To me the add-on and 1.4 are a bonus, I am enjoying the hell out of SH4 right now.


RDP

We haven't........
 

....even got the 1.4 patch and the original sorted out yet!:nope:

And your point is...?

Great news of course but,what about if after the U boat addon they continue releasing some expansions more? They could give us control over the US Task Forces,command over the Enterprise,Hornet,Yorktown and Lex,so as to some destroyers,cruisers and battleships.

Commanding Surface Ships
 

We will never see any of the three Yorktown class CVs (Yorktown, Enterprise, and Hornet) added to the game, either as playable or AI units, because of the Ubisoft-Grumman fiasco.:nope: But I see your point in regards to this being the door to commandable surface ships in general.:hmm: And even if Ubisoft does not expand this feature beyond the new German surface vessels, I'm sure the modding community will have a look at the keys which have been handed to them...:cool: More and more, I'm seeing this expansion as an invitation to modders to expand the game beyond its current borders.:yep:

Here's a quote from another interview- The minimal requirements have remained unchanged, because we have optimized the engine quite a little bit from release. Loading times are much shorter and memory usage is lower.
(emphasis added by me)

This is very cool.

Also

I think Leo and Sober have it right. Too many sims have struggled from focusing only on historical accuracy. The idea of opening it up so people can be historical fanatics or just have fun is a GOOD idea. Strategic elements will attract wargamers and other's that like games like command & conquer. This means more money for more addons (like a british sub release including the med and pacific)

I'll go even farther and utter an "ultimate heresy". There should be a "Hollywood" option that gives you a super boat with deadlier torpedos and guns, more damage points, lots of target opportunity, strategic command of fleets, and automatic patrol routes with waypoints like a flight sim that takes you from one action to another. Definitely NOT something a hard core gamer would like, but something my son's in their 20's would find lots of fun. Especially if they could become "Fleet Admiral high and mighty" while still commanding their sub.

Again this would be an OPTION that would increase marketability, still allow historical accuracy by not selecting it, and once again, bring in more money.

Flight sims caught on to this a long time ago. It's why they have arcade like play when all the realism options are turned off. Naval sims need to catch up (to the devs- hint hint)

I might be being a bit pessimistic but this sounds like the thin end of a wedge to me.

They start by adding in things like strategic options and before you know it the only things available are 'accessable' arcade 'simulations' like Battle Stations Midway or Pacific Storm bye bye credible historic simulations.

IMO the simulation is largely a dying genre I can remember about 10yrs ago when there was a new sim out every month. I'm not being nostalgic, many of those simulations were only so so but its an example how far the genre has fallen. Few devs and publishers bother.

I think its a mistake to think that you need to 'water down' (no pun intended there :D ) simulations in order to attract more people to playing them. This does not mean that simulations have to be a mystery to all but the realism fanatics, scaleable opitions are a very desirable thing, turning them down is one of the best ways to learn how to play a game. The problem is I think its very tempting for publishers to just stick with the arcade options bcause its cheaper and they can market big explosions and huge guns to teenage boys more easily. By attempting to be all things to all people my fear is they will please none very much.

I can see what mrbeast is saying. Sometimes the best simulation games include the tediousness of what it was really like. I can understand why these new features were included, but I was kind of hoping they'd also include some things to improve immersion even further.

LukeFF
 

As some wise person once said; "finish what you started before moving on to something else". That's my point. That and Mrbeasts post.

Regardless the ethical dimension of leaving things to the modders, think about it: who has done a better job at making SH3 and SH4 some of the best games out there? Ubi or the modders? Adding to the engine the bones of what modders will help flesh out will get us the best of both worlds, imho. I look forward to seeing this.

As for "the door towards commanding surface vessels"... if a Destroyer Command is released with the SH4 engine I will buy it four or five times and never come out of my house again.

The add-on is the 1.5 patch and includes the 1.4 patch.

thankyou thankyou thankyou

thanks that is good new's to hear and see
 

You guy's are the best!

Want a new worker to help you out?! :rotfl:

Honestly I think you would be better off with Anvart he has better programs and experience with doing everything. I wish I had the talent's you all have and the knowledge.

It's very simple why this has happened- economics.

Hard core sims do not give a good return on the time it takes to develop them. The target market is small and has decreased. Tis why I uttered the "ultimate heresy".

Ya wanna have more sims - devs you need more money- so you have to broaden your market appeal- so you have to put in some arcade type play to broaden the appeal

Hard core simmers hollering to keep arcade type play out of the sims and publicly looking down their noses at those that just want to blow s**t up are killing their own genre. (Same thing is happening in model railroading because of the "rivet counters"). Ya gotta be like the old proverb that a willow tree bends with the wind in order to stay standing. As long as the user can choose between historically accurate or "fun" and it brings in money to keep the sims alive, why bemoan the approach.

Such a change is needed because many younger users think of games like Call of Duty and Medal of Honor as sims. So when they encounter a true sim where they can't go on a rampage, they lose interest. Yet through playing a simple version after a while, it leads some of them to want to play the game with historical settings. Now you're building the user base instead of losing it.

swdw
 

Nicely put. It does eventually boil down to $$$. I agree, games have to appeal to the mass market and unfortunately that mass market is the juvenile lads who love to "shoot 'em up" aka the console crowd. It's got to be difficult to please both the true simmers and the pure gamers and let's face it the true simmers will never be completely happy as the purists will always find something to be picky about! ;)

I love the concept of giving orders to other units it would be a nice change from lining up for the shot, dive and evade. As far as historical goes, I rarely think about that as much as just damn good game play, but at the same time understand how some players love that aspect of the game.

Sitting back and watching your commands being implemented in attacks would be a cool as heck, then joining in the hunt. :up:

saying that ive sunk 500k tons of japanese shipping in a gato over 2 years, i doubt somehow historical accuracy even factors for the stock sh4 game either.. :rotfl:

100% realism.

Munch, munch, munch
 

<munches popcorn and sips his Coke> This is fun! I'll just watch the ensuing carnage. <munch, munch, munch>:-j

The modding possibilities are interesting... I'm sure the SH4 modding community will find some way to tweak, bend or pervert the new game capabilities into something the 'hardcore' SH4 player will enjoy...

I wonder if this might lead to controlling the movements and tactics of PTO wolfpacks? That would be cool as it was historically correct...

My Take
 

Here is my take. From a moron who is still listed as Nub with all of 11 or 12 total posts since 2001. I do not know how much I really like an addon (for sale)advertised before the original sim works 100%. It kinda, sorta, rubs me the wrong way. Don't get me wrong, I'll be one the first to buy it as I've looked forward to every version. I kind of compare it to buying a new car and having a crapload of repair issues even though they are all covered under warranty. Maybe I get a little PO'd since I've shelved SH4 until they come out with the next patch and revisited SH3 and GWX, been having a blast too. Just my own personal opinion. But I'm weird.

Wilhelm