wetwarev7
03-05-10, 10:40 AM
Ok, so I went ahead and bought SH5. I still disagree with the whole online requirement thing, but that's another thread....
Overall, I like SH5. I can see myself running patrols for a long time. It runs well on my system, even with an Nvidia card. Most importantly, it's fun.
Here's a few observations and suggestions from starting out my first patrol.
First of all, let me say something about my playing style because different styles of play focus on different aspects. I try to play any SH game as realistically as possible, within reason. For example, I play in real time but on the days I have to work I will fast forward to make up for the time I was at work. I play with the gui off and I use voice activated commands for all operations. I never use the keyboard except where the games limitations force me to, or it just makes sense (such as walking through the ship).
Observations:
Even though I don't use it much, I think the GUI is an improvement, if only because it takes up less real estate on the screen.
Walking through the ship is what I've been wanting for a long time, and it's great. I just can't figure out where I'm supposed to be standing when I'm on duty.
The water is fantastic! I got dizzy watching it go by...
I am conflicted about the attack sequence. I like being able to give out the info to setup the shot, it works, and feels realistic, but I do miss playing with the knobs.
The recognition manual works better for me now. I allays found the 'book' to be somewhat clumsy and took up too much screen.
The 'Locked' tag in the periscope is kinda obtrusive.
At one point the engineer called out for the main engines to be shut down for some reason. I waited but they never shut down so I called for All Stop and went to see what the problem was. He acted as if nothing had happened so I continued us on or way. Obviously a bug, but highlights how cool it is when random things happen and you can go down to check it out. Hopefully a modder or two can take advantage of these types of bugs to make that coolness a reality.
Oh! I passed a German merchant who was traveling backwards....
The manual is a joke. The keyboard layout is not even correct! The manual has got to be the easiest thing to get right when developing a game, and it doesn't even take an expensive skilled person to do it. Just plain sloppy.
Where's my radio? I've got all these CBS newscasts for the radio from SH4, but I can't find the radio!
The ladders aren't difficult to climb at all. you just have to remember to not look too far up.
I think the crew discussions should have been set up as generic random dialog. I do find the crew more interesting right now, but there is no reason for me to speak to them again because they keep saying the same things. (I don't care about morale, you're in a tin can far away from home with a less than 25% chance of survival. You're not supposed to be in a good mood!)
What? No access to the toilet? Where am I supposed to decode my Little Orphan Annie secret messages?
Suggestions:
The mouse acceleration needs tweaking. On my system if I turn too quickly 180 degrees, it spins me around 360 degrees causing me to become disoriented. On my first tour of the ships interior, I actually thought there were two galleys because of this!
The compass. I like not having a compass in my face all the time, but there needs to be a way to direct evasive maneuvers other than "Go over there where I'm looking" or to order either a one degree rudder change or full rudder change. Make at least one interior compass clickable or put it back into the gui.
It's SH5 for crying out loud! FIVE! Have you not figured out how to code the options menu to configure the keyboard settings yet?!
There needs to be a way to turn off autosaving. It annoys me to have the 'Saving' box pop up like that, and I only save when I have to shut down the game. I don't reload if things "go bad", reloading is for pansies.
Set up the crew dialog as random generic stuff, and add the ability to speak with all crew. Not just "How's the family?" but stuff like crew members getting sick, injured, passing ratings tests, not getting along with each other, etc...
There needs to be a way to lock mouselook into the always on setting, and keeping the gui hidden. As it is, everything kinda resets when you leave a dialog or map or anything requiring the mouse. Annoying.
Make it so I can zoom up or squat down in front of the gauges. Except for the hydrophone station, it is too difficult to get a good look at the important things like heading, speed, depth, etc. Why can't they at least be at eye level?
That's it for now. I was still in shallow waters when I left for work this morning, so I'll try to update this with any other diving observations later.
Overall, I like SH5. I can see myself running patrols for a long time. It runs well on my system, even with an Nvidia card. Most importantly, it's fun.
Here's a few observations and suggestions from starting out my first patrol.
First of all, let me say something about my playing style because different styles of play focus on different aspects. I try to play any SH game as realistically as possible, within reason. For example, I play in real time but on the days I have to work I will fast forward to make up for the time I was at work. I play with the gui off and I use voice activated commands for all operations. I never use the keyboard except where the games limitations force me to, or it just makes sense (such as walking through the ship).
Observations:
Even though I don't use it much, I think the GUI is an improvement, if only because it takes up less real estate on the screen.
Walking through the ship is what I've been wanting for a long time, and it's great. I just can't figure out where I'm supposed to be standing when I'm on duty.
The water is fantastic! I got dizzy watching it go by...
I am conflicted about the attack sequence. I like being able to give out the info to setup the shot, it works, and feels realistic, but I do miss playing with the knobs.
The recognition manual works better for me now. I allays found the 'book' to be somewhat clumsy and took up too much screen.
The 'Locked' tag in the periscope is kinda obtrusive.
At one point the engineer called out for the main engines to be shut down for some reason. I waited but they never shut down so I called for All Stop and went to see what the problem was. He acted as if nothing had happened so I continued us on or way. Obviously a bug, but highlights how cool it is when random things happen and you can go down to check it out. Hopefully a modder or two can take advantage of these types of bugs to make that coolness a reality.
Oh! I passed a German merchant who was traveling backwards....
The manual is a joke. The keyboard layout is not even correct! The manual has got to be the easiest thing to get right when developing a game, and it doesn't even take an expensive skilled person to do it. Just plain sloppy.
Where's my radio? I've got all these CBS newscasts for the radio from SH4, but I can't find the radio!
The ladders aren't difficult to climb at all. you just have to remember to not look too far up.
I think the crew discussions should have been set up as generic random dialog. I do find the crew more interesting right now, but there is no reason for me to speak to them again because they keep saying the same things. (I don't care about morale, you're in a tin can far away from home with a less than 25% chance of survival. You're not supposed to be in a good mood!)
What? No access to the toilet? Where am I supposed to decode my Little Orphan Annie secret messages?
Suggestions:
The mouse acceleration needs tweaking. On my system if I turn too quickly 180 degrees, it spins me around 360 degrees causing me to become disoriented. On my first tour of the ships interior, I actually thought there were two galleys because of this!
The compass. I like not having a compass in my face all the time, but there needs to be a way to direct evasive maneuvers other than "Go over there where I'm looking" or to order either a one degree rudder change or full rudder change. Make at least one interior compass clickable or put it back into the gui.
It's SH5 for crying out loud! FIVE! Have you not figured out how to code the options menu to configure the keyboard settings yet?!
There needs to be a way to turn off autosaving. It annoys me to have the 'Saving' box pop up like that, and I only save when I have to shut down the game. I don't reload if things "go bad", reloading is for pansies.
Set up the crew dialog as random generic stuff, and add the ability to speak with all crew. Not just "How's the family?" but stuff like crew members getting sick, injured, passing ratings tests, not getting along with each other, etc...
There needs to be a way to lock mouselook into the always on setting, and keeping the gui hidden. As it is, everything kinda resets when you leave a dialog or map or anything requiring the mouse. Annoying.
Make it so I can zoom up or squat down in front of the gauges. Except for the hydrophone station, it is too difficult to get a good look at the important things like heading, speed, depth, etc. Why can't they at least be at eye level?
That's it for now. I was still in shallow waters when I left for work this morning, so I'll try to update this with any other diving observations later.