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Hitman · 09-28-09, 03:08 PM

That was actually already simulated in SH3/4, probably not intentionally, but it was. If you see a ship and you crew has not yet reported it, aiming at it with an optics and locking the target automatically makes your crew see it and they can now follow it, estimate distance, etc. The lock key works here as a report to the crew

Arclight · 09-28-09, 05:06 PM

Aye, that's what I'm talking about; what we had. Let's not mess that up by introducing statts for the captain.

A gun fires where you point it. If I aim it at a ship, I don't want to see the shell miss by a mile because my "avatars" gunnery skill isn't high enough.

Sledgehammer427 · 09-28-09, 05:16 PM

well, I don;t think accuracy would be of much help. I meant that if you had a gunnery perk, it would do things like decrease loading time, perhaps even a damage increase.
letss ay you have a radio perk, I was thinking you could get reports more early, showing your knowledge in working a radio.
but you have to think of how these balance out later in the war. being a good gunner will get you tonnage early on, but your career may suffer later because you are so used to that tactic. a good radioman skill may bring more escorts and enemy patrols to your areas. pros and cons.

Arclight · 09-28-09, 05:36 PM

Perks, or character-traits, that I agree with.

Maybe the option to choose 2 or 3 of them at the start of a career (character creation, kinda), to give your Kaleun/you a bit of character, something that makes him unique.

Sledgehammer427 · 09-28-09, 08:33 PM

that's what I've been trying to say haha

with that kind of system, I would be more willing to try multiple captains, with different perks. I do that with games that allow you to pick strengths and weaknesses

Arclight · 09-28-09, 09:01 PM

My apologies for the misunderstanding, but in the first post you referred to distributing points for your character. Kinda triggered a panic response.

Guess I'm still looking from a D&D perpective; a "skill" is something very different from a "feat" or "perk" in my world.

But yeah, very good idea. Since they seem to be focusing on more immersion with the FPS viewpoint, total modeling of the interior and crew-interaction, they should (imho) include a system that really makes the captain (you) stand out, something that makes him the commander. A system like you propose could create a bond between the player and his avatar, and between the avatar and the crew.

Heck, they could even create dialog referring to these traits. Maybe they could introduce a "cooking" one (captain is a bit of a chef in his spare time; allows longer time at sea) and have the crew compliment their Kaleun on his cooking.

Fluffysheap · 09-28-09, 09:42 PM

This approach works pretty well in "Pirates" - both the original and the remake. Of course, that is just a game, not a sim at all.

The trick I think is to make it so the feats/perks/whatever affect the gameplay without either superseding areas where player skill should take priority (like aiming guns/torpedoes) or making things operate outside the capabilities they had in reality (like buying the engine supercharger upgrade in SH3 - which makes the U-boats faster than they actually were).

But that doesn't mean there can't be differences. Cooking is of course the most important aspect in SH5, so better cooking might mean longer patrol times, or better crew morale. Of course the captain doesn't do the actual cooking, but maybe he shares his secret soup recipe, or brings special sausages with him from his family's butcher shop. Or your captain could be a strict disciplinarian which improves crash dive times (better drilling practice) and improves torpedo dud rate through better maintenance. He could be an engineering expert which improves repair times and probably again torpedo dud probability, this time through engineering expertise instead of strict maintenance routine. Or, maybe he is politically savvy so you get no direct in-game benefits but start with or earn extra renown. He could even have "good instincts" so that somehow he always manages to find more/better convoys.

The point is these are all things that are "fuzzy" and open to interpretation or random chance - your engineer captain doesn't make the batteries last longer or the engines run faster because the systems simply didn't have that capability, but he can improve torpedo duds because you're rolling the dice for that anyway.

09-28-09, 03:08 PM	#1
Hitman Pacific Aces Dev Team Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Spain Posts: 6,109 Downloads: 109 Uploads: 2	That was actually already simulated in SH3/4, probably not intentionally, but it was. If you see a ship and you crew has not yet reported it, aiming at it with an optics and locking the target automatically makes your crew see it and they can now follow it, estimate distance, etc. The lock key works here as a report to the crew __________________ One day I will return to sea ...

09-28-09, 05:06 PM	#2
Arclight Navy Seal Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Land of windmills, tulips, wooden shoes and cheese. Lots of cheese. Posts: 8,467 Downloads: 53 Uploads: 10	Aye, that's what I'm talking about; what we had. Let's not mess that up by introducing statts for the captain. A gun fires where you point it. If I aim it at a ship, I don't want to see the shell miss by a mile because my "avatars" gunnery skill isn't high enough. __________________ Contritium praecedit superbia.

09-28-09, 05:16 PM	#3
Sledgehammer427 PacWagon Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Drinking coffee and staring at trees in Massachusetts Posts: 2,908 Downloads: 287 Uploads: 0	well, I don;t think accuracy would be of much help. I meant that if you had a gunnery perk, it would do things like decrease loading time, perhaps even a damage increase. letss ay you have a radio perk, I was thinking you could get reports more early, showing your knowledge in working a radio. but you have to think of how these balance out later in the war. being a good gunner will get you tonnage early on, but your career may suffer later because you are so used to that tactic. a good radioman skill may bring more escorts and enemy patrols to your areas. pros and cons. __________________ Cold Waters Voice Crew - Fire Control Officer Cmdr O. Myers - C/O USS Nautilus (SS-168) 114,000 tons sunk - 4 Spec Ops completed V-boat Nutcase - Need supplies? Japanese garrison on a small island in the way? Just give us a call! D4C!

09-28-09, 05:36 PM	#4
Arclight Navy Seal Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Land of windmills, tulips, wooden shoes and cheese. Lots of cheese. Posts: 8,467 Downloads: 53 Uploads: 10	Perks, or character-traits, that I agree with. Maybe the option to choose 2 or 3 of them at the start of a career (character creation, kinda), to give your Kaleun/you a bit of character, something that makes him unique. __________________ Contritium praecedit superbia.

09-28-09, 08:33 PM	#5
Sledgehammer427 PacWagon Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Drinking coffee and staring at trees in Massachusetts Posts: 2,908 Downloads: 287 Uploads: 0	that's what I've been trying to say haha with that kind of system, I would be more willing to try multiple captains, with different perks. I do that with games that allow you to pick strengths and weaknesses __________________ Cold Waters Voice Crew - Fire Control Officer Cmdr O. Myers - C/O USS Nautilus (SS-168) 114,000 tons sunk - 4 Spec Ops completed V-boat Nutcase - Need supplies? Japanese garrison on a small island in the way? Just give us a call! D4C!

09-28-09, 09:01 PM	#6
Arclight Navy Seal Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Land of windmills, tulips, wooden shoes and cheese. Lots of cheese. Posts: 8,467 Downloads: 53 Uploads: 10	My apologies for the misunderstanding, but in the first post you referred to distributing points for your character. Kinda triggered a panic response. Guess I'm still looking from a D&D perpective; a "skill" is something very different from a "feat" or "perk" in my world. But yeah, very good idea. Since they seem to be focusing on more immersion with the FPS viewpoint, total modeling of the interior and crew-interaction, they should (imho) include a system that really makes the captain (you) stand out, something that makes him the commander. A system like you propose could create a bond between the player and his avatar, and between the avatar and the crew. Heck, they could even create dialog referring to these traits. Maybe they could introduce a "cooking" one (captain is a bit of a chef in his spare time; allows longer time at sea) and have the crew compliment their Kaleun on his cooking. __________________ Contritium praecedit superbia.

09-28-09, 09:42 PM	#7
Fluffysheap Bosun Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 63 Downloads: 8 Uploads: 0	This approach works pretty well in "Pirates" - both the original and the remake. Of course, that is just a game, not a sim at all. The trick I think is to make it so the feats/perks/whatever affect the gameplay without either superseding areas where player skill should take priority (like aiming guns/torpedoes) or making things operate outside the capabilities they had in reality (like buying the engine supercharger upgrade in SH3 - which makes the U-boats faster than they actually were). But that doesn't mean there can't be differences. Cooking is of course the most important aspect in SH5, so better cooking might mean longer patrol times, or better crew morale. Of course the captain doesn't do the actual cooking, but maybe he shares his secret soup recipe, or brings special sausages with him from his family's butcher shop. Or your captain could be a strict disciplinarian which improves crash dive times (better drilling practice) and improves torpedo dud rate through better maintenance. He could be an engineering expert which improves repair times and probably again torpedo dud probability, this time through engineering expertise instead of strict maintenance routine. Or, maybe he is politically savvy so you get no direct in-game benefits but start with or earn extra renown. He could even have "good instincts" so that somehow he always manages to find more/better convoys. The point is these are all things that are "fuzzy" and open to interpretation or random chance - your engineer captain doesn't make the batteries last longer or the engines run faster because the systems simply didn't have that capability, but he can improve torpedo duds because you're rolling the dice for that anyway.