Little details? - lifeboats,people,fishy's?
 

If you can tell us about any new little details in SH4?

I was very interested about any people in the game, guys in lifeboats or swimming in the water, crew being washed over board, sealife etc.

Thank you very much from those who enjoy the "trivial" extra's in a game.

Cheers.

...c'mon...(heh)

I heard that downed pilots end up in the water, True?

I have heard that the lifeboats are empty, True?

I guess any hope of guys running around the decks as it's sinking are just "way out there"?

Anybody?
Thanks for any info.

Pilots do end up in the water. And can be rescued, sometimes this is even an objective.

Lifeboats are sometimes occupied (and can be mowed down with the machine gun :-)), sometimes empty and sometimes floating upside down.

Guys run around on the deck as the ships is running, but seem to disappear when it's hit(?). AA crew and gun crew stick around until it actually starts sinking, trying to take you with them if they can. Airplanes also fly every which way when you get a good hit on a carrier, or tip off the deck as it capsizes :-).

No fish, but plenty of plankton and seaweed, as well as seagulls which circle the ship when surfaced.

pilots of both nations end up in the water, and both can be rescued by your sub.

lifeboats arent empty. when first lowered they will have ppl aboard, empty ones are due to being tipped by a ship wake ( i cant confirm that) or being rescued by being in the vicinity of a allied ship. ( they dissapear you dont see them climb aboard, but that is exactly what happens when you rescue a pilot, they dissapear)

ive seen pics in this forum of dead ppl on deck, you also see sailors and officers strolling about the decks at all times, ive seen one hide (crouch and cover head) next to a bulkhead whilst under attack from allied planes.

there is a fair bit of detail now :)
i think the number of lifeboats you see are down to ingame settings for graphics, but cant confirm that either :) as ive only got one pc hehe.

edit:
ah well you wait for one post and then two come along at once

Yes pilots bail out, float down under silk, and wind up swimming. They can apparently be rescued, but if they've been shot down, that means an enemy warship is there, so they're on their own :) Actually I did try a suicide run or two to test this out but never made it (which seems reasonable, I'd have been disappointed if I did)

The life boats are not empty initially, but in heavy seas they may capsize after a while and the occupants then dissappear. I've seen two types of lifeboat - one wodden, one inflatable. They have multiple occupants but only one guy rowing.... I've tried to rescue enemy guys too (after sinking a ship) but so far wasn't able to....

While the ships are sinking the guys are on deck - the guys at fixed positions (manning guns for example) will just dissappear as they reach the water. Guys on deck walking around will crouch when they come under fire, and I noticed one guy lay on the deck as the boat began to up-end and go down - I can't say whether that was in response to changing pitch of the ship or just convenient timing :)

Overall, it seems the survivors are dealt with as well as could be expected - there's no animation of manning life boats, or swimming and the liferaft people don't seem to row towards friendly vessels or get rescued by friendlies.

They are a nice bit of immersion but don't add a significant change to gameplay or anything.

r.

WOW!

Thanks you guys, great detailed comments.

I was becomming worried that it would have the same detail as SH3 which I really liked a lot. The only thing that took me out of the game was "no people". I guess it is trivial but when I see guys running around you get caught up in it, "get those guys".

I guess it way too much memory to have animations of guys jumping ship or climbing in or out. Ah well, like everyone tells me...it's a Sub sim not a people saving sim.

Thanks again for the interesting details, I love reading that stuff.
Cheers.