Log in

View Full Version : What have you learned from SH?


shegeek72
04-19-07, 05:10 AM
Before SH3 I knew next to nothing about U-boats, except they were used in WWII and had diesel and electric motors. Since playing I've learned many things - just a few being how fast and deep U-boats can travel, where their ports were, the number of crew required and their respective stations and have even learned some German. SH3 has also sparked research into the various systems on a U-boat, like the engines, ballast, survivor accounts, etc . :arrgh!:

Between SH3, and Call of Duty, I've learned more about WWII than I did in high school. Makes me wonder if vid games could be used as teaching tools in schools, since most students would probably rather play video games than study. :know:
--
http://tarafoundation.org/sh3_U100.jpg

Foghladh_mhara
04-19-07, 05:27 AM
I learned that you get much better results by lurking unseen and then attacking unsuspecting victims from short range. Then if your prey is still twitching and no signs of any escorts you can move in and finish them off at your leisure before slinking off into the darkness. This has been an important lesson to me and has improved my promotion prospects at work as well as bringing in a bit of extra cash at the weekends as I prowl the neighbourhood looking for mugging targets :up:

P_Funk
04-19-07, 05:42 AM
I think that I might not have failed Grade 11 math had they taught me trig and such with SH3.:cool:

I know I knew very little about U-boats before this game. School usually neglects the bad guys when it comes to details. I can tell you that reading about the dynamic of the relationship of the Kreigsmarine with the rest of the Third Reich's inner workings was very enlightening. It gave me an insight into more than just the war at sea.

It also taught how there were big elements of the Third Reich that weren't as clean cut evil as its implied. The U-boat men were rather honourable, even compared to the Brits and Yanks. Their job was not an honourable one however so thats why they get so much flak.

Its amazing that something that scared Churchill so much is so forgotten by most people.

3 Cheers for educational games (especially ones that don't skimp on visuals).

Brag
04-19-07, 06:01 AM
To me SH opened the doors to the frustration a dedicated officer must have felt. Despite the courage, sacrifice and success, U boat crews saw more ships escape and make it port than sink.

Strategic simulations and board games are a fabulous teaching tools that allow the player to see problems from the perspective of the participants of a different era.

With the combination of SH and the subsim community, we get a pretty deep inmersion. We worry when someone reports being in deep trouble and we cheer when someone returns with great tonnage.

Unlike real war, SH and Subsim bring out the best in people.

Telgriff
04-19-07, 06:39 AM
Apart from very basic knowledge of Subs of all kinds in general, I knew almost nothing about the Naval side of WWII. I have since learnt that there was so much that relied heavily on the ocean travels and that U-Boats were a tremendous threat for much of the war. With the exception of U-Boat based movies, most war movies barely even mention the threat of traversing the oceans in WWII. Its amazing that a simulation such as SHIII has opened my eyes to a whole part of (and another perspective) of the entire conflict.

Patience, planning, dedication and bravery are all things that have slowly worked their way into my outlook on life. Sometimes its better to let smaller opportunities pass by for that chance at a truely great opportunity that would otherwise be missed....both in life...and in SHIII.

Umfuld
04-19-07, 06:51 AM
One thing is now whenever I see a show about uboats or subs in general I watch it. And get a good feeling that very little they say about life on a WWII sub and it's workings is new to me.

Bindolaf
04-19-07, 07:05 AM
I knew quite a bit about submarines (and surface ships for that matter) before SH3 and a little about the war and the operations, movements etc.

What SH3 reminded me of, or rather immersed me in, is the sadness of war. The meaningless suffering of crews, soldiers, airmen, civilians. The endless meat grinder turning, turning and evaporating young lives.

Whenever I sink a ship I do get some satisfaction, but I always remind myself that in reality people were lost aboard them. As they were lost aboard submarines, in trenches, in flying metal tubes.

For nought.

Foghladh_mhara
04-19-07, 08:18 AM
Wow, everybody learned important, serious stuff except me :cry:

Iron Budokan
04-19-07, 10:05 AM
I learned where the Shetland Islands are.

Sailor Steve
04-19-07, 10:57 AM
I'm an old fart; grew up in the aftermath of the war, watching all those old movies when they were new. Naval history is one of my many loves/hobbies, so the games don't have a lot to teach me in that respect. SH2 and SH3, however, have helped me learn a few words in German.

None that I'll ever use in the real world, though.:doh:

danurve
04-19-07, 11:04 AM
"What have you learned from SH?"

That stubbornness can still pay off at times.

Mauser KAR98K
04-19-07, 11:13 AM
Trying to sneak past escorts is no card trick. I now have vast respect for the men on both sides when they got depth charged. It's funny: I like a certain blue hedgehog in one game but hate another in SH3. I still havn't done the trig yet and need to find a manual to help out. But I can fire off a torpedo in the worst of weather via sound and 6 out of 10 times, be able to nail it.

It's also helped my geogrophy.

STEED
04-19-07, 11:15 AM
What I learnt from SH3.
Not a bloody thing that good WW2 books had not already told me. :smug: :know:

Canovaro
04-20-07, 04:56 AM
I learned that the English Channel is actually very shallow, never new that. :know:



and yes alright i learned it the hard way...

down and out
04-20-07, 05:24 AM
I have learnt a great deal in general about WW2

Always had a liking for uboats but since playing SH3 and more importantly joining here I have dscovered a lot more about the war as a whole
Including the merchants fleets\RN and Kreigsmarine
My geography has even improved
:rotfl:

DimDoms
04-20-07, 06:35 AM
I learned where the Shetland Islands are.

:rotfl:

Curval
04-20-07, 06:58 AM
It's also helped my geogrophy.

...but clearly did nothing for your spelling. ;)

pizza
04-20-07, 07:07 AM
It help me to discover another side of me.....
I learnt that I can be so hopelessly addicted to the game that I can lose my wife and job :cry: .

danlisa
04-20-07, 07:14 AM
....that you can't play as much as you want to and still maintain a healthy relationship with your wife.:88)

:arrgh!:

@ Pizza, welcome to Subsim.

I see you suffer from the same thing as me.

siber
04-20-07, 07:48 AM
Between SHIII and 'Das Boot', the thing that was rammed home was that everyone fighting in the war was human. We're all congratulating one another on tonnage sunk, and saying 'bad luck, what a shame' when someone's u-boat gets destroyed. From the point of view of a British person, I should be saying 'Good - my grandfather served on Atlantic convoys 60 years ago! I'm glad you sank - one less u-boat to worry about!' Watching Das Boot, I felt sorry for the crew when they got hurt, anxious for their safety when they're on the bottom at Gib, and sad at the end when the U96 gets sunk. BUT, I should be seeing them as 'the enemy' and cheering when they get detected or otherwise fail their mission.

This all proves that I now see u-boat crews as people rather than the enemy, in the same light as I see allied soldiers, sailors and airmen. Now, I just feel that it's a shame that the world has to erupt into warfare in order to solve its problems. All it comes down to is determination and fear, expressed by combatants on all sides, and I understand this now. Only politics divides us...

Now I'm a man of the world, not a man of Britain. That's how games and films such as these have changed me.

CaptainAsh
04-20-07, 09:10 AM
a lot of stuff about WW2 and seawarfare. I m, since a long time, passionate about WW2 wargear, especialy tank where germany panzer as no equal on one to one fight. SH3 gave me a certain interest in learning about naval wargear and I actualy learned a lot.

On a more pratical aspect, I learned to go always deeper : as deeper as possible for as long as possible. My wife is so happy about it...

pizza
04-20-07, 09:56 AM
a lot of stuff about WW2 and seawarfare. I m, since a long time, passionate about WW2 wargear, especialy tank where germany panzer as no equal on one to one fight. SH3 gave me a certain interest in learning about naval wargear and I actualy learned a lot.

On a more pratical aspect, I learned to go always deeper : as deeper as possible for as long as possible. My wife is so happy about it...

Wov....:o you absolute don't need an upgrade in your "electricity engine" to extend the duration of your "dive".