AOD: Submerging ahead of a convoy for an attack.

[Randomizer]

While knowing that it makes no difference I still attack down-moon in SH3 on nights when the moon is present. That said though, the marvellous attention to the details and many undocumented features in AOD is still pretty amazing and keep me returning to that ancient U-Boat simulation.

I love that night surface attacks are actually possible but real easily bungled if you rush or fail to take the moon, sea state and your own speed into account. The presence of a wolfpack can also lead to boom or bust and have had more than one pack comrade torpedo my target ship.

AOD still rocks.

-C

[John Pancoast]

Originally Posted by Randomizer

While knowing that it makes no difference I still attack down-moon in SH3 on nights when the moon is present. That said though, the marvellous attention to the details and many undocumented features in AOD is still pretty amazing and keep me returning to that ancient U-Boat simulation.

I love that night surface attacks are actually possible but real easily bungled if you rush or fail to take the moon, sea state and your own speed into account. The presence of a wolfpack can also lead to boom or bust and have had more than one pack comrade torpedo my target ship.

AOD still rocks.

-C

Exactly. I enjoy Sh3 but there are so *many* basic flaws that can't be fixed I spend much more time with AOD.

[John Pancoast]

Had another hidden gem in AOD today. Five sub wolfpack attacked a convoy in AM71.
I had nothing to do with it; didn't call it in, etc. Completely independent actions. I was hundreds of mile to the south, on a return trip to St. Nazaire.

Saw the radio messages from the involved subs, etc.

[iambecomelife]

Originally Posted by John Pancoast

Had another hidden gem in AOD today. Five sub wolfpack attacked a convoy in AM71.
I had nothing to do with it; didn't call it in, etc. Completely independent actions. I was hundreds of mile to the south, on a return trip to St. Nazaire.

Saw the radio messages from the involved subs, etc.

Nice feature; I didn't know that AI radio reports existed. In fact, I rarely get to the stage of the war where wolfpacks are common because I die pretty early. Nonetheless, AOD is one of those games where the game defeats you fair and square in my opinion - it makes your realize why even many good U-Boat crews failed to return.

Another nice feature I learned about - if you return to base around April-May 1945, the pre-rendered port background is bombed out from air raids. And IIRC the band does not play for you. Again, great attention to detail.

[John Pancoast]

Originally Posted by iambecomelife

Nice feature; I didn't know that AI radio reports existed. In fact, I rarely get to the stage of the war where wolfpacks are common because I die pretty early. Nonetheless, AOD is one of those games where the game defeats you fair and square in my opinion - it makes your realize why even many good U-Boat crews failed to return.

Another nice feature I learned about - if you return to base around April-May 1945, the pre-rendered port background is bombed out from air raids. And IIRC the band does not play for you. Again, great attention to detail.

Right, I remember the bombed out port too plus all the other war end bits; newspaper, Doenitz speech, etc.
I posted a video clip about it awhile back, see if I can find it again later today.
But yes, there a lots of radio messages from other boats giving convoy info., attacks/being attacked, etc. Per the above scenario, if one is close enough to the attack you'll get a radio message to join the pack/attack and instead of you calling in a pack to a convoy, they're sending beacons for you to join them.

Another bit; once I was being chased by a corvette near the North channel. It couldn't catch me of course so what happens ? It "radios" ahead for help; four more escorts come out of an Irish port to join in the hunt !
Never say you've seen it all in AOD; something else will pop up in the right circumstances.


p.s. War ending video link. https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/sho...46&postcount=4

[John Pancoast]

Whew. Survived a 9/41 escort attack. Barely. Took damage on the surface, boat leaking with minor damage.
Crash dived and the escorts involved pounced. Had to buy time for the repairs to stop the leaks but the only way to do so without sinking to crush depth because of the leaks, was via repeated blowing tanks to a shallow depth, sinking, blowing tanks, etc., etc.
Meanwhile the escorts are hounding me the entire time and knock out my fore hydroplanes and fore torpedo doors. Out of compressed air, low battery due to the above maneuvers.

Finally get the repairs done after a game time hour of this. Finally can hold my depth with not having to worry about leaks.
Fortunately, between the pack I had called in diverting one escort and various maneuvers shaking the other before it too had to leave, I was able to surface, recharge my compressed air and batteries, and escape back to port. Not without an aircraft spotting to boot.
Not a torpedo fired the entire 45 day patrol, but the boat made it back for repairs.

[iambecomelife]

Originally Posted by John Pancoast

Whew. Survived a 9/41 escort attack. Barely. Took damage on the surface, boat leaking with minor damage.
Crash dived and the escorts involved pounced. Had to buy time for the repairs to stop the leaks but the only way to do so without sinking to crush depth because of the leaks, was via repeated blowing tanks to a shallow depth, sinking, blowing tanks, etc., etc.
Meanwhile the escorts are hounding me the entire time and knock out my fore hydroplanes and fore torpedo doors. Out of compressed air, low battery due to the above maneuvers.

Finally get the repairs done after a game time hour of this. Finally can hold my depth with not having to worry about leaks.
Fortunately, between the pack I had called in diverting one escort and various maneuvers shaking the other before it too had to leave, I was able to surface, recharge my compressed air and batteries, and escape back to port. Not without an aircraft spotting to boot.
Not a torpedo fired the entire 45 day patrol, but the boat made it back for repairs.

That is the key to making a successful simulator ambience!

Ability to make various repairs .. intelligent enemies ... assistance from allies ...attention to the vehicle's subsystems - Dynamix really took the limited technology of the day and produced something special.

I think of Dynamix and Microprose in the 1990's every time we get a raft of excuses from modern companies about how this or that feature can't be implemented "because it's too complicated". Despite the massive CPU power and countless Gigabytes of storage you have on even an average PC/console these days. What a sick joke.

Not to beat a dead horse or be rude to the Silent Hunter series dev's, but it's kind of shocking that the FLAGSHIP U-Boat series of the early 2000's produced three sequels without ONCE, for instance, having properly functioning AI submarines.....a feature only implemented thanks to the gargantuan workarounds of h.sie, Sergbuto, and other unsung heroes who toiled for hours with no pay and no big name backing.

I mean, imagine Combat Flight Simulator III/Il2 with only the user's plane in the squadron, or the Battlefield/MOH series with the player-controlled soldier as the only friendly unit. Some omissions are just inexcusable.

Randomizer shouldn't have to pretend that the moon makes a difference when you attack in SH3, it should have been done right about 15 years ago.

When I was in my late teens I was confident that the 2000 - 2020 would be an era of incredible simulator titles, due to how much better computers had become. Talk about youthful naivete! Never underestimate the usual gaming suspects' ability to [foul] things up. Anyway, rant off.

Originally Posted by John Pancoast

Never say you've seen it all in AOD; something else will pop up in the right circumstances.

Yes, quite right. Played CAOD for years and just recently, during a patrol return to Bergen and out of torpedo's and deck shells, a lone transport actually tried to speed up, change course and ram my boat just east of Scapa Flow.


I've been rammed before and had repeated attempts by escorts and merchants in convoy formations, but never a lone merchant making a deliberate attempt.


I've also, not long ago, had Warship convoys coming out into the Atlantic via the two riverways in Spain/Portugal, so if you see gray boxes inland on these rivers, wait at the mouths for a shot!


Good Hunting!
Tim

[Randomizer]

Many people who played AOD for DOS found it superior to CAOD, which was optimized for Windows 3.0. When I bought my first 386-SX45 Windows machine I also got CAOD but found it buggy and with a number of negative issues not found in the earlier game. Sadly I cannot recall specifics but they were significant enough at the time. The differences were subtle but certainly enough for me to ditch that version of the game completely when it was still new and keep the older, DOS version.

AOD had been left unplayed for years as technology advanced until I discovered DOSBox and now it is still my go-to subsim for the Atlantic although I have no less than five SH3 supermods installed.

The AOD that I use today is my original, installed from 3 1/2" floppies onto that 386 computer and copied onto a CD using that machine and religiously transferred onto every subsequent computer that I have owned. Also still have the AOD game box, manuals, quick-reference guide and map but the disks are gone.

At 27-years of age, the computing equivalent of several epochs, I'm inclined to cut the game some slack in its modelling and features, so while I read your necro-posts, cannot say that I tend to find them particularly useful.

-C