Crew Screen
 

Again, good point. On the other hand, Fleet boats had two engine rooms, with two diesels each; so there should be two engine rooms. And where is the motor room?

Have to check manuals, but wasn't it called the After Battery Compartment? Maneuvering was a watch station in After Battery. I think.

The names don't bother me too much, because there will almost certainly be a need for an SH4 Commander. If they don't have combinations of all the US submariners' names, a mod surely will.[/quote]

I meant they are all WASP-ish, not 21st C. politically-correct. The WWII USN officer corps was pretty class-stratified. I also notice the crew icons all appear to be white. African-Americans served only as wardroom stewards, and that's never been a watch-station (cook either . . . err, Commissaryman), but stewards did have DC duties and ought to be represented if the entire crew (in 3-section watches--slackers!!) is shown on the crew screen.

Correcting Myself
 

[quote=Snowman999]Again, good point. On the other hand, Fleet boats had two engine rooms, with two diesels each; so there should be two engine rooms. And where is the motor room?

Correcting myself, After Battery is forward of both engine rooms, and Maneuvering is its own compartment aft of the ERs and forward of the After TR.

A great resource for all interested in WWII USN subs is at http://www.maritime.org/fleetsub/index.htm

It is a copy, with mucho photos, of the WWII fleet boat indoc. manuals issued to all new crew members. Their copy is from 1946, formerly classified, and reflects the USS Perch's layout. My dad has a hardcover version I've read and the on-line version is faithful to it. The amount of detail is fantastic. It was used as the entry-point to submarine quals. In particular the drawings and photos alone are worth a look. I hope the developers have a copy or at least are aware of this site.

SH4 - realism and game play?
 

I've been away from the forums for some time, however, if SH4 is soon to be launched (excuse the pun!) I'm kinda curious to know whether:

1. Crew renderings be a little more 'realistic looking' than in SH3 ('action-man' type figures) - as this would be a definate plus!

2. Will we see better performance with DX10?

3. Will we have to deal with that stupid 'StarFarce' all over again?

4. Will we be able to upload (or change skins) so that those of us that prefer to sail with the Kreigsmarine ;) can still do some damage to the USN ?

5. Will there be a 'jump to action' key rather than (Zzzzzz) have to go through all the band-playing-leaving-port nonsense?

Comments anyone?

1. Yes

2. Maybe

3. No

4. Depends if it can be modded, we hope so

5. Nonsense?, I though everyone loves this part. Theres people who do whole patrols in real time. "Jump to action" is for arcade games.

No kidding, I agree. The leaving port sequence was excellent and added to the overall feeling of a war-period simulation. Sheesh, people complain about everything.

"Jump to action" is for people who either don´t have the time, interest or patience to start at port. "B-17 Flying Fortress 2" - not really an arcade game - had such a hotkey. Since Ubi also targets casual gamers it would be a useful addition to the game.

Ok, I agree with benetofski and you, having an instant action option would be fine, but I still say the port scene was fantastic, the first 600 times or so :)

I think it's got nothing to do with the port, though, and everything to do with the Time Compression system. "Jump to action" would require a serious re-doing of the TC system, and I seriously doubt that was a high priority for SHIV (even if, from what I understand, the TC was optimized a bit).

For the die-hards like me, of course, this is irrelevant (the option to 'jump' I mean).

Thanks Neal! Very nice work. You can actually see the sub traveling beneath the surface, fantastic! Roll on March 16th (if that's the European release date)!

:up:

Awards System
 

...Real ranks not numbers - ditto.

I noticed by looking at Seaman Recruit Vouge's profile that the awards appear limited to Purple Heart, then Bronze Star, and up from there.... These are individual "war hero" type of medals and not really appropriate for everyday operations - even during war time. I've been in the US Navy for 13 years now (8 of those years in the reserves) Awards are a major part of navy life and I would love to see this get a little more emphasis in SH4. I'm sure a "SH4 Commander" mod would be able to do this but still...

There should be some everyday "good-work-sailor" awards avaliable such as the "Navy Achievement Medal", Navy Commendation", "Navy Good Conduct Medal", The Navy "E" etc... They should be able to be awarded multiple times by adding stars to the ribbon. Campaign ribbons and unit awards from COMSUBPAC would be nice too.

The Submarine Warfare Badge "dolphins" along with the "SS" in the name title is absolutely essential for a U.S. Navy sim - these badges should come in silver for enlisted and gold for officers. Under no circumstances may this be left out of the sim. An SOP for how to earn this badge would have to be defined... in real life a sailor would have to be "checked out / qualified" on all the vital submarine systems. Perhaps they could earn it in SH4 by having a minimum skill level in each compartment.

These little things do so much in adding to the immersion.

Well, Falcon 4.0 does give you the ability to choose where to start.

Ramp: Parked with engine off.
Taxi: On the taxiway with engine on, ready to navigate onto runway and get going.
Take-off: On the runway ready to lift off!

In addition, you've got an entire map of all the action, with every single known instance from factories and hotels to tanks and airplanes. It's in real-time, with a time compression option, and it tells you when your plane is heading out. So if your flight leaves at 12:30 and you wait until 12:45 with entering the game, you'll find yourself in the air, 15 minutes from the runway. It's pretty smart, though of course really unrealistic. I wouldn't want it for SH4, but it's not a bad feature.

Medals
 

And not awarded to enlisted members. There might be a couple of exceptions for the Bronze Star, but I don't know of any. I'm speaking of SS service here, not general USN. NAvy Crosses were pretty much CO awards, with the XO etc. getting lesser awards for the same action. I think there were seven MOH awards in WWII subs--Submarine School used to have dramatic artists' renderings of each action hanging framed on the second deck of the classroom building. The screenshot of the officer sagging on the deck reminds me of the one for the MOH won onboard USS Sculpin.

Medal of Honor citation for Captain John P. Cromwell (as printed in the official publication "Medal of Honor, 1861-1949, The Navy", page 170):


"For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as Commander of a Submarine Coordinated Attack Group with Flag in the U.S.S. Sculpin, during the Ninth War Patrol of that vessel in enemy-controlled waters off Truk Island, November 19, 1943. Undertaking this patrol prior to the launching of our first large-scale offensive in the Pacific, Captain Cromwell, alone of the entire Task Group, possessed secret intelligence information of our submarine strategy and tactics, scheduled Fleet movements and specific attack plans. Constantly vigilant and precise in carrying out his secret orders, he moved his underseas flotilla inexorably forward despite savage opposition and established a line of submarines to southeastward of the main Japanese stronghold at Truk. Cool and undaunted as the submarine, rocked and battered by Japanese depth-charges, sustained terrific battle damage and sank to an excessive depth, he authorized the Sculpin to surface and engage the enemy in a gun-fight, thereby providing an opportunity for the crew to abandon ship. Determined to sacrifice himself rather than risk capture and subsequent danger of revealing plans under Japanese torture or use of drugs, he stoically remained aboard the mortally wounded vessel as she plunged to her death. Preserving the security of his mission at the cost of his own life, he had served his country as he had served the Navy, with deep integrity and an uncompromising devotion to duty. His great moral courage in the face of certain death adds new luster to the traditions of the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country."



The Navy Commendation Medal didn't exist until January 1944. The Navy Achievement Medal was sometime in the 1960s I beleive. WWII sailors had a lot less salad than modern day guys. Mostly Good Conduct and "I was there" campaign medals. The really good ones, of course, were very expensive. That hasn't changed.

I don't know when the Navy 'E' program began. I do know that the Presidential Unit Citation was a VERY valued award in WWII, and pretty rare. It was the unit equivalent of a Navy Cross for the whole crew.

Quote:

The Submarine Warfare Badge "dolphins" along with the "SS" in the name title is absolutely essential for a U.S. Navy sim - these badges should come in silver for enlisted and gold for officers.

Agree. Getting dolphins is the high point of any bubblehead's career.

I disagree, thats what single missions are for!

Gotta love the port bit!

From Neal's first look...in last paragraph before Multiplayer Adversarial Mode... Sounds like this might be possible. I am very interested in seeing how this will be accomplished.