SH5 (campaign) is so boring

Zedi · 04-08-10, 09:21 AM

Guys, I don't know what to do with this game anymore. Everything is sooooo boring, I find it really hard to play it anymore. Tried everything to spice it up a bit (mods, 100% realism, attacking Scapa on surface etc), but still... it gets more and more boring and hard to have fun with it.

Today I tried to play again the Western approaches campaign. I have like 5 mission here and for more than 2 hours (for real) I tried to find at least 1 target that can count for any of these missions. So I was zig zag-ing the whole Atlantic and all I found was a group of 5 Dido's that got "stuck" on me in the middle of Atlantic, so I needed to save/reload to shake them down.

So how you guys manage to have fun with this game? Share some tips, anything that can spice up a bit this game.

Ablemaster · 04-08-10, 09:30 AM

Mabye the expected patch will help things a bit, well lets hope so, personally i dont use SH5 so much anymore its got nice graphics but the gameplay spoils it for me, hoping after a couple of patches it may be better.

captainprid · 04-08-10, 09:30 AM

I like to do a lot of harbour raiding but unfortunately, the AI problems, lack of nets and mines and emplacements make it very easy to sneak in, sink a few ships and then get out again.
I suppose part of the fun is actually looking for ships on the high seas, in addition the lack of seas packed with boats is slightly more realistic. Having said that, the mission requirements are so unrealistic, they are laughable seeing as though most commanders were lucky to see perhaps two ships a month in RL.

I enjoy going up and down the convoy routes looking for large convoys and seeing how I do against them.

I have to say that the game would be better in the concept of submerged in the day, surfaced at night actually worked!!

One thing to consider is that what you have described is very close to what submarine warfare was actually like.......Weeks of boredom followed by minutes of intense action

kylania · 04-08-10, 09:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Magnum

So how you guys manage to have fun with this game? Share some tips, anything that can spice up a bit this game.

If you're not enjoying the missions, completely ignore them. Just play it how you'd normally play SH3, go out and sink tonnage.

SteamWake · 04-08-10, 09:38 AM

Or just go play something else for a while...

Honestly

SabreHawk · 04-08-10, 09:45 AM

As to the western approaches mission you dont want to be in the middle of the Atlantic that would be too far out I think.
Click on the mission icon and note the area it shows, then with your map tool make a circle that matches that and then plot your courses to stay within it. Then whatever you find and sink will count towards the mission goal.

As to being bored, well thats a personal view and is dependent on what you expect from a sim of ths genre. It's not for everyone and im sure that many gamers out there would in fact find it boring. It's a strategy game thats not based so much on constant action but of thinking and planning.
Could be that it's just not really your cup of tea, and nothing wrong with that. As I said this type of game just doesnt appeal to most gamers who are used to things being more action oriented.

Nisgeis · 04-08-10, 10:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Magnum

Guys, I don't know what to do with this game anymore. Everything is sooooo boring, I find it really hard to play it anymore. Tried everything to spice it up a bit (mods, 100% realism, attacking Scapa on surface etc), but still... it gets more and more boring and hard to have fun with it.

Have you tried any of the mods available? If you want a more challenging harbour raiding experience, try one of the AI mods on offer. There are other mods that affect other aspects of gameplay too, so take a browse in the mods section and soon you'll be playing a different game.

Westbroek · 04-08-10, 10:10 AM

+1
I've learned to not bother trying to get my friends into subsims anymore. Too much CoD in their blood to have the patience to sit and think and really put yourself into the shoes of a slow paced, frustration filled war.
I enjoy the parts of cruising around trying to find a large convoy... receiving position reports, figuring the odds of being able to intercept, and then (hopefully) going for it ahead flank and diving to hear the sweet sounds of a convoy rattling through the ocean. I mean, I love it just as much as blasting schitt out of the water. But then, it's really not for everybody.
If that part bores you, maybe try some of Lorka's arcade mods. Might extend the playability for a day or two. Then go buy Prince of Persia.

mookiemookie · 04-08-10, 10:13 AM

The lack of ship variety makes it boring for me. I'm tired of seeing

Hog Island Ships
"Large Steamers" (Liberty Ships)
Ranger Class Tankers
Cimarron Class Tankers

Sinking the same 4 ships over and over is dull.

ddrgn · 04-08-10, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteamWake

Or just go play something else for a while...

Honestly

Settle down troll.

We are working past the problems and are offering advice about a game here, let us do our thing. You can go now.

Zedi · 04-08-10, 10:22 AM

I think is more about a bad campaign design. Just getting out in the middle of nowhere, waiting for months to blow up a ship, is maybe realistic, but not fun. Go there, sink that, refill. So the whole campaign is about to find a large convoy, get into the right position, fire the torpedoes, escape then refill.

I was thinking how fun can be a more specific type of mission. Something that sound very easy and casual, but end with a huge blow. Something like this:

A ship loaded with important war documents/troops or whatever and with some light escorts will leave port X heading to port Y in the next few days. Intercept it and sunk it. Sounds damn boring, nothing special or hard.

But when we arrive there, we found out that Thomsen already sunk our target and the enemy escorts are hunting him down.

They managed to damage his ship pretty bad so he was forced to surface. So sudden the whole things go hot and we have to choose very fast .. help Thomsen or stay safe far away.

But things go worst. Out from nowhere a scout plane shows up and indicates to the escorts our position, so one of the escort ship is heading on full speed to us guided by the plane and his sonar. In the meantime Thomsen, our best friend, is screaming for help

Also your crew should start screaming, going crazy.. maybe some of the crew members start to disobey orders.. you know, like we saw in Das Boot. We have a FPS here, so I should be able to get out my gun and shot down any crew member who disobey me :P

Now this would be a very fun mission, we could feel the tension and every mission or campaign would be really dynamic. I mean, we would never know what we can expect out there and objectives are changing rapidly. You have to think, react and calculate very fast like a real captain. This game should be one of the most hardcore game ever, not some casual sim with nice graphics.

Westbroek · 04-08-10, 10:26 AM

A mission like that would require HEAVY scripting. I agree it would be a lot of intense fun and having a bunch of those missions would be a great game. However, replayability is a big factor for me. Heavy scripting is always going to be the same and a mission like that would be playable maybe two times, maybe three times, and then, you know, you get it. Time to move on.
I like open ended missions where you engage your imagination as much as are told what happens. Maybe I'm old fashioned.

mookiemookie · 04-08-10, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Magnum

Just getting out in the middle of nowhere, waiting for months to blow up a ship, is maybe realistic, but not fun.

[...]

This game should be one of the most hardcore game ever, not some casual sim with nice graphics.

So which one is it? You're talking out of both sides of your mouth here.

For folks like me, waiting for months to sink a ship is fun.

Zedi · 04-08-10, 10:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Westbroek

A mission like that would require HEAVY scripting. I agree it would be a lot of intense fun and having a bunch of those missions would be a great game. However, replayability is a big factor for me. Heavy scripting is always going to be the same and a mission like that would be playable maybe two times, maybe three times, and then, you know, you get it. Time to move on.
I like open ended missions where you engage your imagination as much as are told what happens. Maybe I'm old fashioned.

It is heavy scripting, but happens in a small area stuffed with some random events. Like the scout plane, or.. maybe our target joined a huge heavy guarded convoy in the meantime. Or .. after we get into the position to have the perfect shot at the main target in our back shows up a beautiful liner or a carrier with a lot of escorts and planes. Or Thomsen and his drunk crew join us and go crazy in different way every time

These things can be random stuff and events that makes a simple task in a very difficult one, so every time the mission can be different. Yeah, I'm dreaming and that's because I just love SH and I can't stop to think about how nice could be, how fun would be to jump off from the chair after a tense mission and say .. **** yeah, now I need a break, this fight was awesome!!

mr chris · 04-08-10, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mookiemookie

The lack of ship variety makes it boring for me. I'm tired of seeing

Hog Island Ships
"Large Steamers" (Liberty Ships)
Ranger Class Tankers
Cimarron Class Tankers

Sinking the same 4 ships over and over is dull.

Same here. It's my major gripe with the game. Hopefully in time this will be rectified By the Modders or some form of DLC?

04-08-10, 09:21 AM	#1
Zedi Sea Lord Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 1,845 Downloads: 184 Uploads: 2	SH5 (campaign) is so boring Guys, I don't know what to do with this game anymore. Everything is sooooo boring, I find it really hard to play it anymore. Tried everything to spice it up a bit (mods, 100% realism, attacking Scapa on surface etc), but still... it gets more and more boring and hard to have fun with it. Today I tried to play again the Western approaches campaign. I have like 5 mission here and for more than 2 hours (for real) I tried to find at least 1 target that can count for any of these missions. So I was zig zag-ing the whole Atlantic and all I found was a group of 5 Dido's that got "stuck" on me in the middle of Atlantic, so I needed to save/reload to shake them down. So how you guys manage to have fun with this game? Share some tips, anything that can spice up a bit this game.

04-08-10, 09:30 AM	#2
Ablemaster An able master Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: England Posts: 274 Downloads: 121 Uploads: 5	Mabye the expected patch will help things a bit, well lets hope so, personally i dont use SH5 so much anymore its got nice graphics but the gameplay spoils it for me, hoping after a couple of patches it may be better. __________________

04-08-10, 09:38 AM	#5
SteamWake Rear Admiral Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 13,224 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	Or just go play something else for a while... Honestly __________________ Follow the progress of Mr. Mulligan : http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=147648

04-08-10, 09:45 AM	#6
SabreHawk Captain Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Seattle, Wa. USA Posts: 530 Downloads: 8 Uploads: 0	As to the western approaches mission you dont want to be in the middle of the Atlantic that would be too far out I think. Click on the mission icon and note the area it shows, then with your map tool make a circle that matches that and then plot your courses to stay within it. Then whatever you find and sink will count towards the mission goal. As to being bored, well thats a personal view and is dependent on what you expect from a sim of ths genre. It's not for everyone and im sure that many gamers out there would in fact find it boring. It's a strategy game thats not based so much on constant action but of thinking and planning. Could be that it's just not really your cup of tea, and nothing wrong with that. As I said this type of game just doesnt appeal to most gamers who are used to things being more action oriented. __________________ "Chance favors the prepared mind"

04-08-10, 10:13 AM	#9
mookiemookie Navy Seal Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 9,404 Downloads: 105 Uploads: 1	The lack of ship variety makes it boring for me. I'm tired of seeing Hog Island Ships "Large Steamers" (Liberty Ships) Ranger Class Tankers Cimarron Class Tankers Sinking the same 4 ships over and over is dull. __________________ They don’t think it be like it is, but it do. Want more U-boat Kaleun portraits for your SH3 Commander Profiles? Download the SH3 Commander Portrait Pack here.

04-08-10, 09:30 AM	#3
captainprid Watch Officer Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Blackpool, England Posts: 347 Downloads: 23 Uploads: 0	I like to do a lot of harbour raiding but unfortunately, the AI problems, lack of nets and mines and emplacements make it very easy to sneak in, sink a few ships and then get out again. I suppose part of the fun is actually looking for ships on the high seas, in addition the lack of seas packed with boats is slightly more realistic. Having said that, the mission requirements are so unrealistic, they are laughable seeing as though most commanders were lucky to see perhaps two ships a month in RL. I enjoy going up and down the convoy routes looking for large convoys and seeing how I do against them. I have to say that the game would be better in the concept of submerged in the day, surfaced at night actually worked!! One thing to consider is that what you have described is very close to what submarine warfare was actually like.......Weeks of boredom followed by minutes of intense action

04-08-10, 10:10 AM	#8
Westbroek Lieutenant Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: LA Posts: 256 Downloads: 121 Uploads: 0	+1 I've learned to not bother trying to get my friends into subsims anymore. Too much CoD in their blood to have the patience to sit and think and really put yourself into the shoes of a slow paced, frustration filled war. I enjoy the parts of cruising around trying to find a large convoy... receiving position reports, figuring the odds of being able to intercept, and then (hopefully) going for it ahead flank and diving to hear the sweet sounds of a convoy rattling through the ocean. I mean, I love it just as much as blasting schitt out of the water. But then, it's really not for everybody. If that part bores you, maybe try some of Lorka's arcade mods. Might extend the playability for a day or two. Then go buy Prince of Persia.

04-08-10, 10:22 AM	#11
Zedi Sea Lord Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 1,845 Downloads: 184 Uploads: 2	I think is more about a bad campaign design. Just getting out in the middle of nowhere, waiting for months to blow up a ship, is maybe realistic, but not fun. Go there, sink that, refill. So the whole campaign is about to find a large convoy, get into the right position, fire the torpedoes, escape then refill. I was thinking how fun can be a more specific type of mission. Something that sound very easy and casual, but end with a huge blow. Something like this: A ship loaded with important war documents/troops or whatever and with some light escorts will leave port X heading to port Y in the next few days. Intercept it and sunk it. Sounds damn boring, nothing special or hard. But when we arrive there, we found out that Thomsen already sunk our target and the enemy escorts are hunting him down. They managed to damage his ship pretty bad so he was forced to surface. So sudden the whole things go hot and we have to choose very fast .. help Thomsen or stay safe far away. But things go worst. Out from nowhere a scout plane shows up and indicates to the escorts our position, so one of the escort ship is heading on full speed to us guided by the plane and his sonar. In the meantime Thomsen, our best friend, is screaming for help Also your crew should start screaming, going crazy.. maybe some of the crew members start to disobey orders.. you know, like we saw in Das Boot. We have a FPS here, so I should be able to get out my gun and shot down any crew member who disobey me :P Now this would be a very fun mission, we could feel the tension and every mission or campaign would be really dynamic. I mean, we would never know what we can expect out there and objectives are changing rapidly. You have to think, react and calculate very fast like a real captain. This game should be one of the most hardcore game ever, not some casual sim with nice graphics.

04-08-10, 10:26 AM	#12
Westbroek Lieutenant Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: LA Posts: 256 Downloads: 121 Uploads: 0	A mission like that would require HEAVY scripting. I agree it would be a lot of intense fun and having a bunch of those missions would be a great game. However, replayability is a big factor for me. Heavy scripting is always going to be the same and a mission like that would be playable maybe two times, maybe three times, and then, you know, you get it. Time to move on. I like open ended missions where you engage your imagination as much as are told what happens. Maybe I'm old fashioned.