Well, I see a Japanese sub sim as very viable and very challenging. There are plenty of chances to make such a sim "fun". Japanese subs were off hawaiian waters even before Pearl Harbor was attacked. Due to conflicting orders and probably some hesitation being deep in enemy water they did not do a whole lot. However, a player could certainly rectify that and perhaps do more than just damage the Sara. Many were off the West Coast as well and while historically they did little (Carl Boyd attributes to the Submariners considering it a leisure patrol) a player could certainly have some fun patrolling the West Coast.
There is the Dutch East Indies early in the war and the Japanese had great success in the Indian Ocean until late 43-44. There was no real BDU in the Japanese Navy which is why many times after the war went bad for reasons sub captains could not control, they had to supply or evacuate troops. However, most subs did this as an ad hoc mission. Supplying a garrison one mission, going on patrol for another. Not all Japanese subs did this either, but SHIV developers could create a new mission where the sub commander has to travel from port a to port b and gain renown for delievering supplies. Not only would it be challenging with the US ASW, but there is nothing to stop the player from firing on targets of opprotunity.
Then later in the war intrepid submariners would have to try and damage the invasion fleets as they got closer to Japan.
As for single missions, why any sub fan wouldn't want to try their hand at sinking the Yorktown in the I-168 is beyond me.
I know SHIV will probably be US subs, but it would have been nice to have gone the road no one has traveled (except modders) instead of the well worn and easy road of the US PTO sub.
|