First person
 

I think everyone is getting too stressed out about the first person. If it makes you walk around and do stuff so what. There will no doubt be a way to configure it not to do that and let you hotkey to stations and do everything yourself. Some will like it one way others won't. As long as they are options it is a good thing. You can bet for everything you don't like there is someone else who will like it.

For every option you add you potentially get another person to like the game. In the end that is the only way to get sales to a level to keep the series going.

I for one think if it is good enough it may give me cause to actually give one of those 1XTC and keep a diary deals going. Heck it would be nice to have that made easy thereby effectively creating "Patrol Reports" that could be posted or uploaded for sharing.

The role playing aspect in particular could be a big shot in the arm to getting a decent multi-player option into the series at some point and god forbid create a revenue stream that could greatly enhance the product.

MICROSOFT PRESENTS.....

'LIE SIMULATOR X' :rock::rock::rotfl2:

:rotfl2:

Probably should change their name to "Hypesoft". :D
I've got 5$ saying it will have DX10 features. :yep:

The title "Helmsman" needs to be corrected.
The Helmsman in almost all cases is a Seaman. He's the guy that takes orders and steers accordingly. The Chief Engineer should not be associated with this task in any way.
What SH3 refers to as the Helmsman Qualification should be changed to Quartermaster.
These are enlisted POs. They are also the guys that should be filling the Navigators slot.
A uboats Navigator was in almost all cases a Chief Quartermaster, or a First Class Quartermaster at minimum. There would also be a more junior QM to stand QMOW Watches.
I hope to see that officer slot replaced by an enlisted slot. The Chief Engineer should have the Repair and/or Engineman Qualification to perform his job, which includes overseeing Damage Control.

Convoys:
Reality should be easier than what we now have for the Devs.
Side to side spacing should be opened up to 800 to 1000 meters.
Front to back spacing should be at least 500 meters.
Zig Zagging is much to frequent and hapHAZARD. Every ship has to be making an effort to turn together. This is extremely difficult for so many ship of different charectoristics.
They should not be turning more than ONCE in twenty minutes. (If everybody is realigned after twenty minutes, they are doing an exellent job). Individual Zig Zagging is neither permissable or possable. Just getting around a torpedoed ship intact is both difficult and dangeriouse.
(Never served on a sub, but I have served on a Convoy Commadore Staff).

Although the See Chart is fine as is, it would be a great improvement for Contact Reports to contain a third numerical digit, asi in Grid BC433.

Snorkels should work properly. This includes removing the CO2. (Everybody forgot?)
Snorkeling in bad weather at night should render your boat invisable to aircraft.
In nice weather you should still be difficult to detect by aircraft at night.
Surface Ships are a completely different matter.

There should be a digital readout for (own) ships heading. Real uboats had it.
Keyboard input of courses would be a giant step forward. Getting the right course order out should not take 10 or 12 tries/trys (sp?).

Enemy Surface Units have to be alot smarter. Yes, that includes right from day one.
By the time SH3s Surface Units wisen up, it realy doesn't make that big a difference, because there is a plane "on every corner" (overkill).

Now to push my luck.
I'd like to see Type I, Type VII, and Type IX boats available from the first day.
To incorrectly state that, and perhaps make it more understandable: Type I, Type VIIA, and Type IXA.

Last but not least: Optional External Torpedoes.
They weren't always carried. F.eks. Hardegen during Paukenschlag carried none.
To have them onboard means BDU doesn't give you the "Return to base" message.
This can be problematic, especialy late war, when they were banned.

That's enough for now. Or perhaps too much?

I'm with you. :up:

You'd be wise to up the amount :03:

I wish for an end to this:
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...&postcount=207

(first pic)

All i want is a good AI and a weak submarine armor not a floating tank like SH4 and maybe an extra difficult setting or hardcore mode that if i die i have to restart the campaign from the beginning, i don't have the will power to play DID,i always reload my last save :up:

Who wouldn't JU88? :D

where that's concerned, I'll write a little addition to a post a made elsewhere in this forum here:
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...1&postcount=37
I'll try not to make another wall of text..:-?

The weather of course came up as a discussion point with the devs, this led to me putting down the "taschenbuch der handelsmarine 1940", with which Dan (they don't call him Vulpe for nothing :DL ) had cleverly distracted me and joining in again. We mostly went on about how the weather in SH3 & 4 did not behave like actual rwal world weather at all, and came up with some points like the "weather report" option being missing in stock sh4 and this being a problem, having to go out of TC and up on deck to check the weather. This I feel sure won't be a problem in sh5
after some back and forth I suggested that I'd seen an application for MSflightsim 2004 that gave the option of downloading data from weatherstations around the world. this gives you the option of flying with in actual weather at your chosen location. it can also download historical data about weather conditions. This means that if you try do recreate Lindbergh's flight across the Atlantic, you can do so in the actual weather he experienced.

What this might also mean is that this weatherdata could be incorporated in other games through a 3rd party app or even from within the game. I even went so far as to google the app for the devs on the hotel lobby PC....

I pointed out the weather data for WW2 is available, and that incorporating this data into a simulation has been done before... they seemed very interested and hopefully it'll pan out in the best way possible.

I have to admit I got a bit overexcited about that idea :oops: I realise that it is not be feasible for UBI to incorporate a 3rd party app into their game, as well as other legal issues... but one can hope. the relevant data is there, the trick is getting it into the game...

oh well, another wall of text it is... :know:

Keptn, your my man! Your suggestions to the devs are really appreciated. your post about machinery, your ideas about weather: absolutely perfect ideas for a better sh5. well done!

Well, I'm no weather expert and I don't see the point in creating a complete weather simulation in this game, or downloading current weather patterns (the current weather sure doesn't change at 1024x, if you know what i mean). But weather follows certain patterns that can easily be simulated starting from random shifts in temperature (due to the seasons). What we missed so far were weather forecasts based on reports from other ships/uboats.

The main problem in both sh3 and sh4 was that fog was only present in rough sea conditions. That's impossible. You can't have fog in high winds. True, in rough weather visibility can fall to as little as 3 kilometers, and, in really bad conditions with waves of 15 meters or more visibility is the least of your worries as you can't even see beyond the next wave and the rains falls so hard that you can't see ANYTHING. I've seen fog so thick that we couldn't see the the deck just below us at 30 meters, but it was mainly in calm waters near the shore. We could hear people talking on nearby ships at almost 1 kilometer away... very very eerie.

The second problem is that steaming away in rough weather would've been veeeery unconfortable for the crew, next to dangerous. And in the game, even in the worst conditions, you can still use your periscope... well... I'd like to try that in 15 meter waves :har:.

Karamazov, using current weather is not the point, that would indeed be silly.
it's about historical data...
the weather data for say 1941 is available for large parts of the world, and IMO it would be awesome to sail in a close approximation of the weather an actual uboot might have experienced at a certain time and place.
One could then look up this data and plan patrols accordingly, this would also make your point of weather reports from other ships/planes/uboats feasible.

The rest of your post I agree with... having now been on the deck of U 995, and seen how small it really is, I will never have my crew man the deckgun in 9m/s wind again, even though the game allows it. :salute:

LoL thanks KC, but i just meant - If im in time compession and heavy fog hits, it would be mighty nice if the watch crew would TELL ME! :woot:

Weather reports should be in the game, period :haha:. But having the same weather in each carrer without a random factor might not be such a good idea. :hmmm: How about an option for the weather:
1. Hystorical
2. Dynamic
I'm sure the devs were looking for something EXTRA to add :har:. I mean, we didn't ask too many things from them overall, their schedule is too relaxed anyway :haha: