AOD Still Rocks

Eugene · 08-21-08, 04:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarkShot

This must be yank my chain day.

What's this "Mark's alive"? Did someone pronounce me dead?

And where/how do you guys, Sailor Steve and Eugene know me from?

Mark, I knew you were alive, and not departed from the scene because of your gracious and indispensible presence over at the Matrix forums, especially the COTA, HTTR, and related forums. You would recognize me, except that there and only there I have to be "Laramie" because someone had already taken my "normal" name, Eugene.

MarkShot · 08-21-08, 04:29 PM

Nice to bump into you again.

Have fun subsimming, Eugene!

MarkShot · 08-21-08, 08:39 PM

I am just starting a new patrol as I write this in a career which I have been playing the last two years. Excuse me I have to lay in a course to North America, Der Fuehrer has declared war on those mongrel Americans. The game of mock neutrality is finally over. Those dogs will now watch their tankers split and burn without site of their beaches!

Ah the heavy throb of the diesals and the gentle rock of the boat side by side. Here some shots of our last hours ashore:

MarkShot · 08-21-08, 08:48 PM

The Sun is up! Here is one issue with AOD. The magic red circle that even when submerged gives you visibility information at the surface!

MarkShot · 08-21-08, 09:01 PM

Bad omen! Only a few hours off the French Coast an Allied search plane forces up to go down. I don't mind the diving practice for the crew, but it bothers me that the Luftwaffe cannot give us air cover at least until we clear the shallows. That fat morphine addict!!!

Sailor Steve · 08-22-08, 12:30 AM

Two non-graphic things I didn't like in AOD:

1) While the weather seems to be dynamic in that when you go out on deck it has changed since last time, I noticed that while running in high TC it actually repeated itself - foggy at 0200, sunny at 0800, partly cloudy at 1000, overcast at 1400; over and over, every day. Not a big deal, as SH1's weather was variable but stayed the same all day, and changed exactly at midnight every night.

2) Situational awareness. I liked the single white line representing the noise of a convoy far away, but I never liked being able to put up the periscope and automatically see every single ship marked on the map. While I much prefer the way I have SH3 set up (Assisted Plotting Mod - the only ship that appears on the map is the one you mark with the periscope), AOD was still a great improvement on Silent Service, in which every ship showed up on the map even when you were 300 feet down. On the other hand I did have some fun with SS 'dogfighting' with several destroyers at once and firing torpedoes from a safe depth.

No way am I knocking AOD or SH1 - just remembering that there were things I thought could have been better even then; and things I actually prefer in the newer sims.

MarkShot · 08-22-08, 09:48 AM

I never noticed the timing of weather changes. Interesting.

One big difference from AOD and SH1 was that in AOD escorts were constantly banging away with ASDIC. In SH1, they would go to an alerted state only when something happened.

That's why I try to play all three in rotation when I am subsimming as they all have their strengths and weaknesses. I actually have maybe about 30-40 pages of notes on the three comparing and contrasting mechanics. It helps me rapidly transition between games ... so I know what works when.

08-21-08, 04:29 PM	#2
MarkShot Ace of the Deep Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 1,134 Downloads: 93 Uploads: 0	Nice to bump into you again. Have fun subsimming, Eugene! __________________ War games, not wars! --- Only a small few profit from war (that should not stand)!

08-21-08, 08:39 PM	#3
MarkShot Ace of the Deep Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 1,134 Downloads: 93 Uploads: 0	I am just starting a new patrol as I write this in a career which I have been playing the last two years. Excuse me I have to lay in a course to North America, Der Fuehrer has declared war on those mongrel Americans. The game of mock neutrality is finally over. Those dogs will now watch their tankers split and burn without site of their beaches! Ah the heavy throb of the diesals and the gentle rock of the boat side by side. Here some shots of our last hours ashore: __________________ War games, not wars! --- Only a small few profit from war (that should not stand)!

08-21-08, 08:48 PM	#4
MarkShot Ace of the Deep Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 1,134 Downloads: 93 Uploads: 0	The Sun is up! Here is one issue with AOD. The magic red circle that even when submerged gives you visibility information at the surface! __________________ War games, not wars! --- Only a small few profit from war (that should not stand)!

08-21-08, 09:01 PM	#5
MarkShot Ace of the Deep Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 1,134 Downloads: 93 Uploads: 0	Bad omen! Only a few hours off the French Coast an Allied search plane forces up to go down. I don't mind the diving practice for the crew, but it bothers me that the Luftwaffe cannot give us air cover at least until we clear the shallows. That fat morphine addict!!! __________________ War games, not wars! --- Only a small few profit from war (that should not stand)!

08-22-08, 12:30 AM	#6
Sailor Steve Eternal Patrol Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: High in the mountains of Utah Posts: 50,369 Downloads: 745 Uploads: 249	Two non-graphic things I didn't like in AOD: 1) While the weather seems to be dynamic in that when you go out on deck it has changed since last time, I noticed that while running in high TC it actually repeated itself - foggy at 0200, sunny at 0800, partly cloudy at 1000, overcast at 1400; over and over, every day. Not a big deal, as SH1's weather was variable but stayed the same all day, and changed exactly at midnight every night. 2) Situational awareness. I liked the single white line representing the noise of a convoy far away, but I never liked being able to put up the periscope and automatically see every single ship marked on the map. While I much prefer the way I have SH3 set up (Assisted Plotting Mod - the only ship that appears on the map is the one you mark with the periscope), AOD was still a great improvement on Silent Service, in which every ship showed up on the map even when you were 300 feet down. On the other hand I did have some fun with SS 'dogfighting' with several destroyers at once and firing torpedoes from a safe depth. No way am I knocking AOD or SH1 - just remembering that there were things I thought could have been better even then; and things I actually prefer in the newer sims. __________________ “Never do anything you can't take back.” —Rocky Russo

08-22-08, 09:48 AM	#7
MarkShot Ace of the Deep Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 1,134 Downloads: 93 Uploads: 0	I never noticed the timing of weather changes. Interesting. One big difference from AOD and SH1 was that in AOD escorts were constantly banging away with ASDIC. In SH1, they would go to an alerted state only when something happened. That's why I try to play all three in rotation when I am subsimming as they all have their strengths and weaknesses. I actually have maybe about 30-40 pages of notes on the three comparing and contrasting mechanics. It helps me rapidly transition between games ... so I know what works when. __________________ War games, not wars! --- Only a small few profit from war (that should not stand)!

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