Producer: Protek
Memory Required: 48K
Recommended Retail Price: £7.95
Language: machine code and BASIC
Author: Rod Hopkins

Hunter-Killer is a submarine simulation game set off the German Helegoland coast of the North Sea during the Second World War. You are commander of an 'S' type submarine and your mission is to find an enemy submarine in the same area and hunt it down. The coast is heavily mined, so sailing in too close may result in hitting a mine or running aground.

The simulation is quite detailed. Three screens show you the control room, periscope view and chart room. In the control room you can see the ballast tank level indicator, the hydroplane angle, battery charge, engine speed, rudder angle, heading, torpedoes left, engine warning light, engine indicator, asdic display, echo sounder display, radar display, periscope, and the depth meter. The periscope view shows you the horizon and enemy shipping or aeroplanes if any are about. Below are indicators for periscope angle (which can be turned in either direction), heading, distance to enemy and torpedoes left. The chart room is accessed by pressing the C key - the control room slides across and is replaced by the charts. Apart from the map, details shown are tide indicator, compass rose, indication of position, minefields, enemy position, speed of submarine and tide strength.

The asdic comes on automatically at a depth of 10 feet or more and you can hear it pinging. On the surface the radar is automatically switched on. It has a range of 22 miles and you can see the sweep of the antenna.

Enemy aircraft are hunting for you. If you spend too much time on the surface they will spot you and then a klaxon sounds, giving you only two minutes to dive below 10 feet to safety. All diving and surfacing commands must be carried out properly as in a real submarine. So too must the firing of torpedoes. Another realistic feature is the use of twin engines, diesel for on the surface and electric for under water. Using the diesel underwater results in damage. If you stay under water too long the electric engine's batteries will run down and require recharging on the surface.

This game can be played with two Spectrums each fitted with Sinclair Interface 1 and their own tv screens. Then each player has his own submarine and can pit his wits against the other. The game includes instructions for solo and dual play. Timing and synchronisation are obviously very important in this unique mode to avoid error reports popping up.

COMMENTS

Keyboard positions: complicated, 18 keys in use
Joystick options: Protek (naturally) or AGF for direction
Keyboard play: slow to react, but hardly essential in a real time game.
Use of colour: good
Graphics: good and detailed, but poorer in periscope
Sound: not much, klaxon, asdic and a nice gurgling if you're hit
Skill levels: 5
Screens: 3

Presentation and packaging is excellent, and the instructions are well thought out. But the trouble with real time simulations is that they are so slow; you can wait ages (i.e. 15 minutes) if the enemy is about 10 miles away, before you reach his last reported position. Overall I did not think too much of this well-boxed submarine simulation.

The graphics are very detailed and well laid out. It takes some getting used to all the control keys, and the responses are a little slow, but there is a lot to do to keep the submarine working and functioning safely. If you enjoy real time simulations, then you'll like this - but it isn't for the arcade freak. The game can fake hours to play through.

A nicely presented game, with plenty of instructions. If it's a rainy afternoon, what better than to be underwater? I only felt that the periscope view might have been a bit more detailed, but it must have been tough packing all this into 48K anyway. I seem to remember seeing an ad saying this was £5.99, but it still compares favourably with the usual price for detailed simulations.

Producer: Protek, 48K
£7.95 (1)
Author: Rod Hopkins

This is a submarine simulation game set off the coast of German Helegoland (North Sea) during the Second World War. You are commander of an 'S' type submarine and your mission is to find an enemy sub in the same area and hunt it down. Sailing too close to the coast may result in your hitting a mine or running aground. 3 screens show you the control room, the chart room and the periscope view of the surface. The instrumentation is quite complex, including ballast indicator, hydroplanes, battery charge, engine speed, rudder angle, heading, asdic, echo sounder and much more. In the periscope you may see enemy shipping and enemy aircraft which will hunt you if you stay on the surface too long. Under water you use electric engines and recharge the batteries on the surface, when you use a diesel engine. The accompanying booklet is very detailed and essential reading. Good graphics and realistic sound, real time operation. Overall CRASH rating 61% BASIC and M/C.

Producer: Protek, 48K
£7.95 (1)
Author: Rod Hopkins

This is a submarine simulation game set off the coast of German Helegoland (North Sea) during the Second World War. You are commander of an 'S' type submarine and your mission is to find an enemy sub in the same area and hunt it down. Sailing too close to the coast may result in your hitting a mine or running aground. 3 screens show you the control room, the chart room and the periscope view of the surface. The instrumentation is quite complex, including ballast indicator, hydroplanes, battery charge, engine speed, rudder angle, heading, asdic, echo sounder and much more. In the periscope you may see enemy shipping and enemy aircraft which will hunt you if you stay on the surface too long. Under water you use electric engines and recharge the batteries on the surface, when you use a diesel engine. The accompanying booklet is very detailed and essential reading. Good graphics and realistic sound, real time operation. Overall CRASH rating 61% BASIC and M/C.

Imagine you're the commander of a British "S" type submarine on an important mission off the coast of Germany and that you have to hunt and destroy enemy submarines. Well this is exactly what you do, if like me, you have bought Protek's submarine simulation program, Hunter-Killer.

On loading an impressive picture showing a submarine launching a torpedo is drawn. You are then asked if you would like a quick practice shot at a submarine. Because the program is a simulation, there is a lot of cunning strategy involved. In all there are 18 keys to master, which I found did not take long although finding the enemy took a little longer owing to some confusion over bearings. but they soon disappeared.

Your craft has two engines; one diesel and one electric. On the surface you should use the diesel engine but because this needs air to run, the electric engine is used under water. However, if the submarine stays down too long you won't be left with enough power to surface and recharge, so an eye must be kept on the battery charge indicator. The speeds for the diesel and electric engines are 16 and 9 knots respectively, so it's better to use the diesel engines to reach the enemy more quickly.

To make the submarine dive, the ballast tanks must be flooded using key N, and the hydroplane angle altered, using key 6. To stop diving and remain at a constant depth, the hydroplanes must be horizontal and the ballast tanks emptied. Surfacing can be accomplished by blowing the tanks (key B) and raising the hydroplanes (key 7).

Every submarine has to have a periscope and this one is no exception. Key P raises and lowers it and key V lets you look through it.

The water level is shown (which corresponds to your depth) and the enemy, if in visual range. Along the bottom of the screen are shown the periscope angle, your heading (so many degrees from North), the distance to the enemy and the torpedo count. Key O turns the periscope clockwise and key i, anticlockwise.

To help with navigation there are three types of radar; long range (22 miles), short range (4 miles) and an echo sounder which gives the familiar, hollow echo sound, when the submarine is below 15 feet in depth.

There are three high resolution screens shown. All the gauges and dials are shown in the control room which is scrolled sideways on pressing key C, to take you into the Chart Room. The other screen is your view from the periscope. In the Chart Room a map shows the area which you are in and part of the German Coast. Also shown are a tide indicator which tells you its strength and direction, the enemy's last reported position, your position and places where there are mines lurking.

Once the enemy is in range (three miles) and is dead ahead, pressing T will prime the torpedos and fire the first one. Second and subsequent torpedos are then fired using key F. Their speed is 45 knots and when you peer through the periscope, a bubble track can be seen heading towards the enemy submarine (or not as the case may be). If your aim is true, the submarine can be seen exploding.

Since you are in enemy waters you also encounter aerial attacks. Through the periscope a plane can be seen and heard and then a klaxon sounds. If this happens you have roughly two minutes to dive below 30 feet before you see the screen shake due to the shock waves from the depth charge dropped by the plane. If you fail however, there is the sound of rushing water and which ever room you are in slowly fills up with water. The sound effects are brilliant.

Hunter-Killer has five levels of difficulty and a manual is supplied with the program. A unique feature of this game is to let you play against a friend, each hunting the other but alas, this can only be done if you have a Microdrive to link both Spectrums. One other drawback is that it takes a long time to reach the enemy but this is because it's a simulation program and Protek have based your submarine on a British "S" type craft with true speeds of 9 and 16 knots, nevertheless, this is a very small snag in an excellent program.

I have only given you the bare facts of how to play the game, but there are many more factors which contribute to the need of intricate strategy. This in itself gives the game millions of variations.

Hunter-Killer is for the 48K Spectrum and is priced at £7.95.