Dive to the Titanic

GoldenRivet · 01-08-11, 11:36 PM

Just picked up Dive to the Titanic from TML Studios, the same folks behind train simulator and similar titles.

The game centers around an expedition to the remains of the RMS Titanic. You play the role of the submarine operator who is dispatched to complete various missions during your 5 day cruise.

The game starts with a few basic submarine commands and teaches you how to operate the sub and has you "echo locate" the sunken titanic. At 3700 meters deep, its pitch dark. with the flood lights activated you can only see the ocean floor just about 10 feet ahead of you.

you press the "E" key to send a ping and wait for a faint reply... nothing.

you turn to the northeast... "E" Key again...PING... nothing.

you know you have been dropped right near the location of the wreck, so it must be close.

You turn East and press the "E" key once more sending out a ping. This time you receive an echo.

you continue to follow the echo, sending out a ping every few seconds. suddenly growing into view is the bow of the Titanic!

here begins your first mission, to plant a series of transponders around the wreck so it can be more easily located in the future. your assistant on the surface in contact with you on the radio provides you with guidance as to the best place to drop the transponders. Once complete, its onto mission two. During the second mission, you take the remotely operated smaller submarine into the Titanic and photograph specific items to be auctioned off to the press. These bring healthy sums of money with which you may upgrade your submarines with longer lasting batteries, larger oxygen tanks, robotic arms and numerous other upgrades.

These missions carry on in this respect to the conclusion of the game - i assume - as i have not reached the end yet.

----

The game starts out rather abruptly with a cinematic showing you trapped in your submarine on day 5, you are tangled in part of the Titanic's wreckage and have limited time to escape. As the scene goes dark the screen says "5 days earlier..." and your expedition begins as sort of a flashback bringing you - eventually - back to being stuck on the wreck.

My assumption is that on day 5 something happens and you become trapped aboard your mini-sub and must figure out a way to free yourself from your entanglement and return to the surface.

throughout your exploration of the sunken ship, you can press the I key at various times to receive information from your assistant. When prompted, the assistant will provide you with historical information relevant to your current location... ie "The captain was Edward John Smith, this was to be his last trans Atlantic cruise as a captain before retirement, this is his cabin... blah blah..." or "this is the radio room, the call letters of the Titanic were MGY... yadda yadda."

much of the information provided in this context is interesting but has no immediate bearing or relevance to the mission.

so far i have only played about an hour of the game, The game is just a decent way to blow a couple of hours away, but there really isnt much to it and it seems that it is meant to be more of an educational piece.

There are a couple of shortcomings right away.

1. in the main menu, you can change any of the command keys to your liking - but when you begin the game, the walkthrough that teaches you how to operate the sub will only continue to the next step once you press the key it tells you to. for example... if you changed your key from the default for "forward" to something else... the game will not recognize the new command and the "training" cannot continue until you change it back.

2. the voice of the assistant on the surface is somewhat annoying, and his directions repeat too frequently. for example, he will tell you to "go straight ahead" when you can clearly see your on screen waypoint 30 meters ahead of you. he will repeat "go straight ahead" about every 7 seconds until you reach the destination

3. there is little guidance as to which upgrades will serve you best, for example: I upgraded the larger, manned sub to have a robotic arm, more oxygen and gave the mini RC sub longer lasting batteries... in the next mission i was tasked with recovering a plate from a state room with the white star logo. I quickly discovered that i would need a robotic arm on the RC mini sub to do this, as the large sub wont fit inside the titanic... there was no way to go back, there was nothing i could do... i was stuck.

4. its very easy to get lost within the interior of the Titanic - understandably so - however, this is a game... there is no map, and the guidance from the assistant up topside is of no help... he only gives you straight line directions as opposed to turn by turn.

on the other hand the game is graphically satisfying enough, and though it doesnt appeal to a large audience the concept is interesting. on a simulation level... its a push button sim. up down left right speed up slow down kinda thing. There are supposedly underwater currents that will flip and roll your sub out of control if you are not careful, but i have only experienced this once.

(this is where your assistant hangs out... though it only seems to be seen in the menu of the game... not in actual gameplay)

this game, i am sure is a lot like the real deal... by that i mean it has plenty of slow boring times punctuated by a moment or two of excitement.

If you are interested in deep sea ROV SUBS, or the Titanic or ocean science etc you might like this title... anyone else on the other hand might be more inclined to skip this one.

how does it score?

Graphics......... 6.5/10 looks like a game, pixelated in areas. convincing enough, it serves its purpose, its not crysis, but doesnt look bad either

Sound...... 6/10 convincing enough underwater sounds, but repetitive and lacks depth (no pun)

Replayability..... 1/10 it appears this will be the same game every time you fire it up

overall..... 3.5/10 its "fair" "ok" or "meh" whichever term you want to apply... it just doesnt appeal to a wide enough audience IMHO

Takeda Shingen · 01-09-11, 07:54 AM

Very good review! I was thinking about pick this up, but given the scripted nature of the gameplay, I think I'll pass.

Jimbuna · 01-09-11, 08:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Takeda Shingen

Very good review! I was thinking about pick this up, but given the scripted nature of the gameplay, I think I'll pass.

On the contrary....I've never even heard of the game but will hunt it down online

Thanks for the heads up John

GoldenRivet · 01-09-11, 09:33 AM

Appears that other reviews online indicate there is an explored mode after you play through once that allows you to do whatever you want.

I've not unlocked this yet

nikimcbee · 01-10-11, 02:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimbuna

On the contrary....I've never even heard of the game but will hunt it down online

Thanks for the heads up John

So when's the GWX mod coming out?

Skybird · 01-10-11, 02:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimbuna

On the contrary....I've never even heard of the game

Bad bad boy hasn't payed attention once again!

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...hlight=Titanic

Jimbuna · 01-10-11, 10:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nikimcbee

So when's the GWX mod coming out?

Not long now....here's a sneak preview

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skybird

Bad bad boy hasn't payed attention once again!

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...hlight=Titanic

Ah....right

Ducimus · 01-10-11, 02:26 PM

Personlly i put this game on the "Regret i bought it" list. I can't get it to run! Very finicky game. Requires DirectX9C (which I have), but then there's this quicktime shennanigans going on. Game refuses to load. Quicktime error, unable to initialize sound.

I am not the only one with this problem either from what I read. I can only hope they patch the damn game, until then, i simply cannot play it. Again, right now, wish i never bought it.

01-08-11, 11:36 PM	#1
GoldenRivet Subsim Aviator Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 8,726 Downloads: 146 Uploads: 0	Dive to the Titanic Just picked up Dive to the Titanic from TML Studios, the same folks behind train simulator and similar titles. The game centers around an expedition to the remains of the RMS Titanic. You play the role of the submarine operator who is dispatched to complete various missions during your 5 day cruise. The game starts with a few basic submarine commands and teaches you how to operate the sub and has you "echo locate" the sunken titanic. At 3700 meters deep, its pitch dark. with the flood lights activated you can only see the ocean floor just about 10 feet ahead of you. you press the "E" key to send a ping and wait for a faint reply... nothing. you turn to the northeast... "E" Key again...PING... nothing. you know you have been dropped right near the location of the wreck, so it must be close. You turn East and press the "E" key once more sending out a ping. This time you receive an echo. you continue to follow the echo, sending out a ping every few seconds. suddenly growing into view is the bow of the Titanic! here begins your first mission, to plant a series of transponders around the wreck so it can be more easily located in the future. your assistant on the surface in contact with you on the radio provides you with guidance as to the best place to drop the transponders. Once complete, its onto mission two. During the second mission, you take the remotely operated smaller submarine into the Titanic and photograph specific items to be auctioned off to the press. These bring healthy sums of money with which you may upgrade your submarines with longer lasting batteries, larger oxygen tanks, robotic arms and numerous other upgrades. These missions carry on in this respect to the conclusion of the game - i assume - as i have not reached the end yet. ---- The game starts out rather abruptly with a cinematic showing you trapped in your submarine on day 5, you are tangled in part of the Titanic's wreckage and have limited time to escape. As the scene goes dark the screen says "5 days earlier..." and your expedition begins as sort of a flashback bringing you - eventually - back to being stuck on the wreck. My assumption is that on day 5 something happens and you become trapped aboard your mini-sub and must figure out a way to free yourself from your entanglement and return to the surface. throughout your exploration of the sunken ship, you can press the I key at various times to receive information from your assistant. When prompted, the assistant will provide you with historical information relevant to your current location... ie "The captain was Edward John Smith, this was to be his last trans Atlantic cruise as a captain before retirement, this is his cabin... blah blah..." or "this is the radio room, the call letters of the Titanic were MGY... yadda yadda." much of the information provided in this context is interesting but has no immediate bearing or relevance to the mission. so far i have only played about an hour of the game, The game is just a decent way to blow a couple of hours away, but there really isnt much to it and it seems that it is meant to be more of an educational piece. There are a couple of shortcomings right away. 1. in the main menu, you can change any of the command keys to your liking - but when you begin the game, the walkthrough that teaches you how to operate the sub will only continue to the next step once you press the key it tells you to. for example... if you changed your key from the default for "forward" to something else... the game will not recognize the new command and the "training" cannot continue until you change it back. 2. the voice of the assistant on the surface is somewhat annoying, and his directions repeat too frequently. for example, he will tell you to "go straight ahead" when you can clearly see your on screen waypoint 30 meters ahead of you. he will repeat "go straight ahead" about every 7 seconds until you reach the destination 3. there is little guidance as to which upgrades will serve you best, for example: I upgraded the larger, manned sub to have a robotic arm, more oxygen and gave the mini RC sub longer lasting batteries... in the next mission i was tasked with recovering a plate from a state room with the white star logo. I quickly discovered that i would need a robotic arm on the RC mini sub to do this, as the large sub wont fit inside the titanic... there was no way to go back, there was nothing i could do... i was stuck. 4. its very easy to get lost within the interior of the Titanic - understandably so - however, this is a game... there is no map, and the guidance from the assistant up topside is of no help... he only gives you straight line directions as opposed to turn by turn. on the other hand the game is graphically satisfying enough, and though it doesnt appeal to a large audience the concept is interesting. on a simulation level... its a push button sim. up down left right speed up slow down kinda thing. There are supposedly underwater currents that will flip and roll your sub out of control if you are not careful, but i have only experienced this once. (this is where your assistant hangs out... though it only seems to be seen in the menu of the game... not in actual gameplay) this game, i am sure is a lot like the real deal... by that i mean it has plenty of slow boring times punctuated by a moment or two of excitement. If you are interested in deep sea ROV SUBS, or the Titanic or ocean science etc you might like this title... anyone else on the other hand might be more inclined to skip this one. how does it score? Graphics......... 6.5/10 looks like a game, pixelated in areas. convincing enough, it serves its purpose, its not crysis, but doesnt look bad either Sound...... 6/10 convincing enough underwater sounds, but repetitive and lacks depth (no pun) Replayability..... 1/10 it appears this will be the same game every time you fire it up overall..... 3.5/10 its "fair" "ok" or "meh" whichever term you want to apply... it just doesnt appeal to a wide enough audience IMHO __________________

01-09-11, 09:33 AM	#4
GoldenRivet Subsim Aviator Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 8,726 Downloads: 146 Uploads: 0	Appears that other reviews online indicate there is an explored mode after you play through once that allows you to do whatever you want. I've not unlocked this yet __________________

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01-09-11, 07:54 AM	#2
Takeda Shingen Navy Seal Join Date: Mar 2000 Posts: 8,643 Downloads: 19 Uploads: 0	Very good review! I was thinking about pick this up, but given the scripted nature of the gameplay, I think I'll pass.

01-10-11, 02:26 PM	#8
Ducimus Rear Admiral Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 12,987 Downloads: 67 Uploads: 2	Personlly i put this game on the "Regret i bought it" list. I can't get it to run! Very finicky game. Requires DirectX9C (which I have), but then there's this quicktime shennanigans going on. Game refuses to load. Quicktime error, unable to initialize sound. I am not the only one with this problem either from what I read. I can only hope they patch the damn game, until then, i simply cannot play it. Again, right now, wish i never bought it.