View Full Version : Key Info from the German-Ubi Forum Hamburg Preview
I just found another Hamburg press preview from Voyger532 of the German Ubi forum.
Key elements from the preview (things we didn't already know)
- Ships do infact have crew walking around on decks. Confirmed :up:
(But they still walk around acting like nothing has happened while a ship is sinking, hopefully this will be dealt with)
- You can actually identify which rooms of a ship have been hit in the torpedo holes
- Some ships, not all, do jettison lifeboats (no, he didn't try shooting at them)
- Enemy fire actually makes physical holes in your own hull too. (You can still dive, and water wont rush in... hopefully also will be worked on)
- Direct Translation: The Damage management has been completely overhauled. It used to be that a part was damaged, with the time to repair completion shown. There was something like a difference between a minute to repair, or not at all, because it was destroyed. Now (in SH4) every system of the sub has a coloured bar with the degree to which it is damaged next to it.
- The measurements used in the demo were all metric. (Hasn't the option for imperial already been confimed?)
- On the multiplayer demonstration: The player stands on the bridge of a destoyer, and controls the entire lot of convoy escorts. You can give the other escorts commands via the map. He's not sure if you can switch between ships.
***LAN - 1 escort controller, 7 subs... Internet 1:3
According to Emil Gheorge:
- There will be resupplies at sea
- There will be new mission objectives given out by radio, but general radio traffic has also been doubled
- There is still a point based reknown system
- An improved version of the mission editor will be included
- If sales are good, there might be a destroyer command
- They haven't even started thinking about an SH5 yet
- Unfortunately there will be no abandon ship feature
- You will be able to tally the depth charges from a destroyer to count how many he has left. (no idea if this refers to an inbuilt tally feature)
- No Dolphins :( But plankton, algae and rocks are there.
- Sun and moon movements are apparently 100% correct for any given day.
- There will be a simplified thermal layer system
- SH4 will be as moddable as SH3, but extra models can't be implemented!!! What the Hell? (But didn't we also think this in the early days of SH3?)
-
EDIT: More info from an Emil Gheorge interview in Hamburg by the 9te Flottille added.
hyperion2206
02-20-07, 06:32 AM
I just found another Hamburg press preview from Voyger532 of the German Ubi forum.
Key elements from the preview (things we didn't already know)
- Ships do infact have crew walking around on decks. Confirmed :up:
(But they still walk around acting like nothing has happened while a ship is sinking, hopefully this will be dealt with)
- You can actually identify which rooms of a ship have been hit in the torpedo holes
- Some ships, not all, do jettison lifeboats (no, he didn't try shooting at them)
- Enemy fire actually makes physical holes in your own hull too. (You can still dive, and water wont rush in... hopefully also will be worked on)
- Direct Translation: The Damage management has been completely overhauled. It used to be that a part was damaged, with the time to repair completion shown. There was something like a difference between a minute to repair, or not at all, because it was destroyed. Now (in SH4) every system of the sub has a coloured bar with the degree to which it is damaged next to it.
- The measurements used in the demo were all metric. (Hasn't the option for imperial already been confimed?)
- On the multiplayer demonstration: The player stands on the bridge of a destoyer, and controls the entire lot of convoy escorts. You can give the other escorts commands via the map. He's not sure if you can switch between ships.
Remember the GIGA guy? He was talking about "meters" (when chosing the depth) and "kilometers" (distance to other ships). But when he was at PD the depth gauge showed the depth of "60" which would mean that the gauges use feet instead of meters. I'm confused!
Read my additions, there is a little more dissapointing stuff...
No new ship models can be imported... I hope they're joking.
hyperion2206
02-20-07, 06:58 AM
Yep, some news aren't good at all: No new ship models and the reknown system, but the possibility of a new Destroyer Command absolutley thrills me.:D
zaloxski
02-20-07, 07:01 AM
Modders will found the way to add it... I hope.:roll:
But don't worry, this new and unknow features are pretty nice. We will enjoy this game.
And..
What about the simulation? and the AI system?
.-zalox
... and no Dolphins... I so wanted dolphins dammit! :(
squigian
02-20-07, 07:09 AM
If he didn't mention the AI, it probably means it's slightly better. I think like this:
If it was the same, he would have said that it hadn't changed. If it wasn't noticeably bad, then he probably wouldn't think to mention it. The A.I. is a major part of the game, but he wouldn't report on it if it hadn't made much impression on him. Therefore, it can't be the same or much better.
The main reason he didn't mention it is because the interviewer didnt ask him :damn:
StandingCow
02-20-07, 07:25 AM
"- There will be a simplified thermal layer system"
That is probly going to be something like silent service, where you have some sort of gauge that tells you when you are beyond the thermal layer.
I am still wondering about damage control, at least now we know that seperate areas can take damage.. but can we decide what areas we want repaired first? That is my biggest worry.
Everything else sounds good.
zaloxski
02-20-07, 08:03 AM
"...but can we decide what areas we want repaired first? That is my biggest worry."
It's a basic thing. Your boat is flloding, and all man are working in radio room when torpedo room is heavy flooding..
May be there are an automatic damage control, where crew decide what repair first to keep safe the sub.
.-zalox
StandingCow
02-20-07, 10:10 AM
"...but can we decide what areas we want repaired first? That is my biggest worry."
It's a basic thing. Your boat is flloding, and all man are working in radio room when torpedo room is heavy flooding..
May be there are an automatic damage control, where crew decide what repair first to keep safe the sub.
.-zalox
I hope not... my fav part in all sub sims has been damage control, I want to be able to tell them where to go and all.
Reading about the cutaway being gone and this being simplified somewhat was the worse part for me.
Game still sounds like it is gonna kick ass though.
Safe-Keeper
02-20-07, 10:45 AM
- On the multiplayer demonstration: The player stands on the bridge of a destoyerAn actual Destroyer interior? Is it 3D? Can't wait to see screenshots!
- An improved version of the mission editor will be includedWoohoo:up:!
- If sales are good, there might be a destroyer commandSplendid.
Lots of good stuff, some bad stuff. I sincerely hope they change the inability to add new ships.
With the adding of new ships, wasn't this thought to be the case also with SH3?
I rememeber back in 2005 that the modding consensus was that adding new models into the game was impossible. At one point the devs offered to integrate people's models, which I'm not sure ever got off the ground. But now adding new ships to SH3 is as easy as pie (relatively of course).
I wouldn't be surprised if someone found a Dolphin buried in SH4 too.
Not sure about the bridge, and to what extent it's modelled on the destroyers. Most DEs had an outside bridge, so no interior. There are no interiors modelled for the DEs.
tedhealy
02-20-07, 12:15 PM
- There will be new mission objectives given out by radio, but general radio traffic has also been doubled
:D Yeah :D
We're going from two messages to four!
Be more aggressive!
Keep up the good work!
My guess at new message - 'Fremantle is all out of ice cream, return to Pearl instead.'
Thats some of the best info ive heard on the game so far :up: yay plankton :rotfl:
Lol, no apparently the message system will actually include real game events now, like the distress calls of enemy ships and locations of downed pilots, as the events unfold etc.
zaloxski
02-20-07, 12:53 PM
I have to say the Sulitake good eye at his post :up:
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=105954&page=2
There he said about the weeds and rocks in this pic.
The image wasn't clear at all, so good 4 u mate!
Now getting closer at bottom will be dangerous.
- If sales are good, there might be a destroyer command
That's it: I'm buying ten copies. Everyone else better buy ten as well because if I don't get my destroyer fix there is gonna be trouble! :rotfl:
Great news. Looking forward to seeing what they have improved in the mission editor - hopefully air tasking will be vastly improved for a start.
AVGWarhawk
02-20-07, 01:41 PM
Lets do the math on good sales. If we look at SH3 and how many have downloaded just GWX (I believe it was around 11,000), we can logically believe that there are 11,000 players out there(some might have download twice for various reasons). Now, 11,000 potential buyers of SH4 x $49.99(average price of new game)=$549890.00 or over 1/2 a million. I suspect this game will go platnium and Destroyer Command will be on the way:rock:
hyperion2206
02-20-07, 01:51 PM
Lets do the math on good sales. If we look at SH3 and how many have downloaded just GWX (I believe it was around 11,000), we can logically believe that there are 11,000 players out there(some might have download twice for various reasons). Now, 11,000 potential buyers of SH4 x $49.99(average price of new game)=$549890.00 or over 1/2 a million. I suspect this game will go platnium and Destroyer Command will be on the way:rock:
Will 1/2 a million be enough to defray the costs of developing SH4? Will 1/2 a million be enough to convince Ubisoft to develop Destroyer Command 2?:hmm: Perhaps I'm greedy but 500000 bucks don't seem to be much.:oops:
AVGWarhawk
02-20-07, 02:17 PM
Lets do the math on good sales. If we look at SH3 and how many have downloaded just GWX (I believe it was around 11,000), we can logically believe that there are 11,000 players out there(some might have download twice for various reasons). Now, 11,000 potential buyers of SH4 x $49.99(average price of new game)=$549890.00 or over 1/2 a million. I suspect this game will go platnium and Destroyer Command will be on the way:rock:
Will 1/2 a million be enough to defray the costs of developing SH4? Will 1/2 a million be enough to convince Ubisoft to develop Destroyer Command 2?:hmm: Perhaps I'm greedy but 500000 bucks don't seem to be much.:oops:
That is a conservative number and based only on GWX downloads. There will be plenty more buying the game. I can assure you that. Some just like the submarine sims and some would just like the US Subs therefore did not buy SH3 as it is based on German Uboats. Now, we already have 11000 potentials in the bag who like submarines and to satisfy their curiosity on the great new sim coming out, they will purchase SH4. There will be plenty who have been waiting on a subsim that is American theme with awesome graphic, etc. Well here it is for $49.99. I'm guessing the price will be $59.99 from resent purchases of new games. Also, we have not included the players who use NYGM or just vanilla version. Again, my assessment based on relatively few (11000) we know of. Again, I believe this game will go platnium:up:
geetrue
02-20-07, 02:21 PM
One source said Sh3 sold 28,000 units and another source said, 80,000 units ...
But times are changing and most buyers just pick it up at the store and decide while it's still in their hands ...
Double your figures to $1,000,000 dollars minus overhead and wham ... you'll have a boardroom going, "Let's expand SH4 with a DC game" and the Japanese saying, "Hey, we can play too" and after that it could really get into some fun flame wars, heh?
Well, SH3 sales justified the making of SH4... so if SH4 sales do as well or better, that should logically justify a DC game.
Unless of course Ubi opts for an SH5 instead.
Yayyy!!! ..... PLANKTON...........YEeeeeHHaaaawwwwwww!!!!
The one thing I really missed in SH1/AOD/SH2 and SH3 all these years and the devs have finally decided to give it to us!!!!!:D
So, there Really IS a God!!!!.......................Now , where did I put those tablets........................................... ....................
You can see some floating algae in the screenshot thread up top now.
Subsim: Back in June 2005 CNN quoted the NPD Group’s April sales numbers at 26,600 units. Is that accurate? What does Ubisoft claim for sales numbers for SH3 to date?
SH4 Dev Team: The best thing about a simulation title is that the amount of sales tends to remain constant each month. SHIII sells well even one year after its release. We estimate Silent Hunter 3 sold over 300,000 copies worldwide.
Wow, well there you go :o
Not so unsuccessful... from when was that quote?
What are games generally expected to make anyway?
geetrue
02-20-07, 03:49 PM
I must have been quoting Sh2 sales then ... 300k is awesome sales
flintlock
02-20-07, 04:15 PM
According to Emil Gheorge:
- They haven't even started thinking about an SH5 yet Perhaps an SH4 expansion then. ;)
Sonarman
02-20-07, 04:16 PM
Here is a quote on the sales performance of the original SH from the book "Interactivity in action" part of an interview with SSI carried out by Guy Wright...
"Panzer General did really well for us. I don't have it added up but I think worldwide we sold over 200,000 units. The product that has the most potential for SSI is Silent Hunter. It's a world war II submarine simulation and submarine simulators sell really well-Aces of the Deep sold a ton. Silent Hunter is an oustanding product and we think it may become our biggest seller".
The original SH did go on and on selling... well over 300,000 units along with 3 expansion discs and the Commanders Edition.
So much for they don't sell wouldn't touch sub sims with a barge pole attitude of today's publishers... thank God for Ubisoft!
I just realised the along with the IL2 series and Lock on, Ubi is a bit of a hero when it comes to sims.
The IL2 series is pretty much the only widely played WW2 fighter sim, and lockon, the only widely played modern sim.... though they have dropped lockon
(I consider CFS3 and F4 to be a bit too old to count this in).
in all fairness 11,000 copys isnt very big in the games industry.... and half a mil wouldnt justify all hands on deck for a sequel, destroyer command 2. I know the SH series isnt massivly popular in the games industry but development costs and shipping etc would take quite a chunk out of that 500,000 profit.
look at a game like WoW, over 7 mil copies sold worldwide... thats about 7 mil x $50/$40? :o... then again they have to keep their servers up and running with a constant leech on profit
Fingers crossed for 30,000 plus customers!
flintlock
02-20-07, 04:37 PM
look at a game like WoW, over 7 mil copies sold worldwide... thats about 7 mil x $50/$40? ... then again they have to keep their servers up and running with a constant leech on profit Leech on profit?
Hardly.
There's a monthly fee to keep your WoW account active. I'd suggest Blizzard enjoys more profit from the monthly fees than from the sale of the game (even when you factor in costs to maintain the whole infrastructure).
Sonarman
02-20-07, 04:38 PM
Lets do the math on good sales. If we look at SH3 and how many have downloaded just GWX (I believe it was around 11,000), we can logically believe that there are 11,000 players out there(some might have download twice for various reasons). Now, 11,000 potential buyers of SH4 x $49.99(average price of new game)=$549890.00 or over 1/2 a million. I suspect this game will go platnium and Destroyer Command will be on the way:rock:
Yes I think those maths are a bit off... on the Indie Game forum East wrote:
"I wasn't dissing UBI on the amount spent - they did it for under 1.2M as I understand (including promotion), "
We must also remember that the $49.99 is a retail price not the money that UBI gets, of that they only actually probably get about $22 (unless you purchase it direct from them). And from that you must deduct marketing, distribution, programmer/artist wages, late night pizzas etc so say that from each copy they actually make $12 now multiply that by the 300,000 worldwide sales and you will be closer to the mark, around $3.6M that should hopefully be enough for a continuation of the series!
I really hope this game does well, and I will porbably buy it twice, as with SH3.
WoW is one of the first signs of Armageddon, by the way.
AVGWarhawk
02-20-07, 04:39 PM
in all fairness 11,000 copys isnt very big in the games industry.... and half a mil wouldnt justify all hands on deck for a sequel, destroyer command 2. I know the SH series isnt massivly popular in the games industry but development costs and shipping etc would take quite a chunk out of that 500,000 profit.
look at a game like WoW, over 7 mil copies sold worldwide... thats about 7 mil x $50/$40? :o... then again they have to keep their servers up and running with a constant leech on profit
Fingers crossed for 30,000 plus customers!
As I stated, 11000 is the number that have downloaded GWX for SH3. We can probably count on these sailors to purchase SH4(I know I am). Now the other larger mods have not been calculated for download number nor has the vanilla playing guys. Also, other American type WW2 games always do well. Now, SH4 with an American submarine theme, great graphics and well thought out game play.....you got a winner on your hands.:up: The sales will be there.
Guys, my number are just raw if anything. I still believe the sales will be there!
dean_acheson
02-20-07, 04:44 PM
Wow, a new Destroyer Command, that would be wonderful! I still put in the original everynow and then, and think of how cool it could have been.....
Subsim: Back in June 2005 CNN quoted the NPD Group’s April sales numbers at 26,600 units. Is that accurate? What does Ubisoft claim for sales numbers for SH3 to date?
SH4 Dev Team: The best thing about a simulation title is that the amount of sales tends to remain constant each month. SHIII sells well even one year after its release. We estimate Silent Hunter 3 sold over 300,000 copies worldwide.
Are we ignoring this post? This is much more than 11,000
I think SH4 will do better than 300,000, especially due to likely increased interest in the American market.
Barkhorn1x
02-20-07, 05:39 PM
I think SH4 will do better than 300,000, especially due to likely increased interest in the American market.
Agreed that we Americans are a bunch of navel gazing b@st@rds!
;)
That being said it will be nice to sail around w/ English audio and actually understand everything that is said instead of about 30% or so.
Barkhorn.
I hope they have some decent voices. In the preview on GIGA yesterday I swear they sounded just like the SH3 english speech.
flintlock
02-20-07, 05:56 PM
In the preview on GIGA yesterday I swear they sounded just like the SH3 english speech. Always played SH3 in German, so those English voices will be new to me. :)
Same here, but I heard them once or twice. The problem is the english voices are lame and don't even sound American. They don't sound German either though. But they did use them in the demo. So I hope they record new ones.
A mix in accents would be cool, some southerners, californians, texans,new yorkers etc.
Maybe we can do a community mod if the voices aren't up to scratch.
flintlock
02-20-07, 06:15 PM
Maybe we can do a community mod if the voices aren't up to scratch.
That's actually a great idea. Easily implemented and remedied via a patch.
badhat17
02-20-07, 07:31 PM
Destroyer Command II if SH4 sells enough .....
Did they not say exactly the same thing before about SH3 ?
I won't be falling for that old chestnut this time.
Well if they don't make a DC 2, then they had better do an SH5
nattydread
02-20-07, 10:57 PM
Hold on, wait a minute!...for multiplayer, we can be the convoy?
If there is a Destroyer Command, I'll be on it in a heart beat! Man the fun that'll be to have a joint SH vs DC multiplayer. Of course, I'd like there to be some more than just a "battle in a bottle". Its no fun when the DDs know your there, the main advantage the subs have is the convoy and escort's complacency over time. There has to be a better way to implement the engagments. I'd like to see dedicated servers and semi-persistent environments...but thats just me!
Yes, there is already DE vs Sub, even in the release version of SH4. You can't control the entire convoy, but you can control all of the escorts.
NefariousKoel
02-20-07, 11:32 PM
Same here, but I heard them once or twice. The problem is the english voices are lame and don't even sound American. They don't sound German either though. But they did use them in the demo. So I hope they record new ones.
A mix in accents would be cool, some southerners, californians, texans,new yorkers etc.
Maybe we can do a community mod if the voices aren't up to scratch.
I'd be happy to try my hand at some "hillbillyspeak" for that Ozarks twang! :rotfl:
hyperion2206
02-21-07, 04:35 AM
Same here, but I heard them once or twice. The problem is the english voices are lame and don't even sound American. They don't sound German either though. But they did use them in the demo. So I hope they record new ones.
A mix in accents would be cool, some southerners, californians, texans,new yorkers etc.
Maybe we can do a community mod if the voices aren't up to scratch.
The voices I heard in the GIGA preview had an American accent for sure. But since I've never heard the english voices in SH3 I can't tell if they're the same used in SH4.
No, it was the same voices as from SH3. They sort of sound-psuedo American, but really robotic.
GSpector
02-21-07, 05:12 AM
Not sure but it seems everyone here thinks 11,000 people are all those that play SH3 and will buy SHIV.
If I am not mistaken, though there are a large number of SH3 players here at Subsim, I would think it's safe to guess that the mass majority of those with SH3 have never been to SubSim or ever even heard of GWX.
So, if this is true then 11,000 could be just a small fraction of the possibility for sales.
I really believe SH4 has a very good chance of doing well. Especially for a sim.
do you think we will hear...........
"ye hah" thats how we get it done, everytime a torp hits a ship ?
"or sit down b*tch? - i owned your japanesey ass"
:rotfl:
I have to admit, I am hoping someone does a cool mod for SH4 already! one with german subs and voices, dam its just not the same playing as the Americans is it?
Arent the Germans the badest bad guyz ever ever?
Those guyz are so much worse than the Empire and everyfink ;)
hyperion2206
02-21-07, 05:58 AM
No, it was the same voices as from SH3. They sort of sound-psuedo American, but really robotic.
I didn't hear enough to call the voices 'robotic', what I've heard was just normal American English.
Lets do the math on good sales. If we look at SH3 and how many have downloaded just GWX (I believe it was around 11,000), we can logically believe that there are 11,000 players out there(some might have download twice for various reasons). Now, 11,000 potential buyers of SH4 x $49.99(average price of new game)=$549890.00 or over 1/2 a million. I suspect this game will go platnium and Destroyer Command will be on the way:rock:
Some scum however also downloaded SH3 and dont forget those that had to dload GWX more then once.
dean_acheson
03-09-07, 10:15 PM
Same here, but I heard them once or twice. The problem is the english voices are lame and don't even sound American. They don't sound German either though. But they did use them in the demo. So I hope they record new ones.
A mix in accents would be cool, some southerners, californians, texans,new yorkers etc.
Maybe we can do a community mod if the voices aren't up to scratch.
I'd be happy to try my hand at some "hillbillyspeak" for that Ozarks twang! :rotfl:
being from Branson, i'd be happy to chime in too. :rotfl: :rotfl:
NefariousKoel
03-10-07, 01:57 AM
Same here, but I heard them once or twice. The problem is the english voices are lame and don't even sound American. They don't sound German either though. But they did use them in the demo. So I hope they record new ones.
A mix in accents would be cool, some southerners, californians, texans,new yorkers etc.
Maybe we can do a community mod if the voices aren't up to scratch.
I'd be happy to try my hand at some "hillbillyspeak" for that Ozarks twang! :rotfl:
being from Branson, i'd be happy to chime in too. :rotfl: :rotfl:
:o
Howdy neighbor!
As far as sales go a lot of people forget one important fact. The number of people who own PCs has skyrocketed, but the percentage of people who would buy such a game remains about the same. Used to be 40,000 copies was about break even, my guess is that it is a bit more than that now.
In any case this game will easily surpass SH3 sales IMHO because of three reasons.
1) More people own PCs.
2) Lots of Euro's that loved SH3 will get SH4 just because.
3) Tons of US gamers just dieing for a pacific theater war sim.
My guess is they'll also be a surge in SH3 sales from US players who passed on it before, but their interest peaks due to SH4.
As long as SH4 isn't a buggy mess it is bound to be a hit.
Stormfly
03-11-07, 09:57 AM
The main reason he didn't mention it is because the interviewer didnt ask him :damn:
ohaa so so sorry, but i asked him about the ai...
he say´s, that the allready good job for the sh3-ai will be fine tuned. :hmm:
...dependent of the sounds and crew-voices, we hear the original sh3 ones in Hamburg, so i told him it would be fine to have a new set (without Mickey Minnie). But it seams that there isnt enough time to do it til release. On the other hand and especcialy for the crew, ithink we need a good american mod-team for this. For SH4 ithink this wont be a big problem or ? :)
Snowman999
03-11-07, 02:56 PM
We're going from two messages to four!
Be more aggressive!
Keep up the good work!
My guess at new message - 'Fremantle is all out of ice cream, return to Pearl instead.'
To: AllSubsComSubPac
Fm: ComNavGod
Fremantle reports rabbit died. All subs directed return sooonest for inspection/interrogation.
Snowman999
03-11-07, 02:58 PM
Now, 11,000 potential buyers of SH4 x $49.99(average price of new game)=$549890.00 or over 1/2 a million. I suspect this game will go platnium and Destroyer Command will be on the way:rock:
Bad math. $49.99 is retail, not wholesale.
Now, 11,000 potential buyers of SH4 x $49.99(average price of new game)=$549890.00 or over 1/2 a million. I suspect this game will go platnium and Destroyer Command will be on the way:rock:
Bad math. $49.99 is retail, not wholesale.
Yep.
A lot of folks seem to think that the price the game is selling for is the amount of money the Developer/Producer is recouping. That is nowhere near accurate.
There are quite a few costs associated with creating/selling a videogame that are not completely evident to the mainstream consumer.
Aybody want to take a guess at how much it would cost to advertise SHIV on FOX during an episode of "24"? ;) :)
Hint: It ain't free. lol
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