Love Silent Hunter, Hate Ubisoft

[DelphiUniverse]

I love Silent Hunter and I hate Ubisoft.

Ubisoft have good taste for graphics, nice and shiny things. Ubisoft have crappy taste for good quality code, and Ubisoft truelly hate its crowds, more than you can imagine. They would rather crap on your head than give you a cookie.

Beside this, can we really expect SH6, if so I have no expectations to it, because I know it will be just as crappy as SH5 (technically speaking)

:know:

[Kapitanleutnant]

can we really expect SH6
I hope not!

[JU_88]

I love Silent Hunter and I hate Ubisoft.

Ubisoft have good taste for graphics, nice and shiny things. Ubisoft have crappy taste for good quality code, and Ubisoft truelly hate its crowds, more than you can imagine. They would rather crap on your head than give you a cookie.

Beside this, can we really expect SH6, if so I have no expectations to it, because I know it will be just as crappy as SH5 (technically speaking)

:know:

No SH6 im sure.
While there are some really good guys over at UBI romania, (some of which have been active members of this forum) on the whole the company's attitude is pretty stubbon and they generally ignore the indervidual gamer.
SH5 is a complicated one, they experimented with the franchise, but could not see it though within the time and budget allowed.
It was over ambitious I guess.

[Trevally.]

Here we go again :nope:


Can we not get a sticky thread with the following polls

Do you hate UBI? - yes/no
Will you never buy another ubi game? - yes/no
Is SH5 worth buying yet? - yes/no
Will it every be as good as SH3? - yes/no
Is DRM gone yet? - yes/no

:)

[DelphiUniverse]

The last year or so all I have been thinking about is 'Open Source'

It's a good thought, but unfortunately the open source community sucks so much on designing user interfaces. It seems like the OSC only know how to make good code. It's like that with most OS games that I have seen, the user interface just sucks so much and this is where ubisoft puts great effort.

So it is a hard one. An open source submarine simulator would be a good thing in all ways that I can think of, but the punishment is that we have to suffer user interface designs done by 14 year old kids who don't even know how to flush a toilet.

If there ever is such a project, I demand the job of designing user interfaces. I know how to do it, how to make it usable.

:DL

[Takeda Shingen]

Here we go again :nope:


Can we not get a sticky thread with the following polls

Do you hate UBI? - yes/no
Will you never buy another ubi game? - yes/no
Is SH5 worth buying yet? - yes/no
Will it every be as good as SH3? - yes/no
Is DRM gone yet? - yes/no

:)

I could think of few things more painful that taking that sort of discussion and placing it permanently at the top of the forum.

[Ducimus]

I hope not!

Ditto. In all reality, i don't think anyone REALLY want's a SH6 by ubisoft.

If ubisoft was to make Silent Hunter 6, they would most assuredly use SH5 as a base, when they need to start over from scratch and build a new game from the ground up.

Think about it....

Silent Hunter 3 was great, but it wasn't perfect. It had a few unresolved issues of its own.

SH4 was built upon SH3. It retained some of the unresolved issues from SH3, while introducing some bugs of its own.

SH5 was built upon SH4. It retains some of the unresolved issues from SH3, AND SH4, while introducing some new bugs of its own.

SH6? Can you imagine the roach motel that this title would be? it would most likely retain unresolved issues from all previous titles and introduce new bugs as well.

No thanks. Time to let it go, or start over from scratch - which ubisoft will never do.

[DelphiUniverse]

Can we not raise a donation fund for Ubisoft, and we donate money to them to keep a few of their internal workers patching a future sh6.

We can ask that in the ubisoft forums. If we could feed just one or two programmers inside Ubisoft to keep patches coming.

I dunno, it's one option. :DL

Heck, we could also raise a SH5 donation fund too, to have them send out a few more patches

We need to properly advertize the fund on youtube and elsewhere to raise interest.

[Ducimus]

Can we not raise a donation fund for Ubisoft, and we donate money to them to keep a few of their internal workers patching a future sh6.

We can ask that in the ubisoft forums. If we could feed just one or two programmers inside Ubisoft to keep patches coming.

I dunno, it's one option. :DL

Heck, we could also raise a SH5 donation fund too, to have them send out a few more patches

The problem with that idea is Ubisoft is a Corporation. And corporations exist for only ONE purpose - to make money. Submarine simulations, hell, simulations in general, is not where the money is in gaming these days.
They're not going to spend the time and resources on a nitch genre that will have little return on their initial investment.

Hell, it could be reasonably argued that Ubisoft minimized their initial investment on SH4 and Sh5. Look at how they reused SH3 and SH4 when making SH5. If you look in SH5 files you'll see legacy files from BOTH previous titles. The majority of the drive space used in SH5's installation, is just a needless bloat of resources that arent even being used because they didn't even spend the man hours to clean up the files. They just added to it. Think about that - they didn't even take the time to clean up the files. They did the bare minimum because developer hours equals money spent on production. Honestly, if ubisoft was going to invest into a producing a game, they'll do it on a title that has a much higher potential return.

Take a look at steam's top 10:
http://store.steampowered.com/stats/

See any simulation there? I see mostly FPS's or FPS hybrids.

[JU_88]

Can we not raise a donation fund for Ubisoft, and we donate money to them to keep a few of their internal workers patching a future sh6.

We can ask that in the ubisoft forums. If we could feed just one or two programmers inside Ubisoft to keep patches coming.

I dunno, it's one option. :DL

Heck, we could also raise a SH5 donation fund too, to have them send out a few more patches

We need to properly advertize the fund on youtube and elsewhere to raise interest.

You aware that the average development cost of modern PC/Console game is an 8 figure number, right? ($27 million is about the going rate :O:)
Anyway Ubisoft have plenty of money to invest in to new projects, they dont need donations. They won't do another SH because of the reason Ducimus pointed out above.

[DelphiUniverse]

It's so strange to think about the times when SH3 came, then SH4, then SH5 one after the other, and it all stopped now? Doesn't sound right. Ubisoft is one among few who release this kind of game, if no other company is doing it, then ubisoft are by definition the only company that actually have cared for subsim. They are not bad but good, its a good company. Blizzard certainly never cared, neither did GasPoweredGames :DL So Ubisoft have been caring in a careless way

Ubi-Care Obama-Care

[Ducimus]

The "rapid release" of submarine sim's, is basically, us.... living in a bubble, or so is my thought.

The name of the series, is no accident. The "Silent Hunter" name goes back to Strategic Simulations, Inc. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_Simulations,_Inc.) who published the first of the series. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Hunter)


Silent Hunter was an SSI title, and SSI was acquired by ubisoft. My guess is Ubisoft Romania as we know it, was sort of a legacy remnant of that era, only with newer employee's as im sure the original developers moved on some time ago.

[JU_88]

It's so strange to think about the times when SH3 came, then SH4, then SH5 one after the other, and it all stopped now? Doesn't sound right. Ubisoft is one among few who release this kind of game, if no other company is doing it, then ubisoft are by definition the only company that actually have cared for subsim. They are not bad but good, its a good company. Blizzard certainly never cared, neither did GasPoweredGames :DL So Ubisoft have been caring in a careless way

Ubi-Care Obama-Care

Yep 3 SH games in 5 years!
For Subsim (or any sim) franchise that is just mental! As far as I know each one sold worse than the last.
Sh3 was a successful franchise reboot and it wowed alot of people,
its success paved the way for Sh4 - which more of the same with better visuals and set in a slighly less popular theatre (for subsimming anyway)
Then SHV.... we all know the story, so i wont repeat it.

What Ubi perhaps should have done with SH5 is treat is as an 'SH3 refresh' and gone for an expanding sim, like IL2 or Railworks, arguably they maybe should have done this at SH4 even.

They could have kept a small team to create paid DLC and and addons (even when inbetween projects.) They could release new ship packs, Theatres of war, playable Subs and even surface ships.
This in turn would have funded additional patches.

Modders have proven that the potentional for any one of last 3 SH games is vast. If you ask me Ubi missed a trick here, they saw the SH3 modding scene explode, they should have learned something from it.

[francho1961]

My greetings to all, Ubisoft is a company and gets games that do not work to see if any of those games are a success and so the saga continues .... Before risking the SH-6 would get an extension as with SH-4 remember .... friends who is a company that only cares about money.
Good hunting commanders.

:timeout:
:down:

[Dowly]

What Ubi perhaps should have done with SH5 is treat is as an 'SH3 refresh' and gone for an expanding sim, like IL2 or Railworks, arguably they maybe should have done this at SH4 even.

Should've done it with SH4. More thought should've been on bettering the
stuff INSIDE the subs instead of outside.

[Rongel]

I didn't get sleep last night, so I figured out this:

Here's a great idea Ubisoft: make a expansion pack to SH 5 that would also serve as patch 1.3, same way that U-boat missions was made for SH 4. It would be relatively simple and wouldn't cost that much. All it has to do is offer more content and fix some of the bugs. It wouldn't need to fix the whole game or re-invent it, we have already many great mods for that. Here is a example how limited it could be:

extra content:
-add a couple new campaigns, some generic backstory and few lines of new dialogue. Call it Silent Hunter 5: Wolfpack Commander :O:
-6 more merchant ships, one new playable submarine
-more crew animations and immersion inside the sub
-improved wolfpack action

fixes:
-weather gear not working, magnetic detonation, crash if you sink friendly ship, morale, subhyd-fix, broken hydro/radar station and so on. Basic things, many of them were promised to fix in patch 1.2 but weren't.

If the changes would affect the stock game, this would be a must purchase to everyone who likes SH 5, but is annoyed with some of it's hard-coded issues and lack of variety. And it would propably attract new players to SH 5 if the word got out that it's fixed now. Expansion pack could be sold in Steam for 20-30 bucks, and there could be "Gold edition" of the SH 5 that includes the add-on for the new gamers.

This would basically force everyone who sees potential in SH 5 to buy it. In a perfect world, there should be a free patch that does this, but I understand the grimness of the gaming industry, so I would pay money to get it working.

With this kind of add-on, Ubisoft could make money, attract new players, clear it's soiled PR-image, and finally, with the added mods that we already have, make SH 5 the best submarine simulator that ever was! :D

Ubisoft, you are free to steal my idea!

[DelphiUniverse]

The fact that most people are into 3d first person shootemup games is something that bothers me. Why are so many people into it, clearly if the market is pointing that way, then it must be a reason for it. :yawn:
but WHAT IS it about, why are people so into it.....

[TheDarkWraith]

Here's what I think: Before it used to be that sex attracted buyers. Now it seems either sex and/or violence attracts buyers :shifty:

[Dowly]

I didn't get sleep last night, so I figured out this:

**SNIP**



I can see one flaw with that idea: Ubisoft :88)

[Ducimus]

Should've done it with SH4. More thought should've been on bettering the
stuff INSIDE the subs instead of outside.

They REALLY should have taken their time with SH4. In all reality, SH4 is little more then a supermod of SH3. I guess that makes SH5 is a mod of a mod. :O:

[sidslotm]

I long for Silent Hunter 7 and a Matrox 9 screen video card, oh yeah.

[Snotface]

The fact that most people are into 3d first person shootemup games is something that bothers me. Why are so many people into it, clearly if the market is pointing that way, then it must be a reason for it. :yawn: but WHAT IS it about, why are people so into it.....

Because it's simple. Pick up a weapon and run around shooting whatever you see. No need to read a manual. It's for the instant gratification generation.

That's my best guess anyway.
Having said that, clan games etc are quite social and we can see from Facebook etc that the younger generation have grasped the online social media thing by the horns.

[0rpheus]

The fact that most people are into 3d first person shootemup games is something that bothers me. Why are so many people into it, clearly if the market is pointing that way, then it must be a reason for it. :yawn:
but WHAT IS it about, why are people so into it.....

'Hollywood' factor, the casual aspect (pick up & play, put back down)... so many possibilities! I play one or two myself (ARMA, Red Orch, TF2), but while I used to play COD etc on consoles, I can't bear to do it now. The twitch gameplay and rampant idiocy/childishness/etc of the playerbase just puts me right off. When I go for shooters now I want realism and slower pacing (TF2 being the exception, but it's so well balanced it's never frustrating), the likes of Battlefield etc can take a hike. On a (vaguely) related note, I've been wondering whether the increasing popularity of games like The Sims actually reflects a general loss of control over people's own lives that they then seek in a game environment - and while I'm not saying that these kids play COD because of a suppressed need to shoot their neighbour in the face, I do think that a degradation of control throughout people's personal lives as a result of the modern economy/world/work/etc contributes a lot to the increasing popularity of all gaming - where control is guaranteed.

/amateursociologist


Here's what I think: Before it used to be that sex attracted buyers. Now it seems either sex and/or violence attracts buyers :shifty:

Damn, so what you're saying is we need a Hot Topless Blonde in the Conning Tower mod, and one that lets you wallop the engineer over the head with a wrench to boost repair time? Get on it man :D :O:

[0rpheus]

http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/3476/u37.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/703/u37.jpg/)

Silent Hunter 6: 'Major Boobage' edition:D

[robbo180265]

Let it die already.

Even if (and it's never going to happen) UBI brought out a super duper all bells and whistles Subsim - I ain't going to buy it, if it has the name Ubisoft then I'm not touching it with yours.

As far as I'm concerned , if it says Ubisoft then it's probably buggy and unplayable until modded
Too many half finished games with little or no support after they've sold you the initial white elephant (game)

Never going near that lot again....

[DeadlyWolf]

Take a look at steam's top 10:
http://store.steampowered.com/stats/

See any simulation there? I see mostly FPS's or FPS hybrids.
Ehm...this argument has no sense at all.
Those stats keep track of all the games played:
- online
- bought on steam

I hope you realise a lot of the videogames out there don't need neither.
If you want realistic data you shold watch at the sales (both dd and retail boxes)..the problem is It's difficult to find reliable sources.

The statement "simulation games don't sell" or "SH5 didn't sell well because of the genre" It's just pure crap.
This forum alone has almost 64000 users registered. The genre sells when the game deserves to be bought.
You want to blame someone? Blame that company of retards called Ubisoft. There're A LOT of reasons to do so.

[Ducimus]

Ehm...this argument has no sense at all.


Yes it does make sense. Those stats are essentually what people are playing!

Again, no sim's listed there. Considering how large steam has become, and how many users steam has, i'd call that a good benchmark.


The statement "simulation games don't sell"
or "SH5 didn't sell well because of the genre" It's just pure crap.
This forum alone has almost 64000 users registered. The genre sells when the game deserves to be bought.
.

Uh huh, and how long has this site been active? How many users through the course of years have created accounts here? How many of those users do you think are active or inactive? Your use of forum statistics to gauge the popularity of the sim genre is a bigger load of crap then anything I said.

edit: Oh and this forum alone? How many submarine simulation sites do you know of that have an active forum? There aren't very many. Take it from someone who was banned from subsim for a year. There are not that many.

[Halface]

Be glad its not a Sony

[GT182]

If UBI does another SH sim I hope they go broke.

I will NOT buy another UBI sim. Especially after they way they porked us all with SH5 and Cliffs of Dover.

StarForce in SH3 was bad enough, but mandatory connections to UBI and Steam to play SH5 and ClOD are the last straw. Paranoia at UBI will kill them. Rot in Hell UBI.

[kiwi_2005]

I would prefer a SH5 expansion pack or DLC option with the bug fixes & IX Uboats added.

[BigBANGtheory]

Ubisoft as a business is just not geared up towards SIMs and player communities. SH5 needed another year of development time and 2 years of follow on support to reach its potential, and that will never happen with Ubisoft.

Personally I wish it were possible for the game developers to go it alone, I think they had the right ideas with SH5 but just couldn't finish them.

[sidslotm]

Personally I wish it were possible for the game developers to go it alone, I think they had the right ideas with SH5 but just couldn't finish them.


Interesting, I was thinking the devs burned out, but you may be right.

This is a love/hate relationship, love SH5, hate Ubi for not going the distance.