Task Force 1942: Surface Naval Action in the South Pacific

A great game given new life. A couple of hints to improve gameplay. The game only runs slow because the CPU cycles in dosboox are set too low by default. To change this hit alt-enter while in game. This makes the window smaller so you can see the CPU count on the top left, it should read 3000. Hit Ctrl-F12 many times till it reaches a smooth frame rate, this is around 52301 for me. Hit alt-enter to return to full screen. Alt-S turns sound on and off in game. F10 allows the detail levels to be set higher. In campaign mode your supply and bombard task forces will change speed as they approach Henderson field without you ordering it. This is not a bug, this is done automatically by the computer to allow your ships to reach Guadalcanal at nighttime to avoid air attack. There is a new patch update to the game which fixes some waypoint issues and comes with the manual. Many times in battle, ships or columns under your control will not do what you want. Usually this happens when ships in formation take damage lose speed, jam their rudders or swerve to avoid damaged ships. It is frustrating but realistically frustrating! The enjoyable part of this game for me is trying to keep the task force in organized-order throughout the battle. This rarely happens. It is easier to do this in later battles as the Americans as they have radar and can detect and fire upon the Japanese out of visual range. If Japanese destroyers see you and illuminate you with flares, you will have torpedoes hitting you within a couple of minutes. Then you will die. The ships and shells are really 3d not sprites. This means ships are damaged where they are hit and shells are tracked individually on their trajectory as they leave the guns all the way hit or miss. If you were frustrated or appalled the first time you saw this game read the manual play the tutorial and work yourself into it.

I took the plunge, having played the title when if was first released, and I have to say that this is worse than even I recall it being. To make matters even worse, ship recognition is still in play as a form of DRM, and with no manuals or ship recognition guides (the ones that came with the boxed release) it's hit & miss guessing. And, like the original, if you guess wrongly 3 times, you are tossed into the same scenerio time and time again. There has been no effort at all made in bringing this to Steam! Aside from this pain, and it is a pain, my main issues: 1/ No sound...literally! Just noticed on the Store Page that Full Audio Support is not ticked....very crafty! 2/ Graphics are incredibly appalling (even granted it's age, and after maxing it out using F10). So bad it is quite unplayable unless playing only on the map. **The Store Page screenshots are a lie quite simply, giving the impression that the game's visuals have been smoothed and improved.They haven't...it is jagged and plain ugly! False advertising? Hell Yes!** 3/ Mouse panning is jagged and very sluggish (as if my PC is struggling with uber graphics settings) and makes aiming at the jagged blob that could be a ship a right pain. 4/ Game launches in DosBOX - no true adaptation for Windows 7&8 Overall, very, very disappointing, IMO. If the graphics were as good as the Store Page screenshots (which they're not) and there was sound, I'd be happy with my purchase. Howver, now I just feel ripped off and will buy no future titles from this company. I should have paid more attention to the same complaints with "Gunship!" regarding visuals in-game vs. store page screenshots. Hell, "B-17 - The Mighty 8th" from GOG.com looks way, way better (100% better, and near enough to today's visuals to fool you of it's true age). Basically, this is shovelware, and expensive rubbish at that! BTW: There is NO support for the game and there is no Steam Overlay. You are literally playing in DOSBox, not Steam!

An initially disappointing re-release of an old relic. Oversights included a missing manual, an unapplied patch, unoptimized DOSBox settings, broken DRM and some "extra" files. This issues have thankfully been corrected, so I can recommend this game now... with caveats. This is a direct-to-DOSBox dump of the 1992 game. If you were expecting any modern updates or conveniences, you won't get them. TF: 1942 decent attempt at a WW2 3D naval simulator covering the crucial conflicts around Guadacanal. These were brutal and often-confused (at least from the American side!) slugging matches between generally equal forces. Historically, the USN took quite a few to the chin before they got their act together. You can play either side, and can man various stations on the ships involved, and/or control things from a more strategic perspective. There's lots of ships to play with, but unfortunately air power is not taken in to account -- the focus is strictly on the surface action. As for that action, you get fixed scenarios, campaigns (that can be a little wonky), and a scenario builder so that you can match the USS South Dakato vs. a bunch of Japanese transports, or whatever. Graphics and sound are straight outta 1992. The ships were remarkably detailed (in clean, untextured polygons) for the day, however. Controls also harken back to the dark days for pre-professional UI design, so be prepared to read the manual to figure out what's going on. So, look -- this game is OK. A dinosaur, but some of us have fond memories of our dinosaurs and want to spend time with them again. Younger gamers -- even those grognards and history buffs amongst that set -- will likely sniff over this as move on.

[h1]Klassiker-Review[/h1] "Task Force 1942: Surface Naval Action in the South Pacific" ist ein Kriegsschiffs-Taktik und Simulationsspiel aus dem Jahre 1992. Der Zweite Weltkrieg. Im Südpazifik tobt ein gnadenloser Kampf zwischen den amerikanischen und japanischen Flotten. In diesem frühen Simulator bewegen wir aber nicht nur ein Schiff, sondern befehligen auf einer Taktikkarte Schiffsverbände in mehreren Missionen. Jederzeit können wir über mehrere Stufen hereinzoomen, Marschbefehle geben und auch direkt ein Schiff steuern. Das ist für ein Spiel aus der Zeit schon ziemlich komplex und funktioniert erstaunlich gut. Die Grafik ist natürlich aus heutiger Sicht extrem veraltet. Wir sehen vor allem Blöcke und farbige Flächen, allerdings mit erstaunlich vielen Details. Das ist von einem Spiel von 1992 kaum anders zu erwarten und ist für die Zeit schon ziemlich fortschrittlich und ansehnlich. Das Gameplay funktioniert - wenn wir uns mal eingearbeitet haben - recht gut. Auf der Brücke können wir nicht nur das einzelne Schiff steuern, sondern auch ein Fernglas benutzen oder Kanonen und Torpedos nutzen. Schiffsmodelle gibt es zahlreiche, alle historisch akkurat. Der Realismusanspruch ist also durchaus vorhanden. Grob gesprochen ist das Spiel wie ein "Silent Service" auf der Wasseroberfläche. Es funktioniert in vielem ähnlich. Vieles wird mit der Maus gesteuert, aber nicht alles. Einige notwendige oder sinnvolle Befehle sind über Tastatur zu bedienen. Deswegen sollte man sich unbedingt das Handbuch zu Gemüte führen, das sich - etwas versteckt - im Spieleverzeichnis finden läßt. Manche behaupten, daß das Spiel keinen Ton habe, der läßt sich allerdings mit Alt-S. Zu hören bekommt man dann allerdings wirklich veraltete Brummsounds, die anstrengend werden können. Immerhin ist Musik und Sound der Waffen für die Zeit recht passabel. Auch bei eventuell auftretenden CPU-Geschwindigkeitsproblemen, die bei einem so alten Spiel durchaus vorkommen können - gibt es eine Lösung. Mit Strg-F12 kann man die Taktung ändern. Mit F10 kann man den Detailgrad des Spiels einstellen. Das Spiel war damals schon ein recht fortschrittlicher Titel und für eine Simualtion sogar ziemlich actionreich. Heute ist das Spiel natürlich veraltet, aber immer noch spielbar und kann - wenn man sich drauf einläßt - wirklich unterhaltsam sein. [h1]Wertung:[/h1] (Klassiker-Wertungen reflektieren immer das technisch Mögliche des Erscheinungsjahres) 7/10 Atmosphäre 6/10 Story 7/10 Grafik 6/10 Sound 7/10 Spielmechanik 7/10 Balancing 7/10 Spielspass [h1]Fazit:[/h1] "Silent Service" über Wasser. [h1][b]7/10 Gesamtwertung

Fair enough for a 1992 game. You don't expect fancy models from a 1992 game do you? The Fletcher / Benson / Greaves / THAT DESTROYER in the video is not in-game. It's about 10 times detailed than the actual game models. Pros: -Decent naval battle simulation -Distinguishable ships -Streamlined arcade level controls Cons: -COMPLETELY MESSED UP WITH MY YUUBARI Only two things more to note: 1. The manual is inside the install folder (x:/.../steam/steamapps/common/task force 1942...) 2. The manual is 101mb which takes up about 90% of what you download.

One of my Favorite games of all time! It works but I have yet to get the sound to function! I actually still have the recognition book that they use for thier DRM LOL

Functions just like I remember it back in the 90s. A fun classic - to this date, there has never been another game like this. Hoping someone does something similar or even a remake someday. Alt+S to activate sound. F10 menu can be accessed once you get ingame to raise graphics. By default they are set to lowest settings. DosBox cycles can be increased or decreased as necessary with Ctrl+F11/F12.

If there is any game that needs a 2017 remake it is this. Make it happen with full explorable ships with a team-based multiplayer that have people who work together to control 1 ship.

The game has no real tutorial and has no sound. there is also an old-school type of DRM where you have to ID the side view of a ship, so unless you have extensive knowlege on both US and IJN ships, you will have trouble continuing on in the game...

Kawałek historii. Dzisiaj już niegrywalna ale warto kupić chociażby, żeby zobaczyć jak powinno się robić podręczniki do gry. Przy okazji refleksja jak bardzo ten nasz przemysł growy zpsiał przez te kilka/naście ostatnich lat