The Silent Hunter that never was, part I ? A real periscope

[elanaiba]

Something I wanted to do in a long time was to have a more open communication with the community regarding potential game features. This is hard to do in a company where marketing guys have their plans - they probably know a thing or two, sure. It's hard when you don't have time for it, too.

Also, it's easy to shoot ideas and then not be able to implement them, to the disappointment of many... and in the end, you do want to come up with some (good) surprises.

I might just throw some stuff here, for no real reason. There's no hidden interest behind it. It's not a poll on what feature I should build next. Its just a glimpse into what we would have liked to do as the "ultimate" Silent Hunter.

One of my pet ideas and an experiment we did fairly early with SH5 was to have a functional, rotating 3D periscope, with the outside world visible through the lens and the conning tower (or command room) moving in the background. It was just a rough prototype and would have taken more time to do properly. Also would have taken a lot of effort in order to make it useful gameplay wise, not just a resource hog.

But in the end, it was interesting that we couldn't all agree whether its cool to have the periscope like that or not? Some people thought its nice and brings something new and immersive to the genre. Others thought - and with good reason - that a real periscope image should be black all around, as the captain would close the other eye.

What do people here think?

[krashkart]

Cool idea. I think a neat feature to add to that would be to mimic the one eye closing as you start to look through the periscope. Who says eye candy is a bad thing (lame pun intended)? :DL

[nikimcbee]

I think at first it would be real cool, but it would become a distraction from the action. If time/money weren't an issue, it would be a cool option.

I say keep it simple. (or optional:D)

[nikimcbee]

@ Dan.:salute: Good to see you.

[krashkart]

Simple and optional, but not both at the same time. Or make it optional to have a periscope -- that would be even better. :D

[nikimcbee]

Simple and optional, but not both at the same time. Or make it optional to have a periscope -- that would be even better. :D

Just for you, you can do it "old school" and do the sonar approach/attack:D.

[krashkart]

Just for you, you can do it "old school" and do the sonar approach/attack:D.

Yeah. Who needs a periscope thingy anyway? :O:


EDIT: *cedes thread to more serious people*

[Sailor Steve]

Hey Dan, it's good to see you around.

I remember the periscope background from SH2. Same sort of thing, except of course it didn't move, which of course a lot of people complained about. I think it's a cool idea, but as Jason said it might be distracting. Of course people can concentrate and ignore it. We do that all the time with the dials.

My personal preference is for a black background and a lens that fills up the entire screen, but using the available options doesn't bother me as you just learn to ignore the background. So yeah, I think it would be cool, but the question is, does it actually add to the game?

[krashkart]

It wouldn't distract me at all, I think. But I agree with McBee and Sailor Steve that it could be distracting to some players. Make it optional like nikimcbee suggested and we'd have the best of both worlds depending on our preferences. :hmmm:

[Jmack]

My personal preference is for a black background and a lens that fills up the entire screen, but using the available options doesn't bother me as you just learn to ignore the background. So yeah, I think it would be cool, but the question is, does it actually add to the game?


yeah ... i agree with Steve ! , black and a larger lens image

[THE_MASK]

Actually , just having you on the forum is an honour :salute:

[sidslotm]

Something I wanted to do in a long time was to have a more open communication with the community regarding potential game features. This is hard to do in a company where marketing guys have their plans - they probably know a thing or two, sure. It's hard when you don't have time for it, too.


A brilliant idea.

the light shininng in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood.

[misha1967]

I voted for black, since that's how I like it, but I also believe that it would be a nice optional feature since I'm sure that some would like it.

And I echo Sober: Good to have you with us, Dan!

I, we, may complain about stuff that we would have liked to see or stuff that wasn't implemented right etc., but if it hadn't been for you guys on the team, this sim that we all love would have never advanced to its fifth iteration. And you guys, unlike a lot of dev teams, left the whole thing wide open for us to play with and modify to our hearts' contents. :salute:

[ReallyDedPoet]

Actually , just having you on the forum is an honour :salute:

:yep:

Nice to see you Dan :up:

[mookiemookie]

I went with black. If you're a sub captain looking through a periscope, that's what you're going to see. You'd have to be sitting pretty far back from the eyepiece to see the command room around it.

Glad to see you're still around Dan. Your little girl is beautiful!

[Herr-Berbunch]

Black for me too. Glad you're still around, and glad you're still thinking about SH - that can only be a good thing. :D

[Subnuts]

Realistically, you wouldn't be looking at anything except the eyepiece and bearing scale when looking through the periscope. Any submarine captain who does a periscope search so far away from the eyepiece he can see the interior of the boat moving around him needs a new day job before he kills 50 men! :dead:

[Bilge_Rat]

while the idea of having a 3d background is intriguing, I would think it would be more of a distraction once the novelty wears off. I voted for black, but I am on the fence on this one.

p.s.: sounds like another Silent Hunter might be in the cards? my credit card is ready!

[Raticon]

A cool feature would be - like the first poster implied - a brief moment where the enviroment is visible and then fading out, simulating the kaleun closing the other eye and focusing trough the lens, another one would be the enviroment coming visible for brief moments when a lot of movement shakes the boat like a storm or explosions nearby simulating the kaleun losing focus for a brief time and/or stumbling slightly, thus losing his immediate contact with the lens with the open eye.

I know it would be very hard to simulate and make working properly, but it would make for a cool feeling and make the player more aware of the world outside the periscope... For myself i tend to focus so hard i sometimes firget that the periscope is actually attached to the uboat and not just a free-floating lens, haplessly adrift on the ocean heading towards a tasty tanker... :ping:

Naturally, it would be optional much like other realism-options.

[mookiemookie]

I know it would be very hard to simulate and make working properly, but it would make for a cool feeling and make the player more aware of the world outside the periscope... For myself i tend to focus so hard i sometimes firget that the periscope is actually attached to the uboat and not just a free-floating lens, haplessly adrift on the ocean heading towards a tasty tanker... :ping:

Naturally, it would be optional much like other realism-options.

This is an idea I like. Having to deal with maintenance, condensation, fogging and vibration at high speeds would be welcome additions from a realism standpoint.

[Ducimus]

But in the end, it was interesting that we couldn't all agree whether its cool to have the periscope like that or not? Some people thought its nice and brings something new and immersive to the genre. Others thought - and with good reason - that a real periscope image should be black all around, as the captain would close the other eye.

What do people here think?

I think it's a mixed bag. (Yup, im gonna wax form and function) Next to the TDC, the periscope is the most important aspect of a submarine sim in terms of function. So first and foremost, the Periscope must convey information, and have good functionality in how it interrelates/intermingles/reacts with the TDC.

Along those lines, I personnally find too much clutter distracting. My eyes are darting here, there, checking all the variables in the firing solution and getting them to the TDC. When i do this, I am in a hurry. The less my eye has to sort through, the better.

On the other hand, it has to feel authentic, and it should have some "character". So with that thought, my minds eye is seeing something in between. Have the "gauge look" of SH3, and have the background of the control room visible in 3d around the edges, but blur it out. With that main focus on the periscope view, and associated dials/input related to inputting a firing solution and shooting torpedos. Think of it as your eye focusing on an object up close, what does the stuff in the background do? It looses focus and becomes blurry as it goes off into your peripheral vision. This would provide immersion, but keep the focus on the periscope and its controls. Done right, i think it would minimize the clutter that is distracting to the eye, and still provide the immersion wanted by the end users.

As a side note, The overall tint of the background should ALWAYS reflect the lighting in the compartment.

[krashkart]

I think Ducimus hit the nail on the head there...

[Charlie901]

I voted for black but would love to see the 3d background as an option...

Dan,

Thanks for stopping by and being a part of our community. :salute:

[tonyw123]

How about >select scope view> 3d scope with visible background, bearing marks, mag select, tdc dials etc, then hold down shift key to close in to scope with a black background only. That would seem to be more realistic to me.