DEV Q&A post on Ubi Forum

[DarkFish]

Originally Posted by WEBSTER

i find this comment xtremely troubling:

so as i understand itthe way its written, this means if your not where you need to be then there is no click to station feature so you must go through the sub yourself to get to the control room before you can give any orders to your crew.

To me this comment sounds very appealing. I think it'll add a lot of immersion to the game, as you have to get to every room by yourself. No more magically teleporting
Besides, I guess you can give orders about anywhere in the ship. I mean, wouldn't a real U-Boot captain be able to just give commands from anywhere within the boat? I guess the order would just be passed on by other crewmembers

Originally Posted by DarkFish

I guess you can give orders about anywhere in the ship. I mean, wouldn't a real U-Boot captain be able to just give commands from anywhere within the boat? I guess the order would just be passed on by other crewmembers

well thats the part i found troubling, if you have to get there then to me that means you cant command the sub from the non command sections of the sub. if you could then there would be no cause for the statement

"you’ll have a long way to go to that conning tower hatch before the sub can dive!"

[mookiemookie]

Originally Posted by WEBSTER

well thats the part i found troubling, if you have to get there then to me that means you cant command the sub from the non command sections of the sub. if you could then there would be no cause for the statement

"you’ll have a long way to go to that conning tower hatch before the sub can dive!"

Theres a very good cause for that statement - you may give the order to dive, but they're not going to dive while the captain's still on deck.

[martes86]

Originally Posted by mookiemookie

Theres a very good cause for that statement - you may give the order to dive, but they're not going to dive while the captain's still on deck.

Or they might dive, but the captain would drown anyways.

[TDK1044]

There is an update posted today.

30.09.2009

How does the morale system work?

Your crew is a highly trained unit of the German Kriegsmarine. They will do their duty, but as with every man, there is a question whether they will go the extra mile for their captain and mission. This is translated into their morale – their capacity to use their special abilities such as making a team effort to reload all bow torpedoes very fast to deliver a fatal blow to enemy shipping.
Of course, as you spend time at sea, your crew will long for their families, get tired of canned food and their morale will go down. This diminishes your capacity to use them and excel in battle, so as captain, you have to be careful that there’s reasons for the crew to be happy. Sink some ships, make them proud, and it should be ok.


Will there be improved ship buoyancy dynamics EG the roll and pitch of the submarine?

Yes. Physics throughout the game is under tuning. We added a “flooded” mechanic to enemy ships as well, which simulates water flowing from one compartment to another, thus buoyancy is expected to be more realistic.


I have noticed that the ship/submarine textures on all the current screenshots are VERY basic; will you be replacing them with more realistic skins and textures like in SH4? (EG bolts and rust ect).

Textures and graphics are still under tuning. We textured the submarine based on real images taken from real uboats.

Will more realistic sounds be used for the ships and subs? Also will we finally have the function to change the crew’s voices to German (instead of relying on mods)?

Yes. There will be new sounds, true surround effects, and a German voice pack distributed with the game.

[SteamWake]

So no more endless patrolls

[Akula4745]

Originally Posted by TDK1044

There is an update posted today.

30.09.2009

Well SH5 sure sounds interesting to me... and since I most certainly plan to buy it upon release... methinks I shall not pick it apart too quickly. If you shake the box too many times before Christmas Day arrives your present might not be much of a surprise...

Heck... I still wanna go back and play SH3 w/GWX... even more so now that there will be no GW mod for SH4. So there is plenty to keep me busy till 3/2010. Since I bought SH4 my gaming has been intriguingly sub-clusive... and it likely shall not be changing anytime soon. Besides... maybe I will have this dad-gum U-boat career done by March 2010.

[Sledgehammer427]

one thing I liked to hear

The harbor keeps the first person perspective, but some of the management jobs are better done through 2D interfaces.

so I guess that means we will be able to walk about in the harbor. me like

[V.C. Sniper]

Originally Posted by TDK1044

There is an update posted today.

30.09.2009

How does the morale system work?

Your crew is a highly trained unit of the German Kriegsmarine. They will do their duty, but as with every man, there is a question whether they will go the extra mile for their captain and mission. This is translated into their morale – their capacity to use their special abilities such as making a team effort to reload all bow torpedoes very fast to deliver a fatal blow to enemy shipping.
Of course, as you spend time at sea, your crew will long for their families, get tired of canned food and their morale will go down. This diminishes your capacity to use them and excel in battle, so as captain, you have to be careful that there’s reasons for the crew to be happy. Sink some ships, make them proud, and it should be ok.


Will there be improved ship buoyancy dynamics EG the roll and pitch of the submarine?

Yes. Physics throughout the game is under tuning. We added a “flooded” mechanic to enemy ships as well, which simulates water flowing from one compartment to another, thus buoyancy is expected to be more realistic.


I have noticed that the ship/submarine textures on all the current screenshots are VERY basic; will you be replacing them with more realistic skins and textures like in SH4? (EG bolts and rust ect).

Textures and graphics are still under tuning. We textured the submarine based on real images taken from real uboats.

Will more realistic sounds be used for the ships and subs? Also will we finally have the function to change the crew’s voices to German (instead of relying on mods)?

Yes. There will be new sounds, true surround effects, and a German voice pack distributed with the game.

uber 1337

[GoldenRivet]

It has the GoldenRivet Seal of approval thus far.

March 2010 is too damned far away if you ask this skipper.

[Sailor Steve]

Sorry to be replying to a post made several weeks ago, but this caught my eye and I felt I had to say something.

Originally Posted by DarkFish

Besides, I guess you can give orders about anywhere in the ship. I mean, wouldn't a real U-Boot captain be able to just give commands from anywhere within the boat? I guess the order would just be passed on by other crewmembers

Nope. If the captain is in the torpedo room and gives an order to change course, someone has to go to the control room and tell the helmsman. Problem is, the Officer Of the Deck (who is in command when the captain is not) has to be sure the order actually came from the captain. Who's to tell?

The officer in charge commands from the control room in a submarine, and that means the captain when he's actually excercising command, and the OOD when he's not. That's why all the controls are in the control room, including dive planes, steering and torpedo fire controls. Of course they are repeated on the bridge for surface operations, but the captain can't command from the engine or torpedo rooms - it just won't work.

Originally Posted by WEBSTER

it can be a very good thing once we get used to it but the "key" thing i am concerned over is i want to be sure i can give orders no matter where i am on the boat and that they happen "while" im running back to the control room.

like the capt on deck thing, the sub should start the emergency dive while im in the process of getting to the hatch in time. at the very least go to decks awash untill i get inside, this is how it was in real life, the priorities were to save the boat #1, save the crew #2, save an individual #3

I have to disagree here as well. Standing operational procedure, at least on the American boats (and if the German procedure was different it would be interesting to see evidence) was that the flood vents were never opened until all hatches were reported shut, even in an emergency dive.

I thought it was cool that when you hit 'Dive' in SH3 you were instantly taken below. Of course the conning tower would have felt more real, but you have to take what you get. But I hated it in SH4 when you and the watch crew stayed on the bridge until it actually dipped beneath the waves.

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

I have to disagree here as well. Standing operational procedure, at least on the American boats (and if the German procedure was different it would be interesting to see evidence) was that the flood vents were never opened until all hatches were reported shut, even in an emergency dive.

well your right about the SOP but i think you have to agree that the sub shouldnt just sit there untill your inside, it should start moving up to speed and whatever else is doable to be prepared for the second the hatch closes just like it would be in real life

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by WEBSTER

well your right about the SOP but i think you have to agree that the sub shouldnt just sit there untill your inside, it should start moving up to speed and whatever else is doable to be prepared for the second the hatch closes just like it would be in real life

Oh, absolutely. If the captain (or any other officer, for that matter) gives the dive order, everyone is going to rush below and do everything that needs to be done. They just won't begin the actual flooding until the 'Christmas Tree' shows all green, indicating all hatches closed. Otherwise you might not be saving the boat first. Or at all.

[Stormfly]

iam not shure if it was historical correct, but in a scene from "Das Boot", after a "ALARM" callout (command of preparation process for the emergency dive process) , the commanding (watch)officer and last man on the bridge, after closing the hatch, gave a additional command "FLUTEN" ("flood"), without beeing able to watch on the cristmas tree. In another scene (Gibraltar), a crew member in the "Command Room" gave imidiatly command "FLUTEN" ("flood") after "ALARM" command from the bridge. The "Kaleun" than gave order "NICHT FLUTEN" ("dont flood") while still on the bridge, "LI" (Leading Engineer) than gave orders to blow tanks to prevent sub from diving and so on...

This also let me think, in emergency situations, the cristmas tree was reviewed from someone while the flooding was already commanded and perhaps also initiated...

well movies always "slaughter" reality for "good scenes" so in most cases they do things wrong but in real life there were im sure the occassional times proceedures were cut short because people make mistakes when scared.