Getting others interested in SH4

[Safe-Keeper]

I've told three classmates I've been getting the game, and neither seem very interested. One of them said he'd played a single sub game, Silent Service, I think it was, and found it incredibly boring.

Anyone else here trying to get others interested in Silent Hunter 4? It's a niche game indeed, but have anyone had any luck 'recruiting'?

[Quillan]

It depends heavily on the person. I have one friend who is quite interested in the game, though he doesn't really have the time to devote to the campaign. However, a couple of other friends say that while they like the concept, they just don't have the patience to play it. They're more into the "action" concept, and the thrill of stalking up on unsuspecting enemy ships is lost on them. They don't like stealth games, either.

[TDK1044]

Usually the demographic will be a lot older for a sub sim, but kids who play chess and strategy games would probably go for it.

[SharpShin]

I gave up a long time ago trying to get people interested in my interests. Some people will say how stupid or boring it is and it upsets me and I get all John Channing on them. :lol:

[donut]

SHIV,is the best game on the market.:up: :sunny: :yep: The Dev's,& modders will make it terrific.:|\\ "Build it,they will come"

[Mush Martin]

Thats why we all come here to talk theres no one else within
fifty miles of any of us that gets it

[Onkel Neal]

I gave up a long time ago trying to get people interested in my interests. Some people will say how stupid or boring it is and it upsets me and I get all John Channing on them. :lol:

:rotfl:Me too!

[Gigalocus]

alot of my friends don't like it, their still stuck in the 'Dynasty warriors 5 empires' :damn: :down: still who needs friends when i've got a Balao class and 250k tonnage sunk! :p but, then we're all only 15, i must just be advanced! :hmm:

[Iron Budokan]

People who are capable of critical thinking skills (or even at the very least have a functioning brain stem) tend to like simulations and strategy games. Sadly, this is only a tiny fraction of the public.

[John Channing]

I gave up a long time ago trying to get people interested in my interests. Some people will say how stupid or boring it is and it upsets me and I get all John Channing on them. :lol:

HEY!

DON'T MAKE ME COME OVER THERE!

JCC

I'm really a pretty nice guy! Really...

[Snowman999]

I gave up a long time ago trying to get people interested in my interests. Some people will say how stupid or boring it is and it upsets me and I get all John Channing on them. :lol:

I've been playing computer games since 1977 and can relate. Usually right after they tell me games are stupid or boring they follow up by asking me if I golf . . .

[Avatar]

I think people find them boring cuz we live in the fast-paced, in-the-now, society. I have a twin brother and we grew up exactly the same. He has very little to no interest in subsims. btw, i'm 36 years old, and have been playing since Silent Service on the commodore 64, LOAD *, 8,1, when I was 16, and I guess it depends on what you like or not.
None of my friends would ever even consider playing a subsim. (oh what boring lives!) :cool:

[toby66]

I stopped a long time ago playing other games then sims and adventures. I just get a better satisfaction from them. After playing two hours I can leave the computer and don't feel like I wasted the two last hours. Others genres gave me exactly this feeling.

A part of the fascination for me is, that sims give me a certain freedom. I can do whatever I want. Intercept this convoy or let it be for the sake of my ship. It's all up to me. Every time I start up SH a different story awaits me.

In addition I think a game like SH gives your imagination a lot of room. You can make up your own stories about your crew and sub. Great thing!

[Kapitan_Phillips]

I had about 8 people hooked on SH2 when I first got it :up:

[bookworm_020]

Most of the younger gamers out there are more into shoot em up's and slice and dice games than stratergy games (there are exceptions:up:). It a little hard to convice them that they may have to wait an hour or two to get a chance to get a shot off at the enemy, and a another hour dodging the enemy when they come after you.

That want instant feedback on their efforts, not just a promise of some possible action.

SH4 can give them that fix for action, but as the blood doesn't spray accross the screen and you don't hear you opponate beg for mercy, it doesn't hold the same appeal to them.

When you meet games who understand the reason you hum "It's a long way to tipparary" then you know you can convert them to the silent service!!:arrgh!:

[stabiz]

I have a former fps shooter-mate who now spends the majority of his time in a German uboat GWX-style. I havent nagged him to get SH4 yet, as he is in Afghanistan right now dodging bullets. (I would probably have to dodge bullets when he realized SH4 definately is not plug n` play, anyway:cool:)

Actually, I think submarine-gaming is something you instantly like or dislike. I know it was that way for me when I first tried SH3. The pace really suits me, I like the long periods of nothing. Others might go "zzzz" really fast, and thats ok too, I guess.

Edit: And as Bookworm says, Das Boot clearly has something to do with it for me.

[John Channing]

Going back to my generation it's the difference between pinball and chess.

JCC

[stabiz]

Harsh, but true.

[Ducimus]

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.

[bookworm_020]

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.

Or, You can lead a gamer to a sub sim, but can't make him play it!

[Iron Budokan]

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.

Or you can lead a horticulture but you can't make her think.

[Iron Budokan]

I stopped a long time ago playing other games then sims and adventures. I just get a better satisfaction from them. After playing two hours I can leave the computer and don't feel like I wasted the two last hours. Others genres gave me exactly this feeling.

A part of the fascination for me is, that sims give me a certain freedom. I can do whatever I want. Intercept this convoy or let it be for the sake of my ship. It's all up to me. Every time I start up SH a different story awaits me.

In addition I think a game like SH gives your imagination a lot of room. You can make up your own stories about your crew and sub. Great thing!

I think the imaginative qualities of this, SH3, and most other sims is what draws me in the most and keeps me there. Using your imagination is not for most people, alas.

[Platapus]

When you meet games who understand the reason you hum "It's a long way to tipparary" ...

I do that at work all the time. Glad I am not the only one. Not that this makes me normal but at least I am not alone in my insanity.:huh:

[Fer32]

If you like history, if you like sailing and the ocean like me, then you would like any good naval sim including SH4 :up:

[Linavitch]

I've just lent a guty at work my copy of SH3 to see if he likes it.

[TDK1044]

I've never understood why Ubisoft doesn't advertise a new subsim game within one of the classic old WWII submarine movies that play regularly on Turner Classic Movies and similar channels. It wouldn't be that expensive to do, considering these movies usually play on Saturday or Sunday afternoon, and they'd be advertising to an audience who like submarine movies.

[Blood_splat]

With kids and adults on riddlin and Viagra now a days they just don't have the patience.

[CCIP]

To be honest, I do plan to make rounds of promoting SHIV to my non-simming or flight-simming-only friends, but only once there is a bit more patching/modding done. If they're even a little impatient, having to explain them ways around certain bugs and oversights isn't going to do anything for their enthusiasm.

Otherwise, I must admit that simming is the only of my hobbies that I've never converted anyone to. I've even converted people to wargames, but never to sims.

[Iron Budokan]

I've never understood why Ubisoft doesn't advertise a new subsim game within one of the classic old WWII submarine movies that play regularly on Turner Classic Movies and similar channels. It wouldn't be that expensive to do, considering these movies usually play on Saturday or Sunday afternoon, and they'd be advertising to an audience who like submarine movies.

Turner Classic Movies doesn't run commercials. But it would be a good idea for AMC which often shows these types of movies, too.

[Bilge_Rat]

Subsims are an acquired taste, like drinking a good scotch.

The other night, I did a submerged approach on a task force. For an hour I was in the conning tower looking at my sound man calling out contacts while I would visualize where the ships were in my head, based on bearing and distance.

I had a great time.

My son, who is into WOW, would come in periodically to see what was happening...the last few times, he was shaking his head as he left the room. He thinks Subsims are as exciting as watching paint dry on a wall.

[Avatar]

Iron Budokan,
that's the funniest thing I've ever read... horticulture! lol:rotfl:

it took me a minute to get it.

edit:
yeah, simulations have that freedom factor of going where you want and exploration.
I think we're all explorers at heart.

[WFGood]

People who are capable of critical thinking skills (or even at the very least have a functioning brain stem) tend to like simulations and strategy games. Sadly, this is only a tiny fraction of the public.

Unfortuately, I fear you are right on the money there. Critical thinking is becoming a lost art.

[Kapitan_Phillips]

Subsims are an acquired taste, like drinking a good scotch.

The other night, I did a submerged approach on a task force. For an hour I was in the conning tower looking at my sound man calling out contacts while I would visualize where the ships were in my head, based on bearing and distance.

I had a great time.

My son, who is into WOW, would come in periodically to see what was happening...the last few times, he was shaking his head as he left the room. He thinks Subsims are as exciting as watching paint dry on a wall.

Challenge him to one patrol in GWX. And then warn him:

You'll get your ass handed to you on a silver platter dressed with the salad of defeat, washed down with a drink of shame, a small bowl of the dip of despair, seasoned neatly with two turns of the pepper grinder of pointlessness.

:rotfl:

[bert8for3]

... Every time I start up SH a different story awaits me ...

Well said. As I settle into my chair for an evening of SH ...

[Safe-Keeper]

I stopped a long time ago playing other games then sims and adventures.Me too, actually, to a degree. I don't play RTS games such as Surpreme Commander and Command&Conquer anymore, because they all feel the same, are way too arcade-ish, and all bog down to mindless rushing and massing units:-?. If I am to play real-time games, it'll have to be those that really make me think and employ tactics and strategies such as using terrain to my advantage, making the most of each unit, and so on. Ground Control, now free from Massive's site, is the king of RTS games in my eyes for that reason.

But no, people today want their games to be as straight-forward and simple as possible. Sad.

[Partsking]

None of my friends have the patience for a subsim, unfortunately. I'd like to be able to relate my adventures on the high seas with someone in the flesh as opposed to you guys on the internets (not that I'm knocking that, of course :) ). My friends prefer FPS and RTS to sims. Personally, I like to mix it up the genre to keep things fresh. On that note, Sierra's going to be pissed when they find out I shelved F.E.A.R to play SH4. I just started that game last weekend. I'd rather be in a sub anyway. :smug:

[Platapus]

You'll get your ass handed to you on a silver platter dressed with the salad of defeat, washed down with a drink of shame, a small bowl of the dip of despair, seasoned neatly with two turns of the pepper grinder of pointlessness.

:rotfl:

You just described my life <cry>

[GoldenEagle8]

when I got SH3 I talked about it to my friends, they weren't really amazed. :nope: But when I was over at one of my friend's house, I talked him into put SH3 on his comp for a try. :up: Then he whent to an instant action thing to try it out, he whent to the Bismarck one, and his comp ran slowly on it, because of all the shooting going on.:-? I tried to tell him that it wouldn't run that slow in campaign because there wasn't alot going on all the time in it.:yep: That killed it for him....:shifty: He wants shooting NOW!

Later when I whent to his house, I had SH4. He saw me shooting a torpedo in the subamrine school, he watched and was impressed when he saw the ship explode the way it did. :up: So I let him try it out on his comp. This time, he liked it well enough to maybe go get it when he had a chance.:up: Then his computer crashed entirely, blue screen of death and all. :o That was the end of it again.:dead:

My other friend won't even give it a chance....:damn:

I once said "People probalbly don't like this game because it requires them to think and be pactient."

He said "your probalbly right.":nope:

[Snacko]

I would wait until the game actually works on most pcs. There are so many users having huge problems that we'll just have more of the same.

[Von Hinten]

I managed to get my two best friends and brother in law interested in SHIII and all of them have crossed over to SHIV too now so I'm pretty happy with that. If only I could get that Hamachi to work ... :yep:

Coming from sim racing where we're getting pretty used to running 4 hour races where you have to work like hell for every split second of those 4 hours (try explaining that and people will look at you like 'get a life dude'), I have no attention whatsoever trying to convince people that Silent Hunter (or the likes) is not boring. You're either in or out. Easy. :smug:

To me sailing my sub it's as relaxing as games come. Absolutely brilliant. :up:

[Cakewalk]

It is a sub commander's destiny to sail alone... sometimes a curse, sometimes a dream.:up:

[FIREWALL]

Why don't I just shoot at my friends.

[Cakewalk]

Shoot me, why don't you..:shifty:

[Sagan]

I used to play SH2 when I was 14 years old, now 5 years later I'm still addicted to sub type of games. I'm heavily addicted to fps and war/flight sims.

Just like music. There are 2 kinds of games. The good games and the bad games.

[OakGroove]

I demonstrated SH3 to a couple of friends - the consensus was that if SH would solely consist of shooting deck gun and torpedos in a target rich environment, they' d eventually be playing it. Immediate results, without having to invest alot of time or study the subject, is what they want. Then again they found "Das Boot" (Directors Cut) extremely boring.

Oh well, my first Pc game was Falcon3, i even got it before my 486SX25. Im pretty much lost in simulations.

[P_Funk]

A game that seeks to challenge you intellectually is a problem for a majority of people that don't have much of an intellect to begin with. I enjoy explosions, but its much nicer to have to work for it. Its about patience and thought.

But the same reason people don't play SH3 or SH4 is probably why fewer than 30% of Canadians vote. They can't be bothered to use their brains.

[fredbass]

I gave up a long time ago trying to get people interested in my interests. Some people will say how stupid or boring it is and it upsets me and I get all John Channing on them. :lol:

I've been playing computer games since 1977 and can relate. Usually right after they tell me games are stupid or boring they follow up by asking me if I golf . . .

Now that's funny. :up: :lol:

I've told a few people what I play, but PC gaming really isn't there thing. I usually have an easier time explaining this kind of stuff to a younger crowd since my friends are a bit older than most gamers.

Of Course a great place to try and convince people to play any game is to make suggestions to fellow shoppers right in the store as they are browsing for something to purchase in the software gaming isle. :know: :yep:

[McBeck]

You mean other people than us play this game?!?!

[Oosel]

ive had the game now for over 2 weeks but havent even installed it after reading the bug reports so im gonna wait another few more weeks and finish off c+c3 by which time sh4 will be patched and modded and i can happily play it

[ReallyDedPoet]

Even with the bugs it is worth playing:yep:

[Von Hinten]

ive had the game now for over 2 weeks but havent even installed it after reading the bug reports so im gonna wait another few more weeks and finish off c+c3 by which time sh4 will be patched and modded and i can happily play it
Man I would be going nuts like:

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/choccacino/pix2/seven4.jpg
'What's in the box!?'

... if I had SHIV sitting on the shelve for two weeks. I'm just so glad I installed it.

[Oosel]

nah seriously with eve online and c+c3 it will be just like waiting for gwx for sh3......it can be maddening to know something could be so much better and i can still keep my interest by looking at the ever increasing eye via all the screen shots posted here

[Quillan]

If I am to play real-time games, it'll have to be those that really make me think and employ tactics and strategies such as using terrain to my advantage, making the most of each unit, and so on.

Off topic: Give Company of Heroes a try. I don't generally like RTS either, but I love this one!

[OddjobXL]

I don't think intellect has much to do with whether or not you'll like a sub sim. I'm sure there are plenty of brilliant people with no interest in gaming whatsoever and even if they did play they might be more intrigued by certain browser-puzzle games than historical simulations. Who knows?

What I do think it's about is temperment. If you can sit still and get absorbed by the concepts or narratives in books, feel transported into whatever you're reading about, then you'll probably do well with a more contemplative game like a subsim. Most of the traction doesn't happen in the nervous system but somewhere in the frontal lobes as you imagine what's going on. Subsims especially appeal to players that love immersion because while no game can really foist an immersive atmosphere on players they can inspire players capable of being immersed to slip into another world for a while. And a game that's so dependant on clues, incomplete information, and audio over visuals sets up a mindscape like no other.

I agree with the fellows who say it's about the story the game presents, not explicitly, but through gameplay. You really feel yourself in the role. There are other kinds of games that do this but I always find simulations with dynamic (or semi-dynamic/randomized) campaigns hold a special place in the pantheon of immersive experiences. The other sort of games that can pull this off for me is strategy games with roleplaying elements. Also huge amounts of room for stories to spontaneously generate out of raw gameplay and for the imagination to go to work and create an experience that's far more than the sum of its parts.

[Ayari]

If I am to play real-time games, it'll have to be those that really make me think and employ tactics and strategies such as using terrain to my advantage, making the most of each unit, and so on.

Off topic: Give Company of Heroes a try. I don't generally like RTS either, but I love this one!

agreed,

I like RTS's and IMO CoH is the best RTS made in a long time

[Wilcke]

Their eyes glaze over.....I do not bother....

Wilcke