Ive been checking out this guys streams (TMTC) he posts on You Tube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6P...Chp7vPaUA9shmw) for the game and his latest video (its a long one) covers some convoy action.

Game seems to me as a SH3 player to simplistic in areas but I still like the potential it could have and also there not pretending to be the replacement for SH so accepting the game as it is and the potential its got is where Im at.
Defo want to buy and play with myself and feel it could be a great game to revitalize the subsim genre of games and also the devs do say that they will be making it mod friendly so that as we know can take a game from good to great. :Kaleun_Cheers:

Or flags.

Regarding the flags it is a political problem. The original Flags are prohibited in many countries. (even in Germany)
They let you use them only for historically documentaries etc. but we have awesome modders here which will fix the problem for sure.

Well, German submarines DID carry such suits. So it is not entirely unrealistic, though actually using them was pretty rare. They were actually intended for hull repairs at sea, but sometimes used for other stuff. I know of at least one case where a sub lost a torpedo and as they were in very shallow waters, the diver went down, attached a chain and they got it back up.

It's not the diving suit itself (and it would be perfectly reasonable for a u-boat crew to use such to effect repairs in certain conditions), but the scenario of its use that is absurd.

A 1939 scenario where your u-boat attempts to abide by prize regulations to secure an important piece of intel is far more plausible, and actually tells a story that fits in the history of the war, while allowing scope for some dramatic exaggeration that doesn't cross the line into absurdity.

Obviously it doesn't make or break the game, but it certainly sets an odd tone.

Hm, I don't know...I like it. The mission begins BEFORE the beginning of hostilities between the United Kingdom and Germany. Also, the ship has run aground according to the tutorial description, so it does not lie in deep in the water. If the German Abwehr knows there was something valuable aboard, I think it is absolutely fine to send out a small submarine that most likely nobody would be able to properly identify in the dark of night and try to salvage SOMETHING.

The mission begins on Sept 3 and continues into the night, therefore after the start of hostilities. The ship is described as having been sunk due to "sabotage" (huh?) and you clearly find the location in the middle of the North Sea...at night...in a storm...

Devs need to decide if tone of game is Kelly's Heroes or Das Boot. I'm getting a distinct sense of split personality from recent vids.

Anyways, real history can be just as dramatic, e.g.:

so do you prefer only two types of missions? espionage/infiltration and seek and destroy like in Silent Hunter since it is more historically correct?

I love all of the SH versions but I like that the missions here can vary, as shown in the streams, even though it might not be historically correct. UBOAT is not advertised as Sim, so if the devs like their vision, they should follow it. You know Hardcoresim players like us can`t pretend to much otherwise the game will not appeal to more casual players.


If it will be easy to mod I am more than confident that some modders will make it more historically correct, harder and more simbased.

As I pointed out, all the same goals and challenges of the tutorial could be accomplished with an entirely plausible scenario, one that would actually give you more opportunity to learn useful aspects of the game, and open up more varied gameplay, especially in the first months of the war.

Dealing with the difficult and sometimes inconsistent orders from BdU regarding observation of prize rules and risking your crew to board ships is a real challenge consistent with the tone of Das Boot or This War of Mine (I believe the devs have directly compared their game to both).

Diving for treasure or blowing the cook's brains out for burning eggs (with no apparent consequences!) is not. This is not a simulation criticism, but a story-telling criticism.

:rotfl2:

I'm glad I'm abiding by the rules.

Thanks for the mansplaining of a point I knew perfectly well.

My humorous point was that someone will always (and did) moan about flags.

UBOAT might actually stand a chance of being allowed to display the original flag...if the devs decide to go full WW2 crew survival game. Right now there isn't much from that. If they would display how hard, dangerous, nervewrecking and outright mind destroying the service aboard a submarine in WW2 could be, it's very likely Germany would allow the game to display the swastika. I made a video about this very...strange "law" (it's actually a court ruling on Wolfenstein 3D) and they have changed their stance on it more than a year ago. Games that show how life under the Nazis and during WW2 actually was, with all (horrible) details, will be allowed to use nazi symbols. But I fear this might go against the expectations of most players, and possibly the devs because it could reduce sales.

I believe the comparison of this game to bomber crew is a pretty good one. Both have both historical and non historical aspects, but as a video game bomber crew is pretty fun. I get the point of view from the sim purists, but comparing this game to lets say wolfpack is an apple to oranges comparison. Maybe it's more of a cold waters lite with some crew management thrown in? I myself think it's interesting, because I think the idea of managing sub systems to lets say conserve power is a cool concept. I may play the silent hunter series different that some of you, but between contacts I find myself staring at the map screen a lot and some of the crew management aspects would fill some of that time, even though hand holding your crew is not so realistic.

Our own country's law is actually the main concern to us when it comes to flags. We apologize for that part, but our hands are bound here. Flags will just have to be modded in.

some early observations
 

nihilcat,
I've played sub sim games since Silent Service in 1980's and I still enjoy Silent Hunter 3, best sub sim ever, played since mid 2000's.

I eagerly wait for your UBoat release and I've recently watched several Youtube posters demonstrate the pre-release.

A few early comments from my obsevations:

1) flags on freighters seem to fly forward where I think they should be streaming rearward (opposite of ship's direction). Looks odd to me.

2) torpedo loading is way too fast, SH3 in a realistic mode loads one per 7-12 minutes depending on crew efficiency. T1 steam torpedo can be set faster than the T2 electric and could travel farther, both capable of magnetic detonation under a ships keel, but speed & torpedo running depth are not factored in. I do like how you flood the tubes and preheat the T2's, nice touch.

3) 8.8 deck gun loads and fires too rapidly as well. A well trained crew might be able to fire up to 10-12 rounds per minute.

4) the observation periscope seems to be manned by a crewman nearly 100% of the time when submerged. Scopes were rarely manned & used and only when tracking pray and then only briefly. A raised scope limits underwater speed to 5-knots max. due to vibration and resulting damage, as well as enemy detection. Having 2 scopes sticking out above sea level is something I don't think one would ever see.

Looking forward to the release; it's obvious that a lot of thought and consideration has gone into this game so far.

1) I will fix this in a second. It's a good point.

2) This change would potentially affect the balance of the game due to the distance compression on the world map. I will still keep this in mind, we have some things in the motion that could allow us to make such change.

3) Yes, it may need a few seconds of breath. I think it's currently around 5-6 seconds when it's fully crewed. It was sped up unintentionally after changes to the crew system and we haven't verified these numbers again.

4) It's fixed in the latest version.

Thank you!

If you would have more suggestions, please keep them coming.

Something quite a few people noted on my streams: The Canadian ships have the right flag in the target window on the upper left, but sport the wrong flag on the ships themselves.

Another early gameplay vid, this one tries to focus on the 1st person aspect:

https://youtu.be/DgJ9REln5w0

It would be better to have a popular military band on the dock. Every time a mission is completed and a good return voyage is made, there will be a welcome military band.It's better to have all the crew lined up on deck.

Manual TDC:

https://youtu.be/fqFEZ1yGbEQ