Not enough 'feel' in the game

First let me state that this is still one of my favorite games, but I am becoming a bit bored with the lack of movement from the crew. They just seem so uninspired and unalive. Their movements are so limited and bland it is beginning to make the sim no fun to play at all.

For instance....


I play a classic on the gramophone and there is no more response from the crew as there was prior to playing it. I can see more emotion coming from the freakin sausages and bananas than them.

There is no crew compartment that is visitable, so there is no "life" onboard the U-boat other than the few sacks of skin and bones that dwell in my command room and on the bridge.


Honestly, this is what the sim really needs. Hopefully the DEVs won't make the same mistake twice. Let there be life onboard for God's sake. Let them eat and drink, let them play cards, and write letters home to their loved ones. Let them misbehave so that we can disipline them. Let the player( captain) interact with them just a bit on a personal level. Make it so that food rationing is as important as fuel conservation. Without food and water how can anyone survive? There are just SOOOO many things they could have and should have been done for SHIII that they didn't do or weren't allowed to. <---UBIsoft pushing an unfinished product out the door for a profit.

In other words...

GIVE US A WHOLE FREAKIN SUB NEXT TIME!

[Umfuld]

The more realistic the better for sure. But ultimately I'd rather they spend their time making the game play better rather than putting too much effort into the little details.

I play a lot of sports games, and still think the best baseball game I played was an old Nintendo one from the late 80s.
The graphics are crap compared to the new ones, but the new ones aren't really that fun to play.

[Enigma]

I would love a whole sub. I would also love a "free walk" mode that allows me to actually move my way through the sub, as if walking through it. Would be awesome.

This was the very first experiment with putting crew on the subs. Give them time, somebody will make it better. For now, I have no problem with ignoring them. I think this sim has worlds more feel than any other I've played.

[Heibges]

Originally Posted by Umfuld

The more realistic the better for sure. But ultimately I'd rather they spend their time making the game play better rather than putting too much effort into the little details.

I play a lot of sports games, and still think the best baseball game I played was an old Nintendo one from the late 80s.
The graphics are crap compared to the new ones, but the new ones aren't really that fun to play.

Tony Larussa World Series Baseball 1992 Sega Genesis
EA Sports NHL 1995 Sega Genesis
EA Sports NBA 1995 Sega Genesis

But I would say Madden 2006 and MVP Baseball 2005 , both by EA Sports are pretty much top of the line.

[Reece]

What would be great is to move around in the sub like any 3D shoot-em-up game, to walk (or swagger!) through the boat with the ability to take the controls yourself, that way you actually controlling the sub yourself! Me, I would probably find crush depth very fast! :rotfl:

[Heibges]

Both Splinter Cell and SOCOM have excellent 3D ladder climb/slide animations.

Everytime I slide down a ladder, it makes me think of sliding down the ladder from the bridge of a submarine.

[perisher]

Graphics should always take third place to game play and realism. In wartime a warship captain's world is the bridge, and the control room.

[Dowly]

I´d love to see SHIV making the crew àla B-17: The mighty eight.

[JU_88]

I agree the crew needs a bit more life, the biggest problem I have with them, is the way their feet are welded to the floor, the watch crew should be clinging on for dear life during rough seas, and ducking to avoid sea spray. Same deal for the command crew, depth charge attacks just dont have the same impact as say - das boot, the sub should shake violently when hit, the crew should again be holding on tight! (Just needs better camera work for this)
I always felt the command room is too empty in SH3! I dont get that clustrophobic feel as I would if it was full with 12 men rather than 5.

The watch crew should be 'standing by' before a surface, would be neat if they actually climbed up the ladder to the bridge, other crew members should be seen walking around doing some other activities smoking on the bridge during day etc.

For compartments, I would like to see the officers quaters opened up as the captains job would have taken him there, but thats it - i suppose the deisel engine room would be a nice touch and farily easy to do - but its more of an extravagance than a necessaty.
I dont think the team should bother modeling the whole sub, the torpedo room would be very difficult to animate properly, in practice the player (us) would hardly ever visit the extra locations anyway, you wont have time to watch the crew reload a torpedo when you are getting in position for your next target and trying to avoid escorts.

Instead i would hope the team spends that time on modeling extra playble submarines as this would boost game play and lastability of the game.

Damage model to the player submarine needs to be improved big time, a bent deck gun and a few scorch marks dont do it for me, I f my sub hull integraty is 20% I want it to look like it!

There should also be other hazards, notiably, fire and leaking battery gas seem to be missing.

[rogerbo]

Well you all have nice ideas, but be honest when under attack i have no time to observe how my Crew is climbing up a lader or how the are scared as i have to make sure i'll survive.
Why would i wan't to see how nice the AA Gunner is moving his little finger or what face he makes when he MISSES the dam plain ?

And when cruising what should the crew do ? Play cards and sing ?

I'm happy how it is.

[SeeStark]

Did anyone ever play the classic Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis? its from 1992 and i still have my boxed copy, there was an entire level where you infiltrated a Uboat, accidently tore off a control lever and had to go around finding a replacement, as well as picking up a few objects like meat hung from the sides, in the end you could also control it in a side scroller format.

I do agree about crew numbers. It would be great to see a full crew in the control room.

[Der Eisen-Wal]

i'd be nice but honestly people would just gripe about how these animations slows their game down, or that heaven forbid, someone complains that they always act the same way when the same tune is put on the gramaphone, or that the CO only has one shocked face, and the watchman always screams ALARM the same way.

[Seminole]

One of the best naval games I ever played was a Gary Grigsby one called Carrier Strike.....almost no graphics at all to speak of ....but it was exciting and entertaining....and managed to bring almost all of the elements involved in conducting the Pacific carrier battles to the player.


SHIII as seen from the perspective of those days is almost too fantastic...if that is possible.
But I suppose there is always room for improvement.