Since i never played Sh2, i can't give a fair answer on this one. But, i do know enough about SH2 to know that it had a rendered interior.
In my personal opinion, graphics has been emphasized too much. And understandably so, this day and age, big graphics are nearly a must.
But i think its a matter of only having so much in resources in the way of manhours and time to build something. By emphasizing one item, you might not have the time to work on another in equal measure. In the end, the "other half" of the submarine simulation , i feel is being neglected to some degree.
In sum, i think compromise has to be reached so that one portion doesnt go neglected or overemphaised.
I know this will make my very unpopular, but I have often thoguht of how much trouble and work, one would possibly save themselves, by simply not creating an external view, and instead emphasizing the first person point of view as oriented to "life onboard a submarine". For example You would make waves and such render perfectly from the bridge view, and not have to worry about silly things like "sub on rails" or, "my propellers are turning backwards". The time saved from having to deal with those aspects, could then be spent to better flesh out the submarine itself.
By allowing an external view, you open a whole plethora of problems that must be addressed, while other aspects of the sim such as the internal modeling of the submarine, and various switches, controls, and functionality, dont get the same attention.
Of course i realize that the eternal view and eyecandy go hand in hand. Its one aspect that i think sells games. In the end, i think the trick would be to find the right compromise on where and how one divides their efforts overall.
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