pcpilot

This game isnt actually a sim. Its more of an operational wargame. However, since it covers the Pacific war, the navies of both sides are a major factor in combat, hence, I felt it newsworthy to include a forum topic covering it's release. This game has been under devolpment by 2by3 games and Matrix games for quite sometime. If you have played Uncommon Valor by the same people, which covers the NewGuine/Solomon Islands area of operations, then you have an idea what this game is mostly about. However, on reading the game description, it is apparent there are a number of changes, improvements, etc., not the least of which is the AWESOME size of the area of conflict. Not just a local area like the Solomons, no sir. The whole Pacific! You heard right, the whole FREAKING BANANA! :D Anyway, enough blabbering. Here is an excerpt from the Matrix website describing the game... “ War in the Pacific: The Struggle Against Japan 1941-1945™ ” is a completely new strategy game, based on the award winning “Uncommon Valor” game engine. The scale is 60 miles per hex and losses are individual vehicles, aircraft, guns and squads. Since half the planet Earth is covered by the titanic Pacific struggle, the game is massive in scope, covering thousands of ships tens of thousands of aircraft. Virtually every ship, air group and battalion sized or larger troop formation is covered in exacting detail. Massive, yet simple to play, as the computer tracks all the factors and the interface allows the player to concern himself with only the degree of detail he prefers. Phases are one day, composed of two 12-hour impulses. A turn is composed of 1 to 7 phases, at the player’s discretion. He may also choose continuous play and may interrupt that by pressing a key. War in the Pacific has detail never before achieved in a game of this scale before. Key Features: WitP covers the entire Pacific Theater of WWII from Dec 7th 1941 until June 30th 1946. Huge game map - 148 X 148 hexes with each hex representing 60 nautical miles. The armed forces of every major nation are represented. The Japanese control their production. Oil and Resources added to the game for production. Complete player control of aircraft upgrades. Course and Speed – Course and speed is now provided with spotting reports. Divide Units – land and air units can be divided into sub units and recombined as needed. Table of Equipment - An option has been added that allows the player to view the TOE for the selected ground combat unit. Coastal Defense Units will now protect friendly mine fields. Air Dropped Mines - Starting in 1943 the Allied player may mine ports by using air dropped mines. Air Dropped Supplies – Supplies may be air dropped onto any friendly hex. Air Transport Pick Up Option – You can now fly from one base, pick up troops at another base and return them to the first base. Target Selection – It is possible to select a target that is out of range so that you can set up a carrier strike the turn before. Atomic Bombs – When available an atomic attack can be made on any city with industrial center. New City Attack Option – The player can select a city to attack and the industry within that city to be targeted. New Fire Bombing Mission - City attacks on Manpower have a chance of creating high fire levels that will cause damage to any and all industry within the city and has the possibility of creating a firestorm. Kamikazes – After January 1944, if the Allies get too close to Japan, the Japanese player can form Kamikaze squadrons to smash into enemy ships and drive them away from the homeland. New ASW Taskforce – Use the ASW Combat task force to locate and attack enemy submarines before they are able to fire their torpedoes. New Escort Taskforce – Use the Escort task force to escort your damaged vessels back to a safe port. Manchukuo Garrison Requirement - The Japanese player must keep a certain number of assault points in the Manchukuo area or the Soviet Union may be activated. Political Points - Each day, each player accumulates political points which can be used to reassign assets to the various headquarters or to change leaders. Preparation Points – Ground units can prepare to attack a given location by setting its future objective and accumulating preparation point prior to making the attack. Ship Repair- Now you have a choice of where to send damaged ships for repair. Each side has a number of different ports to choose from and each port is rated for its own repair capabilities. Special Ships - A submarine, PT or DD tender may help two ships per turn repair (they give a bonus equal to increasing the port size by 2). A repair ship may help four ships per turn repair. Training of LCUs – Land combat units can now be trained, until they reach 75% experience. New Set Speed Order – Take full control of your task force and pick the speed setting you want. New Reaction Range Order – Rein in your aggressive commanders by setting the maximum range they are allowed to react.. New Unload/Don’t Unload Order – You decide if the taskforce will unload upon arriving at its destination. Now you can send that taskforce into a port to refuel without it unloading its cargo. New Do not Refuel Order – Tired of having merchant ships suck up all the available fuel? Now you can set them to Do Not Refuel and save that fuel for you war ships. New Auto-Disband Order – With this set to on the taskforce will automatically disband when it reaches its destination saving. This is a great option when sending ships into port for repairs. New Max Range Settings for Air Groups – Worried about that invasion taskforce just off the coast? Set the max range for your air groups to 1 an ensure they defend their home island. New amphibious assault rules that make use of specialized ships and landing craft. Filters have been added to most information windows, which allow the players to easily find the information they are looking for. Engineers and Demolition - There is now an added demolition routine that looks at the number of engineers at a base when it is captured and gives them a chance to damage factories, airfields and ports before the capture. British Ship Withdrawal - Withdrawals of British Ships (Human player only and only in full map scenarios) – On the first of each month the computer will calculate which, if any, ships must be withdrawn by the human player by the end of the month. Chinese Partisans - All Chinese Nationality bases that are controlled by the Japanese are subject to damage by partisans, if not adequately garrisoned. Matrix WITP website is HERE! Take a moment and look at the screens, very nice! Only thing that caused me discomfort was the astronomical price of $69.99! Someone thinks mighty highly of their coding work. And work it is to be sure, but Uncommon Valor took something like 6 or 7 patches to finally settle down to a relatively bug-free game. I think I'll wait on my purchase and read some reviews and keep an eye on the Matrix WITP FORUMS before I even THINK about shelling out that kind of dough.

Dont dink around! Get on over to Koger's RJW website and take a close look at this new game whose mast is just now visible on the horizon.. The get back here and tell me what you think...BOATSWAINS MATE! Sound General Quarters! How do you say that in Japanese? :D

Found an interesting story about the wreck of the U-701 off Hattaras in 1942 and the efforts of various locals, diving and govermental groups to preserve the wreck for posterity. I've always personally felt it was appropriate to protect these sites, not only for the historical significance and the diving experiance, but also out of respect to those who may very well be entombed there. When you consider the ordels they must have faced in their final moments, to loot a wreack for artifacts just isnt right. Im pleased to see that a strong effort is being made to move forward with making this wreck at least, preserve. The article can be found HERE!

Im leaning more and more to getting a TIR. Your review helps a lot in letting me know what to expect. I was wondering also what the differences were between the different TIR's and you gave me a very good clue. Thanks. Im curious in hearing from TIR users just were they wear the reflective dot. Seems silly to put it on my forehead and I dont use a mic but very seldom. Any other good ideas out there?

I just noticed Akella has released a trailer for their up-coming sim PTB-KOTS...hows THAT for an acronym, hehe. Maybe we should call it KOTS for short, ;) The trailer can be had at 3DGamers HERE! Its a 65MB download. If ya got 56K like me, get a download manager that supports file download restarts like GETRIGHT!

You have GOT to see this trailor...verrrrrry nice! All ingame shots. The terrain looks like only Akella can do, absolutely awesome. The ship and aircraft models look outstanding, and the water...why it actually had WHITECAPS! The game apparently is going to focus on the Russian PT boats at first. But if they dont add US PT boats, Im gonna commit harikari right on Akella's doorstep... :ph34r: This is lookin good, Im gonna be watchin this one... ;)

Subsim.com has posted some new Dangerous Waters screensshots of the BETA build! Oddly enough, these shots arent posted on the Sonalysts website. Hmmmm, looks like someone is kissing up here.... <_< But be that as it may, these are some pretty nice shots and they are FINALLY showing some ingame station shots that the gamer will man and not just external platform shots. Stop by Subsim and take a look or click HERE! The FFG weapons control cam shot is very cool and take a look at the P-3 infared control panal. this is looking like it is going to be very in-depth sim with some intense combat potential. I must say as far as graphics go, they remind me of an improved, somewhat, Fleet Command so far. But of course, this is a set of beta screenies. And its nice to note also that the game has progressed now to a Beta stage. Gettin there by george! :)

The game looks really nice. I understand it will start out with the Russian PT boats. Thats an interesting twist. Be cool if you could do recreations of actual "behind the lines" type PT raids, hitting harbors, dropping off commandos, recon, etc. On the eastern front, that might be quite different. May even be as much river enviorment as ocean/coastal. Hope it has a good mission editor.

Way cool! Glad to here the dweebs were nailed. They cost everyone with their stupidity...

Cheif, never, NEVER let a woman and a camera near a dog...they always do this...

Geeeeze, I dont know whether to laugh or cry... Communication has always been the weak link in human relations. The "chain" was working fine til the it got to the "link" between ATC, NORAD, and SS. Sounds like NORAD dropped the ball here, going to RED ALERT, FREAK OUT mode for some in-explicable reason, despite monitoring the comms with the aircraft and ATC... ;)

So ya want some input into an up-coming game ya say? here's your chance to let the Devs know just what ya think. head over to here...Silent Hunter 3 Poll and give 'em an ear full. ;)

Excellent point!

You know NC, that sure makes me angry someone would hurt that animal. Putting an animal out of its misery is being humane, but to wound it intentionally for no good purpose is just wrong! Thats not what God put us on earth for. Im am pleased to see though that she sure looks happy and healthy with you and your wife. Well done. My best freind has on occasion rescued horses that were on the doorstep to death, and you should see them now, what fine horses they have become! Im getting a bit worried about punkin, my calico. I havent seen her in a week now. Hope she's ok. But GD mentioned that his cat likes the monitor. Well punkin would climb up on top of the Armoir and watch me play on the computer. I put an old blanket up there for her and made the mistake a few months later of pulling it down to clean it. Im still cleaning cathair out of my ears and that was months ago...

I know, I know, Im late, MJ has already posted the news about the new vids on Biohazs' front page. However, I loaded up those babies and took a look. I have 56K but it only took an hour or so for each vid to download. I just do the downloading at night when the salesmen like to call, hehe. THESE VIDEOS ARE WORTH WATCHING! Ok, did everyone hear that? :P Make no mistake, this is gonna be one sweet looking game. I'd like to see more in-game shots of the screens, like the main screen, etc. But the game itself looks REALLY nice. Get 'em from the Video Files section of Biohaz.

Hehe, know what ya mean; first time I heard the sound on the SH3 website, I thought my cat had knocked the iron skillet off the counter in the kitchen again... As for my choices, I tend to lean, no, DEMAND realism. No, I dont want to play a 2 or 3 month patrol over 2 or 3 months. However, I'd like my combat to be realistic as well as the hunt. If that takes some time to manuever and close with an enemy, then so be it. If Im in a hurry, I can always use time compression. I'd like to have the transit to the patrol area possible to encounter other ships too, almost like a dynamic realistic wartime enviorment. This should be espesially easy and historical for the Atlantic, north and south, and the Med. If your a German U-boat commander, there are gonna be British and US ships at ANY point in your cruise. Imagine a transit to the Med thru Gibralter. How about you guys, what did you think and say with your input? The more heads, the more angles, ought to be interesting. ;)

I find it somewhat bemusing to see the question asked in the first place. But I think its another indication of the caliber of guy Carl is. His support and communication has been nothing less than outstanding. To me its a no-brainer.

I found this article concerning piracy at sea and its links to terrorists groups. Facsinating reading and a good heads up to a growing problem. Piracy in itself is a serious issue, one in which I had first hand experiance as a sailor back in the early '80's sailing the Western Pacific. The article expands however on the growing links between piracy at sea and terror groups like Al-queda. Take particular note to the NUMBER of attacks just last year which is something like 50% more than the previous year. Note also the intelligence reports concerning a growing "terror fleet" that could be used in an attack against ports, cruise ships, or oil derricks. And while the bulk of attacks have been in Indonesian waters, pirate attacks are now routinely reported in ALL waters, espesially the Caribean. Notice also the comment which made me take notice, of recent plans by a terror group to attack a British Man of War, the HMS Ark Royal! Take a look... WorldNet Daily.

This is a report by the International Chamber of Commerce... Intl Chmbr of Cmmc Notice that 21 seafarers have lost their lives last year and 71 others are missing. Below is the ICC's weekly piracy report. Read about some of the abortive piracy attempt descriptions. I suspect these are mere local amatuers. Bonafide terrorists would have not likely stopped with mere lights being turned on. Keep in mind too this is only ONE week. Weekly Piracy Report

Lol! Your busted GD... :D Thanks for the heads up. I visit the lock on forums continually too and you always seem to get the jump on me, hehe. Glad to hear its finally going to happen. Lock on is an outstanding sim.

I didnt always agree with the Gipper like when he fired all the union ATC people. But I always LIKED him. I felt he was sincere and honest and he always had a good word to say and seemed to know what was needed in America at the time after 'Nam. He got us back on our feet, lifted our morale and our spirits. He built a Navy second to none I was mighty proud to be a part of. I honestly beleive it was his policies and focus that brought down finally the iron Curtain and the fear of Nucleur holocaust that up till then always seemed to hover over us. And who can ever forget his voice as he quoted "High Flight" in memorial to the Challenger 7. He was true to his wife, to us, and to the country. A fine American whom I was proud to call my CIC. Rest in Peace compadre... Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings; Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth Of sun-split clouds -- and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of -- wheeled and soared and swung High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there, I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung My eager craft through footless halls of air. Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace Where never lark, or even eagle flew. And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod The high untrespassed sanctity of space, Put out my hand, and touched the face of God. www.presidentreagan.info

Leavin' Saturday morning for a week of fishin' and gamin' with me amigo in Thompson Falls, Montana's so-called "Banana Belt". I hear the Pike and Trout are doing exceptional right now. They may not feel quite so well on the end of my line, hehe. So try and keep the Naval forums chatty ok? ;)

PM sent MJ. Mark, who is picking me up said we will be taking I-90 in and out of Spokane, so any directions should take that into account. Todd, if we have the time, Id love to visit an smokejumper base. I thought about doing that when I was 20. I had already qualified as a chutist as a civilian, was a cocky jarhead, and didnt have a lot of sense... :D Somehow, jumping out of a perfectly good aircraft into a raging inferno wasnt a natural act. ;)

Yeah Dutchy, that Pike was 28 lbs and 46 inches long, taken out of the Noxin resevior this last winter by Dean, a local guide and freind, who is in the pic there. MJ, Ill be flyin into Spokane as it was $150 cheaper than Missoula even though Missoula is closer by an hour...go figure... If your nearby, maybe we can setup a visit eh? Take a few pics and start a Biohaz "members meeting members" page, give the website a "homey" touch, hehe. ...homey...get it? homey as in bro...compadre...pal... ...Im so witty... B) :D

Found THIS on the Subsim.com forums. Neal naturally cant say what was in the article so guess Ill be looking for a copy of this. I didnt realize the July issue was already out though at the end of May.