Is SH4 confirmed to be in the PTO?
 

Forgive my noobishness, but will SH4 be set in the Pacific? The implication is that we get to crew US boats.
I know a lot has been posted about the PTO (some like it, some don't) but is there any confirmation?
Thanks.

There hasn't been an official statement from ubisoft confirming it, but I'd say there was a 99.9 percent chance of SH1V being in the PTO. Another Atlantic based sub sim would be a marketing disaster. With the superb mods already available to SH111, SH1V would only be a cosmetic improvement in many repects, and although a few die hard simmers would purchase it, many people wouldn't see it as money well spent.

Don't say that it would be a marketing disaster, if you look at this poll http://www.subsim.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=46374
more people would prefer an atlantic based sub sim.
The intrest in a Destroyer Command 2 is even bigger than in a SH4 which is set in the Pacific.

Polak,

We dont actually represent the full target market for subsims. People here are a wee bit hard core.

A pacific sub sim is RIPE with potential and could sell very well. SOme people simply get hung up on the history of the PTO and wrongly assume that since it was an "easier" war than the germans had, it would be an "easier" game (hence, they aint interested, 'cause SHIII is already too damn easy). The two are not related.

Trout

I agree with you that we do not represent the full target market for subsims. My point was that a SH4 set again in the Atlantic would not be a marketing disaster.

SH1V set in the Atlantic would be a marketing disaster and Ubisoft know it. SH111 modded would be 95 percent of SH1V if it was set in the Atlantic. Only a hard core of sub simmers would buy it....everyone else would pay under $10 for SH111 in the bargain bin.

I do not agree, SH2 was set in the Atlantic and SH3 wasn't a marketing disaster. Dont say that SH3 modded would be 95% of SH4.
There is a lot that could be added to the game, things that could not be modded. The whole point with an German based subsim is Wolfpack tactics, that was left out from the game, it was impossible to mod it, other things as all compartments modeled and moving freely in the sub where not in the game, they where also not moddable. The list goes on with new things that could be added.

they could set it in the Med and let you use brit and italian subs too.

Dream on.

If the developers are good then it should be easy enough to mod SHIV for the Atlantic Campaign. If they're not good then most people here won't buy it. That said, if it lacks wolfpacks and a lot more realism then most people here won't buy it anyway as it wouldn't be a big enough improvement over the SHIII game engine.

I'm sure the dev team is aware of all this, if not then god help them!

:yep:

If it's the equivalent of SHIII for the Pacific then there won't be a need. If it has improvements I'm sure they'll see the advantages of applying the new stuff to SHIII, either with a new patch or an "Upgraded Version" for sale.

I will, if I get to run an 'S' Boat again. Or Nautilus. Or a Perch. Or a Gato.

i think the devs confirmed it some time ago. Announcement was at subsim.com

I do not agree, SH2 was set in the Atlantic and SH3 wasn't a marketing disaster. Dont say that SH3 modded would be 95% of SH4.


SH11 was set in an American sub. It's an entirely different game playing experience to play in a U Boat....Therefore, it makes good marketing sense to have developed SH111 as an Atlantic based game. To make SH1V an Atlantic based game in another U Boat would make no business sense at all. It's a redundant argument though, because I recently spoke with one of the DEVs working on SH1V.

Mate, have you ever played SH11??? You controled German uboats in that game. SH1 was set in the pacific with American submarines.

My mistake. I hated SH11 and only played it a couple of times. I had an old PC that I ran AOD on and I kinda wrote off sub sims until hearing good things about SH111.

It's ironic that my old PC that had been updated from windows 95 to windows 98 and which had AOD loaded on it , died on me about a month after I purchased SH11. I think if we got a revamped version of AOD for the Atlantic and SH1V for the PTO, we'd be in heaven.

Just my opinion but if SHIV were to be in the Atlantic yet again I would not spend a penny on it.I would not care how good it was.

I am getting a bit tired of playing with German U-boats it is not funny.Its high time for another Pacific based game to come out.Only I would like to see it from the Japanese standpoint and not American.But American will be good to though.

I do love SHIII but do need a change of theater.

I second that. Remember in Tora! Tora! Tora!, when that Japanese submarine was sunk, trying to get into the harbor? That would be great to try and get in while planes roar overhead bombing the battleships. Maybe we could start out our career sinking Chinese merchants or Russian? I heard Japanese subs were more advanced, just the Americans had more. We could also hunt for other subs trying to sink Japanese shipping or pull escort missions. The thing I liked about being a German captain on a u-boat was the fact I was fighting a losing battle and had fun doing it! It was interesting and fun while being a sort of sobering history lesson when things started going against the German's around '42/'43. Taking place in a new arena(the Pacific which is way more interesting, with tiny islands and atols) is a great choice for SHIV, but if we ended up playing the Americans it would just be another generic subsim, minus the controversy. Based purely on money, UBI may decide to play it safe and stick with the American side, being that Pearl Harbor is back into the public conscienceness since 9/11. It may be controversial to say, sink some ships in Pearl Harbor during that fateful day but it would be a chance to see things from the other side and a history lesson at least. Plus the fact that everyone I know who plays subsims(or who is at least interested in them) are at an un-impressionable age who are quite bright. Form your own ideas from this.

I would hope that SH4 has both PTO and ETO.

I must say that they lack of emphasis on ASW by the IJN, combined with the surface and airsearch radars of the USN make the PTO a little boring compared to the ETO.

It's almost impossible to go on patrol in Silent Service or Silent Hunter I and not score 75,000 tons. Both of them really demonstrate the huge advantage radar gave us submarines.

Radar probably makes 1 USN submarine equal to 10 KM uboats.

And because I use hydrophone S.O.P. from the Uboat Commanders Handbook thereby finding most of my targets visually, the advantage of the radar on American submarines is even more pronounced.

On average, I find no targets on 1 out of 3 patrols in the uboats.

Too easy? What game are you playing? 80% of my U-boat commanders get killed before completing a tour of duty. In real life 75% of German commanders survived the war.

As for whether SH4 is confirmed to be PTO, I believe it has been confirmed, but I'll have to try to confirm that, hehe.