The Ideal Silent Hunter

[TorpX]

It's been awhile since anybody posted about what kind of silent hunter game they would like, so readers are encouraged to write about what the next generation of Silent Hunter would look like if they had their wish. I was going to ask people to stick to ideas that were sensible and achievable, but since it is almost Christmas, be as frivolous as you want to be. I mean, if you consider the ideal SH to involve the teenager next door throwing M-80's on your roof to simulate exploding depth charges, who am I to say that's wrong.

No doubt Ubisoft will disappoint us again this X-mas, but perhaps some unknown computer genius will see our ideas, and be inspired to start work on a better subsim.


Here is my version of Silent Hunter Ultimate:

First, it should be for PC's and moddable. Emphasis here is on game play aspects. Naturally, it is set in the Pacific theater.

It should have rock-solid physics; better sub and ship movement, sinking and behavior.

Sound and Radar models need to be much better. No sound that travels through islands, a real SD radar, etc.

Much more realistic weather.

Spherical Earth model and realistic horizon.

More detailed models of engines, batteries, TDC, instruments, gyrocompass, etc.

A Mk VIII angle solver.

Better gun and ballistics models.

Some kind of realistic navigation. I don't think taking star sights and manual calculation, is really needed, but having the XO do the work, with a realistic error added, would be worthwhile.

A more detailed crew. I'm not sure the whole crew needs to be fleshed out or not. Possibly just the key officers and specialists could be done.

Some kind of assisted plotting function. The perfect plot map-contacts that we have in SH4 is terrible. But having observation data transfered to the plot could make things easier for those who dislike plotting without nerfing the game.

A much better AI. There are so many possibilities here. Instead of escorts that spend 30 min. trying to sink you, then go back to Japan for lunch, you could have it so there is a 50% chance they quit after 30 min., another 50% chance for the next, etc. So some would never give up (and you would never know beforehand). You could have conditions triggered by events. For example, sinking a capitol ship within sight of the escorts causes them to hunt for you to the last depth charge and last shell (but not every time).

Have an Imperial AI that will route convoys around hot spots when it becomes clear that enemy subs are on the prowl, or send more ASW units to remedy the situation.

A fictional campaign. Playing the same historic campaign will inevitably become dull after you know it well. There is no reason the game couldn't generate a fictional campaign whenever one is desired. Each one would be unique. Convoy routes, critical battles, and more could be changed, to keep the player guessing.

[Claves_Mortis]

/signed! Get that to Ubi as a petition :-)

Only thing I totally would want to have is the indeed perfectly simulated spheric world, a "correct" sky / star / sun / moon to navigate by stars and completely reliable sea maps with conformal map projection and without zoom - so obviously different scaled maps for each area, including big ones covering several areas instead of one zoomable map.

Another good thing would be a more detailed, varied and vivid world underwater with things on the ground to discover and shelfs to watch.

On the other hand - why would I then still go to the sea myself

[Armistead]

Keep wishing...........

If we ever do get SH6 it will be much like SH5.

We need more modding tools

We need a dynamic campaign.....

[BigWalleye]

TorpX, you center-punched it! You covered everything on my wish-list, and the fictional campaign is a terrific added idea. It would truly be Silent Hunter Ultimate. Now, if we could get Santa to deliver this list to UbiSoft...no, really, guys, stop laughing!

[MarkCt]

Great list so far. I would wish for a better interior of all subs. One you could walk to different compartments and flip some type of switch or lever which would cause some type of action like dive, GQ and all the other stuff that's assigned to keys.

[BigWalleye]

Originally Posted by MarkCt

Great list so far. I would wish for a better interior of all subs. One you could walk to different compartments and flip some type of switch or lever which would cause some type of action like dive, GQ and all the other stuff that's assigned to keys.

Doesn't TMO do that when you hit the dive alarm in the CT? IIRC, dive alarm and GQ alarm are active hot spots. But I prefer to use sh4speech and just give the order. 'Course, I mostly use RFB anyway.

[Cybermat47]

Originally Posted by TorpX

Naturally, it is set in the Pacific theater.

Why? My ideal Silent Hunter (which should have a name like Silent Hunter: Warriors of the Deep) would have U-boats in all theatres, Russian boats in the Baltic, British boats in the Mediterranean and Arctic, and Japanese and American boats in the Pacific.

But if it had all that, it would probably require a whole new computer

[MinskMariner]

Soviet subs in the Baltic or in the Arctic would be awesome!

My biggest wish is for someone to develop a great multiplayer capability (that's not buggy). It's proven difficult because of issues like time compression control (games can take very long at 1x). But if they tried to redo something like SHII / Destroyer Command with the latest graphics and functionality for both submarines and escorts, it would be the ultimate Silent Hunter for me!

[TorpX]

Originally Posted by MarkCt

Great list so far. I would wish for a better interior of all subs.

Good catch there. I forgot about this. One should be able to walk through the boat and fiddle around during boring periods at sea.



Something else that I forgot about:

A much better set of training missions. They should be structured to, as much as possible, duplicate what the USN did. People who have read O'Kane know what I mean. Possibly, better performing boats would get more "active" patrol areas. BTW, orders should be more like orders, not merely suggestions.

[MinskMariner]

BTW, orders should be more like orders, not merely suggestions.

I bet O'Kane would beg to differ :-P

[TorpX]

Originally Posted by MinskMariner

I bet O'Kane would beg to differ :-P

He, well, you know what I mean. In practice, a skipper can always exercise his initiative; and if his initiative doesn't pan out, he might be commanding a desk for his next patrol ;-)

[fireftr18]

I know I'm going to get ridiculed for this, but I'm going to say it anyway. My biggest gripe (other than bugs) is the manual targeting. Yes, I practiced it, got decent at it, but the way it's done in the game takes away the enjoyment for me. It feels like an exercise in tedium. So I use the auto targeting. My enjoyment comes with setting up the attack, and the escape. How about first allowing manual targeting while in auto targeting mode. Simplify manual targeting, if all we had to do was get one or two quick range readings and estimate speed and the program correct errors, then for me, it would be enjoyable. For that matter, targeting modes can be done on an increasing scale for those like me or those that want to do all the inputs and calculating manually.

[Cybermat47]

If it takes away from the fun of the game, don't use it

Originally Posted by Armistead

Keep wishing...........

If we ever do get SH6 it will be much like SH5.

We need more modding tools

We need a dynamic campaign.....

thats being very very optomistic, based on past history of each game being less finished then the one that came before it, i think it would be so unfinished it would be an empty ocean with no land, no ships, non working AI, and no campaign layer and come with instructions on how to finish the game yourself all the while asking $100 for it

[TorpX]

Originally Posted by Webster

thats being very very optomistic, based on past history of each game being less finished then the one that came before it...

Yeah, I'm imagining something along the lines of fighting the IJN with a canoe and a hand grenade.

Really, I think the next good subsim will have to come from someone other than Ubisoft. The situation is very unfortunate for us.

I know I'm going to get ridiculed for this, but .... So I use the auto targeting.

No ridicule here. I'll admit I haven't' given a lot of thought to the auto-targeting business, but there is no doubt that any tolerable sub-sim will have to have it. There are always going to be new players who can't learn the game all at once, casual players, people who like a quick game, etc., etc.

From the perspective of SH4, both manual and auto targeting could use improvement. If all the building blocks are in place for a good manual targeting system, a good auto system shouldn't be that hard, should it?