by dctoedt on 1/21/25, 10:41 PM
>
Developing an intuition for these situations is hard. They never happen in real life, and we practice them in high-fidelity trainers where time is precious, so young officers don't get many reps. I thought it would be fun to cheaply simulate close range engagements on a laptop, and play against my friends on the web.I remember reading, decades ago, that the U.S. Navy's flight school in Pensacola had a student who'd done unusually well in the course because he'd bought a copy of an early version of Microsoft's Flight Simulator software (IIRC) with maps of the nearby Navy airfields used for student training. That led to the Navy adopting PC-based flight simulator software generally. (I couldn't find a reference.)
by fred_is_fred on 1/22/25, 1:59 AM
Playing this for a few turns and you will see why they developed the banjo and then the Torpedo Data Computer. I am currently reading a fiction submarine warfare book (entertaining with warts) and they cover the switch over.
The book is Sink the Rising Sun.
The TDC is described well here - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torpedo_Data_Computer
Manual for the banjo here. Imagine a slide rule that could solve the problems in this game (given perfect input data) - https://maritime.org/doc/banjo/index.php
by Boogie_Man on 1/21/25, 10:33 PM
>Some games, like the early-2000s Sonalysts simulations, accurately simulate TMA, but they are so complex that they are hard to learn. As a qualified submarine officer, I still couldn't figure out how to play Dangerous Waters.
We love our wargamers don't we folks
by derbOac on 1/22/25, 12:31 AM
I think HN sunk the battleship game?
by ilikebits on 1/21/25, 11:44 PM
This is great! I loved playing Sub Command as a kid, and seeing the very familiar waterfall display was a real blast from the past.
by aidenn0 on 1/22/25, 3:37 AM
ELI5: Passive sonar gives you the opponent's bearing only; Active sonar gives you the opponent's bearing and range; active sonar gives your bearing to your opponent(s); firing a torpedo gives away your bearing to your opponent(s). Why wouldn't you confirm a solution with active sonar before firing?
by dave333 on 1/22/25, 1:53 AM
Seems like a good strategy is to circle slowly until you pick up a sonar trace and then try to follow it and get in the opponent's baffles. Converting the sonar trace into a map of the opponent's position over time is the essential skill and is something that I'm sure is automated in real submarines.
by AcerbicZero on 1/21/25, 11:44 PM
I love submarines, military history, and all things that this should fit with, but I can't seem to get the hang of this. I kinda wish I could play it solo to just to figure it out.
by azalemeth on 1/21/25, 6:50 PM
This is very cool. On the tutorial page, if you confirm the torpedo (and it fits) should you get a 'congratulations' popup?
by spike021 on 1/21/25, 11:02 PM
One of my first Game Boy (Color?) games was a sub combat game. I think it was the first thing I ever ordered off amazon.
by cckolon on 1/22/25, 5:07 PM
Hey all, the page crashed but it's back up now, sorry for the downtime!
by ge96 on 1/21/25, 9:47 PM
Not sure if it's obvious/implied should say multiplayer
by cchance on 1/22/25, 4:23 PM
Its broken, please check your backend dashboard
by shinobi1124 on 1/22/25, 2:20 PM
I couldn't load the page :(
by drivingmenuts on 1/22/25, 11:37 AM
Does not work in Safari?