688 Attack Sub

688 Attack Sub
Studio	John W. Ratcliff, Paul Grace
Publisher	Electronic Arts
Erstveröffent- lichung	1989
platform	PC ( MS-DOS ), Sega Mega Drive , Commodore Amiga
genre	Marine simulation
Game mode	Single player , multiplayer
control	Keyboard , mouse
system advantages preconditions	5 MHz processor 384 kB RAM MS-DOS from 4.0 VGA / MCGA / EGA / CGA / Hercules
medium	1 floppy disk 5.25 "or 3.5" 1 mega-drive module
language	English, Russian (Mega-Drive version)
Current version	unknown
Age rating	USK

688 Attack Sub is a submarine - simulating the American manufacturer Electronic Arts in 1989. It first appeared for MS-DOS , Commodore Amiga and in 1991 for Sega Megadrive implemented.

The game was programmed by John W. Ratcliff and Paul Grace and is not only considered a genre classic, but also represented the first realistic simulation of a nuclear submarine .

Game content

The player stands as the commander of a nuclear submarine either on the side of the American or the Soviet navy. He commands either the eponymous USS Los Angeles (SSN-688) or the USS Dallas (SSN-700) , both Los Angeles-class submarines , or a Soviet Alfa-class submarine . The weapons of these submarines are torpedoes , anti-ship missiles and cruise missiles , as a countermeasure enemy units are also available decoys .

In his function as commander, the player is sent on different missions. He receives his commands after entering a security code (as copy protection for the game) via a radio writer. He then controls the submarine from the most important stations (helm, weapons panel, sonar room, etc.) and tries to complete the mission. For the first time, emphasis is placed on a realistic implementation of actual modern underwater warfare: The player must primarily ensure that sufficient sonar data is available to create a clear picture of the situation around the submarine. All sorts of aids are available to him, especially in the field of location methods: passive sonar for different frequency ranges, active sonar , drag sonar , periscope . At the same time, the player must also consider the safety of his own submarine and not be too conspicuous or too noisy.

The missions also offered a lot of innovations for the conditions at the time: While earlier simulations such as Silent Service by Sid Meier (1985) mostly set the player the goal of sinking as many enemy ships as possible, in 688 Attack Sub the approach was more differentiated. The tasks include B. the undetected shading of enemy submarines or the protection of civilian freight traffic, but also classic sinking tasks. With a few exceptions, any scenario can be played on both the US and the USSR side. Two levels of difficulty, standard and beginner , are available. The PC version also offers the possibility to let two players play against each other in distributed roles via modem .

Although the game was advertised as a simulation and implemented quite realistically in many aspects, some components, as the developers themselves note, have been changed in favor of playability. Torpedoes now have a range that is limited to ten nautical miles in order to save the player from waiting due to long running times. In addition, the speeds of the submarines were adjusted in order to create a compromise between official information and unofficial rumors. In addition, the player's submarine can withstand up to six torpedo hits on the easier of the two difficulties.

interface

The game is controlled via a number of command screens that are individually selected from a graphically displayed command bridge using the mouse or keyboard. Before a room is selected, the mouse pointer changes to a corresponding symbol with which the room can be recognized.

Apart from the radio room and the status display, a battle map with an associated control block and a target button for selecting a target can be seen in all command screens .

A line at the top of the screen informs the player about the type, position, speed and course of the selected target. In addition, two lines of information at the bottom of the screen belong to the interface. In the upper line, messages for the player such as weapon reports, damage reports and approaching active sonar are displayed, in the lower line the position of the submarine in geographical coordinates and the time elapsed since the beginning of the mission are given.

Battle map

In fact, the battle map is the main element of the game. First of all, the map provides information about your own position and provides information about sea depths and land outlines. All sonar contacts are also displayed and selected via this map. Sonar contacts are known to various degrees to the player, in the simplest case only the direction of contact is known; the contact is then shown with an orange cross exactly halfway between your own boat and the edge of the map. As soon as the position of the contact has been determined, it appears as a letter at the corresponding location on the map. Further information means that the type of contact (on the surface or underwater) is known and the letter is given a corresponding color (green for surface contact, blue for underwater contact). If the course and speed of the destination are known, this is noted on the map using an optional plotter and a course display. The highest level of sonar tracking is that it can eventually determine the exact type of target.

In addition, the map is provided with a head-up display , which shows the current depth, the maximum water depth and the position of the thermocline . The orientation of the periscope is also indicated.

There are various controls for further use of the battle map. These can be used to zoom in and out, show and hide hydrographic details of the map and toggle between the map and the periscope view. The head-up display can also be switched. On the Alfa , the control block is limited to these five options, on the Los Angeles , on the other hand, there are three additional options to have the seabed and sonar targets presented in a contour view , with two additional buttons also allowing a view to port and starboard.

Radio room

All missions begin with receiving orders in the radio room. There the player first receives a mutilated message via a teleprinter, which is named along with the name of a Los Angeles-class submarine. The player has to look for the corresponding page in the manual of the game on which the name of the named boat is written and enter the following three characters after canceling the message in order to decrypt the code and to be able to receive the commands. Then the player begins the mission.

In an ongoing mission, the radio room only has a rudimentary function. The antenna and periscope can be retracted and extended in it, provided the boat is at periscope depth (20 feet). If the antenna is extended and undamaged, the player can call up the mission description again by entering the MISSION command in the console. In addition, the radio room is the only room besides the periscope to have a display of the ESM level, which indicates the intensity of electromagnetic radiation on the surface. A high ESM level means the close presence of strong and possibly hostile radar transmitters and thus easy location of your own submarine.

The radio room is symbolized by a lightning bolt.

Status display

A sketch of the submarine is shown in the status display . The only control element is the SELECT button, with which the player can call up all on-board systems and check that they are working properly.

At the level of the navigation bridge, the selection button for the status display is symbolized by a stylized submarine hull.

Helm

At the helm, which is symbolized by a steering wheel , the player has access to the manual control of the submarine. First of all, the speed can be regulated in six stages. The classifications differ depending on the submarine:

• Los Angeles: REVERSE , STOP , 1/3 , 2/3 , STD , FULL , FLANK
• Alfa: -10 , 0 , 25 , 50 , 75 , 100 , 110

In both cases, the highest speed corresponds to the maximum speed of 37.5  kn (Los Angeles) or 42 kn (Alfa). In diving depths of less than 100 feet or when using the towing sonar, a maximum of speed levels 2/3 or 50 can be selected.

The depth setting can either be done manually via the alignment of the elevator , or presets can be selected. These preferences are Periscope Depth (periscope depth, 20 feet), 150 ft (minimum depth for maximum speed) and Emergency Surface ( Notauftauchen ).

The course of the submarine can also be adjusted manually using a controller that determines the position of the rudder. In addition, there is the possibility in the helm to automatically follow a course of waypoints set in the map room ( Auto Pilot or Auto Helm mode ).

Another function of the helm is that the current degree of cavitation is indicated there, which is another factor for the ability to detect your own ship. However, only the American submarines have such a display.

Weapon board

The most important element of the weapon board is a block on which all six torpedo tubes can be selected and equipped. Both types of boats have four or six torpedo tubes that can be loaded with the American torpedo type Mk 48 ADCAP or the Soviet type 53 ; for exclusive use of so-called noise-makers ( decoys ; engl .: noisemaker ), however, are on the Los Angeles two additional tubes provided. On the Alfa , one of the torpedo tubes fulfills this purpose and is loaded with torpedoes after all decoys have been used up. A separate pipe for missiles is also available on the American boat; these are the types AGM-84 Harpoon , BGM-109 Tomahawk and UUM-125 Sea Lance .

Firing takes place via a button labeled Launch , which fires the selected tube. Torpedoes and noise makers can be fired regardless of the type of target selected; Missiles, on the other hand, can only be used against surface targets.

Separate controls are also available for torpedoes. The Select button is used to select a torpedo as a target on the battle map in order to issue commands to it with the following buttons:

• Direct directs the torpedo to a coordinate on the map. Once the torpedo has got there, it activates the search mode in order to find targets independently.
• Search manually switches the torpedo to search mode.
• Detonate detonates the torpedo instantly.

It should be noted that the torpedoes are wire-guided and can therefore only be controlled as long as the wire lasts. The player will be informed that the wire will end soon; then the torpedo continues to run independently.

The weapon board is symbolized by a torpedo.

Sonar room

In the sonar room, the player takes hydroacoustic measures to find out about targets in his vicinity. With a given passive sonar contact, the player can use the Signal Analysis button to carry out an analysis of the acoustic spectrum in order to be clear about the type of contact. The display is divided into four areas for ships, submarines, biological contacts and torpedoes. Depending on the area in which most of the signal analysis spikes are, the player has to decide how to deal with the contact.

Further options in the sonar room include the activation of a high-pass filter to filter out torpedoes in particular from all signals, and the activation of the towed sonar and the active sonar. The towing sonar impairs the driving performance, while the active sonar delivers detailed data, but can give away your own submarine.

The symbol for the sonar room is headphones .

Card room

In the map room all important things of navigation take place. Here the player can have sonar signals and his own course plotted , course calculations for different time scales, set waypoints for the autopilot and also activate a time lapse in order to accelerate slow processes.

The symbol for the map space is a sextant .

periscope

On the periscope , the player can primarily operate this periscope , i.e. either retract or extend it and turn it in 45 ° steps. In addition, the player can operate the antenna, which is important for the radio room, and read the ESM level, provided that the submarine is at periscope depth. It is also important that targets can be sighted directly on the surface via the periscope and the weapon can also be fired from this screen in the torpedo or rocket tube that is set as active.

The symbol for the periscope view is binoculars .

Missions

688 Attack Sub comprises a total of ten individual missions that the player can select from the beginning. However, the missions are partly linked to one another; In addition, a successfully completed mission is immediately followed by the next mission without having to return to the mission selection screen.

The missions in detail are:

• TORPEX '89 : In a torpedo exercise off the Faroe Islands , the player has 15 minutes to use the weapons of the Los Angeles to sink three of five retired Forrest Sherman class destroyers without being detected by them or a LAMPS helicopter allow. Alternatively, the player can command the USS Dallas and try to forestall the Los Angeles commander, who is in this case computerized .

• Shake 'em : The player completes another voyage near the Faroe Islands for practice purposes. The player should shake off an Alfa submarine driving behind him so that it loses contact for more than three minutes. Conversely, the player in the role of the Alfa commander should keep sonar contact at all costs or not let it break for more than three minutes.

• Sub Ops : This mission is to be played from a Soviet perspective only. The player has the task of driving enemy submarines out of the waters around the naval port Polyarny near Murmansk without violence ; To do this, he has to sneak up to the boats at the closest distance (less than a nautical mile) and then operate the active sonar to drive away the intruders.

• Mumar Cadaver : In retaliation for the Lockerbie attack , the player has the task of attacking a convoy of Libyan oil tankers in the Strait of Gibraltar . The player must pay attention to the escorts and also spare the shipping traffic of other countries.

• Escape : The player is supposed to escape unnoticed from the Mediterranean with the Los Angeles ; On the other hand, the Soviet side is to try to locate the submarine without provoking it to attack. The map is the same as in the previous mission.

• Goulash begins to develop his own background story. Yugoslavia is moving closer to NATO politically; As a punitive measure, the Soviet Union threatens to attack the shipping traffic in the Strait of Otranto , which is supposed to deliver supplies for the Yugoslav army. On the American side, the player must protect the Yugoslav cargo ships on their way to Trivat from Soviet surface units.

• Cat Walk : After the on the situation in Yugoslavia in Europe Third World War has ignited, the player in the Pacific to the breakthrough of SSBNs the Typhoon class beyond the Kuril prevent Islands and is supported by anti-submarine helicopters, the landmarks of the boat mark with signal buoys. Conversely, on the Soviet side, the player escorts the missile submarine.

• Surprise Party : NATO gathers surface forces in the sea off Norway to tie up the Soviet Northern Fleet in its ports. The player is supposed to use the Los Angeles to secure the voyage of the ships off the coast of Brittany . Conversely, the player on the side of the USSR has the task of sinking as many enemy units as possible.

• Homecoming : As in the Atlantic battle , supply convoys in the Atlantic are of particular importance for warfare on mainland Europe. Accordingly, the player prepares an ambush for an Allied convoy in the Soviet Union off Brittany and is supported by an Oscar-class missile submarine named Pskovskii Komsomol . The American player in turn has to protect the convoy.

• Hit and Run : In the past, only American mission has the player in the Baltic Sea up to the coast of the East German advance in order from there Tomahawk is -Marschflugkörper on strategic objectives in the hinterland (the german manual of a chemical weapons -Fabrik the Speech). Then the player is supposed to escape from the Baltic Sea by submarine.

Technology and presentation

688 Attack Sub took up all graphic formats available at the time, with 256 colors displayed the VGA version was technically the most advanced. Most of the time, the game was controlled by the various instruments and the control panel of the submarine. The “outside world” was shown via the tactical map, the periscope and an echo sounder view. Nevertheless, this meager presentation was sufficient enough to create an exciting atmosphere, especially since all screens were colored red in the event of an alarm, as the audience at the time knew from relevant films (e.g. The Boat , Hunt for Red October ).

The sound effects were reproduced via system loudspeakers , AdLib or Covox Speech Thing and represented the inevitable sonar "pings", fire and explosion noises. The player could also listen to the sonar signature of the selected target in the sonar room and have it analyzed for its type (ship / submarine / living being / torpedo). In terms of music, there was only one dramatic MIDI title melody. A voice output only existed in the Mega-Drive implementation ; beforehand, the officers and engineers reported to have their say by overlaying images and text.

The game also offered the multiplayer mode already described by direct dialing over the telephone line.

The game was also accompanied by a comprehensive manual, also translated into German, which informed the player about the tactics and technology of submarine warfare in addition to the direct game instructions and copy protection. A glossary for technical terms and data sheets for all vehicles and weapons included in the game was also included. Finally, the manual also contained some personal notes from developer John W. Ratcliff.

reception

In the immediate game reviews, the game did consistently well, for example the game received an average rating of 79 percentage points in 14 reviews of European Amiga magazines. The playful and content-related differences to the competitor Silent Service from MicroProse were emphasized :

“[...] after getting used to it, 688 Attack Sub is more fun because of its greater realism [compared to Silent Service]. [...] Those who like to hiss through the water simulated in a super-modern high-tech war machine will get their money's worth with Attack Sub. "

- Happy Computer / Power Play 5/89

In the US magazine The Games Machine , editor Mark Caswell highlighted the difference to flight simulations and the high level of tension:

“Airplane sims have always been around, but sub sims are rare - and always surprisingly popular. 688 Attack Sub is an excellent way to acquaint yourself with the claustrophobic atmosphere of underwater warfare. True, some stealthy missions are really only for strategy buffs (they're so longwinded), but the hunt and destroy missions […] are nail-biting stuff. "

“There have always been many flight simulations, but submarine simulations are rare - and always surprisingly popular. 688 Attack Sub is an extraordinary way to familiarize yourself with the oppressive atmosphere of submarine warfare. Sure, some of the stealth missions are lengthy and therefore only something for the strategy experts, but the hunt-and-destroy missions are something to bite your nails with. "

- Mark Caswell : The Games Machine

On the other hand, a criticism from Jonathan Davies in Amiga Power was negative :

688 Attack Sub is for the man (or woman) who like their submarine sim sophisticated, efficient, characterless and excitement-free. It's for the kind of person who'd choose a Nissan Micra over a 205 GTI. [...] Thrills and atmosphere are short in supply - you never get the feeling you're actually sitting at the helm of a submarine. Silent Service 2 would be a much better alternative […].

“ 688 Attack Sub is suitable for the man (or woman) who like their submarine simulations demanding, efficient, characterless and tension-free. It's for the people who would rather choose a Nissan Micra than a 205 GTI . [...] There is a lack of excitement and atmosphere - you never have the feeling that you are really standing on the bridge of a submarine. Silent Service 2 would be the better choice [...]. "

- Jonathan Davies : Amiga Power

Technically advanced features included mouse control and modem mode. Overall, therefore, some webzines did not shy away from calling the game a milestone in its genre:

"Overall, though, with the mouse interface, multiple screens, good graphics, and modem play, 688 Attack Sub can be viewed as a milestone in subsim development."

"All in all, nevertheless, with the mouse interface, multiple screens, good graphics and the modem mode, the 688 Attack Sub can be considered a milestone in the development of submarine simulations."

- Brian H. Danielson, Neal Stevens : SUBSIM Review - The History of Subsims

In retrospect, 688 was mentioned several times as a reference for much more modern games. The '94 sequel SSN-21 Seawolf is only a technical revision of the game, and reviews of the other successors also repeatedly referred to the original game, although either the lack of innovations was complained about or the objection was raised that the rolling out the game principle on tedious and complicated detailed work such. B. " Target Motion Analysis " (TMA) or sonar operation would reduce the fun compared to 688 Attack Sub : "Since the ancient title 688 Attack Sub , only the graphics have been changed, nothing new has been gained in this genre for over ten years." ( Harald Wagner : Test report on 688 (i) Hunter / Killer , PC Games 9/97) Later, in a test report to Sub Command with reference to the 688 Attack Sub, it was written in 1988 that “an exciting submarine simulation was made from six freeze screens “Can program, which was no longer possible in 2001.

successor

688 Attack Sub has had four successors to date:

• SSN-21 Seawolf (1994)
• Jane's 688 (i) Hunter / Killer (1997)
• Sub Command (2000)
• Dangerous Waters (2004)

SSN-21 Seawolf and Jane's 688 (i) Hunter / Killer were released by Electronic Arts and were officially promoted as successors to the 1988 original. 688 (i) offered quite modern 3D graphics for exterior views and the content became even more complex and multi-layered. After EA's Jane’s division was discontinued in 2000, the developers at 688 (i) founded the development studio Sonalysts Combat Simulations and subsequently published Sub Command and Dangerous Waters . Both games use a revised version of the 688 (i) engine.

Trivia

• To make the atmosphere on the Soviet submarine more realistic, a pseudo- Cyrillic alphabet was used for all English texts . B. looked like this: ЗSTAЪLISЖIИБ SATЗLLITЗ ЦРLІИК (for "establishing satellite uplink"). In the mega-drive version, all texts were actually translated into Russian. Overall, the following letters were used as follows:

Cyrillic letter	pronunciation	use
Я	Yes	R.
Ж	Sche	H
З	Ze	E.
Б	Be	G
И	I.	N
Ц	Ts	U
Ч	ch	Y
Ъ	(Hardship mark)	B.
Ф	Ef	O
щ	Shch	W.

• The damage report screen on the Los Angeles showed a side elevation of the submarine. On the other hand, there was no side crack on the Alfa boat, as apparently no information was available in civilian circles about the actual appearance of the Alfa during the Cold War in the USA . Only the mega-drive version from 1992 corrected this lack of information, but it also showed errors: the Alfa boat depicted had three propellers instead of just one.

USS Birmingham performs emergency surfacing maneuvers. This image was adopted for the title screen of the game.

• The cover picture of the VGA version shows the famous picture of an emergency maneuver of the USS Birmingham .

• The replica of the Soviet sonar computer has a CCCP (Cyrillic: SSSR) sticker: Toshiba / Made in Japan . This alludes to a political scandal in the 1980s: Toshiba had been supplying precision milling machines to the USSR since 1983 , which were used in submarine construction to manufacture modern low-cavitation propellers. The US government was very upset about this, especially since these milling machines were used, among other things, for the production of the screws installed on the Akula class . In addition, forged export licenses were used by both sides to conduct the business. For a while there was a debate in front of the American Congress about placing Toshiba with a trade ban; as an act of protest, MPs publicly destroyed Toshiba products in front of the Capitol .

• The Soviet Alfa-class boat is always referred to in mission descriptions as " PLA Leninskii Komsomol ". In fact, Soviet submarines had no proper names, but were designated with a letter and a number, for example K-219 . The only exception was the real " Leninsky Komsomol " (K-3), the first nuclear submarine of the Soviet Union. In addition, after 1992 the submarines of the Russian Navy included proper names, for example Kursk . PLA as an abbreviation for Podwodnaja Lodka Atomnaja (corresponding to the American SSN ) was never mentioned as a prefix in front of a ship name or a ship designation in Soviet official usage .

• An Easter Egg is the name of the admiral who gives the player on the American side the letters of order. This is called RAdm JW Ratcliff III , a clear reference to the developer John W. Ratcliff. The abbreviation radm stands for Rear Admiral to German Rear Admiral .

Weapons and vehicles included in the game

Submarines Soviet Union Alfa class Akula class Charlie II class Foxtrot class Kilo class Oscar class Typhoon class Project 671RTM USA / Allies Los Angeles class Trafalgar class

Ships Soviet Union Kara class Kirov class Koni class Kriwak class Slava class USA / Allies Forrest Sherman class Iowa class Kidd class Nimitz class Oliver Hazard Perry class Sacramento class Various Cargo ships Tanker

weapons Torpedoes Mk 32 Mk 46 Mk 48 Mk 50 Spearfish Type 40 Type 53 Type 65 Missiles ASROC Harpoon tomahawk SS-N-14 flint UUM-125 Sea Lance

Aircraft P-3 Orion SH-60B Seahawk

Web links

Data

• Data sheet for 688 Attack Sub on TheLegacy
• 688 Attack Sub at MobyGames (English)
• 688 (i) Hunter / Killer datasheet on TheLegacy

Reviews

• Test report . In: Power Play . Issue 5/1989. Page 18.
• The History of Subsims . In: Subsim.com . (English)
• Overview of reviews of the Amiga version . In: Amiga Magazine Rack . (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Test report . In: Power Play . Issue 5/1989.
2. ^ Mark Caswell: Review in The Games Machine  - Internet Archive Issue 31 (June 1990). P. 33.
3. ↑ Jonathan Davies: Review . In: Amiga Power . Issued August 28, 1993.
4. ^ Brian H. Danielson, Neal Stevens: SUBSIM Review . In: Subsim.com . 1998. (English)
5. ↑ PC Games. Edition 12/2001.
6. ↑ Anthony Preston: The History of the Submarines. Karl Müller Verlag, Erlangen, German edition 1998, ISBN 3-86070-697-7 , p. 114.
7. ↑ David E. Sanger: More Toshiba Tools Said to Reach Soviet . In: The New York Times . June 19, 1987 ( nytimes.com ).
8. ↑ USA: Deep Roots . In: Der Spiegel . No. 39 , 1987 ( online ).