Matrix Games Forums

First impressions after an hour of playing around are good. Looks like a fun quick game to play while waiting for
PBEM's to arrive for other games.

Chris

ORIGINAL: Llyranor

ORIGINAL: blastpop
What you command is in essence what your historical counterpart did from his PoV.

Would you say the game does a good job of putting you in the CO's shoes?

I think think it does so admirably. There is enough detail and the game is playable in a reasonable amount of time. My first Coral Sea as the US, I was dead in two days, but had the potential for 6 more days. So there is a lot to consider...

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

ORIGINAL: tedhealy
The number of scenarios is limited, but I think the AI makes up for it. You are never quite sure where the carriers will show up. Also you and the AI can move quite a bit over night when spotting is near impossible unless it's by a coastwatcher or sub. When dawn breaks you are never sure of the situation, hanging on every spotting report that trickles in. I think that is what makes the game what it is. The tension builds as you need to decide which reports to trust and if you can get your planes to the target and back all while avoiding enemy planes. A single mistake or hesitation can ruin your day if you get hit with a full strike.

It's less involved than WitP or UV. You are the admiral for a single engagement, that's it. I was doing the Coral Sea scenario in about 30 minutes. Quick, fun, and a nice challenge.

That's exactly it, really - I've yet to have a scenario play out the same way twice and it's perfect to play in between WITP PBEM turns. [;)]

When do you have time to play WitP PBEM turns? You're suppose to be working 24/7 on those games that have been in production for years now. EIA and CWIF!!! Just to name a couple.

As for the new version of Carriers at War I can't say anything about, I don't have it yet or have had the opportunity to play it at one of my friends houses. But, from the origional version I can say it was one of the best and few naval sims I would play. It has a beer n pretzels ease of use interface, but, I would hardly call it beer n pretzels gameplay. The AI is one of the few that can actually challenge the vets. I met my fate more than once against it, but, in this type of game a lot of what happens depends on the luck of who spots who first. Now, perhaps the AI gets a tad bit of an advantage in this spotting I don't know, it's said it doesn't cheat.

ORIGINAL: ravinhood
When do you have time to play WitP PBEM turns? You're suppose to be working 24/7 on those games that have been in production for years now. EIA and CWIF!!! Just to name a couple.

Yeah, actually I don't (used to though), but if I were, it would be perfect for that.

Regards,

- Erik

Just to pipe in...

The interface is awesome, a one or two things that seem a bit strange to me though.  To detach ships are very specific situations required because it seems I can't do it whenever I want to.

Oh and the editing aspects are awesome, I already threw in a bunch of new tunes to listen to, and been generally messing around with the editor a bit.

ORIGINAL: JudgeDredd

I'd like to know what's so special about this? I'm intrigued about it and it may be something I'd like to add to my list. I had UV and liked it. I have WitP and it's a bit daunting at the moment.

I've read people saying they've had "years" of playing the original...how so with only a half dozen scenarios? I ask because a half dozen scenarios is fine if the AI is programmed in such a way as to not be predictable...different starting positions, different approaches etc.

How much "game" is in here?

Why this instead of War in the Pacific or Uncommon Valour or, indeed, Warplan Orange?

Thx for the replies?

Since you already bought this, my post may be moot, but I did own and play the original Carriers at War and can give a little info if my memory works.
The original game came with complete moding ability. You could edit everything including the plane and ship graphics if you were handy with a graphics program. Also SSG's excellent magazine, Run 5, published several scenarios which were also available on a disk. The origianl game went through several refinements and editions and eventually allowed the player to play any Carrier action anywhere in the world. I think the final product was called the Complete Carriers at War. For a DOS program it was quite ahead of it's time.
Base on the screenshots for the new Matrix edition it looks like they have done a good job of updating and cleaning up the game. I only hope they didn't include the optional attack animation that was interesting at first but soon became boring and slowed down play. Even if they did keep this feature I'm sure as in the origianl it is an option and can be turned off.

I'm pleased with what I've seen so far and will probably buy this new version. As a matter of fact I almost bought the hardcopy/download this morning but for some reason decided to wait. Maybe I'll download it tonight. Hope no one has had any issures with download and installation?

DL and install went fine, no issues.

Just to clarify, the AI doesn't cheat. It uses the exact same fallible sighting reports as the human player.

However, some sides have advantages in some tactical situations. The Japanese had their cruisers equipped with floatplanes and used them effectively for long range seraching. The US considered planes on surface ships as gunnery spotters. In a scenario like Coral Sea, the Japanese have their fleet carriers, surface units, light carrier, seaplane carrier and landbases all available for searching. That's a lot of eyes in the sky, and that makes it hard for the US who are mostly relying on their carrier based planes for searching, in the tactically contested areas of the map.

Gregor