Back To Page 8 Conclusion As I said before, I like DC. It’s a really good surface ship simulator and there is potential to make it an excellent surface ship simulator. The basics of ship movement and weapon employment are realistically simulated. Even with the ship handling limitations mentioned, the simulation is a good […]
Back To Page 7 ScrLk – Engine Room I think this station is intended to allow the player to assume the role of Engineer Officer of the Watch (EOOW), but it’s very crudely done. The only controls are faucet like handles to place the boiler “online” or “off-line” and knobs to connect the boiler to […]
Back To Page 6 PPI Display The PPI display is a good start, but some improvements are needed to make it more realistic and usable. Contact persistence is too short – the contact “paint” should remain just visible until the next sweep. There are no bearing markings around the circumference – There should be […]
Back To Page 5 Flag Etiquette OK, this is a picky point, but while underway a US Navy ship flies the national ensign from the mast head, not from the flagstaff at the stern. Some USN ship models in DC fly the flag from the flagstaff at the stern. The Brooklyn class CL flies […]
Back To Page 4 Hard rudder at flank speed The virtual destroyers exhibit barely any response to throwing the rudder full over at high speed. On a real ship at high speed, throwing the rudder over full will result in a very large amount of heel being put on the vessel. This will cause […]
Back To Page 3 Visuals The DC visual models are nothing spectacular, but they are more then adequate for the job. The ships are well detailed enough to assess target angle and for class identification. For my antiquated system this is actually a blessing! On my system DC runs just fine. All US ships […]
Back To Page 2 Propeller Order The reason a conning officer would choose Propeller Order can best be described by the following: “I’m in open water. I want all shafts to have the same rpm in the ahead direction. Maintain the ordered rpm as close as you can.” In steady state conditions the actual […]
Back To Page 1 Rudder Commands, Response and Indicators Why can I order rudder positions to only the nearest 5°? Why does the rudder instantly go to the ordered position? Where are my helm angle indicator and rudder angle indicator? The DC rudder command system, while not strictly accurate, is probably OK as is. […]
Initial Comments from a Former Naval Officer by Guest Writer Donald Simon Introduction I recently bought Destroyer Command (DC) and I must admit I find it addicting. Having once served as a Surface Warfare Officer (SWO) in the US Navy, it is very interesting to compare how one operated a real warship as opposed to operating a […]
by Guest Writer Didier Vanoverbeke Introduction For me, a blind gamer, frustration is the rule of thumb when it comes to modern games. Most of the games on today’s market are very hard to play for someone with limited or no sight at all, and this was also true of a game released some years […]
World War III in 1985 – A Harpoon3 Battleset Diary by Mark “Boxer” Doran First Contact 3norway1.scn Date/Time: 14 September 1985 Size/Duration: + Location: Norway Playable sides: NATO Type: ASuW Briefing: This scenario starts one hour before the initialization of hostilities in Central Europe. A powerful Soviet Red Banner Northern Fleet surface action group (SAG) and two large amphibious groups sailed […]
by Mark “Boxer” Doran If you have read General Sir John Hackett’s World War III or Tom Clancy’s Red Storm Rising or perhaps Cauldron by Larry Bond and Pat Larkin then you will understand the premise for this Harpoon3 battleset. Figure 1 – Cracking good reads: each depicts a fictional Soviet assault on NATO. Ragnar Emsoy’s magnum opus for Harpoon3 World War […]
