9 year time warp

[BadSeed]

When I was a little kid I would play in the bath with my plastic toy of a German u-boat. I thought it was the coolest looking thing ever and I wanted to live on the Yellow Submarine.

When I was a little older I remember plaing a green-lined sub game in an amusement parlour where you'd actually look through a periscope and have to sink ships rocketing across the horizon line... No Idea what it was called but it hooked me into Subs forever. I would also play a plastic "board game" where you'd roll ballbearings across the thing to knock out the other guy's little ships.

About 9 years ago I had been playing Aces Of The Deep since it's release and was thoroughly enjoying Silent Hunter and joined SubSim to eagerly await the arrival of Silent Hunter II. I have fond memories of great people, a supportive and inclusive community.

Unfortunately at the time I was also into Quake and at that time online forums were a great place to get information but the Quake forums were full of garbage posted by kids with egos bigger than their hard drives and brains smaller than their.... pubic hair.

Fast forward 9 years. I have been concentrating on my life and work responsibilities but life moves on. Quake is dead but SH4 is cheap! So I buy a computer.

I puchased a copy of SH4 and WOTP and when I go to the "information superhighway" to check for information, I find that SH5 has been released!! So I rush out and buy it, install it and discover that things have definately NOT progressed as the years have.

Needing some sound advice and share my experiences with others of like mind I return to this oasis of calm and support to find those same kids have moved on into... let's say "other interests".

Not everyone has the time or lifestyle to be slaves to technology or have the unlimited download limits at superhigh speeds, nor the time to devote to knowing what a mod is or the crap one must go through to make a game run the way it's supposed to run when they have just charged me full dollar for it.

I have a life and huge responsibility outside of computer games however I would like to participate in the small time I do have to commit to it and enjoy my digital submariner experience.

After 9 years away it's just such a depressing change. Neal you must be so disappointed. You may not see it, living through it every day but I am really shocked. The attitudes and community have changed so much.

So what smart-assed remark will you type to this? Make it good because history will remember you, like the posts on Quake forums.

[Platapus]

Welcome aboard.

That is a great story I am sure we can all relate to.

I, also, have fond memories of that arcade game.

Here, you are with friends.

[Nicolas]

1 of my first memories i have of consciousness, i was watching Das boot on tv maybe i had 2 or 3 years i don't know, the scene of the periscope and the destroyer, it just amazed me and i wondered what was that, and if those things existed in this world hehe, i got marvelled.

[Blacklight]

The arcade game you are describing is called "Seawolf" It was essentially a shooting gallery where instead of a gun, you looked through and aimed with a periscope. It was actually quite popular in arcades. The only problem with it was the fact that only the player could really see what was going on on the screen during play. A large portion of profit for an arcade game is potential players being able to watch the game in action before deciding to part with their quarter. Battlezone (the first 3D tank sim arcade game) also had this issue (Fun fact. The US army really liked Battlezone and contracted the company to build a version of it to train it's tank crews. The result was called "Bradley Trainer" and I believe only two or three units were built).

Anyway, surprisingly, Seawolf was popular enough to warrent the creation of a sequel, "Seawolf II" although the popularity was probably more due to the coolness of the really cool looking game cabinet than the game play.

[TLAM Strike]

The Russians and North Koreans copied it...



Of course being a true Socialist Machine there is no coin slot in the Russian Game.



Honestly their real subs are not much better looking...

[Turbografx]

Originally Posted by TLAM Strike

The Russians and North Koreans copied it...

Lol @ the cowboy on the game cabinet next to it. Don't they know cowboys are capitalist American pigs?

[Blacklight]

Sea Wolf was actually a video game based on an old electromechanical arcade shooting gallery game called "Sea Raider". It was pretty much the same game and both had the periscope instead of a shooting gun. The only difference was that Sea Wolf replaced the electromechanical ships and the lighted torpedo that would be projected on the scenery with a monochrome TV screen.

Also, the first video game that used two monitors at the same time was a submarine game called "Subs" by Atari. It was really simple. Each player used a steering wheel to drive their sub around their screen. Neither player could see the other players sub except for fleeting moments when their sonar picked up the other sub or when a torpedo appeared on the screen. It was also the first arcade game to have an "Add a coin" function so you can keep playing.

Yeah. I'm an arcade game nerd. I know a LOT about the history of coin operated games.

Sea Raider in action:
Sea Wolf:
Subs (lacking sound):

[BadSeed]

See, thats the kind of community I remember. Thank you.

As soon as I saw that pic I remembered it. Like hearing music, Weird. Thank for the memories. No DRM (I still have no idea what that is) there.

LOL @ the Cowboy! HAHA!

[Jimbuna]

Welcome to SubSim Badseed

[Oberon]

Oh, the community is still here mate, we just have our hiccups from time to time. The fracas in the SHV forum is all part of the new game hype, eventually it'll calm down. A similar frenzy took place around the launch of SHIV if I recall correctly.
Down here in GT, things are usually a bit calmer...just don't mention Obama or Muslims....I mentioned them once, but I think I got away with it...

[Dowly]

Welcome back!

[AVGWarhawk]

Yep, Sea Wolf was the game if you had a crap load of quarters to feed it!

[UnderseaLcpl]

Welcome (back?)aboard, BadSeed. I usually abbreviate names, but yours makes for an unfortunate-sounding acronymn. Neither "Bad", nor "Seed" seem to do the trick, either, so you get to be called by your full name.

I also joined this forum after rediscovering subsims, though I found SH3. I know downloading all the mods and stuff is a pain, but there are really great people out there who make some fantastic work that really helps the games.

Originally Posted by BadSeed

Needing some sound advice and share my experiences with others of like mind I return to this oasis of calm and support to find those same kids have moved on into... let's say "other interests".

Oh! Those are called "girls", and take my word for it, they haven't improved over the past 9 years, either. The last one I had stopped working within a month. It didn't come with a manual, though after it arrived I started recieving a bunch of odd publications that I assume were advertisements for newer "models". No helpful advice at all though in those things, I tell ya'. Even worse, when I started inspecting it for technical support info that might have been printed on the back or inside cover, it disappeared. Damndest thing

I hear "girls" can be modded but it costs thousands of dollars, and the software remains unstable. I also got a patch for one once but it cost like $50 a month and the thing still smelled like smoke. You're better off taking the time to download the SH5 mods and patches as they come out, while you enjoy the subsim community.

[krashkart]

Welcome back/aboard, BadSeed.

[ajrimmer42]

Welcome buddy

Originally Posted by Blacklight

Wow, I have a handheld version of that, got it years ago. Like just the periscope eyepiece with fire buttons on either side. I think they did a battle tank version too. I think it was called 'Sub Command' or something.