Sea Power by Microprose

I missed Harpoon entirely in its day (one of those great tragedies of my early gaming life - I was around for things like Harpoon and XCOM but didn’t know about them) which sucks because it would definitely have been my kind of thing. This looks like it has the potential to be really awesome.

There’s CMANO/Command Modern Operations, but it’s really, really, really technical. It’s nowhere near as accessible as Harpoon.

The original computer Harpoon was a translation of the famous board wargame. It was great. Tons of scenarios. I remember huge Harpoon FAQs that I printed at university computing lab to read on my bus ride.

The DOS version is abandonware.

Interactive Magic put out a Windows version in 1997. I have my CD somewhere, but I don’t know where. It’s like $13 on eBay. So tempted all of a sudden.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?LH_CAds=&_ex_kw=&_fpos=&_fspt=1&_mPrRngCbx=1&_nkw=Harpoon+Classic++97&_sacat=1249&_sadis=&_sop=12&_udhi=&_udlo=&_fosrp=1

EA put out a little ditty called Fleet Command under the Janes’ label back in the day. Played the everlivin’ fuck out of that. It was like harpoon-lite. You guys go here, you over here and watch the missiles fly. This might be that, with the same simmy underpinnings but not trying to simulate toilet roll logistics like CMO does. CMO is fucking awesome but it does take a tiny bit of study to get a grasp of…

I don’t know if y’all can tell, but I’m stoked for this thing. Great fan of Cold Waters, and the -Fleet games.

Fleet Command is on Steam, going very cheaply every now and then, and very well worth it. It was by the guys who made Dangerous Waters if I recall?
Ironically, it works better than the later game in modern OSes (there are workarounds to get Dangerous Waters to work though).
I still prefer Red Storm Rising over them all though.

Preach.

I loved Harpoon. But I think I love being young in the 1990’s even more.

Being young sucks, take off those rose tinted glasses.

I remember in the late 90s SSI was working on a version of Harpoon that would’ve combined the game with something like graphics from Fleet Command. I was really looking forward to that, so it sucked when the project died, and then SSI died as well.

The irony is that 2010s’ me wished Fleet Command had no graphics but an interface like Harpoon!

Yummy!

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Can’t wait!

RELEASE DATE:

To be announced

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Some new footage. Tech Demo reel, with weapon showcases, damage model, dev interview, etc… If you’re into Cold War era ships, that’s your day. New footage starting at 18:00, btw, with some dev lore before that (always good to know where the stuff you enjoy comes from isn’t it?).

Kaboom

Nice! Is this a replay function?

Nah, it’s the dev mode (seen from the developer perspective while he’s working on the beast). Not sure if they will have replays.

Gives off a real Harpoon vibe, or at least, Harpoon as it played out in my mind because the actual game was more, um, suggestive of such coolness than anything else.

The missile guidance logic is out of this world. Spectacular.

And as these things were to my knowledge never actually employed in that fashion, this might be one of the best ways to see how it might have played out. Assuming the inputs are accurate and the models are correct. In any event, it looks wicked cool.