home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- TUTORIAL
- This tutorial lets you jump right into this Aces of the Deep "active"
- demo and learn U-boat command procedures by carrying out a
- convoy attack. (You can control the entire mission with the mouse,
- and many controls also have key commands.) Note: the tutorial
- and accompanying quick reference contain a lot of information.
- You may want to print out this document so you can refer to it
- while playing.
-
- This demo starts you off at sea in the control room of your Type
- VIIC U-boat. It is dusk, March 1, 1941. The Allies have yet to
- deploy effective radar or anti-submarine tactics, so you may
- conduct a night surface attack. Your boat is operating alone, and
- the sea is calm. (In the full simulation, you may define these and
- many other mission conditions variables yourself. Aces of the
- Deep is a richly detailed and accurately modeled simulation. You
- will probably want to replay the demo several times to explore all
- of the command options available to you.)
-
- CONTROL ROOM
- For a quick tour, move your mouse cursor through the Control
- Room from the left. You will see labels appear as you point to the
- TDC (Torpedo Data Computer), the Bridge ladder, and the hatch
- leading to the Torpedo Room, Radio, Damage Report and
- Captain's Log. In the middle is the Scope, and to the right of that
- are the Engine Telegraph/Speed controls (top) and
- Compass/Rudder controls (bottom). The large Dive Controls are
- on the right bulkhead. Just below (on Type VII boats) is the Chart
- table. The command buttons along the bottom provide other
- controls: the Voice Tube (to give crew commands), Stopwatch (for
- timing torpedo runs) and the Clock (for time compression).
- Different buttons appear in other screens.
-
- BRIDGE
- By now, you should have received a contact report from your
- Watch officer. Click on the ladder to go to the Bridge and
- investigate. From the Bridge, click the mouse to scan the horizon
- for ships: click near the middle of the screen (small cursor) to scan
- slowly, and click near the edge (big cursor) to scan quickly. If you
- see ships, click on the Binoculars button, and scan with the
- binoculars to locate the ships again--you'll see their relative
- compass bearing below the eyepiece. Click on the Engine button
- at the bottom--the engine room telegraph--and click Ahead Full.
- Then click on the Compass button and drag the compass indicator
- to the target bearing. Your boat will begin to head directly for the
- target. Right-click to close the Compass and Telegraph display.
- Click the far-left "ladder" button to return to the Bridge view.
-
- CLOCK
- From the Bridge, click on the Clock button. The clock shows the
- time (in 24-hour notation) and lets you speed time up while getting
- into position, and slow it down again when ready to attack. Click
- the right-hand scroll bar arrows or press the [+] key until the
- display shows 32X or so. (Each click greatly increases the speed:
- be careful with time compression, or you may zip right past the
- convoy.) Press [Enter] to return to 1X time.
-
- TACTICAL CHART
- To see a map view of the convoy as you approach, press [F5] to
- open the tactical chart. This display helps you see the convoy's
- zigzags and true course, range, and can also show where the
- largest targets and escort ships are if you zoom in close. Click the
- magnifying glass buttons to zoom in and out. By clicking the
- Compass button here, you can adjust your intercept course more
- accurately. Now click the Globe button on the far right. This gives
- you the strategic chart you'll use to navigate to and from base in
- Career missions. For now, click the Globe button again to return to
- the tactical chart.
-
- STALKING THE TARGET
- While stalking the convoy, you can switch directly between the
- Chart [F5] and the Binoculars [F3] to monitor target course and
- range. You want to pull even with or ahead of the convoy at a safe
- distance (5,000 meters or so), and then angle in from the side to
- firing range (under 1,000 meters). Remember, the Binoculars
- bearing display is relative--a reading of 90 degrees means you are
- looking 90 degrees starboard of the bow, regardless of your boat's
- compass heading. When you start getting close, click on the Clock
- button to slow down time again to 1X (normal). Keep an eye on the
- escorts--if you see an escort suddenly head for you, your surprise
- attack is blown. At any time, you can press [Ctrl]+[P] to Pause the
- game if you need a moment to decide your next move.
-
- AIMING WITH THE TDC
- When your U-boat is to the side of the convoy, go to the bridge
- Binoculars view [F3]. Locate a ship in the vertical crosshair and
- press [Spacebar]. This selects the target, distinguishing it with a
- red crosshair and entering its data into the TDC. Click the Torpedo
- button to see this TDC data, which includes target bearing (relative
- to your boat's heading), speed, range, and actual compass
- heading (if within range). The crosshairs grow brighter the longer
- the target is selected, showing the increasing accuracy of the firing
- data. To see your Watch Officer's estimate of the selected target
- vessel's type and gross tonnage, press [I].
- Before firing, you want the U-boat pointed within 20 degrees of the
- target for best accuracy. (To turn toward a selected target you're
- currently viewing, press [H]--this turns your heading to the current
- view. To change the view to the current heading, press [V].) You
- want to be between 300-1,000 meters from the target, and
- perpendicular to it--check your firing angle using the chart.
-
- FIRE
- When the firing conditions are acceptable, click the red fire
- buttons I and II on the TDC. You can switch to the chart to see the
- torpedoes' course, and switch back to the binoculars in time to
- watch them hit (if your aim was true) or watch through the Torpedo
- Camera [F10]. Two torpedo hits will sink all but the largest ships.
- Note: the bottom fire button is for the stern tube.
-
- EVADE
- Once your first eel hits, the escorts will be alerted and will try to
- attack you quickly. In many night attacks early in the war, you can
- evade slower escorts on the surface by using your speed and the
- chart to outmaneuver them. You may be able to line up and sink
- other targets while the escorts pound the wrong area to a froth. If
- the escorts are cornering or overtaking you, you should dive
- before their deck guns hit your boat and prevent you from diving
- (track them in the TDC to check range).
-
- DIVING
- If forced to dive, return to the control room [F1]. Click the Voice
- Tube button, select Chief Engineer, and order Crash Dive. You
- may also click the Dive Controls and drag the depth indicator to
- the desired depth. Below 150 meters, depth charges will have little
- chance of hitting you (this changes later in the war). Once you
- reach your depth, go to your Engine (propeller button) and reduce
- speed to Ahead 1/3--this will reduce your engine noise so the
- escort hydrophones cannot detect you as readily, but gives you
- enough headway to turn.
- Go to the chart. You should see the escort charging to the point
- where it saw you last. If you make it safely below, the escort will
- start pinging with ASDIC (sonar) pulses as it tries to box you in
- with its search patterns. Keep turning your boat end-on to these
- pulses to reduce your echo. You can also use the noise of the
- merchant ships to cover your sounds. Using depth and the chart,
- and constantly angling away from the escort, you should be able to
- slip away fairly soon. You may then surface and make another
- approach on the convoy, or retire from the engagement.
-
- ENDING THE MISSION
- Any mission where you sink a ship and get away is a good one.
- The mission will continue as long as you maintain contact with the
- enemy. If you lose contact with the enemy ships or sink them all,
- the mission ends. (Naturally, the enemy can end your mission by
- sinking or capturing YOU.) In the full simulation's Career mode,
- you end missions (war patrols) by navigating back to a friendly
- base and radioing for an escort into the harbor.
-
- You can also end missions in progress by selecting Abort Mission
- from the Simulation Options menu ([Ctrl]+ [O]), or by pressing
- [Ctrl]+[D]. If you abort the mission while engaged in combat,
- however, your mission score will be zero.
-
-
-
- QUICK REFERENCE
- Control Room [F1]
- Periscope [F2]
- Binoculars [F3]
- Bridge [F4]
- Charts [F5]
- Torpedoes [F6]
- Damage Report [F7]
- Radio Room [F8]
- Captain's Log [F9]
- Victim View [F10]
-
- Increase Time Compression [+]
- Decrease Time Compression [-]
- Reset Time to 1/1 [Enter]
- Repeat Last Message [Backspace]
- Select/Deselect Target [Spacebar]
- View Left [<,]
- View Right [>.]
- Status Line [Ctrl]+[I]
-
- Dive Planes Up Keypad [8]
- Left Rudder Keypad [4]
- Straight and Level Keypad [5]
- Right Rudder Keypad [6]
- Dive Planes Dn Keypad [2]
-
- Engine Speed [1]-[6]
-
- Man/Unman AA Gun [A]
- Check Battery Level [B]
- Crash Dive [C]
- Man/Unman Deck Gun [D]
- Check Fuel Level [F]
- Set Heading to View [H]
- Identify Target [I]
- Fire Tube [Ctrl]+[1]-[Ctrl]+[5]
-
- Check Remaining Oxygen [O]
- Periscope Depth [P]
- Surface Boat [S]
- Blow Tanks [Alt]+[B]
- Open TDC [T]
- Set View to Heading [V]
- Zoom Periscope Mag. [Z]
- Padlock View [Alt]+[F2]
- Raise/Lower Scope(in chart)[Alt]+[P]
- Stopwatch [W]
-
- Abort Mission [Ctrl]+[D]
- Options Menu [Ctrl]+[O]
- Pause [Ctrl]+[P]
- Music On/Off [Ctrl]+[M]
- Quit to DOS
- (confirm first) [Ctrl]+[Q], [Alt]+[X]
- Quit to DOS
- (don't confirm) [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Del]
-
- OBLIGATORY PROMOTIONAL BLURB
- In the full Aces of the Deep simulation, you and your fellow U-boat
- commanders struggle desperately to stem the tide of Allied
- shipping bringing destruction to the German homeland. Enlist in
- single missions, reenact historical battles, or enlist for entire
- careers in the Kriegsmarine--history with you at the helm! The CD-
- ROM version adds cinematic sequences and an interactive on-line
- manual that includes exclusive videotaped interviews with actual
- U-boat captains, a U-boat tour, interactive war maps, and more.
- The optional AOD Expansion disk adds the fearsome Type XXI U-
- boat, and operations in the Mediterranean. If you like the demo,
- you'll love the full simulation. Have fun!
-
-