OneShot
05-31-2005, 07:29 AM
This was taken from an old Review of mine, shorly after DW was released. The Mission was the same mission that can be played in the Demo. You can find the full thread here : My Review on DW (Part II) (http://www.battlefront.com/discuss/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=41;t=000159#000000)
First of all, I took the time to read the manual some and print a few pages in regards to sensors to help me along the way while in game. Further I watched the majority of the tutorials, and while I for myself would be more happy with real training missions I have to say those tutorials are both comprehensive and good for learning the basics.
But the tutorials created the hunger for more, so I jumped into one of the missions of the MH-60 helicopter. It has 7 stations : Pilot, ATO (Weapons), Accoustics (Sonobuoys), Navigation, Radar, MAD/ESM, Dip Sonar.
While even that limited number of stations might look overhelming to someone new to the game I can assure you that you will get into it fast. I have played for maybe 1 hour or more (lost track of time) and it was a blast.
The goal of the mission was to track and sink a Russian Viktor III submarine before it could cross a certain line. The area was bare with the exception of the host platform and a Freighter, at least until I placed some buoys, at which time I found the first hints of the Viktor. It took me 6 buoys plus the allready deployed 4 (they were preset in the mission, probably from the FFG along the line which the Viktor wasn't allowed to cross) to get a good line on him. Additionally I had to dip multiple times, but finally with my last dip and going active I nailed him. One Mk50 later he was history and the mission completed.
Back to the game ... For those who played Sub Command the NAV Screen works pretty much the same, including classification and all that stuff. The autocrew is really capable and you can turn it off for the individual station while on station, if you don't like what they do - turn em off. The stations itself have all you need and are rather easy to use. However this time it doesnt hurt to know at least some of the Keys for doing things. One thing that comes to mind is when you try to dip : The controls for lowering/raising/stop are at the ATO station while the display how deep you are and everything else is at the Sonar station. You can of course use the Taskbar controls as well.
One other thing, the game allows you to control the P3C and the MH-60R with a Joystick, after you assigned the appropriate controls in the options menu. Well I did just that and when I gave it a try I found myself in the drink in a sec. Maybe I just should stay away from piloting the Helicopter . But honestly, you don't really need to fly for yourself unless you want to try and evade a shoulder fired SAM from a Submarine (oops - did I mention that all of the submarines have them and can fire once surfaced?), you can assign waypoints to the chopper on the NAV map and at some other stations and you don't need to fly yourself.
Note to the last paragraph, after some playing with DW I have to say that once your Joystick is set up right both the Helo and P-3 are manually flyable. However you need to get acccustomed to that.
The following is an add-on to the original Review I wrote later ...
Today I gave it another try in flying the Helo. First of, it's actually pretty easy to fly around (I use a Saitek X45) and it works (with my Joystick) right out of the box, including Rudder and all. However hovering as in nearly all Helicopter Simulations becomes more an art then a science. It's possible and its definitly easier then with FS 2002 on reality mode for example, however personally I think that flying and especially hovering (to lower the MAD/Sonar) is not the point in this game. Sure it's possible and with more training (and some tweaking of the Joystick controls) then 2 minutes of flying I guess it's fairly easy to do. IMHO I would stick to the Autopilot as he does it better (then me) and I can concentrate on important things. Where flying manually might come in handy is in evading missiles, and IMHO thats the only time where you need to take the stick and fly for yourself.
First of all, I took the time to read the manual some and print a few pages in regards to sensors to help me along the way while in game. Further I watched the majority of the tutorials, and while I for myself would be more happy with real training missions I have to say those tutorials are both comprehensive and good for learning the basics.
But the tutorials created the hunger for more, so I jumped into one of the missions of the MH-60 helicopter. It has 7 stations : Pilot, ATO (Weapons), Accoustics (Sonobuoys), Navigation, Radar, MAD/ESM, Dip Sonar.
While even that limited number of stations might look overhelming to someone new to the game I can assure you that you will get into it fast. I have played for maybe 1 hour or more (lost track of time) and it was a blast.
The goal of the mission was to track and sink a Russian Viktor III submarine before it could cross a certain line. The area was bare with the exception of the host platform and a Freighter, at least until I placed some buoys, at which time I found the first hints of the Viktor. It took me 6 buoys plus the allready deployed 4 (they were preset in the mission, probably from the FFG along the line which the Viktor wasn't allowed to cross) to get a good line on him. Additionally I had to dip multiple times, but finally with my last dip and going active I nailed him. One Mk50 later he was history and the mission completed.
Back to the game ... For those who played Sub Command the NAV Screen works pretty much the same, including classification and all that stuff. The autocrew is really capable and you can turn it off for the individual station while on station, if you don't like what they do - turn em off. The stations itself have all you need and are rather easy to use. However this time it doesnt hurt to know at least some of the Keys for doing things. One thing that comes to mind is when you try to dip : The controls for lowering/raising/stop are at the ATO station while the display how deep you are and everything else is at the Sonar station. You can of course use the Taskbar controls as well.
One other thing, the game allows you to control the P3C and the MH-60R with a Joystick, after you assigned the appropriate controls in the options menu. Well I did just that and when I gave it a try I found myself in the drink in a sec. Maybe I just should stay away from piloting the Helicopter . But honestly, you don't really need to fly for yourself unless you want to try and evade a shoulder fired SAM from a Submarine (oops - did I mention that all of the submarines have them and can fire once surfaced?), you can assign waypoints to the chopper on the NAV map and at some other stations and you don't need to fly yourself.
Note to the last paragraph, after some playing with DW I have to say that once your Joystick is set up right both the Helo and P-3 are manually flyable. However you need to get acccustomed to that.
The following is an add-on to the original Review I wrote later ...
Today I gave it another try in flying the Helo. First of, it's actually pretty easy to fly around (I use a Saitek X45) and it works (with my Joystick) right out of the box, including Rudder and all. However hovering as in nearly all Helicopter Simulations becomes more an art then a science. It's possible and its definitly easier then with FS 2002 on reality mode for example, however personally I think that flying and especially hovering (to lower the MAD/Sonar) is not the point in this game. Sure it's possible and with more training (and some tweaking of the Joystick controls) then 2 minutes of flying I guess it's fairly easy to do. IMHO I would stick to the Autopilot as he does it better (then me) and I can concentrate on important things. Where flying manually might come in handy is in evading missiles, and IMHO thats the only time where you need to take the stick and fly for yourself.