Just downloaded H3ANW. What now?

[hellfish6]

I haven't played a Harpoon game since H1 many years ago. Though I normally never buy games without demos (the H3 demo was expired) and haven't been a big fan of anything else Matrix has put out, I'm gonna give this one a shot, since I'm hankering for some naval combat and nothing else is out there.

H3 is downloaded and installed, version 3.9.2. What should I do now to ease myself into the game? What battlesets should I check out?

[hermanhum]

Grab the Complete Harpoon ANW Library

Here are some scenarios that have fewer than 20 or so units / side:

Power Sweep

Whose Islands

Watch that First Step

HDS II NACV Alpha_1

HDS II MEDC Alpha_2

In both of these scenarios, the player controls a single submarine:

The Hunt for Red Xia

Beach Reconnaissance

I have received many comments from players that they used the Beach Reconnaissance scenario in order to learn the game better since it only has a single unit for the player.  This allows him to take his time and experience all aspects of submarine operations without becoming overwhelmed with data from numerous units.

Also, the Original 7 Battlesets (Cold War, WestPac, Regional Conflicts, etc) are pretty basic and simple to run.

Welcome aboard, shipmate.  Let me know if you want a head-to-head game, sometime.

[hellfish6]

Awesome.Thanks for the heads up!

[Anonymous]

Hello,

ORIGINAL: hellfish6

I haven't played a Harpoon game since H1 many years ago. Though I normally never buy games without demos (the H3 demo was expired) and haven't been a big fan of anything else Matrix has put out, I'm gonna give this one a shot, since I'm hankering for some naval combat and nothing else is out there.

H3 is downloaded and installed, version 3.9.2. What should I do now to ease myself into the game? What battlesets should I check out?

You could also try my "PASON"-beginner´s battleset which is included into Harpoon 3.9.X. Just switch databases to HUD3 and you´ll find it. These are three small scenarios designed for newbies.

Have fun!

Ralf

[Erik Rutins]

Hi Hellfish,

If you're on 3.9.2, you should upgrade to 3.9.3 which was just released. You can find the download link here:

http://www.matrixgames.com/games/downloads.asp?gid=323

Welcome aboard!

[hellfish6]

I gotta say, I really like H3 ANW so far. Has the same flavor as the old Harpoon Classic I loved. The only issues I have are with the interface - it's kind of clunky to use, which I'm guessing is a holdover of the core game engine being old? Is there any way to have hotkeys? Is there a way to save preferences so I don't have to reset them all the time? Those videos are especially annoying if I forget to deactivate them at mission start.

[hermanhum]

Yes, it is possible to re-set some settings and preferences.

Run the ANW Configuration Launcher and you can turn off the videos by de-selecting the "Show Videos" box under the Video and Sound Options tab.

You can also de-activate them while in a game under the Settings Menu and then selecting Game Preferences to turn them off.

Hotkeys are available. You can see which ones are available under the various drop-down menus. The underlined letters indicated the Hotkey used. You activate the drop-down menus by either clicking on the menu bar or hitting the Alt button.

You can also re-set the Window Schemes under the Window menu in the game. This allows you to move the various Time, Unit display, map windows, etc around on your screen and then you can save the setup for future games.

[noxious]

ORIGINAL: hellfish6

I gotta say, I really like H3 ANW so far. Has the same flavor as the old Harpoon Classic I loved. The only issues I have are with the interface - it's kind of clunky to use, which I'm guessing is a holdover of the core game engine being old? Is there any way to have hotkeys? Is there a way to save preferences so I don't have to reset them all the time? Those videos are especially annoying if I forget to deactivate them at mission start.

Hotkeys are in the manual, with most of the good old ones you know from Harpoon and H2 still working and new ones (they are listed in the manual)
Harpoon3.ini to save the prefs between game-runs.
With the H2++ layout ANW uses, at least, you can find your own layout, even save it (is that what windows schemes are ? sorry, anw newb here also), you're not limited to the static one from Classic, even though they've revamped it nice in HCE
Hope that helps,
Cheers !!

Edit : the Herman struck right before I did...

[hellfish6]

I know about the alt+x shortcuts, I just think they're incredibly archaic. I'd much rather just press "a" to see all my air radar range circles, "s" to see my surface search radar range circles, etc. I'd especially love to see a fast way of accessing the time compression - all too often I'll be running at 30 second time compression when transiting with no contact only to have a torpedo launched and then detonated before I can slow time town. Using "+" and "-" would be a great starting point for those. I also know about the window schemes, which is a nice feature. I missed the config launcher, though. Nice. 

[hermanhum]

ORIGINAL: noxious

With the H2++ layout ANW uses, at least, you can find your own layout, even save it (is that what windows schemes are ?

This is how the Window Schemes work. Here is an example of how a scenario might be saved by the designer after he was finished, with the Unit and Time windows appear on the right hand side of the screen.

[hermanhum]

Here is my personal Window Scheme preference. I like my displays to appear on the left hand side of the screen. Once you arrange your window the way you want it, you can save the setup under the Window Schemes command so that you open all future scenarios with the arrangement intact.

It saves you a bit of re-arranging every time you start up a scenario, but does not affect gameplay in any way.

[hermanhum]

ORIGINAL: hellfish6

I'd especially love to see a fast way of accessing the time compression - all too often I'll be running at 30 second time compression when transiting with no contact only to have a torpedo launched and then detonated before I can slow time town.

I don't disagree. I am a big fan of hotkey usage and an even bigger fan of re-programmable hotkeys. (Dangerous Waters is simply one of my favorite games because of this capability.)

The work-around I use is to activate the "Notify me on new Contacts" function. It is under the Settings --> Game Prefences menu. It will automatically slow the game down to 1:1 every time a new contact is found. This is fine for scens where there are few units, but if there are a swarm of unknown Neutral contacts, it can be impractical as your screen is constantly plastered with "New Contact" reports. It certainly would be great if we could have a message warning ONLY if we are fired upon.

[rsharp@advancedgamin]

+ and - increase and decrease the time compression respectively. F12 pauses. Do those cover what you need?

[hellfish6]

I swear I've tried them and it didn't work. Was it the numpad +/- or the number bar +/-?

[hermanhum]

Numpad +/- keys will increase/decrease time compression.