> 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.)
>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.
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.
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.
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.
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
> 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.)
That's exactly the type of thing I was going for here!
BZ.
>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
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.
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.
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.
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.
I didn't make a solo game mode, but you can play against yourself by opening the link in a new tab if that's helpful
I think HN sunk the battleship game?
This is very cool. On the tutorial page, if you confirm the torpedo (and it fits) should you get a 'congratulations' popup?
yeah I love that!
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
Not sure if it's obvious/implied should say multiplayer