When should the first career year's "virgin patrol" begin?

[Safe-Keeper]

In other words, in Silent Hunter III your first patrol was 1st of September 1939. What should it be in Silent Hunter IV?

If it's slightly before Pearl Harbour, it could contain some other missions such as peace-time coast guard-like patrols, life-saving, etc.

If it's after Pearl Harbour, you're right in the action, but I'd still like the events of Pearl and on to be in. Like when I patrolled in early September 1939 in Grey Wolves and received radio messages about hostilities and watched city after city turn red.

As for me, I vote before Pearl Harbour.

What do you think? When should the game start?

[DeepSix]

If you're based at Manila, it should start Dec. 8-11; if you're based at Pearl, it should be December 11, and you should be on Gudgeon. Dec. 13 for Pollack, Dec. 14 for Plunger, Dec. 18 for Pompano. There were only four boats "on patrol" prior to Dec. 7 and they were conducting "simulated" patrols off Wake and Midway. There were five boats at sea on their way in to Pearl, but officially they were still on shakedown, and IIRC only 1 encountered the Japanese (Plunger was bombed by an airplane that probably was Japanese).

[Edit - I guess you could theoretically start on Dec. 7 and be at the sub base at Pearl, shooting at aircraft with your AA. Tautog was the first to destroy anything Japanese]

[Safe-Keeper]

I also think the start setting should be a bit more than just years, seeing it's just from 1942-1945, rather than 1939-1945. Let the player select it month-wise or something.

Making it different based on flotilla or boat's an idea, though.

[Threadfin]

I'd like to see the player be able to choose his start month and year. The career would then last 2-10 patrols, randomly determined, with possible lengthy breaks, to simulate maybe a skipper who was relieved, but then given another command.

I don't want to have the ability to fight from December '41 to the end of the war (though I can choose to end my careers whenever I want to I suppose)

So if I choose to take command in December of '41 my career as a sub skipper would be over by '43 in most cases before I was relieved.

I think Dec 7th would be a fine earliest possible career date.

[DeepSix]

Sort of depends on whether or not the devs incorporate a realistic career length or not. If they do, the idea of choosing your starting month might well work. It would accentuate the months before the Mark XIV was sorted out vs. the months after. It might also work to choose what type of sub you want and let that be the basis for determining when you start. In other words, if you take an S-boat, you'll start in Manila; if you want Tench, you might start in the fall of 1944, etc. Interesting idea....

[Safe-Keeper]

I see both sides of the "realistic career lenght" issue. I realize no skipper fought all the way from 1942 to 1945, or from 1939 to 1945 from that matter, but on the other hand it's a great experience to try to make it through the whole conflict. I don't know.

[NEON DEON]

Originally Posted by Safe-Keeper

I see both sides of the "realistic career lenght" issue. I realize no skipper fought all the way from 1942 to 1945, or from 1939 to 1945 from that matter, but on the other hand it's a great experience to try to make it through the whole conflict. I don't know.

Well I suppose if you only made it about the skipper and not the boat. I would like the option to model Skipper career or boat career since this is a submarine simulation. A number of boats went almost the entire war. Even the Cruiser subs. Nautilus and Narwhal went into 1945. Also, US subs often transfered crew members so as not to have an entirely green crew running a boat.

[DeepSix]

Just a thought - although I expressed elsewhere that I didn't care for more cutscenes, I assume there'll be one, and it occurred to me that one logical subject for a start-up film could be the Pearl Harbor attack. For instance, you could witness the attack on Battleship Row and end with Tautog's AA kill. That'd seem a good way to capture the "story" of the game - the big picture of the war and the focus on subs. Anyway, after that you choose what you want to do after that (choose Manila, Pearl, boat type, month, year, etc.).

I still think that if you start a career at the beginning of the war - regardless of whether the game uses realistic career length or not - your first patrol should begin on a historically accurate date. This is especially true for boats departing Pearl Harbor - historically, the damage had to be assessed and cleaned up somewhat before Pacific Fleet - having after all been caught by surprise - got its ducks in a row.

[Egan]

Something like JScone's Shcommander already built in would be good. realistic patrol lengths, selct the moth you start, crewmen transferred off to new constructions etc. The devs could learn a LOT from that mod about what to add to a career.

Start with a patrol round about The date of Pearl and take it from there is what I say. The Original SH had it right, I think.

[Wilko]

The attack on Pearl Harbour should happen during your first patrol.

I voted that cause it just seemed to be the most logical time to start but I will no doubt try it from all different times, especially the later years when you get the nice subs

In SHI you could start from any available command, beginning right after the December 7 attack. The sub you got depended upon where you started, and you could start at ANY month of the war. Hawk's Silent Hunter Utilities let you change what boat you had, so you could run Narwahl or the like.

SH3 Commander fixes SHIII so you get an actual historical sub based on the Flotilla. I would hope SHIV will allow us to do the same, or at least be open for an SH4 Commander.

[Safe-Keeper]

SH3 Commander fixes SHIII so you get an actual historical sub based on the Flotilla. I would hope SHIV will allow us to do the same, or at least be open for an SH4 Commander.

90% of the features of SH3 Commander should've come with SH3 itself. Hopefully they'll come with SHIV.

[don1reed]

It'd be dang nice to pick up your boat 'n crew on the eastcoast and nav through the Panama Canal to head west, whatever the date.

[DeepSix]

You know, that's an excellent idea!:hmm: Never thought of that; Calvert talks about doing that with the Jack.

[Drebbel]

I would say more than 1 patrol before Pearl. Give you time to train crew, pick up boats, or even go on patrol in peace time.

Originally Posted by DeepSix

I guess you could theoretically start on Dec. 7 and be at the sub base at Pearl, shooting at aircraft with your AA.

I like the idea, but pls not make the war start in that base by default. Make it possible that you can be in another base at Dec-7th as well.

If the dev-team can make the code fast enough they could even make me spot the japanese attack fleet, or atleast have the group of plane fly overhead

Originally Posted by DeepSix

Sort of depends on whether or not the devs incorporate a realistic career length or not.

Would be a rip off if this could not be disabled imho. So pls devs include a realistic carreer length, but make it optional.

Also pls include a setting that disables the game permantly after getting killed on patrol :p

Originally Posted by don1reed

It'd be dang nice to pick up your boat 'n crew on the eastcoast and nav through the Panama Canal to head west, whatever the date.

Nice idea, I like it. But I am not sure I want the dev-team spent a lot of tim moddeling east coast ports and the Panama Canal.

Right now my biggest hope is that they will include Darwin and use that for topping up fuel of boats that are based in Fremantle and are heading to their patrol area. I also hope they will add a realistic Colombo, Tandjong Priok and Jakarta, and and and.....