Sub Battle Simulator

---

title: "Sub Battle Simulator" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1987-video-games", "amiga-games", "apple-iigs-games", "atari-st-games", "classic-mac-os-games", "commodore-64-games", "digital-illusions-games", "dos-games", "epyx-games", "submarine-simulation-video-games", "trs-80-color-computer-games", "u.s.-gold-games", "video-games-developed-in-the-united-states"] description: "1987 video game" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sub_Battle_Simulator" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary 1987 video game ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox video game"]

Field	Value
title	Sub Battle Simulator
image	Sub Battle Simulator cover.jpg
developer	TX Digital Illusions
publisher
released	1987
genre	Submarine simulator
platforms	Amiga, Apple IIGS, Commodore 64, Atari ST, Macintosh, MS-DOS, Tandy Color Computer 3.
::

|title = Sub Battle Simulator |image = Sub Battle Simulator cover.jpg |caption = |developer = TX Digital Illusions |publisher = |series = |engine = |released = 1987 |genre = Submarine simulator |modes = |platforms = Amiga, Apple IIGS, Commodore 64, Atari ST, Macintosh, MS-DOS, Tandy Color Computer 3. Sub Battle Simulator is a naval combat simulation game released by Epyx in 1987. The game was developed by Digital Illusions, Inc. It was released for the Amiga, Apple IIGS, Commodore 64, Atari ST, Macintosh, MS-DOS, and the Tandy Color Computer 3.

Description

Sub Battle Simulator sets the action in times of World War 2, with the player on the American or German side. There are 36 German missions and 24 American missions in which the player can command six different submarines. The player is responsible for navigation, using five different levels of mapping, attacks' planning based on weather and surroundings as well as paying attention to the radar. The game gives the possibility to play underwater or on the surface. A player can choose target practice, individual missions or war commands as either a German or an American submarine Captain.

Reception

Game reviewers Hartley and Pattie Lesser complimented the game in their "The Role of Computers" column in Dragon #122 (1987), calling it "the finest of the submarine simulation games" and stating "This is a real winner for wargaming enthusiasts!"{{cite journal |title=The Role of Computers |author=Lesser, Patricia |journal=Dragon |issue=122 |date=June 1987 |pages=76–80}} Computer Gaming World was less positive, stating that "the taste is a little disappointing ... as a game, Sub Battle is fast and fun. As a simulation, it falls far from reality". The review as examples of its flaws being able to see Iceland with binoculars from 500 miles away; sinking an aircraft carrier with a deck gun; and multiple bugs. 1991 and 1993 surveys of strategy and war games gave it three stars out of five. David Plotkin of STart liked the game, stating that it was not too difficult for novices but very challenging at higher difficulty levels. Jerry Pournelle criticized a pre-release version of Sub Battle for being both too realistic (reproducing the long, uneventful periods of submarine service) and not realistic enough (too powerful on the surface against aircraft, unrealistic binoculars, buggy navigation). His review included an addendum that his complaints had been addressed by an updated version that "turns a boring simulation into an exciting game".

References

References

1. Carey, Regan. (June–July 1987). "Sub Battle Simulator".
2. Brooks, M. Evan. (December 1991). "Computer Strategy and Wargames: The 1900-1950 Epoch / Part II (M-Z) of an Annotated Paiktography".
3. Brooks, M. Evan. (October 1993). "Brooks' Book Of Wargames: 1900-1950, R-Z".
4. Plotkin, David. (Winter 1987). "For The Fun Of It: Plutos, Airball, Barbarian and Sub Battle Simulator".
5. Pournelle, Jerry. (October 1987). "New Life for Lucy". BYTE.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::