Love Silent Hunter, Hate Ubisoft

[JU_88]

Originally Posted by DelphiUniverse

It's so strange to think about the times when SH3 came, then SH4, then SH5 one after the other, and it all stopped now? Doesn't sound right. Ubisoft is one among few who release this kind of game, if no other company is doing it, then ubisoft are by definition the only company that actually have cared for subsim. They are not bad but good, its a good company. Blizzard certainly never cared, neither did GasPoweredGames So Ubisoft have been caring in a careless way

Ubi-Care Obama-Care

Yep 3 SH games in 5 years!
For Subsim (or any sim) franchise that is just mental! As far as I know each one sold worse than the last.
Sh3 was a successful franchise reboot and it wowed alot of people,
its success paved the way for Sh4 - which more of the same with better visuals and set in a slighly less popular theatre (for subsimming anyway)
Then SHV.... we all know the story, so i wont repeat it.

What Ubi perhaps should have done with SH5 is treat is as an 'SH3 refresh' and gone for an expanding sim, like IL2 or Railworks, arguably they maybe should have done this at SH4 even.

They could have kept a small team to create paid DLC and and addons (even when inbetween projects.) They could release new ship packs, Theatres of war, playable Subs and even surface ships.
This in turn would have funded additional patches.

Modders have proven that the potentional for any one of last 3 SH games is vast. If you ask me Ubi missed a trick here, they saw the SH3 modding scene explode, they should have learned something from it.

[francho1961]

My greetings to all, Ubisoft is a company and gets games that do not work to see if any of those games are a success and so the saga continues .... Before risking the SH-6 would get an extension as with SH-4 remember .... friends who is a company that only cares about money.
Good hunting commanders.

[Dowly]

Originally Posted by JU_88

What Ubi perhaps should have done with SH5 is treat is as an 'SH3 refresh' and gone for an expanding sim, like IL2 or Railworks, arguably they maybe should have done this at SH4 even.

Should've done it with SH4. More thought should've been on bettering the
stuff INSIDE the subs instead of outside.

[Rongel]

I didn't get sleep last night, so I figured out this:

Here's a great idea Ubisoft: make a expansion pack to SH 5 that would also serve as patch 1.3, same way that U-boat missions was made for SH 4. It would be relatively simple and wouldn't cost that much. All it has to do is offer more content and fix some of the bugs. It wouldn't need to fix the whole game or re-invent it, we have already many great mods for that. Here is a example how limited it could be:

extra content:
-add a couple new campaigns, some generic backstory and few lines of new dialogue. Call it Silent Hunter 5: Wolfpack Commander
-6 more merchant ships, one new playable submarine
-more crew animations and immersion inside the sub
-improved wolfpack action

fixes:
-weather gear not working, magnetic detonation, crash if you sink friendly ship, morale, subhyd-fix, broken hydro/radar station and so on. Basic things, many of them were promised to fix in patch 1.2 but weren't.

If the changes would affect the stock game, this would be a must purchase to everyone who likes SH 5, but is annoyed with some of it's hard-coded issues and lack of variety. And it would propably attract new players to SH 5 if the word got out that it's fixed now. Expansion pack could be sold in Steam for 20-30 bucks, and there could be "Gold edition" of the SH 5 that includes the add-on for the new gamers.

This would basically force everyone who sees potential in SH 5 to buy it. In a perfect world, there should be a free patch that does this, but I understand the grimness of the gaming industry, so I would pay money to get it working.

With this kind of add-on, Ubisoft could make money, attract new players, clear it's soiled PR-image, and finally, with the added mods that we already have, make SH 5 the best submarine simulator that ever was!

Ubisoft, you are free to steal my idea!

[DelphiUniverse]

The fact that most people are into 3d first person shootemup games is something that bothers me. Why are so many people into it, clearly if the market is pointing that way, then it must be a reason for it.
but WHAT IS it about, why are people so into it.....

[TheDarkWraith]

Here's what I think: Before it used to be that sex attracted buyers. Now it seems either sex and/or violence attracts buyers

[Snotface]

Originally Posted by DelphiUniverse

The fact that most people are into 3d first person shootemup games is something that bothers me. Why are so many people into it, clearly if the market is pointing that way, then it must be a reason for it. but WHAT IS it about, why are people so into it.....

Because it's simple. Pick up a weapon and run around shooting whatever you see. No need to read a manual. It's for the instant gratification generation.

That's my best guess anyway.
Having said that, clan games etc are quite social and we can see from Facebook etc that the younger generation have grasped the online social media thing by the horns.

[0rpheus]

Originally Posted by DelphiUniverse

The fact that most people are into 3d first person shootemup games is something that bothers me. Why are so many people into it, clearly if the market is pointing that way, then it must be a reason for it.
but WHAT IS it about, why are people so into it.....

'Hollywood' factor, the casual aspect (pick up & play, put back down)... so many possibilities! I play one or two myself (ARMA, Red Orch, TF2), but while I used to play COD etc on consoles, I can't bear to do it now. The twitch gameplay and rampant idiocy/childishness/etc of the playerbase just puts me right off. When I go for shooters now I want realism and slower pacing (TF2 being the exception, but it's so well balanced it's never frustrating), the likes of Battlefield etc can take a hike. On a (vaguely) related note, I've been wondering whether the increasing popularity of games like The Sims actually reflects a general loss of control over people's own lives that they then seek in a game environment - and while I'm not saying that these kids play COD because of a suppressed need to shoot their neighbour in the face, I do think that a degradation of control throughout people's personal lives as a result of the modern economy/world/work/etc contributes a lot to the increasing popularity of all gaming - where control is guaranteed.

/amateursociologist

Originally Posted by TheDarkWraith

Here's what I think: Before it used to be that sex attracted buyers. Now it seems either sex and/or violence attracts buyers

Damn, so what you're saying is we need a Hot Topless Blonde in the Conning Tower mod, and one that lets you wallop the engineer over the head with a wrench to boost repair time? Get on it man

[0rpheus]

Silent Hunter 6: 'Major Boobage' edition

[Dowly]

Originally Posted by Rongel

I didn't get sleep last night, so I figured out this:

**SNIP**

I can see one flaw with that idea: Ubisoft

[Ducimus]

Originally Posted by Dowly

Should've done it with SH4. More thought should've been on bettering the
stuff INSIDE the subs instead of outside.

They REALLY should have taken their time with SH4. In all reality, SH4 is little more then a supermod of SH3. I guess that makes SH5 is a mod of a mod.

I long for Silent Hunter 7 and a Matrox 9 screen video card, oh yeah.