[Frumpkis]

Originally Posted by jdkbph

Be careful what you ask for...? It's almost like dealing with a Genie. Yes, they did ask for 3d interiors and interactive crew and UBI delivered. But I think the assumption was that all else would be at least as it was in SH3. I think if it had been understood that the addition of 3d interiors and interactive crew would cost what it now seems it has, no one would have voted for that.

Agreed. Here's an interesting question, I think: If we had a time machine and could go back a couple years, and if Ubi had offered these two choices:

1) You can have a full 3D interior and interactive crew, but just the Type VII sub... that's it!

2) You can have the Type VII and IX, and we'll throw in the XX1 too, for alternate history scenarios, but the interiors will be just like SH4 and you can't walk through the boat.

Which would the subsim community, as a whole, choose? Sure, we'd like to choose "all of the above," but developer resources are always limited, unless we want to wait 10 years between sim releases.

I don't know if that's a fair comparison. I think if you wanted to argue that SH5 benefits from bing a single platform simulation, you'd have to demonstrate that the platform simulation is deeper than what you find in a survey (or multiple platform) simulation. I'd be looking for things like the ability to pull the levers to open the ballast tank vents, turn the valves to trim the boat, flip all the switches and turn all the dials on the radios, sonars and radars. Basically something akin to the level of interaction you find in the aforementioned MPS B17 sim.

I don't think you have to operate all those controls yourself for an immersive (hah!) simulation. The question is more like this: Can I achieve a suspension of disbelief that I'm sitting in front of a computer screen, to believe that I'm in this type of boat, or that type of boat? Early war boats in either WWII theater should feel cramped and limited in capability, later fleet boats on both sides should feel very different inside.

Oh, and even though it was explicitly excluded from consideration by the OP, I'll still cast my vote for a WWI sub sim. I think that's the one area that hasn't already been done to death (really hasn't been done at all... I can't count Shells of Fury) - and - would be a good fit for the sim and graphics engines UBI has already developed.

I'm with you on that one, I've always thought a WWI sub sim might be interesting, if only because we've never seen one. I have some concerns about it being too "un-sub" like.... too much emphasis on surface attacks, no real ASW technology to make evasion after an attack interesting. But it could be fun. I hope someone does this, eventually!