Release date Q3 2007, what does that imply ?

[Drebbel]

Release date Q3 2007, what does that mean ?

In case SHIV would use same engine and is "just" a redone AI, ports, models and units. Then I would think 2 year dev-time is too long, right ?

So could this mean SHIV will not use the SHIII engine but have a brand new engine ?

What is your educated guess or opinion ?

[Gizzmoe]

If Q3 2007 is the fiscal year it could be released between April and June 07. Let´s say they start the project mid January/early February 06, then it´s not really that much time they have to fix the dozens of bugs, add features, rework the AI and improve the graphics engine.

[Takeda Shingen]

The release date is a very early estimate and will undoubtedly change between now and completion. Therefore, I would say that the date implies nothing other than giving the delevopment team ample time to work before the community starts crying 'where's the game?!'.

[Drebbel]

The release date is a very early estimate and will undoubtedly change between now and completion. Therefore, I would say that the date implies nothing other than giving the delevopment team ample time to work before the community starts crying 'where's the game?!'.

Hmm, I would think the release dat is a good indication of the earliest possible dat. I think it is unlikely it will be an earlier date, more likely (as history has learned us) that is will be a later date. A later dat would give them even more time to develop a new engine.

But I must also admit that some time ago a formet dev-team memner told me that the engine is already being used for another game (don't tecall th title) and that it would be good enought for a couple of games more.

[benetofski]

Gizzmoe wrote:

If Q3 2007 is the fiscal year it could be released between April and June 07

This is probably fairly realistic for the PC release - given the new SH4 project team's potential agenda. However, dont be surprised to see it (or a version of it) appear on other platforms first! ;)

[McBeck]

I see that release date and raise it 6 months... :hmm:
But thats for a redone/new engine!

[wetwarev7]

Release date Q3 2007, what does that mean ?


What is your educated guess or opinion ?

It means much wailing and gnashing of teeth.....

2007? How am I supposed to wait that long? Anyone got a extra time machine I can borrow? :ping:

[Marhkimov]

I would dedicate more time to SH3, because waiting impatiently is not fun...

On the otherhand, at least SH3 is fun... I hope. ;)

[rik007]

Hopefully it means that SH-IV is serious for UBI. I do not hope that it means that everything will be done from scratch: research, graphics, engine etc, because then it means no wolfpacks, messy convoys, long wish-lists, halfway development and a release 'as such'.

[Safe-Keeper]

In case SHIV would use same engine and is "just" a redone AI, ports, models and units. Then I would think 2 year dev-time is too long, right ?
:roll: You're one of them...

Come on, GTA2 used a different engine than GTA, but was not very innovative.

On the other hand, X-Wing Alliance, believe it or not, uses the same engine as the ancient Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe (which in turn has it from an even earlier sim!). OK, so the engine has evolved, but still - do XWA and SWTL have anything in common at all?

Used-again engine does not equal an identical experience. And as for the publishers "giving the developers too much time: You can't give a game long enough time to develop their title. In this day and age of rushed, unpatched games, be glad they're giving the developers all the time they need, not worried.

Furthermore, it means us designers and modders can pretty much jump into the game and be familiar with it.

And why make a new engine if the old one works? Hm?

That'd be all.

However, dont be surprised to see it (or a version of it) appear on other platforms first!
Controlling all of SH with the few keys of a console controller? Gawd, you're good at thinking up nightmare scenarios, budd' :huh: .

[2019]

Release date Q3 2007, what does that mean ?

In case SHIV would use same engine and is "just" a redone AI, ports, models and units. Then I would think 2 year dev-time is too long, right ?

So could this mean SHIV will not use the SHIII engine but have a brand new engine ?

What is your educated guess or opinion ?

Same engine, same AI only then with some minor exhance.
New assests, which could be from the pacific theatre. :zzz:

They allready have many dd's and carriers modeled, with some modifications to it they will look almost authentic as from the pacific. :zzz:

After sh3 i'm certainly not interested in another sh title.
I'm rather having bigger hopes for our independent sub sim developers. :yep:

[simsurfer]

Hey, all this Q2 this and Q4 that and 2007 stuff, look on the bright side, by the time the game comes out most of us will need to drop another $1500.00 on a game that will cost $50-60.00 because our current CPU's and vid cards wont be able to keep up with the graphics.

WooHoo, another PC build :up:

[Brentano]

I suspect that SH4 will use a new engine.

[Immacolata]

I suspect that SH4 will use a new engine.

I hope you are wrong.

[JU_88]

Im betting on the same engine with some graphical tweaks and hope fully alot of AI fixes.

I think they will try and do something clever for SH4, maybe it will have multiple sides playable or mutiple unit types (sub/ surface/ air like DW), or maybe DC built in or.... or something

god knows but if it was just a PTO sub sim with Yank subs all made on SH3s engine, its unlikey it would take the best part of 2 years to deliver, I think they have something bigger and more ambitious planned than just another subsim.

[Tonnage_Ace]

I just hope they release the SDK along with it, show the mod community some support*ahem*Half Life 2 anyone?

[AceChilla]

I hope they spend all the development time on perfecting the gameplay, graphics are nice but what keeps a game great to play for years is great gameplay.

So please no new engine. Just perfect SH3, make it so we can move through the whole sub, put in wolfpacks, milkcows, bases, a random campaign with great exiting individual missions in between. I could go on and on :D

Man I hope they do that, but it's already great they are making another subsim of course. :rock:

[Tonnage_Ace]

I hope they spend all the development time on perfecting the gameplay, graphics are nice but what keeps a game great to play for years is great gameplay.

So please no new engine. Just perfect SH3, make it so we can move through the whole sub, put in wolfpacks, milkcows, bases, a random campaign with great exiting individual missions in between. I could go on and on :D

Man I hope they do that, but it's already great they are making another subsim of course. :rock:
Amen. If the date is set at Q3 2007, anyone who's in the game business knows that, that date is for the team...to light a fire under their butt. 13/14 months is not enough time to write an engine from the ground up, unless they license out an engine from another company. They could however, make alterations or enhancements to the existing engine to make it at least bareable for the 2007 gamer crowd(anyone see Crytec's new engine?). The only changes I think they'll make however are volumetric clouds and maybe soft shadows or improve the water reflections to compliment the changes in the video card market.

They'll push the date back, but not by more than say 3-6 months, depending on whether or not the company sees any extra money in doing so. SH3 was one of the better looking games of 2005, in sim terms but also other genres as well. Judging from the graphical differences of SHII and SH3, it's obvious that Ubi created the SH3 engine for the next couple games, at least.

My prediction is that SHIV will be a slight improvement, in graphic terms, over SH3, but a compromise in gameplay/features terms.

[Onkel Neal]

After getting some info on what Ubisoft plans to accomplish with SH4, I've moved my release date estimate up to Q1 2007.

They've just launched work, so if things go according to plan (which does not always happen), sometime between end of 2006 and middle 2007. Estimate will firm up with the beta milestone.

[2019]

After getting some info on what Ubisoft plans to accomplish with SH4, I've moved my release date estimate up to Q1 2007.

They've just launched work, so if things go according to plan (which does not always happen), sometime between end of 2006 and middle 2007. Estimate will firm up with the beta milestone.

That's pretty quick.
I got not a good feeling that this will be a top noch quality product.

[Onkel Neal]

That's pretty quick.
I got not a good feeling that this will be a top noch quality product.


That is, of course, a legitimate concern. SH3 set a top standard, I would not want to see SH4 fail to meet it.

[Immacolata]

Hopefully it means that SH-IV is serious for UBI. I do not hope that it means that everything will be done from scratch: research, graphics, engine etc, because then it means no wolfpacks, messy convoys, long wish-lists, halfway development and a release 'as such'.

I seriously hope they WONT begin from scratch. Then we will just get another broken submarine simulator. I'd much rather have them build on the strengths of the SH3 engine. Augment it with the items we all craved, such as thermal layers, navigational tools for manual targetting, improved AI.

Only reason Id wish a new engine would be if they cannot change the visual range. If they pull another 8 kilometer visual range stunt, I won't buy it. Ever.

[JU_88]

Relax! if modders were able to ajust the visual range to make it further than 8km, Im sure the devs willl have no problem.

[Immacolata]

IT depends how they have made SH3 engine. If they made it so awfully stupid that they had to limit it to 8 km in SH3, then theres no telling how theyll go beyond 25km. It could be trivial, it could be a real bitch to fix. We don't know, but relaxed Im not!

[bill clarke]

[quote=Drebbel]Release date Q3 , 2007? How am I supposed to wait that long? Anyone got a extra time machine I can borrow? :ping:

Nah mines not working properly, tried to go back and save JFK, ended up getting shat on by a Brachiosaurus :rotfl:

[THE_MASK]

IT means i will be exhausted of all anticipation and adreneline .

[DeepSix]

IT means i will be exhausted of all anticipation and adreneline .

Meeeeee toooooo.....

[Boris]

Release date Q3 2007, what does that mean ?

A looooong wait... :roll:

[Sailor Steve]

IT depends how they have made SH3 engine. If they made it so awfully stupid that they had to limit it to 8 km in SH3, then theres no telling how theyll go beyond 25km. It could be trivial, it could be a real -spank me!- to fix. We don't know, but relaxed Im not!
They didn't have to limit it to 8 km because it was stupid, they did it on purpose so lower level computers wouldn't have problems running it. It was 16 km possible from the beginning. That's why the modders could change it.

[STEED]

Release date Q3 2007, what does that mean ?

A looooong wait... :roll:

Well at lease I got SH3 to get on with until the great day when SH4 goes on sale. :yep:

[SciFi25]

Gamespy has the release date as Q4 2006!!! Anyone hoping for a christmas release?

[DeepSix]

I think it's probably a typo (hope so anyway). Be surprising if it's ready that soon. I mean, if they pushed something out the door by Christmas of this year, I'd be worried. Better to wait a few more months if it means "getting it right."

[Charlie901]

I bet UBI goes for a Xbox360/PC hybred engine with awesome graphics and special effects with canned/ scriped missions and "Quake" style multiplay.

That way they get an "Action" game that looks great is extremely "Shallow" (no pun intended) and will sell tons of copies due to it being a PC to console port.

If you all think I"m that far off, just look what happened with the "Call of Duty" series.....

THe original COD was PC only then went to both platforms and now COD 3 is only going to be console.

These current game companies see more $$$ in action console ports than in PC only study sims these days. :down:


I really hope I"m wrong though. :damn:

[DeepSix]

These current game companies see more $$$ in action console ports than in PC only study sims these days. :down:


I really hope I"m wrong though. :damn:

Agree that the console market eats up a lot of good titles, but I think that, because sims in general are a niche market and are considerably more involved than your typical run 'n' gun shooter, it's unlikely this will happen to SH4. Not impossible, but unlikely. I can only imagine what the input commands would be like for a console SH4. Nightmarish. :nope:

[Abraham]

SHIII had so many delays, partly caused by wishes and desires from the community, that the game was hussled into production without proper testing. There were some terrific features but a lot of loose ends as well.

In my opinion 3 Q 2007 means that the game will be ready as a beta at the end of the second quarter, beta testing will be done in the summer, correcting and gold in September/October so the game should be introduced long before the Christman season.

If the game is sceduled for 1 Q. 2007 it will probably mean that betatesting will start at the end of this year and the game will be in the shops around Eastern.

I think UBI thanks to SHIII realises that submarine games have commercial potential and that it is worthwhile to produce them the right way from day one. Also a pacific game may appeal to a wider US public than SHIII. And be sure UBI has seen how the Subsim community has grown since the introduction of SHIII.

[DeepSix]

Man, I'm soooo ready for this. Rarely do I wait for a release with such anticipation! :ping:

[Safe-Keeper]

One word: Patches. With patching, the game may be a wreck come day one, and it won't matter as things will be fixed.

Without patches, it doesn't matter if the game's a jewel or a hulk.

So Ubisoft "Patch People", please dare to be different by caring about games post-release, not just pre-release. It sounds great on paper to "delay games to put in feature x", but if you don't follow up games afterwards, as the trend is right now for most games, it doesn't matter how finished or unfinished the title is when it's released.[/b]

[TangoShadow]

Hi,

If the game engine works, why replace it?? There is plenty to be going at now in terms of game-play, immersion and realism. I wouldn't mind seeing a SH3 Version 2.00. Game devs are chasing technology all the time instead of producing something of quality.

SH3 is a great starting platform. Now IMPROVE it.

I'm not judging anything from the date given. It's out when it is out. I just hope it isn't rushed.

--TangoShadow

[applesthecat]

They wouldn't make a new engine because that is where the capital input is spent. SH3 being a niche product, cost a lot of money to develop but sold poorly in the grand scheme of things. It's no multi-million unit seller.

That being the case, UBI would want to maximize the return on their investment by simply repacking SH3 with a new title, new theater of operations, some new ships, new features, fix all the bugs, and presto, you have SH4.

And to be frank, that is what I hope for. SH3 has so many bugs and requires so many mods to make it nice, that buying it off the shelf is only the first step.

SH3 has a good engine already. What it lacks is features and mods. Create a paciific version of the game, fix all those bugs, add all those features, and you have a subsim that will truly be the ultimate - right out of the box.

[rls669]

One word: Patches. With patching, the game may be a wreck come day one, and it won't matter as things will be fixed.

What did the SH3 patches fix? They added ships in ports and gave me the ability to change storm conditions for the deck gun, but didn't seem to fix any bugs that I'm aware of. Crew management crash, sleeping flak gunners, torpedo tube stuck open, electric torpedo speed set wrong unless you click the speed setting switch (which should have no function for electrics), flickering torpedo loading screen in IXD2 with disappearing torpedoes (and 2 slots not even visible in base) and of course the wonderful random unrecoverable career corruption, all still there after what, 4 patches?

So I have absolutely no faith in Ubi fixing any bugs the game ships with, patches or no patches.

[Drebbel]

They wouldn't make a new engine because that is where the capital input is spent. SH3 being a niche product, cost a lot of money to develop but sold poorly in the grand scheme of things. It's no multi-million unit seller.

Remember that the SHIII engine has been used for various games already, including a flight game.

[Rose]

Really? Which game?

[Drebbel]

Really? Which game?

IIRC Blazing Angels

http://www.blazing-angels.com/