The Silent Hunter IV (Pacific Campaign) WISH-LIST

[Keelbuster]

The majority of the talk so far has been great. I agree.

Here's my wish list:

-1. Don't make SH4 some cheap knock-off. I want a new game. Use the same graphics engine but have some goddamned passion, overhaul the logic and make this game GREAT.

0. HIRE SEVERAL PEOPLE FROM THE SUBSIM MODDING COMMUNITY SO THAT THE DEV TEAM WILL HAVE THE RIGHT ADVISORS. WITH THE RIGHT PEOPLE FROM THIS FORUM, THE ULTIMATE SUBSIM WILL EMERGE!!

1. More diverse missions. This is crucial. SH3's missions were dead. The player had to make it up for themselves every time. 'dynamic' should really mean something this time. Give us co-operative efforts - wolfpacks, special ops, recon, etc, everything that has been said before here on this matter.

2. The play-both-sides thing is great. I love a sim with multiple sides. I LOVE playing for the underdog and ripping ankles with dogteeth.

3. Have a real water/acoustics model something like dangerous waters. Please. At least give us thermal layers.

4. Give me free reign as Kaleun on my sub. I want a first-person shooter-type existence. I WANT TO CLIMB THE LADDER TO THE BRIDGE. I wanna see every part of it, and I want there to be accurate interior damage modelling. A lot of modding has gone into making the damage model real and _interesting_ and I would love to see this on the interior. Make REPAIR more intense - let me have a direct valve-clamping role in it.

5. Optional minigames would make it much better for the realtime folk.

6. And, related, make the crew management more interesting.

7. ALLOW ME TO WRITE MY OWN ENTRIES IN THE KAPITAN'S LOG. I need that. Every kaleun want's to record his/her experiences. Allow us to DL them to text/html.

8. Refer to Wish Zero - if you want to make the real subsim then hire the right people - hire consultants from this forum. DO IT. Only this way will the best game emerge.

KB

[Lionman]

A lot of this will repeat other people's requests but the more votes for a feature the more likely we are to get it.

My Wish list for SH IV so far.

1. Like a great many other consumers I am a gamer largely for social reasons and get great pleasure out of the friendships built up in multiplayer enviroments with buddies. Accordingly my top request/wish for SH IV would be the (MASSIVE) improvement of the online game by permitting multi-crewed submarines in multi-player. i.e 4-5 people in th same sub in various crew roles - Captain, Engineering Officer, Signals Officer, Navigation Officer, Torpedo Officer. This would instantly catapult this game into a legendary success as EVERYBODY will then want to play the multiplayer and that's what publicises and makes any game a super success however good the single player is. This would instantly create a whole range of possible game types in mutliplayer. Single sub against an entirely AI enemy. Two or three allied sub-pack mode against AI surface vessels or enemy subs. Japanese sub against American sub. Or integgrated with a Destroyer Command 2 where the players crewed destroyers and other surface vessels. Like Oleg Maddox with his excellently planned series of integrated combat flight simulators Ubisoft whould be planning ona family of ocean combat sims. Ours is only a niche market because it has not formerly been well catered to or properly marketed. The could become as lucrative a realm for developers as Combat Flight Simualtion, if it was handled with imagination and wish-lists of the gamers who want to buy it are treated as the developer's blueprint

2. The opportunity for FPS style movement inside throughout the boat. I want to be able to "walk" to the engine room along a corridor, squeezing past the animated avatars of crewmen. Walk to the periscope and squat down to grab the handles as it comes up. To climb the ladder into the conning tower, to clamber over the bridge side to reach the deck and deck gun. To stand on deck on the surface at sea.

3. Step-By-Step training missions and Tutorials to ensure rapid learning and practise with all game control functions.

4. Permit one backup so that if your original DVD gets damaged, you can play from a backup. Even better perhaps online registration giving one access to the right to download a fresh copy to the registration email address (perhaps with an incremented serial number to prevent piratical exploitation with mutliple copies) if the original becomes damaged. Simple, cost-effective and safe.

5. Like Safe-Keeper said " "casual" (sound) ambience in normal situations and some other sounds for other situations? Heavy breathing, sobbing, etc. for when the boat is under heave depth charge attacks, screaming and panic when the boat's damaged, etc." Sound makes a really massive difference to immersive realism in any good simulator. If I have a single critisisnm of the (otherwise excellent) raw SH III game it is the "empty world silent boat feeling." I worked for almost 20 years as a North Sea saturation diver (or "Sat-Rat") and can assure you all that the working environments of sub-sea personal are full of constant sound, vibrations, humming engines, creaking bulkheads, hissing pipes, sirens, alarms, timers, shouts, laughter, coughing, etc. Sound "tells you" what is going on subliminally andf is a crucial component in creating or dissapating tension. What is required is an AI controled random sound generator which modifies sound depending on the situation, i.e. depthcharge attacks trigger cries and shouts, asdic triggers murmers and anxious chatter, success triggers cheers, home port in sight triggers collective singing etc. Simialrly the natural reaction of almost all crew members when a searching destroyer is above, is to look up as they listen. Such a function need not occupy much code space or CPU cycles, could be accessible to add-on sound packs and would hugely enhance the ambiance.

6. Sub-sea AI life - shoals of AI fish, sharks, rays, whatever. A "populated" sea instead of a sterile empty world. This could be a random AI generated sprite thing but would greatly improve the realism of the ocean, which already looks good. I also agree that the sea floor needs loads of complex kelp and other textures in shallow waters, and especially around the shore line and inlets. But I have actually personally walked the deep sub-sea floor in reality for many thousands of hours and can attest that it is almost invariable pretty featureless like a rolling golf course of sand and mud, so that doesn't need much changing. I agree that wrecks need to stay there once sunk and gather weed but have no idea how complex or even impossible that might be to implement.

7. As Sailer Steve said (Hi Steve how are ya doin' buddy? Long time no see) I think we need an abandon ship option and never mind all that avoiding "ethical dilema" twaddle we need to see enemy and friendly crews abandonning sinking vessels and taking to life boats. What we do about it in game (if they are the enemy) should remain, as it did for the actual Captains, up to us but with possible "war crimes trial" scripted consequences if survivors are ever gunned in the water. Picking up survivors is seldom going to be an option on a submarine.

8. I would certainly like to see an elaborate manual even if it was a payware extra add-on. (Does anybody remember the gorgeous manual they used to sell with the original Red Baron II WW1 combat flight sim game? That has become a collector's item.) Maybe we could have a slightly more expensive "Commander's Edition" with such extras? But as Drebbel observed, there are a plethora of excellent books for the detailed history. However a general background gloss on WW2 Pacific submarine warfare would be excellent and I believe necessary because although us old salts may know the history don't forget that the majority of gaming industry consumers are still kids many of whom will never to read books about anything. Games can and do educate as the Pentagon have clearly grasped with their clever investment in their free (effectively training) FPS game AAO.

9. As MP said "I would just love to have a SIM . . . . which makes you go WOW once in a while. SH3 had this effect initially, but then you noticed where the game was lacking. Again IMO this was graphically, so I guess im asking the devs to build a sim which comes close to a movie. I think the hardware is there, now I'd like to see the software." I agree 100% I love SH III but the crew men's faces look like bad dummies and I want to believe I am looking at a human being not reminded that I am in a game. It can be done in most modern FPS games so why not in SH IV?

10. Maybe I am just a dumb bunny or having Homer Simpson finger problems but in SH III I find it far from simple to either load new songs or radio chatter to the gramphone function or adjust it so that i can even hear it over the game sounds. So a better "add music or radio programs" function for SH IV please.

11. I love all that stuff about the commisary and odering stores and loading them too. It gives one a real sense of embarking on a voyage. I also agree with being able to write one's own Captains log, draw on charts, better navigation instruments etc.

As for the eye candy vs game model argument - I believe this is just the expression of a common and long-standing bigotry on the part of a certain type of player. 20 years ago the same guys were dismissing Windows and GUI's as "eyecandy" and extolling the superiority of DOS! Thank goodness more sensual heads prevailed and as a consequence we now have the increasingly amazing realism of today's virtuality which improves every year, thanks mainly to the demands of gamers such as ourselves. I was the guy who first asked for seagulls in SH III! After all they tell you when land is within 10 miles and where subs dump their garbage, so they are actually valuable navigation aids at sea!

I have a confession to make.

Having spent a working career offshore, mostly in the North Sea, the realism of the stormy weather in SH III is sooooooooo nostalgic for me that I actually go for long voyages in stormy weather, especially at night, with driving rain and waves breaking over the bridge in SH III. That is about the biggest compliment I can give the game as a simulation. I could never do that in SH 2 or 1 or any other subsim. What makes SH III so marvellously immersive isn't the rivet by rivet accuracy of the boats, or the detailed accuracy of the game model. What makes it addictively immersive is the sheer "cinema" of it, the feeling of "being there". Being able to move around inside the whole vessel, having animated AI crew who go about their business and have to be navigated around - all that will increase the feeling of "being there" even more, as would multi-crewed subs in multiplayer. THAT'S what will make SH 4 a huge success. MORE cinematic realism, FPS style freedom of motion etc. These things are NOT as some dry folk claim just "a waste of CPU cycles" - they are the difference between just another schematic strategic chess game and an immersive masterpiece.

Having said that I have to add this. In the flight sim realm MS CFS 3 was MS attempt to compete with Oleg Maddox's exceptionally well researched and well constructed IL2 Sturmovik, FB,AEP,PF series of WW2 combat sims. They failed UTTERLY and put themselves out of the market, probably for good. Why did they fail? Because their own market analysts suffered the "eye-candy" bigotry and cynically assumed that "all the gamers want is more eye candy". So they added layers of slick surface to a basically out of date and poor game engine. Result. Total failure. So the game under the skin has to be EXCELLENT and that means having developers read every line of these forums and see how they can address all the complaints and issues raised. Admittedly the gamer's wish-lists will always exceed the possible but so what? Our job is to ask for the moon. That way we get at least halfway there.

We gamers are not fools. We are perhaps the most demanding, technically well-educated, knowledgable and enthusiastic sector of consumers in the history of computing. We are now also a major online community, have massive buying power, are highly aware of each other's needs and experiences, provide bottomless supplies of our own marketing requirements free, to developers (in Forums like this) so they don't even have to leave their desks to research their market and we are prepared to spend large sums on peripherals like joysticks, pedals, Track IR, 3D glasses, flat screens, motion chairs etc. If they handle it right they can spawn a whole new market sector the way the MS FS series of civilian flight simulators has. How many companies offer payware add-ons now for that? The game world apparently now turns over more than Hollywood because we are the folk who spend £33 or $50 a ticket.

So ask for EXACTLY what you want guys. The companies who produce it will get our bucks, our loyalty and our praise and hell, we'll do most of their promotion for them for free, by word of mouth. SH III was their "test run". Now they KNOW there is a huge market out there and if they make a GREAT (and scaleable) cinematic game which can be played online by arcade freaks and history buffs alike we will buy it in huge numbers plus all it's add-ons and sequels.

[JU_88]

Improve aircraft!

Models need to be higher res and higher poly for sure! (look at the planes in Pt boats: KOTS)

Aircraft need better AI, its way too simplistic in SH3.

Aircraft should have more vaired ordenance! (torpedos, rockets etc)

Please reserch Japanese and U.S Pacific planes properly before you model them in to the game, The presents of the Hurricane and P38 Lightning (combined with the lack of the Hudson and beaufighter) in SH3 shows signs of really sloppy reserch!


AI submarines for both sides!

Japanese, Us and british subs should be present in the game, The player should not be the only submarine in the whole world!


Landscape

Please take the time to model more cities and and land marks for coastal areas, around the Pacific. Some impressive cliff faces and rock formations would be nice, In sh3 - players often sailed to exotic locations for fun! please give us something worth seeing as a reward for our long travels!

[Safe-Keeper]

Like a great many other consumers I am a gamer largely for social reasons and get great pleasure out of the friendships built up in multiplayer enviroments with buddies. Accordingly my top request/wish for SH IV would be the (MASSIVE) improvement of the online game by permitting multi-crewed submarines in multi-player. i.e 4-5 people in th same sub in various crew roles - Captain, Engineering Officer, Signals Officer, Navigation Officer, Torpedo Officer. This would instantly catapult this game into a legendary success as EVERYBODY will then want to play the multiplayer and that's what publicises and makes any game a super success however good the single player is. This would instantly create a whole range of possible game types in mutliplayer. Single sub against an entirely AI enemy. Two or three allied sub-pack mode against AI surface vessels or enemy subs. Japanese sub against American sub. Or integgrated with a Destroyer Command 2 where the players crewed destroyers and other surface vessels. Like Oleg Maddox with his excellently planned series of integrated combat flight simulators Ubisoft whould be planning ona family of ocean combat sims. Ours is only a niche market because it has not formerly been well catered to or properly marketed. The could become as lucrative a realm for developers as Combat Flight Simualtion, if it was handled with imagination and wish-lists of the gamers who want to buy it are treated as the developer's blueprint

It'd be very interesting. I don't know how it'd handle, and I'm not crazy about it, but I'd try it if it was implemented.

3. Step-By-Step training missions and Tutorials to ensure rapid learning and practise with all game control functions.

Absolutely. Much, much better than video tutorials.

I'd also like "advanced" tutorials in addition to the basic ones. I don't know, maybe a "stealth" totorial, an "escape-from-furious-destroyer" tutorial, etc.? You get my point.

4. Permit one backup so that if your original DVD gets damaged, you can play from a backup. Even better perhaps online registration giving one access to the right to download a fresh copy to the registration email address (perhaps with an incremented serial number to prevent piratical exploitation with mutliple copies) if the original becomes damaged. Simple, cost-effective and safe.

Back-ups are essential (as I learned the hard way when my doggie bit my Battlecruiser Millenium Gold Edition CD in two). The problem is finding a pirate-safe way of doing it.

5. Like Safe-Keeper said " "casual" (sound) ambience in normal situations and some other sounds for other situations? Heavy breathing, sobbing, etc. for when the boat is under heave depth charge attacks, screaming and panic when the boat's damaged, etc." Sound makes a really massive difference to immersive realism in any good simulator. If I have a single critisisnm of the (otherwise excellent) raw SH III game it is the "empty world silent boat feeling." I worked for almost 20 years as a North Sea saturation diver (or "Sat-Rat") and can assure you all that the working environments of sub-sea personal are full of constant sound, vibrations, humming engines, creaking bulkheads, hissing pipes, sirens, alarms, timers, shouts, laughter, coughing, etc. Sound "tells you" what is going on subliminally andf is a crucial component in creating or dissapating tension. What is required is an AI controled random sound generator which modifies sound depending on the situation, i.e. depthcharge attacks trigger cries and shouts, asdic triggers murmers and anxious chatter, success triggers cheers, home port in sight triggers collective singing etc. Simialrly the natural reaction of almost all crew members when a searching destroyer is above, is to look up as they listen. Such a function need not occupy much code space or CPU cycles, could be accessible to add-on sound packs and would hugely enhance the ambiance.

Very good ideas, there, I think. I like how in Grey Wolves they had this cheer whenever I hit/sunk a ship (I'm less happy about the "silence!"-shout at the end, though:p). Have some random cheers go off when there's a reason to cheer, have people shout when they should, have them duck when they should, etc.

Look at the bombed-in-Gibraltar scene in Das Boot. Think about how all the yelling, screams of pain, etc. add to the atmosphere. While in Silent Hunter III it'd have been something like: "-Aircraft sighted. -Crash dive! -Surface. -Medic! -New course one-eight-zero." Yawn.

6. Sub-sea AI life - shoals of AI fish, sharks, rays, whatever. A "populated" sea instead of a sterile empty world. This could be a random AI generated sprite thing but would greatly improve the realism of the ocean, which already looks good. I also agree that the sea floor needs loads of complex kelp and other textures in shallow waters, and especially around the shore line and inlets. But I have actually personally walked the deep sub-sea floor in reality for many thousands of hours and can attest that it is almost invariable pretty featureless like a rolling golf course of sand and mud, so that doesn't need much changing. I agree that wrecks need to stay there once sunk and gather weed but have no idea how complex or even impossible that might be to implement.

The funny thing about this one is that I didn't get how important it was until I saw it in Grey Wolves, in the form of dolphins in this a Spanish harbour.

7. As Sailer Steve said (Hi Steve how are ya doin' buddy? Long time no see) I think we need an abandon ship option and never mind all that avoiding "ethical dilema" twaddle we need to see enemy and friendly crews abandonning sinking vessels and taking to life boats. What we do about it in game (if they are the enemy) should remain, as it did for the actual Captains, up to us but with possible "war crimes trial" scripted consequences if survivors are ever gunned in the water. Picking up survivors is seldom going to be an option on a submarine.

Indeed. If some twisted soul finds joy in gunning up survivors, implement court martial. Or simply remove the collision meshes of survivors so that you can't shoot them, which'd be much better as it'd save considerable CPU power.

8. I would certainly like to see an elaborate manual even if it was a payware extra add-on. (Does anybody remember the gorgeous manual they used to sell with the original Red Baron II WW1 combat flight sim game? That has become a collector's item.) Maybe we could have a slightly more expensive "Commander's Edition" with such extras? But as Drebbel observed, there are a plethora of excellent books for the detailed history. However a general background gloss on WW2 Pacific submarine warfare would be excellent and I believe necessary because although us old salts may know the history don't forget that the majority of gaming industry consumers are still kids many of whom will never to read books about anything. Games can and do educate as the Pentagon have clearly grasped with their clever investment in their free (effectively training) FPS game AAO.

Kudos.

10. Maybe I am just a dumb bunny or having Homer Simpson finger problems but in SH III I find it far from simple to either load new songs or radio chatter to the gramphone function or adjust it so that i can even hear it over the game sounds. So a better "add music or radio programs" function for SH IV please.

The gramophone annoys me no end. There should be Randomize options and the ability to switch directly from one track to another. Gramophones were not MP3 players.

As for the eye candy vs game model argument - I believe this is just the expression of a common and long-standing bigotry on the part of a certain type of player. 20 years ago the same guys were dismissing Windows and GUI's as "eyecandy" and extolling the superiority of DOS! Thank goodness more sensual heads prevailed and as a consequence we now have the increasingly amazing realism of today's virtuality which improves every year, thanks mainly to the demands of gamers such as ourselves. I was the guy who first asked for seagulls in SH III! After all they tell you when land is within 10 miles and where subs dump their garbage, so they are actually valuable navigation aids at sea!

As long as there's an option to tone graphics down, I don't mind it. Just keep in mind that we aren't all playing this game on TRANSLTR:p.

I have a confession to make.

Ye-haa! Let's hear it!

Having spent a working career offshore, mostly in the North Sea, the realism of the stormy weather in SH III is sooooooooo nostalgic for me that I actually go for long voyages in stormy weather, especially at night, with driving rain and waves breaking over the bridge in SH III. That is about the biggest compliment I can give the game as a simulation. I could never do that in SH 2 or 1 or any other subsim. What makes SH III so marvellously immersive isn't the rivet by rivet accuracy of the boats, or the detailed accuracy of the game model. What makes it addictively immersive is the sheer "cinema" of it, the feeling of "being there". Being able to move around inside the whole vessel, having animated AI crew who go about their business and have to be navigated around - all that will increase the feeling of "being there" even more, as would multi-crewed subs in multiplayer. THAT'S what will make SH 4 a huge success. MORE cinematic realism, FPS style freedom of motion etc. These things are NOT as some dry folk claim just "a waste of CPU cycles" - they are the difference between just another schematic strategic chess game and an immersive masterpiece.

Good confession.

[QUOTE]So the game under the skin has to be EXCELLENT and that means having developers read every line of these forums and see how they can address all the complaints and issues raised. [/quote]I'd be very, very disappointed if it turned out that the developers don't keep track of what we write here.

A lot of this will repeat other people's requests but the more votes for a feature the more likely we are to get it.

I don't know if spamming is such a good idea, but as I've made myself guilty of it a few times myself, what can I say?

[cornishman]

My wish list part 1....

Better ship sinking noises with hull compartments booming like AOTD.

Marine life noises every now and then, through hull and on hydrophone.

Crew noises, laughter, chatting in background. Just general human/ boat noise. Don't have to see many more crew just hear them really.

Better gramophone capabilities, one that doesn't crash to desktop would be nice.

A decent SDK so the mod community can add stuff, gawd bless 'em! They're the ones that made SH3 long term playable, for me.

A realistic navigation mode, shooting stars and sun and stuff. I've wanted this in a naval sim forever and a day.

Fully walkable boat, even if the the extra compartments were generic. Also I would love to walk topside from bow to stern.

No instant ship sunk message, at least wait for it to have sunk a reasonable way or hit bottom.

A good large detailed NAUTICAL printed map of the era would be nice, even if it was for a special edition version. Still have mine from AOTD.

A printed ship recognition manual and one of those slide rule wheely things. I know I'm pushing my luck here, but again in a special edition version for the hardcore guys. And no, I don't want a blummin t-shirt.

As said before, a decent sub skipper college before passing out to fleet service.

A couple of decent death scene movies, or at least the ability to add them so we could make our own and put in.

Make me feel like I'm in the Pacific theatre.

Sorry if any of these are repeated.

[Safe-Keeper]

OK, everyone who's played Silent Hunter III knows how hard it is to set accurate courses, etc. with the gauges. For a long time I wanted to be able to just click on the number below the gauge and type in the number I wanted. But then I had this idea: Ordering accurate headings, speeds and depths by holding a keyboard "hot-key" and then typing the value in. A simple, easy, time-effective way to do it.

For example:
H+150: Set heading to 150°.
S+3: Set speed to 3 knots.
D+90: Set depth to 90 metres (or feet, seeing it's a US-theatres game?).

And while I'm at it, some advanced options, such as:
C+110: Crash-dive to 110 metres.
E+300: Engage target with deck gun at 300 metres.
F+50: Engage aircraft with flak at 50 metres.
Shift+1-9: Set throttle of port propeller(s).
Control+1-9: Set throttle of starboard propeller(s).

In effect (examples):
● Holding "H" while typing "0" sets course to Due North (0°).
● To execute a sharp turn, hit "5", then "Shift+5" to set the engines to flank speed and the starboard engine to full stop.

What do you think (about the idea in general. The choice of buttons might be less than perfect:p)?

Another suggestion: Split the "Blow Ballast" order in two: "Blow Ballast" (which blows and nothing else), and "Emergency Surface", which blows ballast tanks, sets new depth to zero, and sets engines to Ahead Flank.

Or, of course, you could hold the "Blow Ballast" hot key and type in a number to blow ballast and try to go to that depth.

On cornishman's ideas:

Better ship sinking noises with hull compartments booming like AOTD.

Really. That'd be great.

Marine life

Yup, and not just the sounds either, but actual models (for dolphins, whales, etc.) and sprites (for fish, sea-stars and the likes). When I saw those dolphins in Grey wolves, I realized how much this'd add to the atmosphere. And maybe truly inexperienced sonar people could mistake certain marine life for actual contacts?

Better gramophone capabilities, one that doesn't crash to desktop would be nice.

Excellent put!

A realistic navigation mode, shooting stars and sun and stuff. I've wanted this in a naval sim forever and a day.

And a dynamic lighting-aurora borealis, in various strenghts and shape. Picture your boat near Alaska under the green curtains of the Northern Light...

No instant ship sunk message, at least wait for it to have sunk a reasonable way or hit bottom.

Make it realistic and I'm happy.

A good large detailed NAUTICAL printed map of the era would be nice, even if it was for a special edition version. Still have mine from AOTD.

Improving the look of the charts wouldn't hurt the least bit.

A printed ship recognition manual and one of those slide rule wheely things. I know I'm pushing my luck here, but again in a special edition version for the hardcore guys. And no, I don't want a blummin t-shirt.

More documentation would be nice, as would a Commander's edition. A printed recognition manual might be pushing your luck, though. I think it's better to ask for a table with the stats of all the ships or something?

[Fer32]

Im reading a book about subs in WW2 and the crew mostly comunicate by microphone between compartiments but in SH3 we have just voices that always talk very near. I would like to hear a "microphone type" of voices. Dont be mad if is a dumb idea. Im new here

It's a dumb idea and I'm mad

No, actually it's a good idea. Usually someone else was doing the communicating-he would have a voice-tube or sound-powered phones, so he would relay any messages to the captain, so you would likely only hear the nearby voices. Still, as I said, it might be cool to hear voices from other compartments come through all tinny and 'speakerish'.

Oh, and welcome aboard.

[Drebbel]

- Be able so assing watches to "scope duty". Also when SURFACED, so I can ride "high scope" and use the scope to extend the horizon. As was normal practice on US subs.

When I go to the scope myself the crew member that has scope duty is automatically taken of that duty, when I leave scope, and scope duty is till ON, then he automatically returns doing scope duty.

Ideal would be if I could set how he had to behave. By setting the number of time per hour he should search around with the scope.

- Be able to set battle stations, so all people go where needed and I do not need to worry about any station being under manned.

[Payoff]

One Word . . . . . . . .SHARKS . . . . and yes I will take another piece of eye candy thankyou.

Actually, I would think this could be included in much the same way as the seagulls in SHIII, using a trigger to make one or two circle the boat at a harbour entrance say, or somewhere that the player is likely to transit. Could be dolphins, sharks...whatever. Nothing fancy, just here and there to breathe a little life into an otherwise lifeless ocean. I know when I lived in Alaska the wild porpoises loved to swim alongside, and under the boat from side to side. Just a thought.


BTW I really like Drebbel's "Scope Duty" idea.

[Dietrich]

Mostly to add my vote to suggestions that have already been made:

• Walk-through U-Boat - both inside and on deck. And fill the U-boat with more crew doing routine things and reacting to battle/damage stations.
• More interesting campaign missions. Something better than "Patrol <some random grid>" over and over (mines, agent-drops, cargo-hauls, timed rendezvous, etc.).
• Better crew management. Be able to draw up some set rosters and have them automatically change/rotate if left alone.
• Make success/failure count. Does a single boat make a difference? Well it does if you can engage the imagination of the Führer to divert money into the U-Waffe, or if you let your boat (with Enigma machine and code books) be captured.
• Multiplayer-vs-multiplayer. And escort group vs a wolf-pack would be awesome.
• False alarms. Sometimes the crew get edgy and over-react. A shadow or a cloud is interpretted as a contact, and the boat crash dives.

What we DO NOT need... (these suggestions have been made, but I disagree)

• Sub-vs-sub. A single torpedo and it's game-over. (This is why there are no SQUIDs in SHIII - the Dev's even said so in their interviews).
• Underwater marine life. Maybe hearing distant whales would be nice, but don't waste development effort for something that you never would have seen. The seagulls are cute, but we don't need full models of turtles/sharks/jellyfish/etc.. If it makes the ocean lonely, well... it sort of was.

PS: Sorry for using Atlantic Theatre terms, but I just don't know anything about the Pacific, and I figure the experts will know what I mean.

[AlphaInfinity]

THe others in this thread have covered all the topics well. My ONLY wish is that SH supports WIDE SCREEN formats at HIGH RESOLUTIONS!!!


:p

[Pantera222]

I haven't had a chance to read through all the replies to this thread so I appologise if it's already been mentioned a few times already but i think it would be grerat to have a Multi Player option where serveral players could crew a single Uboat.

With the technology available today such as in game VOIP, etc, it would be bring an entirely new layer of exitment to an already great sim.

Perhaps multiple, crewed uboats could have a "last man staning" type of match or work in congunction to take out a major convoy.

There could also be a type of on line ranking system (such as in BF2) where you could earn points, reconition for sunk tonnage, etc.

[jason210]

1st person walkabout, as opposed to fixed camera viewpoints. That's all I want to see.

[UnterSeeTub]

hmmm I have a few

Use of deck gun in rougher waters -- I dont agree with the current setting --- sometimes it aint all that rough and the waves are fairly shallow and SH3 wont let you use the deck gun (FFS) - I as KapitanLeutenant "Order" you to go out there - get wet and use the deck gun ....OK !


More options in game -- so if you wish to be a realist you can go ahead and knock yerself out -- If not.. you can get funky with anything ... Like have a Los Angeles class sub in 1942

Mission editor that can turn off campaign -- so you have purely your mission programmed - no other ships aircraft or anything messign up my mission design.... thank you.

Mission editor that ignores all date sensitivity - or you can check a box that says "ignore date related items" ... I am fed up of choosing ships for a task force just to get some tossing purile grey error meessage telling me one ship was built before the other so cant group up ........ SO WHAT -- If I say hook em up I MEAN HOOK EM UP - SO SCREW THE DATES ...... OK !