Game or sim? - Page 2

quitefrankly · 11-21-07, 07:52 PM

Hi again, I'm back. It's been a few months!

I am back, mainly because I am very excited about the upcoming expansion pack! And I just wanted to give a bit of feedback and support basically.

P.S. I appreciated the post above about SH3 by the way. I understand if it annoys some of you, but I personally have never played any of the other Silent Hunter games, so its interesting to see that this game is better in some ways, but not as good in other ways.

Anyway, I have had more time with the game, and I basically just wanted to reiterate what I said originally. I don't know if the UBI team read this forum? But hopefully they do. And if not, hopefully somebody has already given the same feedback anyway.

But basically, I am bored of this game, and its frustrating because it is so close to being a really special game. Usually if a game is boring, I'll just quit and move on. But this game is so close to being really great, I just wanted to speak up about it.

The graphics are amazing. It controls very well. I have seen people complaining about the UI, but I never even noticed that. It seems fine to me. Its almost the perfect game. Many people here play it with hardcore settings, but I play somewhere in the middle. I sail out into the deep ocean and track a huge bunch of ships. I don't bother plotting courses and angles of attack and stuff, I just try to do everything on the fly, and aim to approach the ships from about 90 degrees. I fire my torpedos and take out all the ships that can shoot back, and I sit back with a huge smile on my face and watch the amazing graphics! Then I surface the sub, and finish the other ships off with my big cannon gun.

Its a really fun experience, and I love it!

But where it falls apart for me, is simply the missions. (In my opinion atleast). I have been playing flight sims for probably around 20 years, and this game is basically a water based equivalent. It really isn't much different... You set off from your home base, you fly/sail to your objective, you blow stuff up, and you come home. Its the exact same thing, only instead of dropping bombs or locking on your sidewinders, you are using your torpedos and cannon instead. Neither is really better or worse. They are both pretty much the same. And both are fun!

But this game has a little bit of catching up to do, and I really hope they can do that! In flight sims, people expect there to not only be lots of great missions, but generally, people expect there to be a mission generator or custom mission maker too. LOMAC is a good example of this, in that you can just buy the game and then you have a very different campaign for every plane! And each one has about 20 or so missions (so in total, there are LOTS).

But when you are finally done with that, you can start making your own missions - which is a fantastic feature. And you can also go online, and download missions (or even entire campaigns) that other people have made. This prolongs the life of the game enormously.

So I am amazed and disappointed that this game doesn't have those same features, and I think it would make a massive difference. I saw people talk about buying books and using your imagination to improve things, and that is great, but really, we shouldn't have to do that in a modern game. If I was going to rely on my imagination, I would draw, or play with my plastic sub in the bath :p In a big budget game like this, all that should be taken care of by somebody else, and that is what we are paying for. So basically, you have done all the hard work! You have actually built a fantastic sub simulator. But you forgot to put the cream on top of the cake, and add the cherry, and its crazy to not do that.

Amazingly, this game only has about half a dozen missions. And they are just repeated over and over.. That is really unforgivable, and there is no reason for it. Ultimately, all missions will be kind of the same... leave base, find the objective, blow stuff up, come home.. But atleast in a flight sim, they dress it up with a real story. "Pilot! There is a large convoy of enemy tanks approaching a village just north of here! You must take off immediately and protect the village at all costs!".

Its only simple, and yet it makes a massive difference. I end up flying as fast as I can, on the edge of my seat, just a few inches from my monitor, looking for those evil tanks! Thinking to myself, "I better hurry! I'm going to save the day!!!!! I'll show them....". All that is lost in SH4, because there are no missions. So I want to see that. In SH4 terms, it needs to be, "A huge fleet of enemy ships are approaching Panama!!! We must protect it!!! They have an aircraft carrier and a dozen support craft!! We are scrambling our naval fleets there now, but they are far away. You need to quickly go there and just do what you can to weaken their attacks, before the ships arrive!!!". - Something like that will make this game completely different, and appeal to a much wider audience too. The hardcore sub sim people could still have everything they already have, but the rest of us would get something a bit more engaging.

And then there really needs to be a mission editor too.

Even Microsoft have realised this, and have changed their ancient Flight Simulator series, in its most recent incarnation. Flight Simulator X now has missions! So its no longer a Sunday driving equivalent of flight sims, where you get in a Cessna, and take a boring, eventless flight over some mountain and then come home... Instead, you now get great stuff like putting on an air show and landing on top of a moving truck! Or rescuing a capsised yachtsman etc... The missions have really turned the series into something much more fun, and thats what I want to see for this series.

After reading the notes about this new expansion due in 2008, it sounds like you have some nice improvements coming our way, but I am still not sure you have realised the importance of proper missions? It all sounds like it will really impress the existing fans, and for me, I REALLY liked the part about rising in rank and experience, and getting strategic resources such as recon aircraft etc.. That sounds GREAT! But I really hope to see proper missions too. Its surely not a big job to add that to the game, and I can't emphasise enough, how cruicial I think it is.

I have my fingers crossed!

jazman · 11-21-07, 08:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by quitefrankly

But basically, I am bored of this game, and its frustrating because it is so close to being a really special game. Usually if a game is boring, I'll just quit and move on. But this game is so close to being really great, I just wanted to speak up about it.

...

I have been playing flight sims for probably around 20 years, and this game is basically a water based equivalent. It really isn't much different...

From what I've read about war, it's pretty boring at times. Hurry up and wait. Bring some good books along for the patrol.

This isn't like flight sims. I don't much like flight sims, oh I'll play IL-2 once in a while. But I love Silent Hunter. There's a world of difference. You're noticing it, but not understanding it: you like the flight sims, but don't like SH, but they're the same? Nope.

the_belgian · 01-01-08, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the_belgian

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrbeast

1) Something that I'm getting bored of is SH3 players posting how boring SH4 is and how they just had to go back to SH3 again.

2) I love SH3 and SH4 but I don't jump into threads about SH3 just to say how bored I was with the out dated graphics and the weird angular crew in SH3 and so always play SH4 now.

3) Both games are great so I don't see why there has to be so much sniping by players of one about the other.

1)I have been in the SH-series from the beginning and,although mainly graphical,SH4 is a great game i went back to SH3 and am not scared to share my vision to others(not in a way"I am not satisfied but can better leave in silence...").

2)The reason i leave is simple;tention.SH3 has allot more of it than SH4.But when those who change collors(US into German)keep silent here it feels to me as if you could not stand the critics on SH4!

3)Sniping?I'd call it an anouncement

And who knows,one day i'll be back...

And now,i'm back in the Pacific!(once the cat has tasted the milk she keeps comming back )

ReallyDedPoet · 11-21-07, 08:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrbeast

Quote:

Originally Posted by the_belgian

< After playing SH4 for months i got borred with it(something that never hapened with SH3!).
So i leave it on my HD and re-installed SH3.
It feld like a long lost son returning back home!
I think i'll be playing SH3 for another long time to come...
AS far i'm concerned "UBI;make SH5 happen on the atlantic front(maybe with a DC2 as counterpart

)

Something that I'm getting bored of is SH3 players posting how boring SH4 is and how they just had to go back to SH3 again.

I love SH3 and SH4 but I don't jump into threads about SH3 just to say how bored I was with the out dated graphics and the weird angular crew in SH3 and so always play SH4 now.

Both games are great so I don't see why there has to be so much sniping by players of one about the other.

This is well said

SH4 is my game of choice, lots of tension, lots of mission variety, the list goes on. SH3 is a great game, but it was flat as a pancake out of the box, mods made the difference. SH4 is not perfect, but it is slowly getting there, problem is some folks want it to be SH3 or GWX or whatever, it's not, it is a great sim in its own right.

Enjoy both for what they are, great games that offer a great experience. Oh, almost forgot, I do also play SH3, both can exist in harmony on the
desktop

RDP

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11-21-07, 07:52 PM	#1
quitefrankly Seaman Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 41 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Hi again, I'm back. It's been a few months! I am back, mainly because I am very excited about the upcoming expansion pack! And I just wanted to give a bit of feedback and support basically. P.S. I appreciated the post above about SH3 by the way. I understand if it annoys some of you, but I personally have never played any of the other Silent Hunter games, so its interesting to see that this game is better in some ways, but not as good in other ways. Anyway, I have had more time with the game, and I basically just wanted to reiterate what I said originally. I don't know if the UBI team read this forum? But hopefully they do. And if not, hopefully somebody has already given the same feedback anyway. But basically, I am bored of this game, and its frustrating because it is so close to being a really special game. Usually if a game is boring, I'll just quit and move on. But this game is so close to being really great, I just wanted to speak up about it. The graphics are amazing. It controls very well. I have seen people complaining about the UI, but I never even noticed that. It seems fine to me. Its almost the perfect game. Many people here play it with hardcore settings, but I play somewhere in the middle. I sail out into the deep ocean and track a huge bunch of ships. I don't bother plotting courses and angles of attack and stuff, I just try to do everything on the fly, and aim to approach the ships from about 90 degrees. I fire my torpedos and take out all the ships that can shoot back, and I sit back with a huge smile on my face and watch the amazing graphics! Then I surface the sub, and finish the other ships off with my big cannon gun. Its a really fun experience, and I love it! But where it falls apart for me, is simply the missions. (In my opinion atleast). I have been playing flight sims for probably around 20 years, and this game is basically a water based equivalent. It really isn't much different... You set off from your home base, you fly/sail to your objective, you blow stuff up, and you come home. Its the exact same thing, only instead of dropping bombs or locking on your sidewinders, you are using your torpedos and cannon instead. Neither is really better or worse. They are both pretty much the same. And both are fun! But this game has a little bit of catching up to do, and I really hope they can do that! In flight sims, people expect there to not only be lots of great missions, but generally, people expect there to be a mission generator or custom mission maker too. LOMAC is a good example of this, in that you can just buy the game and then you have a very different campaign for every plane! And each one has about 20 or so missions (so in total, there are LOTS). But when you are finally done with that, you can start making your own missions - which is a fantastic feature. And you can also go online, and download missions (or even entire campaigns) that other people have made. This prolongs the life of the game enormously. So I am amazed and disappointed that this game doesn't have those same features, and I think it would make a massive difference. I saw people talk about buying books and using your imagination to improve things, and that is great, but really, we shouldn't have to do that in a modern game. If I was going to rely on my imagination, I would draw, or play with my plastic sub in the bath :p In a big budget game like this, all that should be taken care of by somebody else, and that is what we are paying for. So basically, you have done all the hard work! You have actually built a fantastic sub simulator. But you forgot to put the cream on top of the cake, and add the cherry, and its crazy to not do that. Amazingly, this game only has about half a dozen missions. And they are just repeated over and over.. That is really unforgivable, and there is no reason for it. Ultimately, all missions will be kind of the same... leave base, find the objective, blow stuff up, come home.. But atleast in a flight sim, they dress it up with a real story. "Pilot! There is a large convoy of enemy tanks approaching a village just north of here! You must take off immediately and protect the village at all costs!". Its only simple, and yet it makes a massive difference. I end up flying as fast as I can, on the edge of my seat, just a few inches from my monitor, looking for those evil tanks! Thinking to myself, "I better hurry! I'm going to save the day!!!!! I'll show them....". All that is lost in SH4, because there are no missions. So I want to see that. In SH4 terms, it needs to be, "A huge fleet of enemy ships are approaching Panama!!! We must protect it!!! They have an aircraft carrier and a dozen support craft!! We are scrambling our naval fleets there now, but they are far away. You need to quickly go there and just do what you can to weaken their attacks, before the ships arrive!!!". - Something like that will make this game completely different, and appeal to a much wider audience too. The hardcore sub sim people could still have everything they already have, but the rest of us would get something a bit more engaging. And then there really needs to be a mission editor too. Even Microsoft have realised this, and have changed their ancient Flight Simulator series, in its most recent incarnation. Flight Simulator X now has missions! So its no longer a Sunday driving equivalent of flight sims, where you get in a Cessna, and take a boring, eventless flight over some mountain and then come home... Instead, you now get great stuff like putting on an air show and landing on top of a moving truck! Or rescuing a capsised yachtsman etc... The missions have really turned the series into something much more fun, and thats what I want to see for this series. After reading the notes about this new expansion due in 2008, it sounds like you have some nice improvements coming our way, but I am still not sure you have realised the importance of proper missions? It all sounds like it will really impress the existing fans, and for me, I REALLY liked the part about rising in rank and experience, and getting strategic resources such as recon aircraft etc.. That sounds GREAT! But I really hope to see proper missions too. Its surely not a big job to add that to the game, and I can't emphasise enough, how cruicial I think it is. I have my fingers crossed!