Supplement to SH Survey: What should Ubi do to make SH5 the best?

[Fenris_Wolf]

Here are my suggestions for SH5.

- SH4 had better graphics than SH3. Thats always a good thing. I want SH5 with DX10.
- Freedom of choice. Immersion. Please take a look at great mods like GWX and other great mods. See how they have worked on and improved every small detail. Simming is important down to the last detail. See all the work they did to make it so realistic. Immersion is what makes a game so great. Sound effects, voices, gramaphone tracks, the role playing option from SH3 Commander adds great depth and immersion.
- My submarine. is extremely important to me. If I honor a new sub and take it out for a ride, it best not suddenly get crushed at a freaking 50m depth! I'm sorry but there's no way I can get myself hooked to such a game. No matter how nice all its other aspects are.
- My Theatre of operation. In SH3 there was plenty of choice. The harsh Atlantic weather. The calm Mediterranean. The Havanas for some warm weather. The freezing northern seas. Etc. What could be better than this?
- Please ignore all the political pressure, forget politics, politicians or any such apprehensions or else you would be stuck with little to no choice! Because we always expect a kickass game from you guys with the most awesome machinery and wonderous stuff in it that is not only worthy of the Silent Hunter title but also upholds its reputation and lives up to our expectations. It better have more room than anyone's imagination.
- Campaigns and gameplay. Not only it has to be realistic, there should also exist the great thrill of the hunt! I want my enemies to bring it on. I want those destroyers to do their best and stop me. I want a challenge. When I chew through their convoys and their mightiest warships, I want to experience a directly proportional vengeance which should be evident on its own that all the old men in their navy sat together to think of a way to stop me. I want them to mobilize their entire fleets just for me if I'm sinking far too much of their tonnage each patrol with just my boat. I want them to send their UFOs at me when I shoot down a few dozen of their airplanes in just a week.

Make it so.

[GoldenRivet]

Ill try to keep it short and simple.

and this is just my opinion so here is a grain of salt - gratis

Why i think Sh3 is technically superior to SH4 - in stock condition of course, is that SH3 had more out of the box stability.

i could tell that ubi wanted to do a lot of neat things with SH4 because it has so much potential but - in the end that potential was left unrealized until modded.

while i appreciate the attempt by ubi to attract new gamers to the subsim genre - they went about it by "hollywooding" the game into oblivion.

what i mean is they added all this eye candy, souped up the graphics, made it look good... but in the end i think most hard core sub simmers want substance. (they would rather have an intelligent cutie vs. a stupid mega-beauty)

to make SH5 they should avoid this mistake in the future.

personally I would love to see the entire sub interior modeled.

some rigs cant handle that so...so make an option

perhaps check boxes?

[] pretty grahics / plain jane command room
[] ok graphics / but fully modeled interior
[] pretty graphics with fully modeled interior (fast machines only)
[] piss for graphics with fully modeled interior etc

the range of experience of the subsimmers is vast... so the game has to be highly scalable in realism and difficulty.

[UnterseeBoogeyMan]

Originally Posted by Seeadler

2. Functional wolfpacks! Hey, the old DOS game "Aces of the Deep" had them and they had worked.

This would be the largest addition to the Silent Hunter series. Even in single player campaigns, work in coordination with AI - controlled Uboats as a pack. They radio a contact report, and you find it. You find a convoy, radio in and the AI Uboats show up. You would receive renown for however many AI uboats show up for the attack. That way you have incentive not to leave the targets all to yourself and you have a reason to risk HF/DF detection later in the war.

That leads to another suggestion - the AI controlled Uboats need to fire torpedoes. Uboats attacking convoys on the surface with a deckgun never would have happened.

One more suggestion - Larger convoys. In the war, these convoys were easily 2x the size of what I see now in SH3. And the spacing is too narrow.
This does not allow for the classic torpedo boat tactics Doentiz drilled into his men from the beginning. With larger convoys and more spacing, the destroyers are not grouped as tight to reinforce each other. This allows the Uboat player to slip between the gaps of the escort screen, penetrate into the meat of the convoy and do that voodoo that Kretchmer did sooo wellll.

[Kapt Z]

If it's another u-boat sim then it must have wolfpacks. Better AI would be nice, but a u-boat game without wolfpacks is really missing so much.

My single biggest gripe about SH3.

[timmyab]

I'd really like it to be far more difficult to achieve success than it is at the moment.Even with GWX it's so easy to pile up enormous tonnages and then go home without a scratch that it bears no relationship to reality.There's been plenty of decent suggestions already which would help so I wont go over them again.
One thing I haven't seen mentioned that bugs me is that the watch officer appears to be a complete moron who will quite happily ram a quayside at full ahead if you let him.Also I'd like to be able to give him more detailed instructions.Shadow that ship on the horizon.Inform me if the weather changes etc.

[Cpt. Angry F...]

Maybe a real navigation option? Stars, sun. Or is that a bit to far fetched?

[difool2]

Originally Posted by Cpt. Angry F...

Maybe a real navigation option? Stars, sun. Or is that a bit to far fetched?

PLANETS!

[steve299]

1. I would like my crew to be more lifelike. I want to see them sleep and eat and write letters and so forth. Make them actually feel like there for something more then decoration. Give us a cameras in the galley and so forth and the freedom to walk around our sub like a commander would do. 2. More ship types. 3. I want to see Aircraft Carriers launch Aircraft's. Instead of them acting as decoration. 4. Give the modders more freedom. 5. More realism! I cannot stress this enough. I want engine failures, My watch falling overboard in bad weather, some new recruit losing his lunch in rough weather. Make the crew grow beards as time at sea goes by and so on. Engine failures, Dive planes failling and so forth. Please add Wolfpacks. 6. Sea life, Heard Dolphins and Whales could be heard over the hydrophone. Maybe add some more nicer looking birds in harbours.

[Torplexed]

My contribution to this thread is a simple one compared to most. Just bring back the calender with the historically accurate moon phases and important dates. Maybe include local sunrise and sunset. A calender existed in SH1 and 2 so it seems likes it shouldn't be too difficult to re-code.

It's not like I'm asking for the moon...I just wanna know when it's full.

Oh...and make harbours less of a pushover. They always seem to be hopelessly under-defended.

[Peto]

Radar: Surface Clutter and reflection of land masses. The possibility of losing/not gaining radar contact due to it being close to land.

Variable Crush depths for Submarines: Each boat (instead of each class) could be given a unique crush depth when it is "comissioned" by a player. If a player chooses to "cheat" by taking his boat below crush depth (just to see where it is) and then reloads the game, have the simulation recalculate the crush depth so it will be different on the sim reload (and recalculate with a -5% ).

Merchant Cargo: Add Timber as a cargo type with the associated increased bouyancy.

Submarine Fuel Bunkers: Model fuel bunkers and potential damage to them. Leaks would make it easier to track a submarine (submerged or surfaced). A damaged tank could cause a loss of fuel no greater than its capacity. Add the ability to convert appropriate ballast tanks for fuel stowage.

Compressed Air: Should be used for diving, leveling, surfacing, trimming, checking "air in the boat" and firing torpedos.

Submarine Depth Control: The possibility of broaching/going deep from firing torpedos, sea state, very slow speed or improper trim when diving. This should be heavily based on the diving officer's experience/capability.

Escort Convoy/TF Coverage: Create "Ranged Escort" positions where an escort is stationed ~5000 yds outside the close escort. Give escorts dynamic zones to cover rather than having them work from a single static point in the screen.

Proper Crew Rotation and Complement: Rotate members of the crew after each patrol. Limit number of ranking officers and Petty officers to historical standards. Allow the Captain to "request" retaining up to 10 specific crew members and a "decent" chance of having that request granted.

Torpedo Reloads: When ordered to reload torpedos, all torpedomen participate whether or not it's their watch. Torpedos should be loaded about the same speed whether at battle-stations or during an acey-ducey tournament.

[irish1958]

Neal,
Please get this thread to the developers so they can see the passionate involvement we have with this monstrous game.

[iambecomelife]

MAJOR CHANGES
-Surface warfare, preferably with small combatants like destroyers & torpedo boats.
-A persistent, dynamic campaign/strategic mode where you can play Germany or the Allies and manage battle groups, wolfpacks, convoys, aircraft, and surface raiders. There should be R&D, intelligence/enigma breakthroughs, random fortuitous events, and the opportunity to refight certain scripted battles (what if the Hood sinks the Bismarck?). If the Allies do exceptionally well, the war might end early. Alternatively, Germany may drag things out until 1946/7.To win, Germans must sink X amount of tonnage, Allies must sink X U-Boats and/or maintain certain stocks of resources. Mission results could be extrapolated based on players' individual patrols. It would be awesome if this could be done in MP mode on the different servers.
U-BOATS:

-Separate control of each engine. Steering with engines alone should be possible in case of an emergency/damage.

-Detailed management of crucial parts. There should be an actual stock of spares, lubricants, and so on (with the option for noobs to auto-manage). Randomized breakdowns, sabotage, and more aborted patrols.

-Ocean currents should affect speed & trim.

-More accurate depiction of crewmembers manipulating the controls. Each course & depth change should look more "involved" than w/SH3.
-A 3d representation of the player. Maybe even with customizable features, although it doesn't have to be as in depth as "The Sims".

-Semi-random crewmember behavior. Men coming off watch and walking through the interior, sleeping, eating, cooking, carrying out maintenance, etc.

-Visual deterioration of the sub during the patrol. Paint should flake off & bleach. Rust spots should appear, and on extra-long patrols sea grass should grow on the hull.

-Likewise, the interior should reflect patrol duration. I want to see beards, bloodshot eyes, dirtier clothes, spoiling food, and accumulating trash.
-Random events on board. Something like the "Pilot Personality Profiles" for "Red Baron 3d" would be wonderful. Johann gets a "Dear John" letter and can't stop sobbing. BDU radios that your sonarman's a new father. Someone gets into a fistfight with the cook over bad rations. The new Chief Engineer gets caught hoarding rations. If you don't want to take the trouble to script in all these things, make them easy to add with text-based files.
-A nightclub and perhaps a few other shore establishments, a la "Aces of the Deep". You could swap stories with other captains, pull strings, arrange for transfers, suck up to the brass (or mouth off to them), etc.

SURFACE SHIPS:
-Several variables governing ship behavior. Lookouts, engineering, and weapons crews should have different skill levels. For instance, a destroyer might have excellent lookouts but a poor ASW department. A merchant with low lookout skill should be in danger of losing touch with the convoy.

-A large variety of non-standardized shipping (SH4 was a step in the right direction). Semi-random merchant ship size and structural features would be great. More variable tonnage for non-standard ship types - a 400-foot freighter should range from about 4500-5800 tons, for example.
-Many different types of deck cargo. Deck cargo for tankers & factory ships late in the war.

-Better skins. Skins should change over time. Navies should have different camoflage measures depending on the time period. Merchants should switch from civilian skins to gray paint as time goes on. Neutral ships should have hull flags, billboard lettering, name boards, and lights on at night.
-Pennant numbers for naval vessels. Names painted on ships. There MUST be a way to assign vessel names to certain paint schemes, so that navies, merchant fleets, and individual shipping lines have the correct names.
-No automatic penalty for sinking neutrals; neutrals with contraband or sailing in Allied convoys were fair game.
-Spectacular damage effects. Metal should deform from collisions & battle damage. Fire should propagate realistically depending on how flammable the cargo is. Deck cargo should be affected by gravity. Ships should break into multiple sections, experience structural failure, or disintegrate totally if they are carrying ammunition. Different colored flames & smoke, steam, chemical spills, floating debris, etc. would be great.
-Visual damage control efforts by ship's crewmembers and escorts. Escorts should scuttle heavily damaged merchantmen after removing survivors.
-On a related note, cargo should affect buoyancy. Ships carrying timber should take many torpedoes; iron ore carriers should go down like stones.

-Better navigational behavior. Convoys should form up, merge, divide into subsections bound for different ports, and scatter if faced with a surface threat. There should be actual commodores and vice-commodores. Merchants should straggle randomly, try to sneak from exposed columns, and "romp" ahead on occasion if they have a higher top speed than the convoy.

-Replenishment operations with oilers, ammunition ships, etc. Finite ammunition supplies.
-Ships heading westbound should usually be in ballast. Eastbound ships should be low in the water due to cargo. Ship draft should be within a range, instead of always an exact figure - especially for merchants. Appropriate cargoes depending on where a ship's port of origin is.

-Real signalling with lamps, searchlights, signal flags, and semaphore men.

-Rescue/recovery operations. I can't stress this enough. Think of how different escort behavior would be if in real life they didn't have to worry about picking up survivors. Appropriate response based on ship type - if I torpedo a 1000 ton merchant and a 15000 ton liner with hundreds of troops on board, the escorts' priority should be obvious. Ships should actually launch their lifesaving craft, and crews should jump overboard on occasion.

-More realistic evasive maneuvers. Experienced captains should alter zigzag routines frequently. Merchants should always try to keep a U-Boat astern or facing towards their heaviest defensive armament.

-Appropriate situational analysis. Escorts should not all rush after the first enemy unit they see. If outnumbered or damaged, the AI should attempt to retreat.

-Better aircraft carrier behavior, with actual launches/recoveries, crash landings, turning into the wind, &c. Make them actually INTERESTING to watch.
-Make ships seem alive. Crewmembers should man lookout posts, do maintenance, stand watch, etc. Condensation discharge, whistles/horns, movable cargo booms, embarking/unloading passengers & cargo - there's just so much more that can be done.
-The option to inspect vessels and even take them as prizes, especially early in the war. Interrogation of survivors for information about other ships/convoys. It would also be nice to give them food, medical aid, the course to land, and so on.

GENERAL
-Keep the dynamic campaign. NO scripted missions.
-High moddability. It should be easy to extract 3d models & so on.
-More radio chatter, with distress calls, jamming, shore stations, etc.
-Better aircraft behavior. Planes should fail to detect the player's U-Boat more often. They should either be more resistant to damage or much harder to hit. Seaplane rescues, dogfights, &c. would be nice.
-WOLFPACKS! They don't need to be spawned from port to mid-ocean - just spawn them based on player contacts, if that will save resources.
-Cut scenes for abandoning ship, awards ceremonies, getting captured, and other important events. No instantaneous "U-Boat Lost" screen.
-A rounded earth.
-Better weather dynamics, with seasonal variations.
-Torpedoes for the AI.
-Intelligence information and reports about goings-on elsewhere. The game should keep track of historical figures: "Johnnie Walker's escort group has moved into your area." "Endrass sank two steamers in grid AM 19." The game should keep score for other captains in your flotilla. There should be the option for historical captains to survive longer than they actually did (or die early).
-Museum mode should be easier to load up. In my opinion, rendering the ocean & sky in museum is totally unnecessary. "Danger from the Deep's" museum style suits me just fine.

[PL_Andrev]

Originally Posted by Neal Stevens

Please note any comments, ideas, suggestions, and observations you would like to make about SH5; what would make it great, what mistakes from SH3/SH4 not to repeat, etc.

My and many my friends are played in all SH games as multiplayer...
So, few my ideas now, general for this mode:

At first:
Take care of SH players.. and UBI opinion in players environment!
- Extra paid patches for game (patch 1.5 in "Uboat mission") is really best way to save this idea...
- Fatal work of UBI server! Unstable work or disconnecting players from UBI server (with no other real alternatives to play) means that players who love multigame are not important for UBI...

At second:
Two questions...
Many of us are still playing in SH2/DC.. Why?
Some of us have SH4, but are playing only in SH3... Why?

I want to show why SH2/DC, SH3 and SH4 games are still in love: that is (+) advantages and (-) disadvantages for each product:

SH2/DC multiplayer
+ The ability to to choose any side (axis / allies)
+ The ability to choose any unit by player (SH2: British / Japanese submarine, DC: American / Japanese battleship, French / Italian cruiser)
+ Simple configuration of a LAN and LAN simulation programs (such as Hamachi)
+ Up to 16 players via LAN / Hamachi
- Graphics

SH3 Multiplayer
+ Mod-able game (other units / settings / parameters of the game)
+ Graphics
+ Excellent and stable work on the UBI servers
+ Possibility of creation servers on UBI by a large majority of players (as host)
+ Free support (non-paid patches)
- The inability to play typical naval units, like destroyers, cruisers etc (only implemented by some fan's mods)
- Unstable work through simulating the LAN (f.e. Hamachi)

SH4 Multiplayer
+ Mod-able game (other units / settings / parameters of the game)
+ Excellent graphics (especially with the additional mods, for example Pacific Environment, Trigger Maru)
+ Possibility to play on axis side (only in paid add-on)
+ Randomly missions for multiplayer
- Inability to choose sides in multiplayer mode (axis only in " campaign " mode)
- Unstable work on UBI servers (for example, disconnected from UBI if game will be minimalize to windows taskbar)
- Paid support (patch 1.5 only in extra paid add-on)
- Too simple (boring) play as naval units, like destroyers, cruisers - without cooperative with other naval players / no sub detection
- The inability to play through the LAN (eg Hamachi)

Destroyer Command (naval units)
I understand why UBI doesn't want to continue this game. In fact, we don’t need them. There are many fan mods for SH3, SH4 which compensates this game.
But... we want to be able to play on the surface, gun shooting, torpedo shooting vs enemy units, and shoot depth charges against other players which will play on the subs.Don't create special campaign for naval units - the campaign for uboats will be quite enough to play.
We would like to have support from the UBI only, to play as we want: shoot by guns, torpedoes and depth charges against other players. We love it.

What should have SH5 to be successful as SH3?
In short: the advantages SH2/DC, SH3, SH4, and no of their defects...

General: single player / multiplayer / campaign:
* The ability to play any side (allies / axis)
* The ability to play any submarine, for example German IXC or American Gato class (Add-on for SH4 "Uboat Mission" does not allow you to play the German subs in multiplayer mode) or other additional unit, created by fans.
* The ability to play any nationality (we want to play full modable game, for example as Dutch, on VIIIC type as allies)
* The ability to play any additional submarine unit, designed by fans from all conflict’s side like: the Italian "600", Japanese "Sen-toku", French "Surcouf", Soviet "Staliniec"...
* The ability to play campaign or patrol by submarine or naval unit (without sub detection, only anti-aircraft weapon, torpedo-if possible and gun shooting)

Multiplayer Mode:
* Simple creation stable game as host on UBI server (like SH3)
* Able to generate random missions like in SH4 (great idea!)
* Full cooperation with programs simulating LAN network (Hamachi)
* Up to 16 players by LAN
* Play any scenario (German subs vs. American convoy, British subs vs. Italian battleships, Japan sub vs. American Pacific forces)

Technical support:
* Free patches for all, without differences between game versions (like 1.4 patch for SH4 vs. free 1.4 patch for SH4 and paid 1.5 patch with add on - it killed many SH4 fans...)

High Mod-ability game
* A simple addition new units as new directories, like: one unit - one directory with all data for this unit: parameters (power, speed), images (hull, control room), etc
* Possibility of simple changing the every interior shapes of submarine by the fans
* Easy and simple editing of any parameter entities in text files such as equipment, the sub's maximal depth, speed, battery power, etc.)
* Easy and simple editing equipment parameters (gun power, reliability and number of torpedoes, the number of debrises, range of radar )
* Easy and simple editing sub detection's parameters by the AI (chance of sub's detection as parameters: depth vs. speed vs. distance from submarine)
* Automatic addition of new and modified units to the mission editor (manual editor and automatic multi mission creator)
* Easy and simple editing of fog density / clouds parameter (in SH3 it is done better than SH4, but SH4 have better graphic)
* The ability to change the EACH bitmap of game by the fans (eg sonar room / map navigation / damage panel graphic / periscope head / battery icon)

Naval units (the campaign / multiplayer)
* The ability to use any unit from a naval warship / merchants library
* Use of a single, permanent model of rooms for all types of ships (as DC model), but may be changed by the fans separately for every ship
* The ability of adaptation the control room and other rooms, which may be changed by fans for every ship
* Use in campaign mode / single mission / single patrol only artillery and torpedoes.
* Ability to lock / unlock room for each class (such as sonar, depth charges or torpedoes launcher at battleship or cruiser)

Simplified submarine detection by other units in multiplayer mode:
Passive sonar: localization of sub bearing available only for human player by hydrophone (without AI support). We want to lock bearing of this sound and send to other players which are playing as naval ships.
Sonar active: localization of sub distance only for human player by hydrophone (like distance measurement by a hydrophone in SH4). We want to read distance, lock reading value and send these parameters (estimated position + depth) to the other players which are playing as escort ships.
Attack to enemy submarine: simpler like torpedo attack: choose depth, number of launcher, and manage crew to load bombs to launcher

DRM:
Data security should be the least irritate for users.
The best way to protect your business is checking the unique game-key. The unique key allows to register game for install patches. Only register game allows create server as host.
Unfortunately, creation of clones or illegal copies always will be available. The best way to protect your product is creation of new versions (automatically downloaded patches), which will be able only for registered (with legal keys) users.

Protection way:
UBI must perform only one condition: very popular server to play (like SH3 now). If server find two or more identical game-keys, this key is lock with no possibility for download new patches, creation game as host and playing more than 30 minutes (after that - game is finished). This same situation with games created by LAN (host's machine is checking all clients registration numbers)

This double key is marked by the server UBI as a "illegal" and players have this key cannot be registered, download and use new patches, and creates new servers (as host).
Optional: at the same time, information of illegal version is saved to user's machine, and every next game ends after 30 minutes of play. Try to re-register or download patches from UBI game with this key will be impossible.

Maybe good way is free available "demo version" for all with one weakest submarine and weakest torpedoes, with possibility full but non-saveable mission (f.e attack on small convoy with/without escort), without crew management to faster reload / sub repair.
Demo without mission editor, only with 0% real but with "elite" escort (available only one type of warship) and one type of merchants
Advantages:
+ general "if you want more: register game and download full version and patches"
+ user will know: graphic, AI, how to play as sub or naval unit,
+ user can play full patrol (without save) but only with 2 different enemy units available in the demo
+ user can play only on weakest sub with weakest torpedoes against the best escort
+ to play full career, use other subs/ships, play as multi, download patches register (full version) is needed
+ demo can be only "test" version to find bugs, and take suggestion from players
+ when download mission/game screenshots of all what is absence in demo...

Additional alternative / possibility of multiplayer mode: Air unit (only as simple mode)
- If it will be possible to control naval units, there is nothing to prevent to placing the unit on the 100-1000 meters above the water – create “air” units which can be used by players in multiplayer game to detect and attack detected submarines (for example: SH4 / Trigger Maru mod allows to detect sub on the 20-30 meters depth in a quiet water) or attack enemy naval units. Full control or course control of air units (multiplayer games subs vs. naval or naval vs. naval) will be new for all SH series! (on SH2/DC player can only use naval units, no air)
- In “full control” mode, only simple fly available: no start / landing - reload bombs can be available as torpedo at submarine (need time to reload)
UBI should only:
* Produce only one "standard" cockpit
* Introduce a simple system for aiming bombs, deep charges, torpedoes in accordance with the fundamental principles of physics.
* Develop a model of flight (climb / descent / turns vs. speed / stall

Control of course, would have been done on the basis solely on the basis of commands from the keyboard or a traditional bar control.

Catalogs tree’s proposal:
Simple proposal for a adding new French submarine:
Main Catalog: France
Data: Bitmap of merchants and warships ensigns, (few ensigns: new, use, partially destroyed etc), side: axis / allies, the time of participation in war
Type Catalog: Sarcouf
Data: (no special design for this type, use existing model) bitmaps of IXC
Data parameters: number and guns power, maximum depth 100m, maximal speed 10kt, fuel 110 tons, number of debris 0, no radar etc etc.

In this case, the player is able to play "Sarcouf" French submarines, which is a copy of the German IXC, with a maximum speed 10kt and maximum depth 100m.
The parameters are read automatically by the mission editor, after that "Sarcouf" is automatically available as French submarine.

Most irritate errors in multiplayer game:
When player is killed when surfacing/surfaced - his ship is undestroyable and still attacked by the escort

Damage effects proposal:
More effects when sub is damaged! Steam, fire, smoke, electrical sparkles (sparkles are available when depth charges are exploded), electrical/light problems (only part or all electric bulbs are destroyed – see Petersen’s “Das Boot”) and… water in control/other rooms when rooms are flooded as a result of leaks…

I hope that it are most important things to prepare SH5 as the best sub game for ever...

[Kapitan Klaffmuschel]

I did not scan all the prevous posts in this thread so my apologies for any "dupes".

1. A set of bubbles in the deck gun to let you know when the boat is near level. I'm sure the deck gun crew would know by looking through the sight that the gun was pointing at the target or not. With a stabilized gun sight (no, the "no stabilize view" does not apply here) you have no way of knowing if your muzzle is pointed at the sun or the sea... This should not be a huge thing to implement.
2. Better "thinking" from the "dispatcher." It would make sense to me that the boat would be sent to locations based on current loadout and fuel. I've been sent to Hong Kong (out of Pearl/Midway) to patrol for 96 hours with barely over 1/4 fuel and 2 fish.
3. While we're on that, if no one else has asked. TOW me into port if I'm within 250 miles of base. Refuel me if I'm farther out. I'm NOT proud. I hate losing a great patrol because I got sent all over the ocean and ran out of juice due to some depth charge damage in my last patrol zone.
4. Again, if no one else has asked, more realistic depth capabilities for the subs. Dick O'Kane took the Tang down to almost 600 feet to test it's hull before going into action. We should be able to do the same (with variations due to class).

[Sub Commander]

well well, first I must say that I totally agree with you guys, but please if u don't want SH V to be World War II, please stop posting before u make Ubisoft change their mind. SH was and will stay World War II, if u don't like the setting go and buy some cheap bad looking Cold War game, but stop trying to destroy SH V thank you. Now I'll continue with what I would like to see in the game (offcourse most of this is already said here but maybe I'll add some new things):

I. Wolfpacks, this is mentioned so often that Ubi would be stupid to neglect this.
II. Atlantic setting would be good for U-boats, and considered all those Americans that would love to play with their own subs (I can understand that though) make a campaign for them in the Pacific but better then SH IV.
III. More sub interiors like Crew Quarters, Torpedo Rooms etc.
IV. For U-boats the ability to choose its number like U-262 or u-194 and for Us subs names like Skippers Son (or whatever you could think of)
V. When you dive and the deck watch needs to go down the hatch, I want to see them going down that ladder.
VI. I want my crew to speak its Native language , (yes I know that u can download all those mods, but I'll tell you guys: I suck at getting all those folders in the right place without fkng my pc up. I did that once... Dont wanna do it again. Please get something that helps you with getting mods in the correct place.) But to continue the language idea, I think it sucks commanding a U-boat and ur crew is talking English...
VII. More things I can put on the side of my U-boat not only the Flotilla's emblem as in SH III, I want German Eagles, American Flags etc.
IIX. I don't want such a short campaign as in SH IV WotP U-boat missions u started mid 1943 and the war ends mid 1945 that sucks.
IX. When I fire a torpedo at a ship, the ships hull shows a gap (thats better then SH III) but I want it to be even better, I want to see engines when I hit the engine room, or I want beds to blasted away when I hit the crews quarters.
X. When u reload ur tubes from external reserves u dont see anything happen... uhm or are they ghosts, would love to see torpmen loading tubes with external reserves.
XI. More shell types, in SH III you could have Starshells, I loved them, but except for those I want more then 1 shelltype.
XII. Then more contact with the Befehlshaber der Unterseeboote (BdU) or as Us sub commander more contact with their commander.
XIIV. As said in number VI a booklet or a digital manual that explains step by step how to install mods in the correct folder.
XIV. A limited edition like SH IV had, even if it costs 100$ I would consider buying it, I love the series and would love to have a recoqnition manual with the special edition, with all the ships that are in the game.
XV. More attention to being promoted. At SH III u will get promoted if ur very lucky. But the crew still calls u Herr Kaleun, if i am a Captain they should call me something else then if I was a Major or whatever the ranks were called in the Navy, Kriegsmarine.
XVI. Walking around would be much more cooler and instead of just clicking on the hatch and be in the conning tower having to climb down the ladder.
XVII. When water is leaking into ur sub, that it stays on the floor and not dissapears. Until you have pumped it out.
XIIX. When I warned my HQ in SH IIIthat i spotted a convoy or a taskforce I usually got the answer that there was no help coming my way... and in SH IV I mostly got the answer that support was on its way, so I followed that convoy or taskforce and guess what... NOTHING EVER HAPPENED, not even when I stalked the convoy or taskforce for over 3 days... I want more positive and real support, not only written or a negative reply all the time.
XIX. QUOTE-Greater interaction with the AI. GWX implemented a lot of this. It's not pleasant feeling like you're the only Kriegsmarine asset out there in the Nordatlantik being hunted by dozens of RN, RCN and USN vessels. Possibly the ability to implement some proper rudeltaktik would be superb; actually give the player the option to command a wolfpack when his rank reaches an appropriate level-QUOTE Man THIS IS BRILJANT the rank system in SH IV wasnt that good at all. But this would be much better.
XX. When in SH IV taskforces changed course they always turned away before turning the right way. That costs too much time if they need to be somewhere exactly at a specific time.
W00t these are my suggestions for now, i'll sure come up with loads more (allthough i wonder if Ubi even looks at this.) PLEASE I WANT A RECOQNITION MANUAL!! LOOK AT NUMBER XIV!!.

P.S. GWX is working on GWX 4.0 that is going to recreate SH IV, I don't think GWX is going to publish it any earlier then Ubi publishes SH V that would Fck SH V sell numbers. Cuz what I have seen from 4.0 so far... w00t that was sick look for urself, it looks so good. Well i'll stop bashing Ubi before they wont let me buy SH V.