Positive preview at SIMHQ

[Rhodes]

Originally Posted by Lanzfeld

Good catch Rhodes. I didnt notice that myself. That is 180 degrees off.

[dcb]

Preview? What preview? Out of the 3 pages, the first is a brief overview of the series, the second is just a long praise of the visuals, and the third... well, the third only repeats what Ubi already said about the game in the past. I could find nothing new in the whole story. I expected more from a place called SimHQ.
In comparison, the Polish preview that surfaced earlier this week is far better and competently written.

Bottom line (IMHO): I'm not saying it is, but this could very well be an advertising story on behalf of Ubi. It has the proper looks.

[onelifecrisis]

Originally Posted by Bilge_Rat

you have never heard of SIMHQ?

It's one of the biggest forums to discuss all things related to simulations. They have no more vested interest in the game than this site does. Tom Cofield has played SH4 for a long time as you can see from his posts on the SH forum at SIMHQ.

I am starting to wonder if posters really want to get an objective opinion on the game or just want to advance their particular viewpoint.

Okay, but it's still a rubbish preview. Being a long-time player doesn't make one good at writing previews.

I've heard of SimHQ but I don't think I've ever visited it before.

I'm not sure what to make of your final comment. Is it aimed at me?

[SimHq Tom Cofield]

Originally Posted by ichso

I have to say the reviewer has a strange understanding of simulation games as he proclaims SH5 is more simulation than the previous titles only because of walking around the sub. I think there is much more to the aspect on simulation than this.


Nothing new, but still it sounds really interesting. That makes me excited how it will play out in the final version and in the long run.
The previewer makes it sound like this has a deep gameplay impact. Which would be really nice. But it could also be more of a immersion-thing only, we'll see.

Some of the videos from the last time have shown this and here is a screenshot of this as well: sometimes there are waterdrops blurring the view although you stand on the bridge, not using the UZO or anything. This is a bit strange, perhaps you are wearing glasses in this game ?

It seems more 'realistic' to me, that is why I call it more of a simulator. IN other naval games you either are a third person directing from on high (like JUtland) or you are essentially bouncing around from station to station playing each individual role. In SHV you actually are playing the captain of the boat. It is more of an individual experience IMHO.

[Bilge_Rat]

Originally Posted by onelifecrisis

I'm not sure what to make of your final comment. Is it aimed at me?

no, I should have put it in a separate post.

[SimHq Tom Cofield]

Boy you guys are rough. I had exactly two days with the game to do something with this preview. To be honest I replayed the campaign about four times but continuous crashes and odd bugs that will be fixed on release meant that I had to give up on trying to get any further in the campaign and just look at the single missions.

I am working with Beta code and to be honest, the game tended to crash whenever something really exciting started happening. Exterior views were almost impossible with this build simply because the game would cause horrific monitor difficulties whenever I went outside the boat. Likewise torpedo shots on ships created a slideshow effect. Part of the problem is my video card (Radeon 3850) and the other problem is beta code. The two convoys I did manage to maneuver close to turned into slideshows the moment I launced torpedoes. I do admit I should have taken more shots there but I was too busy cursing at the slideshow. Do not view this as a critique of the game. Almost every beta that I have worked with or have previewed has had similar problems. The game is more polished than a lot of previews I have seen and pretty darned complete but it is still beta and what it does with my Radeon gives me fits.

You guys have to understand the audience for the game at SimHq. It isn't Subsim. This is a direct entheusist site for Submarine fanatics. It should be a more detailed preview because it is designed for guys who are big time sub and naval boat guys. SimHq is a much more generalized site with a much wider fanbase. Any preview over 3 pages is nixed by management because it is too long for a preview.

As for Rah Rah, that is exactly what a preview is. Previews, IMHO, are not reviews. I don't mention bugs precisely because they may negatively impact the game. Bugs I find in beta code, to include crash bugs, bugs that cause weird graphical problems and just plain things not implemented yet but in the works are not in a preview. I put in what is planned, not what actually I see. IL2's preview was about 70% of the final game, I felt I had to report what was planned. This is a short, 3 page preview of a game that is coming out for a generalized readership that plays flight, fighting, and driving simulations. If I tried to make it an in depth preview it would take four times longer and the readership at SimHq would be turned off.

I expect the game to ship in a much more polished condition. If I have problems then I will give it some more critiques. There are some things that frankly concern me but they probably will be fixed. If not then I will point them out. I don't think I would ever write a review that would be as in depth as a Subsim review but that isn't our focus. That is the focus of your writers. I am a flight sim guy doing some naval stuff because the subject matter is interesting. I am also trying to not write 15 page previews, it ticks off the boss.

[pythos]

A review that does not make the game look bad!!!.

Is anyone satisfied? NO!!!!

What are some people saying? "Oh this previewer doesn't know how to write a review".

OH FOR GOD'S SAKE!!!

The guy obviously has some background with SIMULATORS!!!! I have never liked how I could go from the radio room, to the bridge in the blink of an eye. I am the captain of the ship, not an omnipotent being.

I would only hope that this feature works like this. I begin in the engine room chatting with Johan, someone screams out "Ship spotted, Be... (obscured by some noise), closing!!". At this I hit the key for the bridge, and my virtual self begins walking nonchalantly toward the bridge ladder. Realizing this is to slow I hold down a key, which causes my virtual self to book it to his destination. I see the wonderfully rendered interior and crew flash past as I make my way to the control room, and hear "ALARM!!!" followed by that bell. Once in the control room I see the watch crew pile down the ladder, and the watch officer telling what he saw, as the sounds of water flooding the tanks fills the room, as the crew clamors forward, and the boat takes a downward angle. I then change my desired room with the appropriate icon or key stroke...the control room. Then order 150 or so meters, silent running. From there, possibly pass under a harmless boat, or evade a depth charge attack.

Notice, I was not able to make it to the bridge, and had to quickly change my decision as to my next actions. This is pretty darned realistic to me, making this much more a simulation than a game. Compared to SH4 where I could go from the forward part of the control room to the bridge in the blink of an eye.

Which is more realistic? Which is more a game?

[Bilge_Rat]

Originally Posted by SimHq Tom Cofield

It seems more 'realistic' to me, that is why I call it more of a simulator. IN other naval games you either are a third person directing from on high (like JUtland) or you are essentially bouncing around from station to station playing each individual role. In SHV you actually are playing the captain of the boat. It is more of an individual experience IMHO.

Tom, welcome. Since you have seen the game, are you free to comment on certain aspects:

1. what "realism" aspects can you turn on. You mentioned some of them in your preview. Is it the same as in SH4?

2. what about the campaign? does it work as in sh4? i.e., you are assigned to a patrol zone and the engine generates random ships/convoys along certain tracks.

3. what about Uplay?.....how intrusive is it?

[Sanuck]

Sorry Tom
i posted this post cause i thought it might be of use to people
it soon appeared that all they did was complain

Ill send you a flak jacket, believe me you need it in here

thanks for your preview

[SimHq Tom Cofield]

Originally Posted by Bilge_Rat

Tom, welcome. Since you have seen the game, are you free to comment on certain aspects:

1. what "realism" aspects can you turn on. You mentioned some of them in your preview. Is it the same as in SH4?

2. what about the campaign? does it work as in sh4? i.e., you are assigned to a patrol zone and the engine generates random ships/convoys along certain tracks.

3. what about Uplay?.....how intrusive is it?

Pretty much the same as far as realism settings. It allows you to select quick reloading, fuel, batteries, targeting exterior views and event camera views, among other things. It is somewhat similar to SHIV.

As I said before, I had limited exposure to the campaign. Part of it was simply the game dumping me twice to desktop, another issue was me 'falling' off the conning tower and getting caught between the side of the ship and the conning tower (couldn't climb the ladder to get back up). After 20 minutes of that I gave up. These are well known beta bugs and shouldn't be in the final release but when you are trying to get somewhere to torpedo something and your wife is yelling for you to come to bed, then that happens.

I gave up on the campaign at that point and dedicated myself to as many single missions as I could in one evening.

The interface is almost completely different. Throw away the SHIV keycard. Some keys are the same but some really aren't . The W, S, D and A keys are movement keys in the ship now. F1 is still help but all the rest are different. It is much more mouse driven and much less key driven. That is good and bad but that is for the review, not the preview.


UPlay? Well, if you have a constant internet conncection it is a minor irritant. If you are out of town and not connected, or if you Comcast provider decides to screw you over then it is the spawn of Satan. Personally I don't like it. I was familiar with it with Wings of Prey and I tolerate it but don't care for it. I still don't and probably will less because SHV is a game I would love to have on my laptop. I won't get it though because about 1/3 of the time I am traveling or someplace where I don't always have an internet connection. That is impossible.

[SimHq Tom Cofield]

Originally Posted by Sanuck

Sorry Tom
i posted this post cause i thought it might be of use to people
it soon appeared that all they did was complain

Ill send you a flak jacket, believe me you need it in here

thanks for your preview

Don't worry, I once had a guy that blasted me because I didn't do time to alt checks with all of the planes in a CFS2 preview and then compare them to real time specs. It didn't matter that it was a preview, essentially a quick preview of coming attractions, because I didn't spend 12 hours doing all of these tests I was a worthless loser.

These guys make valid points. I wanted to really dive into the campaign. The Polish part of the campaign looks to be set up to make it a lot easier for people to figure out how to work the game. It is a lot different than SHIV and III in how the game is presented. As I said earlier it is much more mouse click driven and much less keyboard.

One guy pointed out how he would love to have an autowalk feature. I was thinking the same thing when I was walking through the boat. I would love to have that feature, something like what you saw in Das Boot when the sub crash dived. It isn't in there but hopefully a patch will be available or maybe even when the game is released. Who knows, maybe there will be a mod for this.

[Bilge_Rat]

Originally Posted by SimHq Tom Cofield

... but when you are trying to get somewhere to torpedo something and your wife is yelling for you to come to bed, then that happens...

ah yes, "she who must be obeyed" has also ended more of my missions than enemy destroyers...

thanks for the response.

[martes86]

Thanks for all the info Tom, and for looking at how people at SubSim felt about SH5, and posting it in the review, it isn't something one sees every day.

Cheers

[UrPeaceKeeper]

Originally Posted by SimHq Tom Cofield

Don't worry, I once had a guy that blasted me because I didn't do time to alt checks with all of the planes in a CFS2 preview and then compare them to real time specs. It didn't matter that it was a preview, essentially a quick preview of coming attractions, because I didn't spend 12 hours doing all of these tests I was a worthless loser.

These guys make valid points. I wanted to really dive into the campaign. The Polish part of the campaign looks to be set up to make it a lot easier for people to figure out how to work the game. It is a lot different than SHIV and III in how the game is presented. As I said earlier it is much more mouse click driven and much less keyboard.

One guy pointed out how he would love to have an autowalk feature. I was thinking the same thing when I was walking through the boat. I would love to have that feature, something like what you saw in Das Boot when the sub crash dived. It isn't in there but hopefully a patch will be available or maybe even when the game is released. Who knows, maybe there will be a mod for this.

Awww did you have to bring up CFS2?! I miss CFS specifically CFS2!

The whole DRM thing really agrivates me, but I will most likely still buy the game. As it stands I have very few games I can stand to play for longer than an hour, and when I'm in the mood for Submarines I turn on SH4 with OM or FOTRS if I want German/US respectivly. Still though, I find the DRM too intrusive into a game I purchased for me to say "it's ok" I really hope that UBI removes it ASAP, as it's truely killed their hardcore fan base.

[SimHq Tom Cofield]

Originally Posted by martes86

Thanks for all the info Tom, and for looking at how people at SubSim felt about SH5, and posting it in the review, it isn't something one sees every day.

Cheers

Well, I am excited about the game. I know it is hard sitting on the outside looking in. Speaking of she who must be obeyed, I just got done with another 12 hour night shift and she is telling me to go to sleep now.

I have a steering column to put in my 77 GMC pickup this afternoon and I need to sleep before I start trying to fiddle with that.