"jump to next action"

[Dowly]

But the waiting is part of the game..

[irish1958]

DaMaGe007 wrote
" I think sh3 commander allowed the setting of TC to 1024 for friendly encounters so they wont stop you at all, I hope sh4 includes a decent options menu to allow this."


The problem with this is that the TC of 1064 stays with your patrol until you save, exit and then reset the TC; so you will fly by all your contacts

[DaMaGe007]

Thats a shame, I never bothered to try it...the devs could do it better this time im sure.

[Godalmighty83]

Originally Posted by Dowly

But the waiting is part of the game..

a really, really dull part if your not in the mood for full on immersion/ realism.

[Shikkapow]

I know about the time compression, and at one time tweaked the reg file to go all the way up to 4096, and it still seems to be a waste of time to sit there and watch the circle of death slowly plod across the ocean. Especially on the East coast US patrols.
I completely understand that waiting is part of the game but, to me at least, wasting 30 minutes just to get to your patrol zone is completely useless.
I like the auto fuel and time adjustment. and then once you get to your patrol zone you can time compress until your crew spots or hears something.
The Pacific theater is HUGE compared to the Atlantic. I'll have to wait and see and not rush out and buy a copy as soon as it hits the shelves like I did with SH3

[kylania]

The difference is are you playing an arcade game or a sub simulator? If all you want is action, action, action than you want a console game, not a simulation. Setting up SH IV to be nothing but click button, then attack, then click another button and attack somewhere else takes it away from the whole ocean simulator of SH3 and makes it into a something lesser.

[Safe-Keeper]

The difference is are you playing an arcade game or a sub simulator? If all you want is action, action, action than you want a console game, not a simulation. Setting up SH IV to be nothing but click button, then attack, then click another button and attack somewhere else takes it away from the whole ocean simulator of SH3 and makes it into a something lesser.

Good argument, actually.

[Sldghammer]

So you don't use time compression, klyania?

[rls669]

Originally Posted by kylania

The difference is are you playing an arcade game or a sub simulator? If all you want is action, action, action than you want a console game, not a simulation. Setting up SH IV to be nothing but click button, then attack, then click another button and attack somewhere else takes it away from the whole ocean simulator of SH3 and makes it into a something lesser.

Poor argument. The sub and all its systems, enemy units and AI can all be simulated in exhaustive detail, but it's an arcade game because I have a life and can't spend my limited entertainment time watching . . . nothing? Quit projecting your low threshold of boredom onto others. I can go down to the dock and sit all day watching the empty ocean and it's more of a "sub simulator" than sitting in a chair watching empty ocean on the screen. But the option is always there for people who feel they need to waste hours of real time doing nothing. The rest of us would also like the option to play as we see fit. It's not like it costs the real-timers anything, either, except apparently an affront to their delicate sensibilities. It certainly doesn't "take anything away". It adds a capability that the majority of players want.

[Shikkapow]

Originally Posted by rls669

Poor argument. The sub and all its systems, enemy units and AI can all be simulated in exhaustive detail, but it's an arcade game because I have a life and can't spend my limited entertainment time watching . . . nothing? Quit projecting your low threshold of boredom onto others. I can go down to the dock and sit all day watching the empty ocean and it's more of a "sub simulator" than sitting in a chair watching empty ocean on the screen. But the option is always there for people who feel they need to waste hours of real time doing nothing. The rest of us would also like the option to play as we see fit. It's not like it costs the real-timers anything, either, except apparently an affront to their delicate sensibilities. It certainly doesn't "take anything away". It adds a capability that the majority of players want.

What he said.
If you want a pure sim. why the time compress? Why the torp screen, why the external camera, why no food?
If you would like to sit for 45 minutes to an hour doing nothing but listening to the rumble of the subs engines, more power to you. I have other things to do in real life and want to spend that 45 minutes to an hour ducking from airplanes, getting depth charged by destroyers and shooting torps at liberty ships, not watching a little cirle move slowly across my screen

[Capt. D]

Giving players the "option" does not make it something lesser.
I want to have a choice. Sometimes Im in the mood to sail out of port at 1x speed. Sometimes I would like to get down to buisness. It takes forever to get to any patrol zones near the US even at 1024x. If you do go across the Atlantic at 1024x your just staring at a laggy (for me)map screen, not much of an ocean simulator.

Can you actually prove that the majority wants it, or is it just a faulty assumption á la "the vast majority of players wants all compartments to be 3D"?

You need compression of some sorts, and the suggestion of an actual jump-to mechanism instead of a flakey time compression mechanism isn't such a bad call.

But there is more than this forum, isn't there?

There are 300,000 players of SH3. How many of them do you think enjoy spending 1 hour to "get to the action" everytime they start a game?

...and lastly:

If you don't wanna wait use the Time Compression. But, as Immacolata already said, it would do not do any harm to put such a feature in. "We" could still use our Prefered slow method, while Non-Addicted with a life could have it the faster way.

A wide range of opinions - and that's what's good about this type of forum. If I may put my take to all this;

There are those who wish to be able to experiance the total experiance with which US subs crews had during their patrols - that being from the first order "cast away forward lines" to "all stop" while the band plays "Anchors Away" and officers of COMSUBPAC walk across the gang plank to welcome the boat back and congratulate it on a job well done. Great! and if one has the time to spend 60 some days to experiance this all the better! This is a sim and should give one the feeling of being there. (Some times I wish we could just go to the holo deck and tell the computer to initialize patrol 1 - for you Star Trek fans)

There is much to be said about the sim giving one the most realistic experiance one can have from a computer generated "game". However there is also much to be said about the opportunity to "skip" to the "meat of the problem" (patrol). I think the words "Non-Addicted" are rather strong. I am definitly an addicted "fan" of the US Submarine actions in WWII. I have read many many books on the subject both fact and fiction and have viewed movies of the same. I have visited many US WWII boats and plan on a third visit to the US Silversides later this month. My point is I enjoy and look forward to playing the current sub sims in the Silent Hunter series and have waited for a new Pacific version anxiously for some time. Having said all this I do not have the opportunity at this juncture to be able to sit down and use some of the valuable "real time" that I have to cover the many miles of ocean I need to travel to get to the "meat of the problem" my patrol area. Hence time compression.

If I am not mistaken SHI - when using time compression - would automaticaly either reduce the time you were in or automaticaly bring it to 0 if you were in contact with enemy shipping. Is this the ultimate process. No. But could some tweaking make it possiable for those who can not make "real time" for the process of getting to the patrol area, be able to go there with TC however be made aware of and forced to deal with contacts from way point to way point. The "jump to" feature some discuss I believe was somewhat avaliable in SHI when after leaving your base the next screen did place you in your patrol area. Something of that feature could be made avaliable as a choice to the player when setting up your realism factors!

When it comes down to the bottom line ( and we can not forget that that is and must be in the discussion - bottom line) the quote above indicating 300,000 SHIII players - UBISoft I am sure is also looking at sales. Having been in retail for over 37 years, marketing is a major factor for new items being placed for sale. Both sides have excellent issues, and both sides must be able to be drawn to the game for UBISoft to be profitable. I would gather that they will attempt to cover both sides of this issue with the hope to please the addicted gamer whether they have the "real time" to play the game in real time or need to quicken the pace so they can be at their childs rehersal or sport game etc. I really believe this can be accomplished and maybe be placed in an area where the gamer is setting up their realism factors!

Just my thoughts for what they are worth.

Happy Hunting

[Safe-Keeper]

Poor argument. The sub and all its systems, enemy units and AI can all be simulated in exhaustive detail, but it's an arcade game because I have a life and can't spend my limited entertainment time watching . . . nothing?

Yes.

Quit projecting your low threshold of boredom onto others.

It's not more boring than you make it yourself. Read a book, solve a hard Su Doku puzzle, play with your doggie, or come up with something else fun.

I can go down to the dock and sit all day watching the empty ocean and it's more of a "sub simulator" than sitting in a chair watching empty ocean on the screen.

Yup.

But the option is always there for people who feel they need to waste hours of real-time doing nothing.

If you consider watching the ocean a waste of time, I pity you.

The rest of us would also like the option to play as we see fit. It's not like it costs the real-timers anything, either (...)

Implementing an arcade-ish teleportation system takes away time from other features. The developers probably have too little time to implement things as it is.

except apparently an affront to their delicate sensibilities. It certainly doesn't "take anything away".

It adds a capability that the majority of players want.

Can you actually prove that the majority wants it, or is it just a faulty assumption á la "the vast majority of players wants all compartments to be 3D"?

[Immacolata]

Originally Posted by Safe-Keeper

Can you actually prove that the majority wants it, or is it just a faulty assumption á la "the vast majority of players wants all compartments to be 3D"?

It is a ridiculous to call it a faulty assumption. If looking upon hours of map screen while the time compression runs is what people want in the majority, we would have seen loads of "Microsoft Watch Paint Dry Simulator" games and yearly Pro Watch Grass Grow League refreshers from EA. People want action in games. It was never a problem in vanilla SH3, because you were literally flooded with radio contacts. You never really had time to be bored. This was how Ubi worked around this issue of boredom. The sail from Bremerhaven to NY could be done with in 10 seconds this way, provided you were not spotted on the way. Why is that bad?

You need compression of some sorts, and the suggestion of an actual jump-to mechanism instead of a flakey time compression mechanism isn't such a bad call. We all know that it worked poorly in SH3. A compromise would be to make the highest compression actually be an abstraction. Instead of simulating the world around the submarine constantly, but at increased pace, then make it an abstraction that you pull off tables. %Chance of convoy encounter (Based on location and date) %chance of flight encounter etc.

It would probably irritate the already hypersensitive realism glands of the most assinine pro-realism guys, but they could then chose to run it at a lower speed and let the busy of us cut to the chase. Wherein lies the harm I ask?

[Takeda Shingen]

Originally Posted by Immacolata

But why does it detract from your experience of this element, Takeda, if other players with no such ambitions are given the option to skip this period and get to the action?

This was answered above:

Originally Posted by Safe-Keeper

Implementing an arcade-ish teleportation system takes away time from other features. The developers probably have too little time to implement things as it is.

except apparently an affront to their delicate sensibilities. It certainly doesn't "take anything away".

[The General]

Originally Posted by rls669

Poor argument. The sub and all its systems, enemy units and AI can all be simulated in exhaustive detail, but it's an arcade game because I have a life and can't spend my limited entertainment time watching . . . nothing? Quit projecting your low threshold of boredom onto others. I can go down to the dock and sit all day watching the empty ocean and it's more of a "sub simulator" than sitting in a chair watching empty ocean on the screen. But the option is always there for people who feel they need to waste hours of real time doing nothing. The rest of us would also like the option to play as we see fit. It's not like it costs the real-timers anything, either, except apparently an affront to their delicate sensibilities. It certainly doesn't "take anything away". It adds a capability that the majority of players want.

If you're as smart as I think you are, you will accept that time compression, in a sim like this, is the only viable option. What needs to be addressed is finding something to do during long sailing periods, albeit very compressed sailing periods of up to 20 mins, with not much happening. I personally like to read, or have my favourite radio show, running in the background on my computer, during these periods. If my XO alerts me to a contact then I get back into the game (make my way to the conn). This mimics the captain being in his quarters during the quieter perods at sea. I know I'm not alone in this rather bizarre behaviour.