Thinking about getting this sim

[mike_espo]

I own Distant guns, but have not played it in years. I liked it, but I noticed some things: Pre dreadnought ships sank too easily. With the calibre of guns in those days, they were not really powerful enough to sink ships, ships were more damaged by fire than actually sinking due to the lack of plunging fire and range of pre dreadnought weapons. More akin to pecking them to death rather than sinking.

I also found that playing the Russians in campaign mode was too easy. Unless the Russian is really stupid, he can easily win. When I played as the Russians, the Japs never made any gains on the Korean penninsula. I was hoping that I would eventually be blasted out of Port Arthur.

Reading the reviews, I was just wondering how much different Jutland is than Distant Guns? What if any changes have been made especially in gameplay and I mean the AI. The reviews Ive seen so far seem very positive.

thanks.

[mike_espo]

Wow. Nobody Anybody? Bullethead?

[alexsmith]

If ships are not sinking - then what to play for? Actually, I can not compare DG with Jutland - never played the last one. But DG 1.5 is slightly better then previos version - ships are not always burn to dust from 20% of fire, Jutland-like interface (although, I liked the old more) etc.

If you have more specific questions - I'd be glad to tell you more.

[PortsmouthProwler]

I just got it and it's a blast. I've only played for one day and it's great. Shell Cam Rocks!!

It's a no-brainer: get it. Get it NOW.

[FIREWALL]

Here's a no-brainer. Try the demo.

1. http://files.filefront.com/Jutland+v.../fileinfo.html


2.http://www.gamershell.com/download_37042.shtml


3. http://www.fileplanet.com/195479/190...o/Jutland-Demo

Want more links ?

[PortsmouthProwler]

There are only two scenarios you can play without real-time time limits in the demo. Otherwise, it's restricted to 10 minutes or 20 minutes.

[Bullethead]

Sorry to be lagged.

Originally Posted by mike_espo

I own Distant guns, but have not played it in years. I liked it, but I noticed some things: Pre dreadnought ships sank too easily.

What sank ships in the original RJW game was mostly fires rather than massive structural damage. However, there was a fair amount of criticism that the fires got too big too fast. So in 1.5, they've been toned down and it's rather harder to sink ships so quickly.

Reading the reviews, I was just wondering how much different Jutland is than Distant Guns? What if any changes have been made especially in gameplay and I mean the AI. The reviews Ive seen so far seem very positive.

Bear in mind that now that DG 1.5 is out, most of the game engine improvements from Jutland are now in DG, too, so I'm going to compare Jutland to the original RJW game which apparently is what you've got.

To start with, of course, the Jutland fleets are MUCH bigger than the RJW fleets and effective weapon ranges (both guns and torps) are way longer. But to exploit the longer ranges, you need fairly stable tactical conditions. This all requires very different tactics, with less emphasis short-term manuevering and more on big picture, "grand tactical" positioning.

Also, of course, Jutland has subs and zeps (not in the RJW even now), and mines are both much more effective and can be laid anywhere on the map, not just in ports.

Jutland uses 25km map "hexes" instead of 100km, and the battle space is 200km x 200km instead of 50km. We couldn't do this in DG 1.5 without totally redoing a bunch of stuff, so that game still has the original system. Anyway, the changes in Jutland largely preclude repeat encounters after you've outmanuevered and gotten past the enemy (although this can still happen, mostly at night), and allows you to bring multiple task forces into a battle in a more coherent and realistic manner.

You can do shore bombardments in Jutland, both sides can capture merchants, and there are alternative ways of winning the campaign. You can try to tip the naval balance of power in your direction (WW1 goes on, but you're now in a better position so that counts as a campaign win), or you can try to win WW1 itself as the Germans by trying to make the French surrender at Verdun. This is only available in the 1st 1/2 of 1916, however, after which the campaign can only be decided on the naval balance at the end.

Jutland has a scenario editor, which is also now in DG 1.5. Multiplayer has also been improved, although it's still not perfect. Still, folks have been doing huge fleet actions with 4-5 guys on a side, including the whole historical Jutland battle.