore.

A 100% bug free CTD-free game does not exist. Not now, not ever.
Having said this, the game is plenty stable in single and multiplayer.
From time to time yes you can have a crash but as I said it is something quiet rare and doesn't detract from enjoying the game.
The fact you don't see people posting their game experience is because most players play within the confines of virtual navies.
There are not a lot of players on hyperlobby or gamespy.
I'm part of the betasom forum (italian forum) and we organise and play at least 1 cooperative multiplayer mission each week. These are big missions with 8-10 players, 2-4 hours mission with 2 or more teams to achieve specific objectives (so nothing of deathmatch type playing). Other players on this forum are part of other vitual navies.

And does LWAMI include the SCX/SCU database as apparently it was intended, or is it for further updates ?

I think the integration process is still in the works.

But anyways, unfortunately the box was not Dangerous Waters, but Hostile Waters, my eyes played me lol , so i'll certainly keep patrolling with 688 and SC for more time

A pity, because DW as it is now is nothing like the game you saw and read about 4 years ago. With Alfa Tau or RA mods it is in all meaningfull ways superior to 688 and SC (with the SCU-SCX mod).

[Molon Labe]

Originally Posted by Robsoie

-Apparently there is a realism mod "LWAMI" that improve and balance the sim a bit more, i remember having read that at some point the LWAMI mod wanted to implement the whole SCU/SCX database. Has it been done ?

We got permission to use a number of SCX models. We've expanded the database to include the platforms we have models for.

-There was some threads here mentionning that some users had regular stuttering during the gameplay even with nearly nothing else than a sub in a mission, while for them in comparison SC was perfectly smooth even when having a very lots of platforms in a single mission.
Has this been fixed in the latest version of the game, or are some DW users always annoyed by this problem ?

This is an issue with individual users' systems. There are probably settings that can be adjusted to correct this... check the tech support threads for more info.

-Recently i found this thread in archive demonstrating a bad detection flaw in DW that was not existing in SC at all. Was this big problem fixed in the latest version of the patches, or is it always present somehow ?

Fixed in the "hotfix" released shortly after DW 1.01.

-As i read that the LWAMI mod, on top of creating a better balance and improving the realism, fixes some DW bugs that are always present despite the latest patch, it is obviously a must download to the game.
But does it mean that like SXC/SCU for Sub Command it will make every stock missions and campaigns unplayable, as the different detection ranges, the different weapon loadout can change totally what was supposed to happen in a stock SC mission :
I remember an escort the tanker mission in which you must detect and destroy some enemy subs ambushing the tanker, but SCX/SCU gave some kind of surface missiles to those enemy subs, leading the tanker to be destroyed a minute after the mission start.

It's something to watch out for. There are some loadout changes. The most common compatibility issue is with the first Russian Rebellion campaign mission, because an enemy submarine you have to sneak by has a towed array in LWAMI but not stock DW. If you spawn close enough to it, you can be detected at mission start. For the most part though, scenarios stay playable, but they might play differently.

-If the previous problem exists then in DW , is there some reworked for LWAMI version of the stock campaign/missions ?

I haven't really seen any. A few missions I've made I've updated for LWAMI, but that was done to take advantage of features/fixes in LWAMI rather than to avoid a compatibility issue.

-There was a difference in term of gameplay between the games 688 and SC concerning the 688, so concerning the subs, is there a difference between the SC and the DW simulation of the 688, the Akula and the Seawolf , or are they exactly the same as in SC ?

That's a great question. It's mostly the same. One thing that is different is that you need a Broadband contact to get DEMON information. That makes TMA and classification a bit more difficult.

[Robsoie]

Thanks for those precisions goldorak and Molon Labe.
Sounds really good if the game reached that state.

Next time i see a Dangerous Water box on a shelf, after having made sure it is not Hostile Water like in this case, i will not hesitate to buy it.

[Castout]

If you're into modern naval sim especially sub BUY IT!!!