Quote:
Originally Posted by BigWalleye
So a computer program (or a board game or miniatures game) can be both a game and a simulation. It is a game because it is an activity indulged in for recreation. It is a simulation if it is an attempt to imitate another process. Bridge (the card game) is a game which does not imitate anything, so it is not a simulation.
All the Silent Hunter series are both games and simulations. We can argue as to the quality or fidelity of the simulation, just as we can argue as to their entertainment value as games. But they are used for entertainment and they are modeled on other real or hypothetical processes. So they are both game and simulation.
Are these simulations usable for developing new tactics? No. Are they usable for training submarine crews? No. They are programs intended to retail for about $40. Can they teach us anything about the historical problems and challenges of commanding a U-boat? Possibly, and they can probably teach us things that are simply historically wrong, as well. Any simulation merely teaches us how to use the simulation, not the real-world process it is imitating.
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Ah OK, I see. A simulation will never be able to perfectly imitate real word, so we call "simulation" whatever process which try to imitate a real thing (even if very badly).
For me, "simulation" means a software which imitates perfectly (or at least as best as technology allows to) a real thing. It's not at all the case for SH3, IMHO.
Examples : wrong proportions of 3D models (ships, buildings, crews, trees ....), wrong aspect of 3D models (harbours, bunkers, lighthouses ....), wrong aspect of environment (night, underwater light, fog, no snow, see waves, deformed world map, wrong distances ....), wrong AI behaviour (sonar, visual, radar, airplanes ......), wrong ships' buyoncy, wrong sounds (sonar, u-boat engine, voices, orders, torpedoes ......), wrong aspect of GUI (periscope reticules, tools for manual attacks .....), wrong convoys (not historical dates, routes, number of ships, escorts .....), and so on ......................
So, SH3 is just a game which is based on real German u-boats, but very badly imitated.
Examples of good simulations in my opinion ("true simulation", I don't think it's possible to do better) :
- Naval action
- Cliffs of Dover
- Rise of Flight
