The future and WWII sub sims...what would you like to see?

[Mast]

Just finished watching "Das Boot" again (can't count how many times I've watched it) but it got me thinking. Things I would like to see in the next WWII sub simulations.

It would be great to be able to walk from bow to stern. Be able to walk in the engine room and hear/see those engines. See "the ghost" checking the engines. Urfisch's Open hatch mods is a great start. See everybody at their stations like in "Das Boot" (more men than what you see in SHIII). When "alarm!!" and crash dive is shouted...see the crew running past you heading to the bow torpedo room. Like a first person shooter...walk/run through the boot and see part of your crew sleeping in their bunks. When being depth charged...the ability to grab hold of something cause if you don't, you get tossed around.

Improve the ability to skin...ie, fix that damn texture repeat problem, so you can correctly skin both sides of the conning tower. Also fix the emblems so that some of them face the correct way on both sides of the conning tower.

More U-Boot types to choose from, mine layer version comes to mind. What would you like to see in the future?

I'm sure this has been brought up before, so sorry for that but wanted to hear some of your thoughts.

Mast

[Sailor Steve]

I've long dreamed of a flight sim which puts me in an actual replica cockpit, with the canopy being a 360-degree raparound that lets me turn my head to look at things.

A subsim? Since we're not likely to get a complete actual interior we can walk around in and have other people there as well, maybe a better interior with more crew, and ever more realistic as well. I only hope for better graphics and ever-better gameplay.

[stew278]

I think being able to command one of the escort destroyers would be interesting. Trying to hunt down and sink a uboat would be a challenge. Obviously this would be less interesting from a career point of view than a uboat career since most of your time would be spent plodding along with the merchants, but for single battles it would be fun.

I also think the command interface could be improved so that all actions/orders have a corresponding hotkey. That way I could create a VAC profile and use voice commands to give orders to the crew for all commands. For example, having to click on icons to have the watch officer give to a target report is a hassle. Issuing voice commands to do the same would be more immersive as well. Flight sims have a bazillion hotkeys programmed to cover every possible command, why couldn't a subsim do so as well?

[Mast]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

I've long dreamed of a flight sim which puts me in an actual replica cockpit,

Sailor Steve,

Have you tried IL-2 Sturmovik? Latest version is 1946. To me the cockpit modeling in this great flight sim is awesome. When you sit in the cockpit of any WWII aircraft, it is like the actual cockpit. No other game comes close.

Mast

[S Rafty]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

I've long dreamed of a flight sim which puts me in an actual replica cockpit, with the canopy being a 360-degree raparound that lets me turn my head to look at things.

A subsim? Since we're not likely to get a complete actual interior we can walk around in and have other people there as well, maybe a better interior with more crew, and ever more realistic as well. I only hope for better graphics and ever-better gameplay.

Lol Ive dont that at RAF Valleys flight trainer for the T1 Hawk. Ah to be an air cadet back in the day lol!

[S Rafty]

Originally Posted by stew278

I think being able to command one of the escort destroyers would be interesting. Trying to hunt down and sink a uboat would be a challenge. Obviously this would be less interesting from a career point of view than a uboat career since most of your time would be spent plodding along with the merchants, but for single battles it would be fun.

I also think the command interface could be improved so that all actions/orders have a corresponding hotkey. That way I could create a VAC profile and use voice commands to give orders to the crew for all commands. For example, having to click on icons to have the watch officer give to a target report is a hassle. Issuing voice commands to do the same would be more immersive as well. Flight sims have a bazillion hotkeys programmed to cover every possible command, why couldn't a subsim do so as well?

Cos most people probably can't be arsed to read up every single hot key lol. :rotfl:

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Mast

Sailor Steve,

Have you tried IL-2 Sturmovik? Latest version is 1946. To me the cockpit modeling in this great flight sim is awesome. When you sit in the cockpit of any WWII aircraft, it is like the actual cockpit. No other game comes close.

Mast

Good points, but I meant one with a frame surrounding me, and a canopy over my head, and the graphics projected onto the canopy.

[TarJak]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

Good points, but I meant one with a frame surrounding me, and a canopy over my head, and the graphics projected onto the canopy.

Why not just get some VR goggles and headse so that your head movements act like the POV hat. It can be done now... http://www.digit-life.com/articles/vfx3d/index.html

[Fenris_Wolf]

I would like a MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) game based on WWII with two factions (Axis and Allies) and with accurate simulation of the war and it's machinery. Let the video game players/simulation junkies duke it out all over again.

We could turn Flotillas into "guilds" (like the ones in existing MMOs like World of Warcraft, etc.). Man your boats with players (or AI characters), get upgrades and promotions for the reknown (or experience) and have fun.

Although I'm sure the devs, always having favoritisms, will imbalance and ruin it (like the class imbalance in WoW).

[GoldenRivet]

for sailor steve... http://www.simviation.com/cgi-bin/ya...num=1150751413

imagine what you could do with that and a projector?

be sure to check out all of the pages of that post... the guy is putting together a serious simulator cockpit!

but BACK ON TOPIC i would like to see all the compartments and crew modeled.

[kurtz]

How about english,french,italian and russian subs (apogies if I've left anybody out-americans have got theirs anyway with SHIV.
A multiplayer mode where participants could be different crew members...need a boat you can walk through though.
Captaining a destroyer would be fun.
How about boarding actions?

[Incubus]

This has been requested in SHIV, but honestly I really want to skipper a Japanese I-boat. While their record in the war wasn't exactly stellar, they (and to a lesser extent, the Kriegsmarine) had an interesting record of trying out ideas that seemed neat on paper but didn't pan out in real life. It would be cool if they created a 'compilation' game, taking great elements from the SH series and making them into a game where you could run missions from all the major powers in WWII.

-US and KM have been covered fairly well.

-UK had subs, though I don't know if their fleets had as much noteriety as other nations. Pretty sure the british navy took a dim view to the idea of submarines; then again they had less need for commerce raiders outside the Mediterranean

-IJN's subs were intented to target warships- they used them in forward screens in several naval battles. They have a small yet impressive list of accomplishments, such as sinking a US CV in Midway and the sinking of the Indianapolis.

I think IJN missions would actually be pretty cool- there are plenty of people that spend lots and lots of time making this game harder w/mods. I think the IJN's sub fleet had the most uphill battle, particularly in 1945 when naval supremacy was all but a fleeting memory. Kaiten, subs carrying nuclear secrets, and even subs that could launch torpedo bombers would be a fun thing to play around with.

[Shelton]

i'd like to see more men on the actual destoyers and merchant vessels actually responding to a hit or taking to battle stations or jumping off a doomed merchant and taking to life rafts - now that would be hugely immersive.

Cheers
Shelton.

[Chock]

Okay, here's a list of stuff I'd like to see:

First-person perspective where you actually walk up the gangplank and get in the sub, also allowing interaction on the land for things like briefings, training and giving awards etc. Walking about in your sub.

More systems modelled so that you actually get realistic ballast and trim problems that you have to figure out solutions to.

Interior graphics that drip water and get messy as time goes on, balancing how much this bother you and whether you choose to order more cleanliness affecting morale would be good.

Interactive crew, with the ability to get them to learn new tactics so they can drive the sub for you on your preferred attack course etc. Especially an XO with more interactive capability, such as tactical suggestions, recommendations for awards from chiefs of various shifts etc.

Crew members that don't fit in (the virtual Bernard if you like).

Crew members actually saying things, I seriously doubt that a gunner who has just shot down a Jap flying boat would not yell 'Take that you Jap b*st*rd!', and you could be damn sure the crew would cheer.

Political concerns, Nazi party members on your U-Boat, Jewish crew members etc etc. Arguments between crew members when they get frustrated by your crappy performance and the ability to decide their punishment (if any), even just a few numbered options would be a start! This is what commanding a submarine is about, not drawing a course line, that's the friggin navigators job!

Risking allowing your crew to sunbathe on deck. fishing off the deck.

The Focke Achgelis Fa 330!

Tidal currents, fish, whales, dolphins, seabirds on the water, oil slicks you can follow on the surface, food dumped on the water by careless convoys so you have to work out tidal flows, or at least ask the navigator to do it!

The light affecting tactics more than it currently does!

A link to real world weather via a download, to make seasonal stuff possible (flight sims have this capability, and have had it for at least 5 years in the mainstream).

The need to service the submarine and maintain its machinery, even via delegation would do, so that you could be caught with your torpedoes not 'ready to rock'. Real WW2 torpedoes did not sit in their tubes for three weeks while you drove about looking for targets! Trim dives, finite food storage. The ability for your crew to innovate and improvise stuff.

Confiscating supplies off merchants you stop, picking up food that floats off sinking ships, taking prisoners on board, interrogating them, giving them supplies and and directions to the nearest landfall.

Crew morale based on all these elements (I know this is sort of in there, but it's pretty basic). Your crew would not think you were great if you machine gunned a lifeboat, then again, maybe they would if you'd picked a bunch of Nazis for your crew or whatever.

Damp conditions and poor weather affecting morale, the cook affecting morale, whether you allow booze on board, or smoking.

Progressive rust and damage to your exterior sub model the longer it stays at sea.

Victory pennants on your conning tower.

One problem why we might not see these however, is that many game/sim companies do not 'lead from the front', instead, assuming that sub sims are a limited market. However, with more foresight, if they made the most ass-kicking, envelope-pushing and innovative sub sim ever, I suspect not just sub sim fans would want to play it. The most succesful companies tend to take this approach, an example being Boeing, which gambled when it built some of its most successful products, including the Flying Fortress and the Boeing 747 Jumbo.

If you build it, they will come, is something computer sim companies should bear in mind.

Chock

[UnterseeBoogeyMan]

Originally Posted by Chock

Okay, here's a list of stuff I'd like to see:

First-person perspective where you actually walk up the gangplank and get in the sub, also allowing interaction on the land for things like briefings, training and giving awards etc. Walking about in your sub.

More systems modelled so that you actually get realistic ballast and trim problems that you have to figure out solutions to.

Interior graphics that drip water and get messy as time goes on, balancing how much this bother you and whether you choose to order more cleanliness affecting morale would be good.

Interactive crew, with the ability to get them to learn new tactics so they can drive the sub for you on your preferred attack course etc. Especially an XO with more interactive capability, such as tactical suggestions, recommendations for awards from chiefs of various shifts etc.

Crew members that don't fit in (the virtual Bernard if you like).

Crew members actually saying things, I seriously doubt that a gunner who has just shot down a Jap flying boat would not yell 'Take that you Jap b*st*rd!', and you could be damn sure the crew would cheer.

Political concerns, Nazi party members on your U-Boat, Jewish crew members etc etc. Arguments between crew members when they get frustrated by your crappy performance and the ability to decide their punishment (if any), even just a few numbered options would be a start! This is what commanding a submarine is about, not drawing a course line, that's the friggin navigators job!

Risking allowing your crew to sunbathe on deck. fishing off the deck.

The Focke Achgelis Fa 330!

Tidal currents, fish, whales, dolphins, seabirds on the water, oil slicks you can follow on the surface, food dumped on the water by careless convoys so you have to work out tidal flows, or at least ask the navigator to do it!

The light affecting tactics more than it currently does!

A link to real world weather via a download, to make seasonal stuff possible (flight sims have this capability, and have had it for at least 5 years in the mainstream).

The need to service the submarine and maintain its machinery, even via delegation would do, so that you could be caught with your torpedoes not 'ready to rock'. Real WW2 torpedoes did not sit in their tubes for three weeks while you drove about looking for targets! Trim dives, finite food storage. The ability for your crew to innovate and improvise stuff.

Confiscating supplies off merchants you stop, picking up food that floats off sinking ships, taking prisoners on board, interrogating them, giving them supplies and and directions to the nearest landfall.

Crew morale based on all these elements (I know this is sort of in there, but it's pretty basic). Your crew would not think you were great if you machine gunned a lifeboat, then again, maybe they would if you'd picked a bunch of Nazis for your crew or whatever.

Damp conditions and poor weather affecting morale, the cook affecting morale, whether you allow booze on board, or smoking.

Progressive rust and damage to your exterior sub model the longer it stays at sea.

Victory pennants on your conning tower.

One problem why we might not see these however, is that many game/sim companies do not 'lead from the front', instead, assuming that sub sims are a limited market. However, with more foresight, if they made the most ass-kicking, envelope-pushing and innovative sub sim ever, I suspect not just sub sim fans would want to play it. The most succesful companies tend to take this approach, an example being Boeing, which gambled when it built some of its most successful products, including the Flying Fortress and the Boeing 747 Jumbo.

If you build it, they will come, is something computer sim companies should bear in mind.

Chock

sounds like another Role-Playing Game for BioWare. they hit one out of the park with Knights of the Old Republic