A better save game system that does not require a return to port and can allow updates while in a patrol or mission. Also, others have complained of some data loss while reloading a save game in a mission or patrol such as (convoys no longer there, missing tonnage amounts, etc... etc...

I think it just needs a bit of an adjustment and not feel so un-userfriendly. I also don't like the fact that it deletes all saved games when you load a specific one. Why does it need to delete anything? If I wanted them deleted I'd do it myself.

To try to keep you from going back and re-loading a failed convoy attack (ie. "cheating"). My best guess.

To Heck with saving manually anyway, ask you me. Have the game save automatically when you quit the game, just like in Uplink, and have it save automatically at a certain player-controlled interval to keep you from losing your campaign to a nasty crash-to-desktop.

What I'd love would be if there, in addition to the "Silent Hunter IV" desktop shortcut, there was a "Continue Silent Hunter IV" that bypassed the opening film, menus, and whatever else and dropped you right back to where you saved the game last time. Just a single loading screen and you're back in your submarine:sunny:!

Hey, now, there's an idea!:hmm::up:

And if I add the shortcut to my Startup folder, my career will start without me even needing to hit the shortcut key. Luxury:cool:!

And if I train my doggie to hit the "on" button for me... [trails out]

Seriously, though, if Windows XP allows different Startup folders for different user accounts, all you need to do is create a duplicate user account called "Silent Hunter IV" (give it a nice icon and everything;)!) with the "Continue"-shortcut in its Startup folder.

So when you want to play the game, just log on to that one and the game starts. If you want to do something else, log onto your regular account.

The things I'd like to see (some of them have already been mentioned) would be:
1) more ship types;
2) the abililty to see or participate in 'big events' (e.g. Midway, island hopping campaign etc.);
3) when you are sunk on the surface or near the surface, the chance of options other than death (i.e. capture, being rescued by friendly vessels etc.);
4) some reason to make me want to return to port the long way (i.e. welcome ships to guide us home, tugs, activity in port);
5) a more immersive game (i.e. newspapers, movie reels (they could always show Doenitz visiting the fleet etc etc));

That's pretty much it for me, I don't expect complete 100% realism (maybe in the future when we have bigger and better computers).

Splendid idea. I think I know how to implement it, too.

For historical information, have that SH 3 Commander feature that shows news for your current month during loading. Just limit it to the events already happened (don't show news for 27th of May on the 5th of May, for example). It's a great feature.

For radio broadcasts, simply have them play as ambience in the Career's "Office Screen"? Movie reels would be more tricky, but I suppose they could be shown as cutscenes after finished missions?

Dönitz? In the USN:p?

Wish list

1. more ship types.. and showing if they are loaded or unloaded (height wise in water).. who'd waste a torpedo on an empty ship :D
2. Crew management... deffinately worth allowing the player to select what crew members go where on a watch cycle, and they remain on that watch cycle rotation unless they are exhausted / killed etc.. if you can train them then make sure you can put them where they will actually do some good.
3. ability to use electric motors on surface (might be good if u need to sneak close in to a beach at night to rescue special forces or spies) i like the sneaky factor :D
4. mission types... allow for subs to be used for recon / carrying vital supplies / dropping off spies / comando's etc etc... subs were used to get food / fuel to malta during WWII and some dropped off the odd shore raiding party.
5. release a cut down SDK which would allow the Mod community to further improve / add to the games playability, you only need look at the mods peeps have done for SH3 to realise there are alot of really good modders out there :up:

above all make the game enjoyable!

You mean like at Crushbone? Apologies all, old joke from EQ haha.

That would have been nice for SHIII, but SHIV is another story. I've been looking over Japanese convoy records, and their ships very rarely travelled empty. They had so many different island destinations that they were always picking up something going somewhere else; hence they were always full.

...and loaded or not, U.S. subs were ordered to sink 'em all anyway.:)

I agree.And I want go　Niuginia area islands as supply sub.
IJN have used new submarine such as Jyunsen typeB for that operation.
That mission will be exciting! Because they cant dive so deep, US PT boats and planes
are try to attacking sub when we reach to islands.:up:

1. I would also like to see realistic sailors on the ships (both enemy and friendly) walking the decks, directing planes on carriers, manning gun mounts, coming in and out of hatches and passageways.

2. I like the idea of not dying if the submarine is 100% damaged by being able to give the order to abandon ship with different outcomes depending on several different variables.

3. I would actually not like to see a game like SHIII again. I don't like the fact that the game is predetermined from the get go. I would like to have the game played out more like Chess. I think this would make the game feel more "unpredictable" and make the player feel that he has something to contribute to the final outcome. I realize that no one submarine was responsible for the winning of WWII but I do think that for each ship you sink there should be points given overall that help to aid in the final outcome. For instance...


The world is at war. In this particular game the variables at the beginning are as followed.

Japanese strength 50% overall @ 100% on every asset (this includes panes, trucks, ships, troops, etc)

US strength 50% overall @ 100% on every asset as well.


For each enemy ship the player sub sinks points will be added to the US side if playing as a US submarine. These points could be smaller or larger depending on the importance of the ship sunk, like a BB with an Admiral on it. These points will be added into the total weekly totals at the end of each game week to show that the player submarine contributed to the total overall success or failure for the week. For each week that passes each of the country's overall strength will either grow or shrink depending on ALL engagements for that game week. It could be possible that the player submarine sunk a BB and a CV that week but the Japanese Army overran a large island with an airport that was more important to them than the CV that was lost or the BB.

Overall that week the Japanese would have won in the weekly tallies but not by much considering that they did lose a carrier and a BB. The next week the US Marine Corps might overun that Island again in the US's favor and now things for the US are looking very good since they haven't lost a carrier or a BB yet and now have control of the island as well for even more air supremecy over Japan who is now short a CV, a BB, and and Island with a strategic airport.


Anyways, I think you all understand what I am getting at. I want a WAR happening around me that is NOT pre-determined. SHIII is a great game for the graphics and the realism of sailing in a realistic looking game world. But the knowledge of knowing how the game will end before you even install it onto the HD kind of removes any sense of accomplishment out of it. Some folks want a game that is like this because they claim that it is "REAL" and it's the way the it happened. <BORING> I want something that is REAL also but I want to feel like I am LIVING in it and the outcome is NOT fixed, making it feel even more REAL and like I am living in it. I want the REAL weapons, I want the REAL ships, I want the REAL planes, and I want REAL engagements to happen (like Midway, Coral Sea, Iwa Jima, etc. ) but I want to REALLY live it and have things happen on a 50/50 scale so that things aren't written in stone. Otherwise the game feels more like a time machine and I might as well just sit back and watch the inevitable happen with my arms crossed and my eyes half shut telling the skipper, "Don't worry Sir, nothing important is happening today, and the Japanese will surrender to us on Sept. 2, 1945."


4. ALSO, DEAD IS DEAD. If I sink the Yamato in the game that mofo BETTER NOT show back up in that ENTIRE game unless I start a new career. I've lost count of know how many King George BBs I have sank in the same career in SHIII. When something in SHIV is sunk I want it GONE for good.

If I may be so bold, the "hull integrity" ("hit points") system just does not fit into a simulator game. Hull integrity of parts of the hull, maybe. But a single count for the whole thing? Not likely.

Quoted for truth. Same with random names for vessels.

I'm not sure if I like the idea of you affecting the war's outcome, to be honest. To a tiny degree, yes. Heavily? No.

Suggestion: A.I. submarines that move, dive, shoot, fire torpedoes accurately, and generally act submarineish.

No need, just include them in the game and make the game very moddable so we can do that ourselves.

Anyone ever played X-Wing Alliance? Every vessel and station had an entry in a file called shiplist.txt, and the entry contained the words "Flyable" and "Nonflyable". You could make everything in the game player-controlled by changing those entries. Some bugs were involved (all vessels, even capital ships, could only fire forwards, and they all had the generic civilian fighter pilot cockpit), but it was fairly neat anyway.

Something like that would be nice for Silent Hunter IV. I don't care if I wind up driving a destroyer with a Gato-sub interior (or other funny anomalies). Just let us mod it and see what we get. I promise you, there'll be an unofficial "Surface Command" mod out that lets you drive surface vessels in a month, and a mod that has fully modelled interiors for at least one new vessel in a year.

Suggestion: Implement a captain's log (edittable in-game as well as outside of it, and saveable in HTML format for distribution and safe-keeping). Allows you to make your own entires and also automatically records sinking, transfers of crew, mission orders and how they were resolved, upgrades/repairs/damage, radio traffic, etc. In short, a detailed report on whatever important happens, akin to how SH3 Commander does it.

In addition, separate tables that record sinkings, transfers, etc. separately, for easy reference.

Sample log entry (feel free to comment any historical details, I'm "just writing" this):

Captain's Log, USS AMAZON
Gato-Class, commissioned 1/11/1942
Lt. Oeyvind W(full name emitted for privacy reasons:p) in command.

First entry: 2/5/1943
Last entry:

- - -

IN BASE
Base: Pearl Harbour.

Assumed command of boat.

New crew member: Sebastian Andrews.
Threw chickens out of Command Centre.
Threw out Frensen's socks.
Disinfected Frensen's feet by means of standard initiation procedure.
Received new pair of socks.
Damage repaired from earlier patrol:

- Depth gauge [damaged - measurement off by 20 metres].
- Forward Hull Plating [minor punctures].
- Starboard Propeller [partly shattered].
- Flak Cannon [overheated].

PATROL 1
2/5/1943
Base: Pearl Harbour.
Mission: Recon Manila, the Phillipines. Photograph shore defences and anchored warships.
Left base at 0736 Hrs.
Weather: Clear, wind strenght breeze, direction NW. No fog or precipitation.

Have started my first patrol with the USS AMAZON. Crew in excellent spirits.

Radio message received.
2/9, 2101 Hours.
SOS Distress Call received from S/S Island-wind.
[Position here, long and lat]
Vessel's radio operator reported ship was damaged severely by hurricane and would not stay afloat for long.

Have changed course to rescue crew of 4.

As the only vessel remotely close enough to help, we've been given a
rescue mission. Crew disgruntled. Navigation Officer Jack Svenssen
suggested painting Red Crosses on conning tower.

2/9, 2102 Hrs.
Radio message received.
Informed Command of situation. Orders were given to rescue crew members.

2/10, 1158 Hrs.
Life-Boat Sighted.
[Position here, long and lat]
Single life boat with 4 persons on board.

Survivors of life-boat taken aboard. Confirmed they were
S/S Islandwind survivors.

2/10, 1211 Hrs.
Radio message sent.
Informed Command of situation. Orders were given to disembark crewmen at Midway.

2/17, 802 Hrs.
Arrived in harbour.
Re-fuelled.
Disembarked passengers.

2/17, 802 Hrs.
ORDERS ACCOMPLISHED
S/S Islandwind survivors rescued and transported to safety.
New orders are to return to original recon mission.

2/17, 1249 Hrs.
Departed harbour

And so on. List everything that happens. The notes on spirits and Red Crosses were the captains' notes, added by the player. Everything else is generated.

i suppose my complaint with SH3 apart from the bugs would be as follows


:- independant control of both left and right props

:- choose between running on deisels or electrics while surfaced

:- control of diveplanes

:- a sightly more advanced damage control system

:- a patrol system similar to the one used in the original silent hunter game

:- return of the narwhal class from the original silent hunter game

:- the creation of a destroyer command 2 (this was silent hunter II's only saving grace in my opinion and was extreamly enjoyable)

:- Damage to the Sub if it is forced through a storm at full speed (a more realistic approch here would be nice and would make the weather more of a factor when chasing ships and convoys)

As well as the US and Japanese I would love to see Dutch and especially British boats? Both played an important part in areas such as the Malacca Straits and the Java Sea. British subs included could be the T class which saw extensive use and was a success in the shallow waters.
Also if you want to expand I would like the possibilty to command midget subs as both the British and Japanese used them extensivly. 'X craft' missions of sinking ships in port by amotol explosives (Takao, Singapore 1945) and also the use of Japanese midgets at Pearl Harbour.
I could go mad but I will mention raiding parties, the use of spotter aircraft on Japanese I-boats, mine laying, etc...

Just think, if you played Japanese you could get a message "Captain, your first mission is to drive a kaiten. If you should survive it will be assumed you chickened out, and you will be shot for cowardice. It's been nice knowing you.":rotfl:

Hopefully, the game has

1. AI submarines of Japan as well as the US subs (said subs, as all other torpedo-armed vessels and planes, had better fire them intelligently, too), and
2. Enough moddability to allow fans to create a "driveable Jap sub" mod.

Other than that, or an expansion pack, I can't imagine that Ubisoft will be making more than one nation playable. It'd be nice, but way too much work (even more so than implementing a tenth of my suggestions alone, which says a lot:p).

SH IV Wish list
 

In addition to the many other great comments I have 3 wishes.

I have done 2 tours of Hawaii, SW Pacific/Pearl Harbor. All I can say is the scenery is gorgeous. Granted, most time will be at sea, but I wish for the following to enhance the "realism" as a sim.

a.) When in Port (Australia, Hawaii, Midway, etc.) Lush scenery and Tidy Bowl blue water!!! Watch any WWII Pacific Theatre movie, and you can't help but love seeing sailors in their kahky's or dress white's walking through the palm trees and sandy beaches. Some in port element to capture the glamour of Pacific Islands, would make me feel more "there". Perhaps more to do in port could be incorporated with this. i.e. a bar to go to and talk to other sailors, movie scenes where you are in meetings with upper brass or get briefed on special missions??? You get the idea

b.) Speaking of Special Missions, the Dynamic Campaign is a must but PLEASE build into it, historic ops. i.e. during your campaign, at the right historical timing, your boat get's called into a special op, or special mission. Other US ships might be there, and if so, have communique with them, etc. It could just be a recon mission, or spy drop off but don't make me feel alone at sea, I'm in a "fleet" boat, because we were part of a team.

c.) More interaction on the boat with crew. In SH3 I'm still a bit bored and feel alone. I want to walk my gorgeous fleet boat and see that shiny brass and stainless steel plating, and the big steel "general Electric" on the motor controls. Fleet boats were cruise ships compared to U-Boats. The galley and mess hall were like eating in an art deco cafeteria. They had full showers and bathrooms, officers cabins, etc.... I want to see my boat, and my crew working. I want to see real damage happening and damage control crews to work on fixing.

d.) OK, I said 3, but I want 4, multiple damage control capabilities. I should be able to assign a main damage control group to handle things, but in a multiple damage situation, I would like to split my crew into 2 or 3 units to fix problems.

e.) Darn, make it 5. Sleep mode. i.e. when in transit in the pacific, have captain go to cabin, and sleep. You will wake up at an adjustable time, and you will only be awaken by a sighting or sounding or urgent message or if weather turns sour.

That's an excellent idea.:up:

That is an awesome selection of ideas especially the sleep mode.
I concur!