Old Gamers Never Die: Remembering (and Replaying) MicroProse Labs' 'Silent Service II'

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, around the same time that I started working as a freelance writer and writing consultant in Miami, I spent much of my free time playing computer games. I went out with friends to the movies or to eat at inexpensive chain restaurants such as Denny's or Ruby Tuesday's, but I mostly stayed at home and spent countless hours at my computer desk playing my favorite games and simulations.

This era was also the Golden Age of the now-vanished MicroProse Software, a company co-founded by Sid Meier and retired Air Force Col. William "Wild Bill" Stealey in 1982. Based in Hunt Valley, Maryland, MicroProse was one of the first companies to publish easy-to-play yet challenging strategy games (NATO Commander, Crusade in Europe, Conflict in Vietnam) and simulations with a military flavor to them (F-15 Strike Eagle, Gunship). During this period, Sid Meier, Ed Bever, Jeffrey Briggs, and Arnold Hendrick, just to name a few were hard at work developing some of the company's classics, including Red Storm Rising, Pirates!, M-1 Tank Platoon, and Sid Meier's Civilization.

As I've mentioned in previous "Old Gamers Never Die" posts, I got acquainted with MicroProse when I bought some of the company's games that were designed and programmed for my first personal computer, an Apple II.

Among the first Apple editions of MicroProse games was a submarine sim titled Silent Service, one of the legendary Sid Meier's original designs that was published in 1985. The Apple version was designed by Jim Synoski, the same guy responsible for the Apple version of Crusade in Europe. As was usually the case in those early days of computer gaming, the graphics varied from one type of computer to another, but they all looked somewhat...cartoon-like.

Due to the limited graphics and processing power of early- to mid-1980s computers, the game's graphics never quite lived up to the imagery of the box or manual cover art. My Apple II, at its best, could only handle games with 128 KB, which at the time sounded impressive but is a drop in a bucket compared to 21st Century games such as Hearts of Iron or Sid Meier's Civilization VI.

The original Silent Service game never showed ships afire as in this dramatic illustration for the Apple II version's manual.

Instead, the 1980s editions of Silent Service gave players vistas that mixed the sensibilities of video game graphics of the period, a lot of text-based info, and an almost Picasso-like abstract surrealism that required players to use their imaginations to see themselves as sub commanders during World War II.

This "view from the bridge" does not look very realistic. Artistic, perhaps, but you have to suspend your imagination to see yourself on a World War II sub about to go into action against the Japanese Navy. (C) 1985 MicroProse Software

Okay, what I'm trying to illustrate is that although Silent Service was a fun "beer and pretzels" simulation that didn't require you to go to Annapolis or Groton (where Navy officers and enlisted personnel are trained to operate and fight in subs), it was a limited game in many respects.

By 1990, though, I was painfully aware that while most of my friends with DOS-based PCs were able to play games with better graphics and sounds due to their more powerful processors, I had to be content with my trusty but pokey Apple II. I liked the games I owned, and I was grateful to my father's brother Sixto for giving me a $2100 computer in the first place. But I was also a bit irked that I couldn't play Red Storm Rising or the new version of F-15 Strike Eagle (which, natch, was titled F-15 Strike Eagle II). There were no Apple II editions of those games at the time, nor would there ever be.

Fortunately, I had a friend in Miami - Raci De Armas - who came up with a temporary fix for the problem. He suggested that we would go "halfsies" on games that were designed for IBMs and DOS-based "clones," and I could go to his house at least once a week (if he wasn't busy or had a date with a young woman he was seeing at the time, that is). I thought this was reasonable, so I accepted.

The first game we bought together was the then-new DOS edition of Silent Service II, a new and much improved version based on Sid Meier's original Silent Service. Sid was not involved in the game; he was busy developing the game that most gamers consider to be his masterpiece - Sid Meier's Civilization.

The packaging artwork for the DOS/Tandy version of Silent Service II. Note: The illustration in the "periscope inset" exaggerates the photo-realistic look of the game visuals. The ship (the IJNS Yamato) does appear in the game, and it closely resembles the illustration on the game box's cover, but it's not that clearly detailed. Nor do we ever see land in the actual battles. (C) 1990 Microprose Software.

Per Microprose/MPS Labs, this is the official product description as it appeared in the original packaging:

The original Silent Service was released in 1985. It won "Simulation of the Year" honors in six nations and was voted "Best Adventure Game for the Home Computer" by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design in 1986.

Now Silent Service II updates the classic with the latest advances in sound, graphics and game design, including new targets and scenarios.

Features:

- Outstanding graphics for CGA, EGA, VGA/MCGA and Tandy 16-color systems

- Digitized photographs depict enemy ships with uncanny realism

- The new campaign option tracks your career with promotions and commendations

- A time-lapse re-play lets you review your successes and learn from your mistakes

- Realistic sounds and original music; digitalized speech

(Note. The time-lapse replay feature mentioned on the package blurb was presumably a variation of a similar post-mission replay in Red Storm Rising, a game that had been released by MicroProse a year earlier. Unfortunately, MPS Labs couldn't make the replay work well in time for Silent Service II's release in '90. so the game doesn't have it. But the copy for the packaging had already been submitted and printed on thousands of boxes. The company did not want to lose money by delaying the game's release or changing the boxes' blurb; instead, MicroProse added a note to the manual and technical supplement that despite what the box said, there was no replay function.)

And this is how Moby Games (www.mobygames.com) describes Silent Service II:

World War II is raging. The US has suffered an attack at Pearl Harbor, and most of its battleships are lost. The few remaining US carriers are fighting a desperate war against the Japanese surface fleets. But the US has a secret weapon: sleek, silent, deadly... you are a Submarine Commander!

The action is viewed from within the submarine. Watch out for your speed, direction and depth. This game features 9 types of submarines to choose from, 10 types of torpedoes to fire, 14 Japanese surface ships (9 warships, 5 transport), and the entire Pacific Ocean as your battleground. The seven missions all recreate real US Navy engagements. Can you sink the Yamato?

During my Golden Age of Gaming, Silent Service II was, along with Red Storm Rising, the first two games in the Civilization series, and F-15 Strike Eagle III, one of my go-to games from 1990 to around 2004. It was installable in every PC I owned from 1992 until the early 2000s; I guess the game code was compatible with the DOS-based versions of Windows up to and including Windows XP. I am not an IT expert so I can't give you a better theory than that. All I know is that when Red Storm Rising and F-15 Strike Eagle could no longer be installed in any of my of Windows-based PCs after 1997 or so, Silent Service II was still running strong....until PC manufacturers stopped making computers with floppy drives and made DVD-ROM drives the standard for installation and playback features.

The other day, when the topic of old-school gaming came up in a conversation, I remarked to a close friend that I missed my old PCs with floppy drives.

"Why?" my friend asked.

"Well, I know that today's computers are more powerful and games look so much cooler," I said, "but I miss playing one game in particular."

"Which one? Was it a Star Wars game?"

"Silent Service II," I said. "It was the best World War II sub simulation I ever played."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Basically, the game put you in command of an American submarine - you could choose from several classes - and you could choose different game play options. They ranged from training, single missions that recreate actual historical battles, multi-mission war patrols, and, finally, you could relive the entire war in the Pacific...from Pearl Harbor to VJ Day in August of 1945."

My friend isn't a gamer, but her kids are, so she was impressed. "Do you think they have it online?"

I said something along the lines of "Yeah, I think some of those abandoned-ware sites probably have it, but I'm afraid to download it."

"Oh, that's too bad. You should try to find it anyway. The kids could probably help you with installing it."

I gave my friend a "We'll see" look, then changed the topic. I didn't think it was possible to find a version of Silent Service II that works with a 2014 Lenovo all-in-one PC that runs on Windows 10.

Happily, though, there is a way to get a legitimate - and fully operational - copy of Silent Service II. I found it this afternoon at the Steam online store (I have a small library games from Steam, so I get access to its online community, get badges for playing games like Sid Meier's Civilization V and Hearts of Iron, and shop directly for downloadable programs). It wasn't expensive; it costs $6.99 - a fraction of its original 1990 price.

The graphics still look good, even 28 years after the game was introduced. Check out the details of the "log book" screen...a pen, an ashtray with a half-smoked cigarette. Per the logbook entry, I'm now in command of the USS Flasher. (C) 1990 MicroProse Software

I've only had Silent Service II in my present computer for a few hours, so all I've done is to see if it loads and works correctly. I also have been trying to issue the basic commands from memory; Steam has the game (it's now published by Retroism), but not the documentation that includes historical information about submarine warfare in the Pacific, the Ship ID section that allows players to "get into the game" by picking the right class name for a specific ship in a digitized photo, and the all-important keyboard commands. I can probably find the keyboard commands somewhere on the 'net; the entire manual, too, if it's in a PDF file somewhere.

I should point out that even though I remembered some of the basic keyboard commands, my first attempts to play Silent Service II went awry. I couldn't remember, for instance, the one-key command for Periscope Depth (this makes your sub dive to 55 feet then level off automatically) and the Up Scope command. (They're 7 and 9, respectively.)

I also couldn't recall how to fire torpedoes, fire the deck gun, or issue helm or diving orders. I did remember the basic "view" commands (F1 = main control room, F2 = bridge view, F3 = Target Bearing Transmitters, F4 = periscope view, etc.) and the engine commands, but it took me a few attempts until I was back in the swim of things, so to speak.

By my fourth attempt - yes, I quit the game three times out of frustration because I was getting killed or not getting the key commands right - I was able to complete a mission called Flasher's Tankers I. I ambushed a three-ship Japanese convoy and, using torpedoes and my deck gun, sank all of the enemy vessels without being hit by gunfire, depth charged, or rammed.

I sank even more enemy ships on my next and final simulated battle...

And I earned a nice commendation for my efforts:

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Old Gamers Never Die: Remembering (and Replaying) MicroProse Labs' 'Silent Service II'

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