Silent Hunter 6

[The General]

How 'bout combining all the work done in the series and making Silent Hunter 6 a global naval simulator? Most of the models have already been built. A player could chose a German, American or maybe even Japanese or British Sub? Hell, why not throw in a playable surface vessel too, a sub-chaser or whatever?

[Nordmann]

They should fix up SH5 first, but I wouldn't mind seeing Fleet Boats as the next outing (fully modelled interiors anyone?), though I really think the British boats need some attention at some point.

[ERPP8]

If Ubisoft didn't completely ignore SHIV I think a lot more of us would be playing it.




This would be awesome:
1. Ubisoft releases a "Fleet Boats in the Atlantic" or something in a stroke of irony
2. Modders change it to be back in the pacific
3. It's like SHIV but a million times better

[TwistedFemur]

UBI will not be getting anymore of my money

domain: silenthunter5.com
reg_created: 2004-09-13 17:38:06
expires: 2010-09-13 21:38:06
created: 2004-09-13 23:38:06
changed: 2009-11-09 16:53:58

[capt-jones]

the general wrote

How 'bout combining all the work done in the series and making Silent Hunter 6 a global naval simulator? Most of the models have already been built. A player could chose a German, American or maybe even Japanese or British Sub? Hell, why not throw in a playable surface vessel too, a sub-chaser or whatever?

this seems the obvious choice the american market (paciffic war) would be the big money spinner for ubi,im no software developer, but im sure after all the hard work that went into SH3 SH4 it must be easy for ubisoft to throw all the codes into a box and sell it,this sounds familiarisnt that what they did with SH5, and we bought it,why they never capitalised on sh2 and destroyer command i will never know its no good buying the name of something if its no good anyway i agree with whats already been said

[GoldenRivet]

Silent Hunter Six?




Dont even start

To be entirely honest, I doubt there will be a Silent Hunter 6, at least not by UBI anyway.

I know someone who works in the games industry, who told me the other week that the SHV sales have been rather poor. I imagine they reserved the domain names years ago incase they needed them.

If, there ever is another SH game, I'd like to see it from a totally new perspective - Like playing as the Japanese, or the English!!

[Trool323]

silent hunter 4 with all the latest mods is the epic of subsims. You can get whatever you want almost. You can start a career in the atlantic and then go to the pacific if you'd like without having to play a different game. If they made SH6 they would have to make it live up to the expansion capabilities of SH4. Currently sh5 is not doing this by any means.. As we speak they are making ww1, surface ship, and japan based campaigns for SH4 the expansion is endless....Alot of people R real upset about Sh5 and its DRM. Even me a die hard fan I refuse to buy it untill its fixed, or I can find a way around the DRM. So in closing if Sh6 has any crap like DRm sh4 will live forever with only the graphics becoming out dated i believe.

if people dont buy sh5 because of DRM UBI will and probably have allready lost money and wont make a sh6..

time will tell but as of today I dont see SH6..

[Hanomag]

Hmmm.. ok maybe somone else should take the helm...like EA or Infinity Ward...

[DaDeathProject]

I too have dreamed of a WW2 navy sim game. Sounds like too high of hopes to me. Oh well. I do wish for a better SH with number 6.

There are some aspects of 5 I like but others I don't. Perhaps take the fun of SH4 with some good stuff from SH5 (depends what one defines good and if there is any) then you might have SH6

[Sonarman]

Originally Posted by severniae

If, there ever is another SH game, I'd like to see it from a totally new perspective - Like playing as the Japanese, or the English!!

Ah hmm... don't you mean the British... old boy!

[TDK1044]

It is truly sad that a major Publisher like Ubisoft seems to have learned nothing in the five years since Silent Hunter III.

They threw Silent Hunter III onto the market as an unfinished, buggy mess that took 4 patches, a lot of modding, and over a year to fix. Silent Hunter IV was in a similar, some would say worse state, and now we have Silent Hunter V.

I think Rascal Flatts said it best......

God blessed the broken code
That led me straight to you

[Frumpkis]

Originally Posted by The General

How 'bout combining all the work done in the series and making Silent Hunter 6 a global naval simulator? Most of the models have already been built. A player could chose a German, American or maybe even Japanese or British Sub? Hell, why not throw in a playable surface vessel too, a sub-chaser or whatever?

Okay, I have feeling the franchise is over with this one, but just for grins...

At the time frame of SH4, that idea (above) would have been feasible. The next sim (SH5) could have been a very broad-based package covering everything from the USA Civil War, to WWI, to WWII in both theaters. You'd have a bunch of good exterior 3D models, and very minimal interiors... maybe no interiors at all, just a basic periscope/bridge command interface.

Now, however, Ubi has limited future options with a release that shows both a full 3D sub interior and interaction with the crew (sort of) inside that environment. That takes much more in art and programming resources to pull off, and it's probably the reason we only got the Type VII in this game, and the most we might ever get in an expansion is the Type IX. Game companies don't usually reduce the feature set from one version to another, so any hope of more sub models (not to mention surface ships) probably died with this release.

However, remember this is the #1 thing people asked for, back in the SH4 days when people were discussing what they wanted in SH5. Everyone wanted a full walk-through sub interior, and a crew that was more than just mannequins standing there without player interaction. Well, now we have it, but it closes out other options.

Personally, I don't mind that very much. I've always preferred "deep" sims that modeled one platform well, to do-everything sims that can't really do it except in a superficial way. For example, compare the B-17 bomber in something like IL-2, to a dedicated B-17 sim like the one Microprose made. That latter game wasn't perfect, but it was more immersive and detailed (IIRC) than what you get in IL_2, because IL-2 is trying to model so many other aircraft at the same time.

Anyway, to respond to the main topic... given a choice, I'd like to see an upgraded version of SH5 in the same Atlantic theater, building on the current game engine, and expanding into wolf pack tactics. Unfortunately I don't think that's very marketable for Ubi, and they're more likely to make SH6 (if there is one at all) a modern sub sim... something like a Virginia class attack sub, or going back a few years to a Cold War scenario. Whatever it is, it'll be a single boat... if they ever do another version at all. They can't go back to a sub without a full interior now.

[jdkbph]

Originally Posted by Frumpkis

However, remember this is the #1 thing people asked for, back in the SH4 days when people were discussing what they wanted in SH5. Everyone wanted a full walk-through sub interior, and a crew that was more than just mannequins standing there without player interaction.

Be careful what you ask for...? It's almost like dealing with a Genie. Yes, they did ask for 3d interiors and interactive crew and UBI delivered. But I think the assumption was that all else would be at least as it was in SH3. I think if it had been understood that the addition of 3d interiors and interactive crew would cost what it now seems it has, no one would have voted for that.

Personally, I don't mind that very much. I've always preferred "deep" sims that modeled one platform well, to do-everything sims that can't really do it except in a superficial way. For example, compare the B-17 bomber in something like IL-2, to a dedicated B-17 sim like the one Microprose made. That latter game wasn't perfect, but it was more immersive and detailed (IIRC) than what you get in IL_2, because IL-2 is trying to model so many other aircraft at the same time.

I don't know if that's a fair comparison. I think if you wanted to argue that SH5 benefits from bing a single platform simulation, you'd have to demonstrate that the platform simulation is deeper than what you find in a survey (or multiple platform) simulation. I'd be looking for things like the ability to pull the levers to open the ballast tank vents, turn the valves to trim the boat, flip all the switches and turn all the dials on the radios, sonars and radars. Basically something akin to the level of interaction you find in the aforementioned MPS B17 sim.

Aside from the eye candy graphics, I don't see where they have improved the detail or the fidelity of the simulation at all in the "single platform" SH5, relative to the last two "multi-platform" titles in this series.

Oh, and even though it was explicitly excluded from consideration by the OP, I'll still cast my vote for a WWI sub sim. I think that's the one area that hasn't already been done to death (really hasn't been done at all... I can't count Shells of Fury) - and - would be a good fit for the sim and graphics engines UBI has already developed.

JD

[Frumpkis]

Originally Posted by jdkbph

Be careful what you ask for...? It's almost like dealing with a Genie. Yes, they did ask for 3d interiors and interactive crew and UBI delivered. But I think the assumption was that all else would be at least as it was in SH3. I think if it had been understood that the addition of 3d interiors and interactive crew would cost what it now seems it has, no one would have voted for that.

Agreed. Here's an interesting question, I think: If we had a time machine and could go back a couple years, and if Ubi had offered these two choices:

1) You can have a full 3D interior and interactive crew, but just the Type VII sub... that's it!

2) You can have the Type VII and IX, and we'll throw in the XX1 too, for alternate history scenarios, but the interiors will be just like SH4 and you can't walk through the boat.

Which would the subsim community, as a whole, choose? Sure, we'd like to choose "all of the above," but developer resources are always limited, unless we want to wait 10 years between sim releases.

I don't know if that's a fair comparison. I think if you wanted to argue that SH5 benefits from bing a single platform simulation, you'd have to demonstrate that the platform simulation is deeper than what you find in a survey (or multiple platform) simulation. I'd be looking for things like the ability to pull the levers to open the ballast tank vents, turn the valves to trim the boat, flip all the switches and turn all the dials on the radios, sonars and radars. Basically something akin to the level of interaction you find in the aforementioned MPS B17 sim.

I don't think you have to operate all those controls yourself for an immersive (hah!) simulation. The question is more like this: Can I achieve a suspension of disbelief that I'm sitting in front of a computer screen, to believe that I'm in this type of boat, or that type of boat? Early war boats in either WWII theater should feel cramped and limited in capability, later fleet boats on both sides should feel very different inside.

Oh, and even though it was explicitly excluded from consideration by the OP, I'll still cast my vote for a WWI sub sim. I think that's the one area that hasn't already been done to death (really hasn't been done at all... I can't count Shells of Fury) - and - would be a good fit for the sim and graphics engines UBI has already developed.

I'm with you on that one, I've always thought a WWI sub sim might be interesting, if only because we've never seen one. I have some concerns about it being too "un-sub" like.... too much emphasis on surface attacks, no real ASW technology to make evasion after an attack interesting. But it could be fun. I hope someone does this, eventually!