Silent Hunter V Dev Team Interview: Deeper, Kapitän, deeper. (1/19/10)

[JU_88]

Im sorry, but the Campaign really should have run up until the German surrender, the 1943 end makes zero sense to me -and IMHO cannot really be justified by anything other than the devs simply ran out of time i dont think anyone saw that one coming..

There is no denying the Type VII model and full interior look superb, but at the expense of the Type 9 and 2?
I dunno, that is one trade off that REALLY hurts

Everything else sounds (and looks) very promising but Its a real shame that it all a bit marred by the above mentioned.
NOrmally I would be dancing on the cealing over wolfpacks and how greay the campaign sounds (premeture ending aside)

I guess what gets me down most is that its kinda dashed my hopes of seeing British/US subs or Destroyers become playable though future official addons -Since the missing Uboat types will now almost certainly take priority for any potential future addons...

Still, I will reserve final judgment until I have actually played the final game.
Anyway, thanks for Interview Neal, Dan & Alex.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by JU_88

Im sorry, but the Campaign really should have run up until the German surrender in 1944, the 1943 end makes zero sense to me -and IMHO cannot really be justified by anything other than the devs simply ran out of time i dont think anyone saw that one coming..

There is no denying the Type VII model and full interior look superb, but at the expense of the Type 9 and 2?
I dunno, that is one trade off that REALLY hurts

Everything else sounds (and looks) very promising but Its a real shame that it all a bit marred by the above mentioned.
NOrmally I would be dancing on the cealing over wolfpacks and how greay the campaign sounds (premeture ending aside)

I guess what gets me doen thoug most is that its kinda dashed my hopes of seeing British/US subs or Destroyers become playable though future official addons -Since the missing Uboat types will now almost certainly take priority for any potential future addons...

Still, I will reserve final judgment until I have actually played the final game.
Anyway, thanks for Interview Neal, Dan & Alex.

You been on that draught porridge again

[JU_88]

Originally Posted by jimbuna

You been on that draught porridge again

Daught porridge? ME? why?
Mate, Sometimes you are so cryptic / non-specfic - I honestly wish I could understand what your are trying tell me (without using an enigma machine or trying to read you mind or both.)
So, regardless of how much it might embarress me in the end, would you kindly give me the 'decrypted version' on this occasion?
I don't take hints well, (just ask my missus.)

[Mikhayl]

The game can be perfectly well finished with just one sub and a campaign end in 1943. And it could be unfinished with the whole war and all the subs.

Seriously, I don't know how much UBI made with SH4+addon, but obviously it's nowhere near their blockbuster titles. So even if the devs were ok to delay the game to add more stuff (which ultimately they'd probably love to do), I seriously doubt that UBI would be willing to pay for an extra 6 months of dev time.
So the next logical step is to draw the line somewhere regarding content, and I'm fine with the devs choosing quality over quantity.

[conus00]

Originally Posted by Mikhayl

The game can be perfectly well finished with just one sub and a campaign end in 1943. And it could be unfinished with the whole war and all the subs.

Seriously, I don't know how much UBI made with SH4+addon, but obviously it's nowhere near their blockbuster titles. So even if the devs were ok to delay the game to add more stuff (which ultimately they'd probably love to do), I seriously doubt that UBI would be willing to pay for an extra 6 months of dev time.
So the next logical step is to draw the line somewhere regarding content, and I'm fine with the devs choosing quality over quantity.

Mikhayl, I can see your point and I really do respect and appreciate what you have done for the subsim community but do you feel that paying full price for half-finished product is appropriate?

I understand that modders will eventually be able to bring this game up to the standards but it brings my original question: What kind of: "let's release it now and have modders finish it" sales practice is it, anyway?

[Mikhayl]

Originally Posted by conus00

Mikhayl, I can see your point and I really do respect and appreciate what you have done for the subsim community but do you feel that paying full price for half-finished product is appropriate?

I understand that modders will eventually be able to bring this game up to the standards but it brings my original question: What kind of: "let's release it now and have modders finish it" sales practice is it, anyway?

Well, we'll see in March, I will agree with that sentiment if SH5 is merely SH3 with updated graphics and some sprinkles, minus 2 years of campaign and 3 subs.

But, if SH5 delivers a great experience out of the box, then you can't call it "unfinished", no matter how limited in scope it will be.
I mean, take the flight sim "Battle of Britain", it only represents 2 months of the war and only has a handful of playable planes, but this is arguably the best WWII sim there is, superior to IL-2 with its myriad of playable planes and campaigns spanning the whole war.

If you think about it, September 1939 to May 1943 represents what, 20, 25 patrols? That's anywhere between 50 and 100 hours of game (conservative estimate), for a single campaign. Then you can restart with another flotilla, make different choices, and so on. If what's in the game is polished, then it's a hit IMO.

[conus00]

Originally Posted by Mikhayl

The game can be perfectly well finished with just one sub and a campaign end in 1943. And it could be unfinished with the whole war and all the subs.

Seriously, I don't know how much UBI made with SH4+addon, but obviously it's nowhere near their blockbuster titles. So even if the devs were ok to delay the game to add more stuff (which ultimately they'd probably love to do), I seriously doubt that UBI would be willing to pay for an extra 6 months of dev time.
So the next logical step is to draw the line somewhere regarding content, and I'm fine with the devs choosing quality over quantity.

Fair enough, I concede my case until March.
You make good points here but don't you feel a little bit "cheated" by being kept in the dark about the campaign span? I feel like the SHV hype was like a huge bubble and now "poooof" only 1939-1943?

[The General]

Your questions were perfect and the interview was very charming.

Having seen the new trailer and read the Q & A, I for one am very excited and cannot wait for March to come around. With the state of the economy and the news that Ubisoft are delaying some releases, I feel we're all very lucky to be getting a new Silent Hunter of this quality at all. It is obviously gonna be the greatest sub-sim ever made. It saddens me that some members of this community seem to have an unrealistic sense of entitlement, but that's their problem.

Thank you Dan, Alex and the development team for your tremendous hard work

[DarkFish]

Originally Posted by Mikhayl

The game can be perfectly well finished with just one sub and a campaign end in 1943. And it could be unfinished with the whole war and all the subs.

My opinion exactly!

I rather have a great campaign spanning only 3 years and just one playable sub, than having a mediocre campaign with a choice between multiple unfinished subs.

[Falkirion]

Great interview Neal. Answers alot of my questions about the game. I'll be picking it up in March, despite the campaign running through to 43.

I'd put down money on Ubi releasing an expansion for it to cover the rest of the war. It'll just take them a while to tweak the engine enough to cover all the allied tech advances. And of course the modding community will expand the playability long after release.

[karamazovnew]

When they announced back in September that the game was out in spring, I thought I didn't hear right. Just one year in development? Impossible. Well, not if you only model one sub and cut out half of the campaign.

Fine by me, I'll consider SH5 a work in progress, we're entering the DLC era anyway. I'm glad I'll be playing the game soon. And as Mihkayl has stated many times before, quality is better than quantity.

SH5 Progression:
-SH5 Battle of The Atlantic: VII-7 till 43
-SH5 Operation Monsoon: IX till late 43 with Indian and American theaters
-SH5 Fall of the Reich: Walter boats and late war suicidal campaign (plus techs for the other boats)

Modding will be tough because all mods will become obsolete with every DLC. But I have absolutely no doubt that all great modders will give their best to make the game a jewel from the start. Players will request, modders will provide. They'll hit road blocks and missing features, just like before. Well this time, Ubi would better listen to them and help them with each new content release. And just in case some of you still have doubts, just look what Lurker has done with his Operation Monsun mod.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by JU_88

Daught porridge? ME? why?
Mate, Sometimes you are so cryptic / non-specfic - I honestly wish I could understand what your are trying tell me (without using an enigma machine or trying to read you mind or both.)
So, regardless of how much it might embarress me in the end, would you kindly give me the 'decrypted version' on this occasion?
I don't take hints well, (just ask my missus.)

Okay....you asked

the Campaign really should have run up until the German surrender in 1944,

[Sailor Steve]

I'm not even sure what I think at this point. A part of the line between being elated and disappointed is in what you wanted in the first place. This is a whole new direction, and I'm still puzzling over whether it's the direction I want to go. I'd still like to see SH4 finished, as the earlier SH series is close to the style I like to play. This is difinitely not that direction.

A lot of it looks cool though. I guess I'll just have to find out for myself if I grow to like it.

Sure hope the merchants are easy to name though.

[Kavok]

It's the lack of progression that bothers me.

OK, I'm not a serious simmer like most of you here, I'd be perfectly happy with an underwater Doom 3 as I articulated previously.

However, I do want to see some progression and reward for my efforts. In Doom, as the game goes on I can get bigger and better weapons, harder enemies and more cool things going on in general. In SHIII I get new U-Boats, a better crew that I have looked after/promoted etc. and whole different types of ship. It's why I liked the renown and upgrade system of SHIII and got a good ribbing for it here!

With this, sure I might see some new classes of opponents over the 4 years, but aside from a new conning tower or two I'm stuck in the same s**tcan at the end of the war I was at the start and the reward for all my efforts is "Well, we're 2 years away yet, but for you ze war is over. And you're no better off than when you started."

It might be immersing and fun, but it sounds so desperately unrewarding as a campaign that I'm really bothered about it.

At least I don't need to buy a new PC yet.

[conus00]

Originally Posted by Kavok

It's the lack of progression that bothers me.

OK, I'm not a serious simmer like most of you here, I'd be perfectly happy with an underwater Doom 3 as I articulated previously.

However, I do want to see some progression and reward for my efforts. In Doom, as the game goes on I can get bigger and better weapons, harder enemies and more cool things going on in general. In SHIII I get new U-Boats, a better crew that I have looked after/promoted etc. and whole different types of ship. It's why I liked the renown and upgrade system of SHIII and got a good ribbing for it here!

With this, sure I might see some new classes of opponents over the 4 years, but aside from a new conning tower or two I'm stuck in the same s**tcan at the end of the war I was at the start and the reward for all my efforts is "Well, we're 2 years away yet, but for you ze war is over. And you're no better off than when you started."

It might be immersing and fun, but it sounds so desperately unrewarding as a campaign that I'm really bothered about it.

At least I don't need to buy a new PC yet.

Now, that is a very good point, too. In SH3 I was looking forward to upgrades and (possibly) upgrading to a new boat.