LSB103@psuvm.psu.edu (10/23/90)
I have just recently seen demos of Vette! and Harpoon on PC's. The graphic and options are better than Test Drive II or Apple IIe's naval simulations. In th is month's Macworld and MacUser there are ads from mailorder stores that I can get these two games. I was wondering if anyone out there already have these ga mes. If you do, please post a note or send it directly to me about what you think of them and if they are worth the $40 price tag. By the way, does anyone out there who knows if Silent Service II is being shipped for the Mac?
billmors@wpi.WPI.EDU (William Britton Morse) (10/24/90)
In article <90296.121821LSB103@psuvm.psu.edu> LSB103@psuvm.psu.edu writes: >I have just recently seen demos of Vette! and Harpoon on PC's. The graphic >and options are better than Test Drive II or Apple IIe's naval simulations. In >this month's Macworld and MacUser there are ads from mailorder stores that I >can get these two games. I was wondering if anyone out there already have >these games. If you do, please post a note or send it directly to me about >what you think of them and if they are worth the $40 price tag. I'm also interested in a review of Harpoon. Please post! -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Everthing under the sun is in tune / Bill Morse But the sun is eclipsed by the moon / Worcester Polytechnic Institute
ins_apw@jhunix.HCF.JHU.EDU (Philip Wong) (10/24/90)
Looks like these two are going to be good candidates for vaporware. Spectrum Holobyte, previously a mac games only company, seems to have just about abandoned the mac for the IBM. I can't say that I blame them (there's more money to be had in ibm game sales). I am disappointed that such a great start led to the dismal end. On the brighter side, I have seen a beta version of vette for the mac...so it will come out. On the flip side, when it will come out is anyone's guess. Harpoon...i've been waiting for this baby for about a year now...I don't have any hopes if it comming out...even though they said they are making it (can't remember who). Along with the vaporware list are Populus (someone make this for the mac--please!!!) and Dungeon Master ins_apw@jhunix.HCF.JHU.EDU
deichman@cod.NOSC.MIL (Shane D. Deichman) (10/24/90)
In article <1990Oct23.224137.25667@wpi.WPI.EDU> billmors@wpi.WPI.EDU (William Britton Morse) writes: > >I'm also interested in a review of Harpoon. Please post! > > I haven't seen Harpoon on the Mac yet, but I'll tell you what I think about the IBM version: The IBM version of Harpoon is perhaps one of the best (if not THE best) Naval Warfare simulators around. It is very up to date on the various systems and platforms utilized by the navies of the world. More than just a "game," it is also a very in-depth data base on the capabilities of various ships, subs, and aircraft seen in a modern combat theatre. Play can either be a small engagement between individual surface craft or a broad campaign pitting carrier battle groups against one another. You can play either NATO or the USSR (all engagements are between forces of the two superpowers; if you want a political statement of "glasnost" this isn't the place to find it). You actually perform the functions of the battle group commander, issuing orders for course, speed, what radar/sonar to activate, what systems to fire, etc. The realism of elusive contacts (especially in ASW -- anti- submarine warfare) and tracking is readily apparent. You also see the grim effectiveness of some of today's most advanced weapons (including tactical nuclear devices; you do have the option of restricting nuclear releases in the game). Various other aspects (such as sea state and visibility) are taken into consideration, making a very real exercise in naval confrontations. Harpoon is an excellent product, and I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in modern naval warfare. Or, if you're just a trivia buff, I give the same recommendation -- the money you pay for the game is about half what you'd pay -just to get the database alone (_Jane's Fighting Ships of the World_ is around $125 these days). -shane d deichman
dgil@pa.reuter.COM (Dave Gillett) (10/25/90)
I have Harpoon 1.1 for the PC, and I love it despite its warts.
The concept is well thought out and reasonably executed. My complaints are
mostly about details, with a few bugs thrown in.
The single worst feature is the manual, which explains all of the keystrokes/
commands without ever telling you how to play the game! Most of it can be
figured out in a month or two (yes, it can hold *my* interest that long; your
milage may vary).
It's both a memory hog (less of a problem on Macs, with no "640K barrier" to
deal with) and a disk hog (disk caching is a big help) -- oh, and it's also a
CPU hog. Commercial packages (word processors, etc.) this big are more often
$400 than $40, so I can't say it's overpriced.
There's plenty of room for improvement, but I don't think it has any serious
competition at this point....
Dave
(I'm interested in corresponding with other Harpoon players, btw....)plague@milton.u.washington.edu (Jack Brown) (10/27/90)
In article <6694@jhunix.HCF.JHU.EDU> ins_apw@jhunix.HCF.JHU.EDU (Philip Wong) writes: > >Harpoon...i've been waiting for this baby for about a year now...I don't have >any hopes if it comming out...even though they said they are making it (can't I talked to a local software store owner and he said it was in their catalogs for December release. Mac version that is.