SH5 Interview conclusions

[doulos05]

Originally Posted by martes86

Hi everyone,
- Animations have been mentioned. Seeing crew move down the hatch as a "at the moment, no", but maybe later yes? Seeing how much detail is being put into the interiors just for one Type, it would be improper to have a lame teleporting crew.

It seems improper until the first time you die because the pathfinding for the AI borked out and your crew couldn't find the hatch....

[Iron Budokan]

1943 and on is when the game starts, imo. It's the whole "scrappin' to stay alive" aspect that made SH3 rock.

Yes, it was fun running around from 1939 to 1943 shellacking convoys. But after that, you became the hunted one. That's what makes the Battle of the Atlantic so perfect from a gaming perspective. It starts off easy...and then gets horrific.

Sounds like that's being tossed right out the window. Oh, well.

[kapitan_zur_see]

Originally Posted by Iron Budokan

1943 and on is when the game starts, imo. It's the whole "scrappin' to stay alive" aspect that made SH3 rock.

Yes, it was fun running around from 1939 to 1943 shellacking convoys. But after that, you became the hunted one. That's what makes the Battle of the Atlantic so perfect from a gaming perspective. It starts off easy...and then gets horrific.

Sounds like that's being tossed right out the window. Oh, well.

I kind of second that

[Mikhayl]

Actually May '43 is when the war ended for U-boote, after that is just 2 years crawling and limping. For all intent and purpose, the Battle of the Atlantic ended in May 1943.
Besides, the going gets tough for U-boote much sooner than that, from late 1939 most merchants are armed so the deck gun fest is quickly over, convoys are quite heavily escorted and if you attack alone, even if it's "just 1941", having 5 DDs circling above your head isn't a walk in the park.

The action in "Das Boot" is set in late 1941 and nobody would say they had it easy.

[Iron Budokan]

From a gaming perspective the Battle of the Atlantic resembles an asymptotic curve. Toward the end it gets downright savage. That is a perfect arc for a game, even a simulation.

No matter how difficult it was from 1939-1943 you won't get that huge upswing in difficulty with this iteration. Unless additional content is in the pipeline. And I for one would be more than willing to pay for that. Barring that, I guess we'll have to wait and see what the modders can do.

[JScones]

Originally Posted by TDK1044

Let's step back and look at this from a different perspective. Let's say that Silent Hunter III had never been released. What impression would people now have of what we know about the upcoming Silent Hunter V?

But, um, it has? So why pretend that it hasn't.

Anyway, I'm a bit uncomfortable reading comments like "1943 was the end of the U-boat war anyway". I can't help but think of all the brave ubootwaffe men who fought and died for their country throughout 1944 and 1945. Somehow, I don't think they'd agree that the U-boat war ended in 1943...unwinnable yes...over, no...

[Hartmann]

I can´t understand some decisions, for example ..how much it would cost for a dev team implement a new class of boat when the interiors are nearly the same ? , it means a very limited scenario and patrol zones, caribbean and pacific could be too difficult (fuel+ressuply+short supply of torpedos)

About the campaign... is ridiculous finish it at the climax of the battle, my first guess is that they are running out of time and money so they the cut the game in half. is the same if you end a strategy wargame or the pacific submarine war in 1942 ( less systems to model , radars, snorkels, weapons...)

The big problem for an extended campaign could be mod the late war upgrades, like snorkel, radar, and homing torpedos. is the same if you want to make a modern era simulator using SH3 engine, it could impossible for modders create radars and other stuff.

For my point of view Sh3 GWX And SH4 RFB or TMO gives the best perspective of the submarine war during 1939-to 1945, silent hunter V have a severe "flooding" an a lot of things must be changed if they want to save the boat.

[Mikhayl]

That's playing semantics here Sure the war didn't end in May '43 for u-boats, but the Battle of the Atlantic was over.

[JScones]

That wasn't a go at you Mikhayl - there's been a number of similar comments across a number of threads. To me, some just seem to dismiss the rest of the u-boat war as if it didn't exist.

The fact is, the Battle of the Atlantic didn't actually end until May 1945. Check any source. It's just that it was more or less decided by Sep 1943. Still, Doenitz didn't give up and fought to the end. Ending it at mid-1943 is like ending a football game at 3 quarter time because one team is leading 40 to 0.

[longam]

Well if it means that they can give us more realistic content and historical war events up until 43 then I have to say bravo dev team.

[The General]

Did a U-boat sink any major targets after May 1943?

[JScones]

Stats from April 1943 to April 1945...

[194304] Monthly losses: 15 U-boats for 287,137 tons of Allied shipping
[194305] Monthly losses: 41 U-boats for 237,182 tons of Allied shipping
[194306] Monthly losses: 17 U-boats for 76,090 tons of Allied shipping
[194307] Monthly losses: 37 U-boats for 237,777 tons of Allied shipping
[194308] Monthly losses: 25 U-boats for 92,443 tons of Allied shipping
[194309] Monthly losses: 9 U-boats for 98,852 tons of Allied shipping
[194310] Monthly losses: 26 U-boats for 91,295 tons of Allied shipping
[194311] Monthly losses: 19 U-boats for 30,726 tons of Allied shipping
[194312] Monthly losses: 8 U-boats for 55,794 tons of Allied shipping
[194401] Monthly losses: 15 U-boats for 74,816 tons of Allied shipping
[194402] Monthly losses: 20 U-boats for 66,043 tons of Allied shipping
[194403] Monthly losses: 25 U-boats for 94,721 tons of Allied shipping
[194404] Monthly losses: 21 U-boats for 62,149 tons of Allied shipping
[194405] Monthly losses: 23 U-boats for 24,423 tons of Allied shipping
[194406] Monthly losses: 25 U-boats for 57,406 tons of Allied shipping
[194407] Monthly losses: 23 U-boats for 61,395 tons of Allied shipping
[194408] Monthly losses: 34 U-boats for 91,454 tons of Allied shipping
[194409] Monthly losses: 23 U-boats for 50,790 tons of Allied shipping
[194410] Monthly losses: 12 U-boats for 1,659 tons of Allied shipping
[194411] Monthly losses: 8 U-boats for 25,193 tons of Allied shipping
[194412] Monthly losses: 12 U-boats for 53,268 tons of Allied shipping
[194501] Monthly losses: 12 U-boats for 67,410 tons of Allied shipping
[194502] Monthly losses: 22 U-boats for 75,911 tons of Allied shipping
[194503] Monthly losses: 34 U-boat for 65,901 tons of Allied shipping
[194504] Monthly losses: 57 U-boats for 65,532 tons of Allied shipping

Total: 563 U-boats for 2,135,367 tons of Allied shipping

[Mikhayl]

You're right Jaesen, and I just saw a couple of those posts
Historically post May '43 is significant, but in terms of gameplay IMO it's not as interesting as earlier because it's very one-sided and fairly linear until the end. In 1939 you experience the relative domination, then the slow downward spiral, and the huge battles until May 43, it's pretty varied.

Now, given that SH5 puts the emphasis on being a "real" captain and the "Das Boot experience", I think it's not outragous to end in May '43.
If you made it from 1939 through Black May, BdU would have most likely sent you to a desk job, or an actor career in some propaganda u-boot movies

[The General]

Did a U-boat sink any major military targets after May 1943?

Originally Posted by The General

Did a U-boat sink any major military targets after May 1943?

Military targets were not the priority. Merchants were.
ASW ships were certainly sunk after 1943.