Any skimmers (Destroyer guys) out there?

[Greenhornet]

I just wanted to know if there were any guys out there that would love to sink U-Boats ala Destroyer command? I've read various threads talking about the interop games we used to play and wondered if there were any of the dedicated old sub killer crew out there?

I really want to see an SHV addon for surface guys to kick some sub butt!:ping:
Destroyer Command was all US Destroyers and I'd love to see Canadian Corvettes and British Destroyers show subbies a thing or two. I don't think it would be too hard to get this to work, I think its more about who would buy it.

I know there is another thread about Destroyer command 2, but I wanted to know who were the skimmers out there.....

[Greyghost]

I for one loved being the skipper of an escort and hunting u-boats in interop play back in the day. I would definitely, if given the chance, be going back to the hunter if a DC 2 were released.

[Méo]

Ok i don't mean to be rude here, but i just don't get it why this keep coming over and over. :hmmm:

I already said it before but maybe you guys can explain, i just don't see the interest in taking command of a destroyer and chasing an enemy that you hardly or never see at all! (if you play with full realism)

I mean could not even see and know if you ''kick some sub butt'' or if you are missing your target and most of the time you would be called back to the convoy without having time to finish the job. In other words most of the time you would be on defensive, where's the fun in that?

The only cool thing i can imagine would be to catch a u-boat in deep fog with early radar and ram it at full speed.

I'm not saying i don't want it, but to me there are other priorities. (especially when they are not sure if they will have time to implement wolfpacks before release)

[hellfish6]

I brake for tin cans.

[Torplexed]

I really enjoyed some of the destroyer night action scenarios in the Solomons against the Japanese. That crazy battle of Guadalcanal scenario in particular. Like a bar brawl with the lights shot out indeed. :D

[Greenhornet]

Ok i don't mean to be rude here, but i just don't get it why this keep coming over and over. :hmmm:

I already said it before but maybe you guys can explain, i just don't see the interest in taking command of a destroyer and chasing an enemy that you hardly or never see at all! (if you play with full realism)

I mean could not even see and know if you ''kick some sub butt'' or if you are missing your target and most of the time you would be called back to the convoy without having time to finish the job. In other words most of the time you would be on defensive, where's the fun in that?

The only cool thing i can imagine would be to catch a u-boat in deep fog with early radar and ram it at full speed.

I'm not saying i don't want it, but to me there are other priorities. (especially when they are not sure if they will have time to implement wolfpacks before release)

I understand its not for everyone, but I personally enjoy it. Some of you guys are just subbies and some love the surface action. Being Canadian I'm proud of the job the Canuks did in the "War of the Atlantic" and I think subbies would love to have a group dedicated to giving 'em a run for their money. Playing against a "live" apponent would make you sweat a little I think. I figure that, if you'd played multiplayer with SH2 and DC you could have gotten a taste of how cool it was.

[Sailor Steve]

I served on a destroyer in real life, and if I could go back to WW2 I think I'd choose destroyer service again. Greyhounds of the sea and all that.

Multiplayer with subs and DDs is a whole lot of fun, and I wasted (utilized?) a lot of time back in the day. On the other hand, a real career as the skipper of a corvette would mean countless convoy escorts in all kinds of weather, getting maybe one uboat contact in three or trips, and in half of those you might actually be one of the escorts detailed to hunt the sub, and if you're lucky you might sink two uboats in a six-year career.

Me, I'd love that. But I don't think everyone would.

[DarkFish]

I think this could very easily be implemented by a group of modders, if only adversarial multiplayer games are possible. Look what we of TSWSM are doing, it's exactly the same, except that we concentrate on single player.
If we only had more teammembers...

[Webster]

assuming there will be no playable DD control options in sh5 i'll speak of sh4


the big stopper in sh4 has been dropping charges, this is a problem to be fixed


all else as you say IS moddable withing reason


if sh5 has no playable DD if they gave us mine laying subs then i think that would be enough "control" to mod it into a DD dropping charges

[DarkFish]

if sh5 has no playable DD if they gave us mine laying subs then i think that would be enough "control" to mod it into a DD dropping chargesDefinitely. Or more control over torpedo firing mechanisms. I have already modded playable DCs for TSWSM using modified torpedoes. The only problem is that they always end up 25-50m behind the dropping position, depending on speed ("behind" meaning in the opposite direction your ship is moving)

[Markus]

[quote=Sailor Steve;1201709]I served on a destroyer in real life, and if I could go back to WW2 I think I'd choose destroyer service again. Greyhounds of the sea and all that.

Multiplayer with subs and DDs is a whole lot of fun, and I wasted (utilized?) a lot of time back in the day. On the other hand, a real career as the skipper of a corvette would mean countless convoy escorts in all kinds of weather, getting maybe one uboat contact in three or trips, and in half of those you might actually be one of the escorts detailed to hunt the sub, and if you're lucky you might sink two uboats in a six-year career.

Me, I'd love that. But I don't think everyone would



If they implement all/most of the aspects of being an escort commander I think it would have much greater appeal. ie: picking up survivors, dealing with aircraft, escort commanders saw alot of continuous action when their convoys were under attack. They just didn't sink alot of subs, though some commanders sank alot more than two. Some didn't sink any of course but there would be alot to do when contact was made.
I loved destroyer command but it was pretty basic, weather didn't greatly impact play etc. Many of the things that could have made it more interesting were left out. They didn't even include systems like hedgehog, squid, mousetrap huff duff etc. Plus the subs weren't too bright either I found. Done correctly I think a new surface sim would be a hit.
I agree with you, some wouldn't like it but I think many would as long as there is lots to do when the battle begins. Subs are boring as well when no enemy is around I find.

[Webster]

i think one of the biggest problems with doing a DD sim is they were very boring 90% of the time and as someone mentioned here or maybe in another thread they never really knew if they actually sank the subs except in rare cases.

the "catch" i see with the idea is the campaign part, sure you can script missions to have action but in a campaign if its realisticly done you would be a defensive only mission where your not free to go chase a sub to hell n back but instead you keep them distracted until the convoy gets ahead of them and then return to your position looking for the next threat.

im sure someone may not agree with me but i dont think convoy duty would be very interesting as a campaign.

[longam]

It could be interesting if you were in charge of the convoy and its route to deliver the supplies on time and in the right place. That would give you more to do then just hunt subs.

Getting reports of sub activity and what area it is in and changing the convoy route to avoid the threat. You win if your on time and nothing lost. TC would take away long boredom like it does now in SH.

[Highbury]

I served on Destroyers in RL, but as far as in game, in a WW2 setting... better hope you have a good environment mod.. you will be doing nothing but staring at the weather 99% of the time, at least in a single player campaign. Would be like a "Watch paint dry" simulator.

[Markus]

[quote=Highbury;1202757]I served on Destroyers in RL, but as far as in game, in a WW2 setting... better hope you have a good environment mod.. you will be doing nothing but staring at the weather 99% of the time, at least in a single player campaign. Would be like a "Watch paint dry" simulator.



Wouldn't that be equally true of a WW2 submarine though ?

I would think that for either you would need/want to accelerate the time scale for most of the voyage.

[hellfish6]

Wouldn't that be equally true of a WW2 submarine though ?

I would think that for either you would need/want to accelerate the time scale for most of the voyage.

Exactly. A good game design - one in which you command the convoy and conduct the ancillary missions that escorts were often assigned - would make up for it. Likewise the ability to swap from convoy duty to fleet duty.

[Highbury]

One is an offensive hunter, one is a guard on picket duty under strict orders. Huge difference. To quote Sailor Steve from earlier:

On the other hand, a real career as the skipper of a corvette would mean countless convoy escorts in all kinds of weather, getting maybe one uboat contact in three or trips, and in half of those you might actually be one of the escorts detailed to hunt the sub, and if you're lucky you might sink two uboats in a six-year career.

So to be about equal your U-Boat would have to only encounter enemy every 3 - 4 patrols, and have a small chance of BDu allowing you to attack it, resulting in no more then a handful of sinkings in in a career. This is of course ludicrous when talking about a sub career, but it is true of a destroyer career.. so no, not the same.

Exactly. A good game design - one in which you command the convoy and conduct the ancillary missions that escorts were often assigned - would make up for it. Likewise the ability to swap from convoy duty to fleet duty.

You are talking about a strategic sim, in SH we control one vessel. I would not buy it if you could control more then one or decide your own orders. There are enough games where you play God, only the SH series where you are just one captain of one ship.

[Méo]

It could be interesting if you were in charge of the convoy and its route to deliver the supplies on time and in the right place. That would give you more to do then just hunt subs.

Getting reports of sub activity and what area it is in and changing the convoy route to avoid the threat. You win if your on time and nothing lost. TC would take away long boredom like it does now in SH.

Seems like you're thinking of a complete different game, like stand-alone game. Rememeber this is Silent Hunter, the title says nothing about delivering supplies. :hmmm:

[Méo]

I understand you guys might be disappointed, but the devs already said (and i 100% agree with them) in the Community Q&A:

''Our focus is to create the perfect German submarine experience, with the highest detail current technology allows in real time. Silent Hunter is not about surface ships, is not about strategic decisions. What truly means Silent Hunter is life of a captain, his boat, his crew, a desperate battle for survival they themselves may not understand or agree with, sinking ships, live a drama on the high seas.''

To me they worded it perfectly!

Maybe Ubisoft Romania could specialized themselves in Naval Simulations. Maybe you could get what you want in the coming years. :up:

[oscar19681]

I would give it a shot in MP . Only if for sending shivers down the u-boat players spine when i toss tin cans on his head.

[longam]

Seems like you're thinking of a complete different game, like stand-alone game. Rememeber this is Silent Hunter, the title says nothing about delivering supplies. :hmmm:

Edit: nevermind

[Egan]

I'd rather have 'Destroyer Command 2' than SH5 to be honest. I loved the first one.

[Markus]

Are there any "Battle of the Atlantic" computer games on the market at all that allow the player to manage surface escort vessels ? either as a sim or other ?
I can't think of one. Got an urge to drop some depth charges

DC is the only title I can think of

[Greenhornet]

Its funny though, Jutland seemed to be a big hit as did PT boats. DC had a rather bad interface for dropping charges but good graphics and a streamline interface would be great.

I to loved the night action, firing starshells to get a good bead on the Japanese taskforce, we also multiplayed with a bunch of DD's to see if we could take out the Jap Battleships. Convoy duty wasn't the only thing you could do. Fun ,fun, fun!

[Sailor Steve]

I talked about the boredom of escort duty, but there are other duties of small surface ship life. You could be assigned to a task force, or a mobile destroyer squadron, which would mean the possibility of surface battles. That could lead to an expansion which would allow you to multiplay the different sides involved. Someone was working on a mod for Destroyer Command which would let you play the Germans, and we were looking forward to multiplayer battles that way.

Imagine a single mission scenario in which you played one of the destroyers sent in to attack Bismarck, or one of the big Pacific battles.

[Méo]

Imagine a single mission scenario in which you played one of the destroyers sent in to attack Bismarck

Whoa! Not sure i would want to face the Bismarck with a mere destroyer. :dead:

[Sailor Steve]

A group of destroyers were sent in at night to try to torpedo Bismarck. In the 1960 movie they score one or two hits and one destroyer is hit by 15" shells and disintegrates spectacularly (in a great special effect the whole bow section flies toward the camera).

In reality neither the destroyers nor Bismarck scored hits on the other.

[Spruence M]

Destroyer Command 2 would be an awsome new game. IMO. Or a great mod addition to SH5.

Good Luck

I'll be nailing coffins across the Atlantic.

[robbo180265]

I talked about the boredom of escort duty, but there are other duties of small surface ship life. You could be assigned to a task force, or a mobile destroyer squadron, which would mean the possibility of surface battles. That could lead to an expansion which would allow you to multiplay the different sides involved. Someone was working on a mod for Destroyer Command which would let you play the Germans, and we were looking forward to multiplayer battles that way.

Imagine a single mission scenario in which you played one of the destroyers sent in to attack Bismarck, or one of the big Pacific battles.

I for one would love the addition of player controlled Destroyers - now that would be fun!

The way to implement it (and I'm surprised that no-one here has thought of it) would be using a similar system to the "drop in" used by Napoleon Total War. I.E. you agree to drop in to other players games, so you'd be patrolling in your Destroyer or U Boat and as soon as another players sub attacks a convoy you are asked if you want to drop in and defend the convoy.

This would beat the "boredom factor" that Steve mentions











Of course this would mean that you would have to be online at all times:hmmm:

[Los]

Yeah, not sure why some are knocking DD duty. Apparently they've never done a multi player with Destroyer command, I used to love those games and was the only time I did multiplayer with any of the SH series.

Evading human controled DD's is far more challenging and fun then the AI.