"WW2 Naval PC Games" Topic

Do they still make these any more?

I have fond memories of Microproses' Task Force:1942, and I can't seem to find a decent WW1/2 surface action game for the PC out there.

matrixgames.com

Matrix Games have Carriers at War. A remake of the classic game from SSI many moons ago.

I cannot reccomend Matrix game. If you have problems and send emails they will not answer emails, refund your money, or help solve the problems.

Try Naval Warfare Simulations:

naval-warfare.net

They have the Fighting Steel Project mod as well as some homegrown stuff. Their store also carries HPS's naval sims and lots of others.

Storm Eagle Studio is also supposed to release their Jutland game soon. It is a follow-on to 'Distant Guns'.

link

The re-make of Carriers at War is pretty good IMHO, provided all you want is WWII carrier ops. The surface engagements are pretty abstract but they have expanded the scenario listings in the current patch. I feel I've gotten my $50 USD out of it and it's still on my hard drive.

I personally thought, and still have, the old DOS based SSI games on tactical naval warfare were the best. You could be as anal as you'd like, or move up out of the nuts and bolts details to fleet commander. The games covered every possible WW2 ships in both the Atlantic and Pacific areas. Graphics still hold up well.

Now if I could just figure out how to run "Tanks!" I'd be all set.

Dan

I'm very fond of Matrix's Uncommon Valor Solomans campaign game. One of these days, I'll get around to buying their Pacific War game.

Now, what I'd love to see is a Med Campaign naval game.

-Kle.

I'm very fond of Matrix's Uncommon Valor Solomans campaign game. One of these days, I'll get around to buying their Pacific War game.

You need plenty of spare time, I got up to the end of 1944 after about 2 years of play

Then my hard drive crashed :(

Harpoon is still around in various incarnations. It's modern naval of course, but it's better (read easier) than attempting to play the game with miniatures on a table…

You need plenty of spare time, I got up to the end of 1944 after about 2 years of play

That's part of what I'm looking forward to – I play most games pretty slowly, anyway. Good return on the dollar, too.

-Kle.

Matrix is developing an 'Admiral's Edition' of the War in the Pacific game which has a new map and scenarios….

link

Try the "Warship Combat" demo from naval-warfare.net. I think that it's pretty good if you want just surface combat.

Carriers At War was SSG not SSI. I know because I had the first version for the Commodore 64 back in 1980.
If you're reall interseted in an operational carrier game I suggest you troll for the last SSG version somewhere because it had scenarios for the North Atlantic and Med, while as far as I can see the Matrix version is just the Pacific scenarios.
That's assuming that the SSG version will run on a modern machine and operating system of course.

Bob Campbell

There was an SSI game called Carrier Strike or something close to that. I didn't like it nearly as much as Carriers at War. I remembered having to control each individual search aircraft, which I hated, whereas Carriers at War did the staff work (air search and CAP cycling) for you.

For surface combat my favorites were the old Simulations Canada series of Long Lance, In Harm's Way, Fleet Med, and Grand Fleet. These are true viewpoint simulations where you could see only what the admiral could see from his flagship, and communications with your other ships were limited. Pre-battle orders were important. The user interface was quite primitive -- text-only with a laminated grid sheet to track positions -- but that's an advantage when running the programs on current PCs.

I think the Fighting Steel stuff is what I've been missing.

Thanks all.