Fast Attack

[TheHistoricalGamer]

I've started a new series on one of my favorite games of all time. Fast Attack. I wasn't able to find a single video on YouTube of Fast Attack gameplay and thought there should be some up there for a game that was really one of the gems of the genre imho.

I really believe this is the best Submarine Simulation ever made covering modern submarines. I'll admit I'm not the greatest player at showing off advanced submarine tactics, I use more arcadey methods of gameplay but I wanted to show off a game that is a classic, and imho would be a prime candidate for GOG or Matrix to remake and be successful amongst simulation players.

Also if this interests you It's my goal to have a fairly regular release schedule on this, roughly 1 per week as long as people show some interest. Episode 1 is up, Episode 2 should be up on 10/25/13.

Also while I start very arcade like in my playing methods I really do want to try and figure things out and learn how to play more accurately so any tips or advise would we be welcome. I think one of the brilliant things about a lot of simulation games is the ability to be able to be incredibly easy to pick up and play with a low barrier to entry and also incredibly deep if a player wants to do things the RIGHT and REALISTIC.

Episode #1 - WMDs in the Gulf


Episode #2 - Harpoons and Fast Attack Craft


Episode #3 - Harpoons vs Torpedoes

[Julhelm]

It's one of my favorites as well. The only things I don't like about it is the somewhat broken interface that requires far too much clicking and the inability to see ordered depth/course/speed from anywhere but the helm station.

[TheHistoricalGamer]

I definitely agree there. Trying to plot a course, adjust fire control, or change depth is annoying tedious or ridiculously fast.

[Julhelm]

It's too bad because the look and feel of the stations themselves is much better than it ever was in 688i or later games. IMO you should probably do some videos of the GIUK battleset where the missions are far more challenging (since you take on the Soviets).

[Sam.I.Am]

Originally Posted by Julhelm

It's one of my favorites as well. The only things I don't like about it is the somewhat broken interface that requires far too much clicking and the inability to see ordered depth/course/speed from anywhere but the helm station.

You can see depth speed and course in the Plot, Navigation, Sonar, BSY-1, WLR, Control Room, Radio and Helm screens. You can't see them in the Launcher or Torpedo room screens but that only makes sense as on a real boat you can't see them from there either (in real life depth can be extrapolated from torpedo tube equalizing pressure or tube pressure @44.4 psi per 100 feet which we did once on sea trials to back up the control room helm station. I know, I sat there on SP phones for over 8 hours reading back gauge readings to control on our Alpha dive while also keeping an eye out for leaks).

I agree about the clicking though, but you can use the arrow keys if you need to maneuver quickly in a pinch and then go to the helm to refine it. But honestly if you need to do that you are being chased by torpedoes and should probably be in the WLR screen anyway which has more conventional and precise course and depth controls and is telling where the weapons are coming from (using the timer you can extrapolate how far away they are).

Overall Fast Attack presents a more realistic presentation of what you might see and where you might see it inside a real boat. It's biggest game play downfall IMO is the AI which runs dumb and straight even when it's got a weapon on it. At best it'll launch a countermeasure if it's Russian. Red Storm Rising from almost a decade earlier had better evasion tactics.

My biggest complaint is that there's no way to create missions on your own that I'm aware of which is too bad because I think that it would have been much more popular (after it was patched of course).

I'll be watching your videos (and subscribing if you plan on adding more as you go) and if I can help I'll give you some tactical advice.

ETA: Ok I watched it. Not too bad for playing in easy and not too heavy in detail but you said that you would be addressing things as you go along. Just some nits to pick though.

1) Tomahawks were on boats years before VLS was added, they were torpedo tube launched though which took up about seven stows better served by holding torpedoes. What VLS did as add what amounted to 12 more stows limited to Tomahawks only.

2) The MK 48 didn't have "Over 1,000 lbs of explosives", it has ~650 lbs of explosives (it depends upon what mod it is but that's the low end of the range and it doesn't go much higher).

3) Final nit-pick. In the game, in the after action report the stuff in red is the stuff that you cannot see if you check the mission log in the middle of the game because it's considered a spoiler. You are supposed to, as CO, keep track of what you've hit and what mission goals you have completed.

I noticed that you skipped over the secondary goals and that's understandable given the format for a video but those secondary goals are key to getting more medals and promotions as you progress. You might want to mention that in one of your videos.

Perhaps it might be a good idea to, instead of focusing on scenarios, focus on specific tasks in the game. For example one on how to use fire control, one on sonar (in all modes), one on navigation and evasion and so on.

Not too bad overall though. BZ

[Julhelm]

I am aware that there are repeaters for ownship depth/course/speed in all the main stations - my issue is the lack of seeing what you are actually ordering the crew to steer from any station but the helm or WLR. It makes using the arrow keys for input kind of useless.

Agree on the AI. Now imagine a game that combines the realism of Fast Attack with the AI and campaign of Red Storm Rising. Now that'd be fun.

[Sam.I.Am]

Originally Posted by Julhelm

I am aware that there are repeaters for ownship depth/course/speed in all the main stations - my issue is the lack of seeing what you are actually ordering the crew to steer from any station but the helm or WLR. It makes using the arrow keys for input kind of useless.

Agree on the AI. Now imagine a game that combines the realism of Fast Attack with the AI and campaign of Red Storm Rising. Now that'd be fun.

I would have to say that the most realistic option is that the helm orders should only be given from the conn and that the arrow keys are a compromise to facilitate the nature of playing in a simulation vs the real world. I rarely use the arrow keys unless I'm mine hunting in which case I'm only turning a few degrees at a time which is simple to do because I don't hold down the keys but tap them instead. The only other time I'll use them is when I'm in the passive sonar screen and sitting right above or below the layer and I'm looking for a target so I'll go through it (up or down as needed) a few feet (again by tapping them).

If you need to go through a larger course, speed or depth change then the helm is the place to do it (or at the WLR 9 if there are torpedoes in the water). On a real boat there is a WLR 9 repeater on the conn which allows the OOD to make course changes so having the helm commands there make sense because he can call out new helm orders from there anyway.

You can't ask for realism and then complain that it's too realistic IMO.

But yeah, they did drop the ball on the AI and if they had included a mission editor someone would have made up a RSR command\mission set a long time ago, but that was long before software developers realized the value of custom mods in extending the lifespan of games (and that it can sell a lot more of them) so no SDK for us my friend.

[CapitanPiluso]

Nice video about a very good game.
Thanks

[Julhelm]

I honestly preferred the helm system from Red Storm Rising where you hit F9 or F10 and simply input your desired course or depth. Much faster than clicking things.

[Sam.I.Am]

Originally Posted by Julhelm

I honestly preferred the helm system from Red Storm Rising where you hit F9 or F10 and simply input your desired course or depth. Much faster than clicking things.

I agree that it was convenient but you really needed that keyboard template to remember all of the keys, lose that and you were screwed. The GUI type interface in fast attack skips all of that.

[TheHistoricalGamer]

Episode 2 is up

Thanks guys.

I wasn't sure about the Tomahawk via torpedo tubes thanks for the info.

I'll definitely go into more depth about certain features of the game and maybe jump out of the campaign in-between battle sets if only to increase the difficulty as I progress. I wanted a base of a view videos showing basically how certain scenarios play out and then diving into more depth of how to become more of an expert in various usage, IE harpoons vs torpedoes, etc... As a result the first 3-4 videos will be very high level overview with focus coming in the later videos.

Thanks for the feedback!

[TheHistoricalGamer]

Episode 3 is up