My first look - pros, cons, and all that

[CCIP]

Alright, let's get to the meat of this one :D

my points should be read as:
+ better than expected, = as expected, - problems, * notes

+ loading times - whoosh! As fast as the Type XVII :D
+ "strategic options" - work quite well and are a neat addition, even if they might appear somewhat gamey
+ "super crew" - see above. One thing that seems to be neat about them is that the limits on their use and their cost make them hardly a cheat of any kind - just a reward for your efforts, really.
+ a great IXD2 external model and cool new asian-themed ports
+ interface tweaks - new buttons and status indicators - very handy

= graphics improvements - there are definite engine optimizations on the plus side and the environment rendering is improved. For ROW fans however, good news and bad news. The bad news is that the rumored inclusion of ROW graphics in the game didn't materialize, and what it has is not nearly as good. The good news is that ROW is almost completely compatible out of the box and it will be very easy to make fully compatible.
= interior graphics - as expected, it's SHIII interiors with new textures/normal maps
= 3D crew - no more and no less interactive than SHIVs. On the plus side, the "informal" tropical dress is great.
= campaign - pure fiction on MANY points, but fun is to be had there
= Kriegsmarine grid on the map - on the plus side, it's much, much more detailed and better-implemented than SHIII's. On the minus side, it only extends to the add-on's operations area, which means it's not going to be so easy to implement the Atlantic campaign with a grid after all.

- German voice screwup - tsk tsk tsk. While ridiculously easy to fix, that's not something that should've been in the game.
- crew config - ??? for all the super-duper crewmen, there's NO officers on the boat by default for some reason besides a lowly-rated engineer. Too many crewmen for a typical IXD2, also. Easily fixed with mods (I even managed to add officers by default on my own), but someone will need to make these.
- no training, single missions or war patrols available for U-boats - a bit strange. You'd think at least some of these would be included to draw in a more casual crowd.
- some small glitches and things to be fixed here and there. I probably haven't seen them all, but one thing that is really annoying me right now for example is the sonarman reporting contacts while on the surface, absolutely everywhere in friendly waters (which drops the TC), and well before the ships even come into view.

*Some mod compatibility out of the box - skins, sounds. ROW, as I said, is almost fully compatible - just be sure NOT to install any ROW zones/effects (it makes your sub blow up if it tries to submerge). The only problem then is that some of the interior station cameras don't work correctly using ROW cameras, but that's even tolerable. The campaign structure for the German campaign is completely separate from the American, so I think this means that RSRDC can be adapted to 1.05 rather quickly. Thanks to some separation of structure between German and American campaigns/subs, except for some common files (like Library files) that are shared for all parts of the game, it should not be too complicated to adapt major mods like RFB and TM to 1.05.

So, is it worth my ten bucks?
Signs point to yes. :up:

Screenshots later...

[AVGWarhawk]

What has it done for the Pacific Theater?

[CCIP]

First batch of screenshots: stock, minus grainy post-processing.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y122/Otohiko/uflak/ubo02.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y122/Otohiko/uflak/ubo03.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y122/Otohiko/uflak/ubo07.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y122/Otohiko/uflak/ubo04.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y122/Otohiko/uflak/ubo06.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y122/Otohiko/uflak/ubo08.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y122/Otohiko/uflak/ubo10.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y122/Otohiko/uflak/ubo11.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y122/Otohiko/uflak/ubo12.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y122/Otohiko/uflak/ubo14.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y122/Otohiko/uflak/ubo16.jpg

[CCIP]

What has it done for the Pacific Theater?
I haven't checked very much to be honest. It looks like the rendering optimizations, interface tweaks (I think the status indicators are available everywhere) and loading times certainly apply there. Otherwise, I would say the main thing it did is that it didn't touch it and kept its files separate, meaning existing mod work on it can be applied much more expediently.

[danlisa]

= Kriegsmarine grid on the map - on the plus side, it's much, much more detailed and better-implemented than SHIII's. On the minus side, it only extends to the add-on's operations area, which means it's not going to be so easy to implement the Atlantic campaign with a grid after all.

From what I've seen, the KM grid is completely editable and fully moddable.;) Check out the KGrid folder.

The biggest question is - "Can you actually use the KM Grid in mission assignments?". If you can't what's the point in having it, apart from eye-candy. Aa at the moment, the KM grids serve no function at all in terms of mission orders or even radio contact reports.

Which leads me to another question.:D Why did the devs add it in if it serves no purpose.:hmm: I must look deeper.

[CCIP]

Well they are mentioned in mission tasking. Otherwise I don't think there's much of anything special to the grids other than just being another set of coordinates! What else would one expect them to be?

Oh yea, got another silly one for you:
All radio messages still originate from COMSUBPAC

[CCIP]

Second batch of screenies - now with ROW

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y122/Otohiko/uflak/ur01.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y122/Otohiko/uflak/ur02.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y122/Otohiko/uflak/ur03.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y122/Otohiko/uflak/ur04.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y122/Otohiko/uflak/ur05.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y122/Otohiko/uflak/ur06.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y122/Otohiko/uflak/ur07.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y122/Otohiko/uflak/ur08.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y122/Otohiko/uflak/ur09.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y122/Otohiko/uflak/ur10.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y122/Otohiko/uflak/ur11.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y122/Otohiko/uflak/ur12.jpg

[sergbuto]

The choice of voices should have been coupled to the choice of campaign for fleet or U- boat. That is easy to do in terms of coding.

I hope that the "informal" tropical dress of the crew is automatically changed to something appropriate depending on the region of the world and the weather.

[CCIP]

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y122/Otohiko/uflak/ur13.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y122/Otohiko/uflak/ur14.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y122/Otohiko/uflak/ur15.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y122/Otohiko/uflak/ur16.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y122/Otohiko/uflak/ur17.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y122/Otohiko/uflak/ur18.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y122/Otohiko/uflak/ur19.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y122/Otohiko/uflak/ur20.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y122/Otohiko/uflak/ur21.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y122/Otohiko/uflak/ur22.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y122/Otohiko/uflak/ur23.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y122/Otohiko/uflak/ur24.jpg

[CCIP]

The choice of voices should have been coupled to the choice of campaign for fleet or U- boat. That is easy to do in terms of coding.

I hope that the "informal" tropical dress of the crew is automatically changed to something appropriate depending on the region of the world and the weather.

Good point, and I'm not sure if that's the case. Probably not.

[danlisa]

What else would one expect them to be?

Oh yea, got another silly one for you:
All radio messages still originate from COMSUBPAC

Ideally, we'll eventually want them to be functional. i.e Large convoy BF12 (we're talking eventual Atlantic campaign here).

Yep, caught that one from COMSUBPAC.:lol: German spies must have infiltrated the offices.

[CCIP]

What else would one expect them to be?

Oh yea, got another silly one for you:
All radio messages still originate from COMSUBPAC
Ideally, we'll eventually want them to be functional. i.e Large convoy BF12 (we're talking eventual Atlantic campaign here).

Yep, caught that one from COMSUBPAC.:lol: German spies must have infiltrated the offices.
Ah right. You got it there, I think the contacts are still reported by coordinates, not grid.

Afraid that's only something that can be done with hard-coding though. And so I guess the grid still comes out as a not-totally-great addition. The detail of it is nice, the function isn't.

[sergbuto]

The choice of voices should have been coupled to the choice of campaign for fleet or U- boat. That is easy to do in terms of coding.

I hope that the "informal" tropical dress of the crew is automatically changed to something appropriate depending on the region of the world and the weather.

Good point, and I'm not sure if that's the case. Probably not.

Looking at the number of posts from those who have already tried the addon, it does not seem to be the case. Seems like original voices need to be replaced with German ones before starting the U-boat campaign. I guess Devs have tried to save our hard disk space :) to avoid having two sets of voices at the same time.

[CCIP]

All the stranger still given SHIII lived with two sets of voices (which, unlike this, it never used) all along. :hmm:

JSGME is my friend for this one of course.

[danlisa]

Ah right. You got it there, I think the contacts are still reported by coordinates, not grid.

Afraid that's only something that can be done with hard-coding though. And so I guess the grid still comes out as a not-totally-great addition. The detail of it is nice, the function isn't.

:hmm: Possibly. However, if I'm reading the PatrolObjectives.cfg right, there's a possibility that dymanic in-campaign mission objectives might be assigned by KM Grids. However, I'll leave that to the experts.:lol:

[M. Sarsfield]

There's already been a mod created for the German voices... see the SH4 mod forum.

I know that I'm picky, but the collar tabs on the officer uniforms are enlisted collar tabs. They need to be bigger. Another obvious one is the BeVo (eagle) is missing from above the right pocket. I understand why they did this, though.

[Raptor1]

I think what was bugging me the most in the addon is the fact that your command is still ComSubPac, dunno why... (BdU obviously asked the USN to give their U-Boats patrol zones and contact reports)

The campaign is rather fictional, but not so far fetched, as some U-Boats did operate in the Indian Ocean (U-852 for example), the Monsoon Group was supposed to work in Penang with the IJN

Overall, i'm rather satisfied with the expansion, even if there are some minor problems

[CCIP]

The campaign is rather fictional, but not so far fetched, as some U-Boats did operate in the Indian Ocean (U-852 for example), the Monsoon Group was supposed to work in Penang with the IJN

Overall, i'm rather satisfied with the expansion, even if there are some minor problems

I would totally agree with that. Sure the campaign is out there, but it's not unbelievable. It's definitely a "what if" campaign, but less in the what-if territory than, say, IL-2 1946.

[AVGWarhawk]

The shots look good CCIP. This could be a very interesting off shoot for the u-boat fans. :up:

[CCIP]

The shots look good CCIP. This could be a very interesting off shoot for the u-boat fans. :up:
Yep, although I should say, in many ways this is a weird choice to draw in U-boat fans as such. There's really little of what defines the U-boat war here, unless your favorite part of the war is the extensive far-east operations that never happened :p

Honestly, I wish people would stop looking at the U-boat fan/Fleet boat fan dimension of it. Cause this one probably appeals more to fleet boat fans wanting to play the other side a little. Otherwise only a small group of Type IX fans will be satisfied by this one when it comes to the U-boat thing. So it's not a bad stunt to draw in the SHIII crowd, but it's not the stuff they (or should I say we?) generally cut their teeth on, either.

[AVGWarhawk]

My thoughts were to extend to the Med and work on that type of career. Personally, I will buy it but will concentrate on the Fleet boats. It will be some fun playing the uboat again for a change. I have not played SH3 for quite some time.

[tater]

The ports objects are NEW. Finally, something that has piers, etc.

[Raptor1]

Oh, BTW, You forgot to mention that the SHIII TDC/Attack Map is back, don't know about you people, but i really missed being able to effectively shoot spreads without having to manually change the settings on each tube...

[The General]

Total historic accuracy (of this Add-on) aside, this new release does pave the way for a full global theatre in the future. I'm suprised that many of you don't seem to realise that.

[stabiz]

:rock:

[M. Sarsfield]

AVGWARHAWK: My thoughts were to extend to the Med and work on that type of career.

If I was a modder I would probably tackle the Med., first, for expanding the SHIV U-Boat campaign. Work out all of the bugs on a small scale and then scale it from there.

[badaboom]

Great screen CCIP,Everything looks sharper,the crew looks much more detailed.

[AVGWarhawk]

Total historic accuracy (of this Add-on) aside, this new release does pave the way for a full global theatre in the future. I'm suprised that many of you don't seem to realise that.


Total global conflict was discussed long ago concerning the add-on. Specifically when patch 1.4 was coming out. A lot of work but would be very cool.

[AVGWarhawk]

AVGWARHAWK: My thoughts were to extend to the Med and work on that type of career.
If I was a modder I would probably tackle the Med., first, for expanding the SHIV U-Boat campaign. Work out all of the bugs on a small scale and then scale it from there.

Yeah, imagine a mission senerio of the uboat (not sure which one) that was attempting to get to Japan loaded with technical info, etc. that did not make it. Make one hard butt mission with your objective to make it. Sounds like fun and if done right could be very challenging. Have your route start in the Med. Make it so you have to follow a specific route (hopefully the historical route of the real uboat). Create some real nasty DD.

[badaboom]

I saw a story on this on The History Ch,I think the u-boat was on a top secret mission to deliever rocket or jet engine parts/components to Japan,it was torpedoed by a British sub,to this day the wreck is still giving off extremely high levels of Mercury.

[1480]

Great screen CCIP,Everything looks sharper,the crew looks much more detailed.

Actually, everyone looks better from a healthy dose of UV-A & B........

[badaboom]

:D They feel fabulous with thier healthy tans,eating fresh Mahi Mahi and Pineapple,they will never go back to cold Knachwurst and sour kraut in the God forsaken Atlantic again!!!!!!!:D

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v27/badaboom/ur09.jpg

[LukeFF]

My first impressions:

-Interface is much more functional and user-friendly, especially the help screen.
-Crew and U-boat models, the ports, etc. all look great.

-Crew setup for the Type IX: ugh. Will be fixing that up right away (there are crew rosters for the Type IX online, after all).
-New interface textures and all that look great, but why are we Americans subject to the anti-swastika laws WRT to flag textures, medals, etc? (yes, I have the US downloadable version of the add-on). It wasn't like this in SH3.

[Ragtag]

My first impressions:

-Interface is much more functional and user-friendly, especially the help screen.
-Crew and U-boat models, the ports, etc. all look great.

-Crew setup for the Type IX: ugh. Will be fixing that up right away (there are crew rosters for the Type IX online, after all).
-New interface textures and all that look great, but why are we Americans subject to the anti-swastika laws WRT to flag textures, medals, etc? (yes, I have the US downloadable version of the add-on). It wasn't like this in SH3.

No swastika in the European version either.

[longam]

UBI forum banned them back during SH3

[Rockin Robbins]

UBI forum banned them back during SH3 All these professional victims make me sick! Why would a forum be allowed to outlaw display of swastikas?

Granting the truth of the argument that making swastikas available would enable neo-Nazi wannabes to rally around the emblem, would you rather have the loonies readily identifiable, or let them imperceptably blend into society. Better to be able to ID them in case it's necessary to ship them to the looney bin!:up:

Goes right along with the modern trend that the preferred way to remedy a social problem is to punish the innocent, enabling the guilty to remain undisturbed or even aided. It's so much easier that way and we all feel warm and fuzzy afterwards.:down:

[Kongo Otto]

:D They feel fabulous with thier healthy tans,eating fresh Mahi Mahi and Pineapple,they will never go back to cold Knachwurst and sour kraut in the God forsaken Atlantic again!!!!!!!:D

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v27/badaboom/ur09.jpg
Bah tropical food,theres nothing better than Knackwurst and Sauerkraut,when a
V&W Class is depth charging you.:rock:

[Seeadler]

theres nothing better than Knackwurst and Sauerkraut Nothing is comparable to Labskaus, the favored dish of German sailors:up:
http://www.marions-kochbuch.de/rezept/0244.jpg

[Boris]

theres nothing better than Knackwurst and Sauerkraut Nothing is comparable to Labskaus, the favored dish of German sailors:up:

:up: Good stuff that, one of my favourite dishes ... here's one of my own preparations...

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f152/Boris117/lapskaus-1.jpg

[Q3ark]

:up: Good stuff that, one of my favourite dishes ... here's one of my own preparations...

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f152/Boris117/lapskaus-1.jpg

:huh: I have never seen anything like that...... and I hope never to again.:lol:

[Shog]

Great Add on from what I have seen so far right up to the point where I hit multiplayer & found that you are only able to use US no U-boat :damn: . Three of my friends & I got it for "MULTIPLAYER".

[Seeadler]

:up: Good stuff that, one of my favourite dishes If you live in Hamburg (I live in the vicinity
and work in Hamburg) Labskaus should also be known.

For all others, it looks atrocious, but who has ever tried it once, will confirm it tastes really tasty.

[RedHammer]

I sorted out my problems with the TDC now, and ow boy...


Managed to send a perfect 4 torpedo spread salvoe right beneath a T-3 Tanker using magnetic detonation.. The result was awesome to say the least! I missed german uboats!!

I sure hope those allies has insurance, cuz I`m going in.. big time!

S!

RH