I noticed someone mentioned rescue missions for the subs. This would be especially important for a Pacific Theatre game. Pacific Fighters models ditched pilots floating in rafts; how hard can this be for a subsim, which doesn't have to do in-depth modeling of high performance aircraft? Not to have this feature would almost be negligent.
Survivors and lifeboats would also be important. Think of how different the war would have been if escorts didn't have to deal with rescuing the crews of stricken ships.
The AI needs to exhibit a new level of complexity. As was mentioned before, friendly fire would be great. I'd also like to see destroyers shelling fatally damaged ships, escorts screening the vessels we hit, and merchantmen straggling from convoys. They should also manage their available forces wisely; it's annoying in SH3 when the DD's all swarm around your sub, leaving the ships they're escorting defenceless. Why should they know yours is the only sub around?
This brings me to the topic of AI subs. Whether the game's in the Atlantic or Pacific I'd like to see them from time to time. I realize that wolfpacks were rarely used by the Americans but it would still be a nice touch.
Miscellaneous items:
-Dud torpedoes, even if they hit at a 90' angle
-Cut scenes for important events (medals/promotions, abandoning ship, beginning/end of war)
-Minelaying missions
-Panic, combat fatigue, and injuries modeled visually
-Court Martials for friendly fire/poor performance
-Marine life on hydrophones
-Wider variety of merchants and merchant cargoes
-More readily moddable tga files and 3d models (please, no more excessive texture repetition)
-Better selection of warships and aircraft - Units included should be historically important (why did we get the P-38, instead of an Anson or Skua?)
-Mechanical failures
-Deteriorating sub (rust gradually increases, breakdown probability increases over time)
-Limited passenger capacity for subs (rescued airmen, evacuees from, say, Bataan in '42, survivors from enemy units picked up for intelligence purposes, etc).
-A strategic mode, a la SWOTL, with limited commodities, missions tied to land offensives, management of flotillas, R&D component, and possibly even a little alternate history - Give the Americans a decent torpedo early on and the war's over in January of '45. Fail to sink enough Japanese tankers and the Emperor stays in business untill early '46.
-Some equivalent of the tavern in 'Aces of the Deep'. Recommend transfers, talk to AI sub skippers, chat about your last voyage, and ogle the jazz singer.
-If Pacific, careers as Dutch, British, or Japanese submariners, maybe as expansion packs. If Atlantic, the same thing, perhaps for Italians and British.
Even 1/4 of this stuff in addition to what we have now would be a major step forward.
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