Aquanox 2 is a Gem
Being an old game made in 2003, it still has following combined features which is rare.
- Has good graphics and gameplay
- Works in Windows 10
- Supports widescreen and ultrawide (with mod)
- Supports Nvidia 3D vision
- Supports force feedback joystick such as Logitech force 3D pro
- Supports reshade (recent versions)
- Supports modding
Aquanox 2 Gameplay
Aquanox 2 is such an amazing game even in 2020, although it was released in 2003. The signatures of Aquanox 2 are underwater vehicular combat that can be played like First Person Shooter. Its underwater settings are both realistically mythical and Sci Fi, much better than space settings. Also, I love torpedos and gatling guns!
The input control behavior is determined by its underwater environmental settings. Due to the drag effect of dense fluid such as water, a moving object will stop quickly when the propelling force stops. Because the object is buoyant in the water, it can hover as well. With the propelling technology such as pump jet (En.wikipedia.org) , the vehicle can be extremely maneuverable in 6 DoF, forward/backward, strafe left/right, strafe up/down, turn left/right, turn up/down. Rolling left/right is not needed because humans are used to the ground level and gravity. Therefore, the vehicle becomes one with the pilot, achieving similar locomotion when human is on the ground, forward/backward, strafe left/right, jump up/down, turn left/right, turn up/down.
This is dramatically different than other types of vehicles.
- Airplane. Air is much thinner so the drag effect is much smaller. Airplane has to move through air constantly in order to stay up by the force generated from the wing. There is no strafe in airplane, turn is slower, and cannot hover.
- Helicopter. Helicopter is very hard to control, although it can hover, and strafe in certain degrees. Detailed discussion are omitted here.
- Spaceship. Space is vacuum. There is no drag and no gravity. Inertia plays a huge role and it is very hard to maneuver. Contrary to Sci Fi movies such as Star Wars that originated from WWII plane dogfight era, realistic spaceship combat will not be like that at all.
- The exception is land vehicles such as Mech. Mech is inspired to be humanoid like, so the locomotion is similar. Mech is very cool and good Sci Fi, however, bipedal locomotion is not the most stable platform in reality. Tracks or more legs are probably better choices scientifically.
Therefore, small underwater combat vehicle (not big slow submarines) is the best form of vehicle that moves easily to achieve precision aiming in a Sci Fi plausible way.
