Wheres the booklet?!

[jwilliams]

Ummmm I'm always a fan of huge game manuals...

but if they want to make the manual lite.... it should atleast tell you about how to play the game... from what i understand from posts (i dont have the game) its very basic to the point that alot of people dont even know how to aim torpedos.

[Nisgeis]

Originally Posted by Turbografx

Why? If they could do it a few years ago why not now? It was not bound to happen, companies decide to make it happen. IT just a way to extend profit at the expense of quality. It's like no one cares about quality in anything these days, not in cars, games etc, its all junk.

The jewel cases they all use now are too small for a proper manual of yester-year and would need a cardboard box. Cardboard boxes are extraordinarily expensive, due to the cardboard rush of 2009.

It's all about quick profit, which is why it was inevitable. Distributors and sellers don't want big products, as they take up lots of storage space. One 'old style' cardboard box for Grand Prix 2, which is the same size as all the rest of my old games, takes up the same space as six modern DVD jewel case boxes. That's a lot of storge space to lose. You want a printer manual, you have to pay extra. People don't want to pay extra.

[reaper7]

Originally Posted by Nisgeis

It's all about quick profit, which is why it was inevitable. Distributors and sellers don't want big products, as they take up lots of storage space. One 'old style' cardboard box for Grand Prix 2, which is the same size as all the rest of my old games, takes up the same space as six modern DVD jewel case boxes. That's a lot of storge space to lose. You want a printer manual, you have to pay extra. People don't want to pay extra.

I got X3 Terren Conflict last year, great game. Came with a 120 page booklet in a slim boxset about double the thickness of a dvd case.
And whats more the game was cheaper than most PC relases.
No reason for simulators to ship without one. Its not like there pick up and play. At least ship with a decent PDF version that we can print ourselves.

[Gatt]

This lack of a decent manual is really a shame.

Strange non pre-view/review noticed it ... isnt it?

Shame on you UBI, I'll buy when the price will drop to 1/3. I guess its only a matter of weeks

[Arclight]

So I guess I'm the only one that did get a manual.

Not a bad one either, though you'll still have to learn to work the TDC yourself; manual only goes into detail on getting a solution with aid of that minimap... enough to get you playing without scratching your head too much, but not enough for the 'hardcore' crowd.

[Safe-Keeper]

Originally Posted by JScones

PDF manual only? And Publishers wonder why so much piracy...

Yeah, 'cause all illegal game downloads come with printed manuals.

[urfisch]

Originally Posted by Savage

50 bucks only gets you a disc and piece of paper saying the manual is on the disc. you dont even get a map like u did with sh3/4 im kinda bummed.

i prefer to download games. if i compare the normal retail price here in germany (49,95 euro) and the price at d2d...37 euro...its like hell and heaven. and the poor people who buy the ce version for 60(!) euros...with some "additional" stuff. lol...this is nothing else than thievery.

[Turbografx]

Originally Posted by Cougar46

The lack of a manual effects the quality of the product? I love those old school thick manuals with loads of info as much as the next guy, I still have that monstrosity from Jane's USAF sitting on my bookshelf. But to say it effects the quality of the product seems a bit brash. I'm not buying a game for the manual that gives basic history lessons or a map of an area, they're little gimmicks and addons to give you the impression that they're actually worth something. You buy the game for the game, what comes with it shouldn't have any bearing on your determining of the products quality. It's like saying a Porsche is inferior to a Hyundai because the owner manual isn't as thick.

It doesn't necessarily affect the quality of the game but rather the product as a whole.

Also, these manuals were not just gimmicks, they were detailed explanations of the game and how it plays. Maybe simulators these days just aren't complicated enough to warrant such a manual.

[Noren]

Ah, the the sweet dream of a jouicy manual full with extra details and background information!!!!!!!!!

That seems to be a thing of the past, a nice rememberance of my childhood.
A simulator would need it, and it would enhance the game in many ways for me as a player and paying customer.

[OakGroove]

Also, these manuals were not just gimmicks, they were detailed explanations of the game and how it plays.

^
I remember buying Falcon3 about a month before my first PC, a 486SX25, just to read the 342p printed manual. Then came Falcon4, with a Manual thick as a telephone book - it kept me occupied for weeks, and left me somewhat puzzled after reading it the first time. I felt like going through flight school. Those days are long gone, as is product quality and replayability. We all know good titles today are few and far in between. What surprises me, even by todays standards, is the "SH5 Collectors Edition" not shipping with a printed manual, with even the .pdf seems to be lacking content. 20$ just for a N.I.C.E. box and a few skins is obscene, imo.

[Turbografx]

Originally Posted by OakGroove

^
I remember buying Falcon3 about a month before my first PC, a 486SX25, just to read the 342p printed manual. Then came Falcon4, with a Manual thick as a telephone book - it kept me occupied for weeks, and left me somewhat puzzled after reading it the first time. I felt like going through flight school. Those days are long gone, as is product quality and replayability. We all know good titles today are few and far in between. What surprises me, even by todays standards, is the "SH5 Collectors Edition" not shipping with a printed manual, with even the .pdf seems to be lacking content. 20$ just for a N.I.C.E. box and a few skins is obscene, imo.

Yeah, most "collectors" editions these days are really just a nice box. Most of the stuff you get in a nice collectors edition today came standard in many games 20 years ago e.g. Ultima Series.

[iambecomelife]

Originally Posted by Turbografx

It doesn't necessarily affect the quality of the game but rather the product as a whole.

Also, these manuals were not just gimmicks, they were detailed explanations of the game and how it plays. Maybe simulators these days just aren't complicated enough to warrant such a manual.

Exactly. I owned several of the games mentioned so far (Lucas Arts' Battle of Britain, Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe, Falcon 3.0) and I absolutely loved the amount of detail in the manuals. You knew that the games' producers were truly interested in their field and had in-depth knowledge about the technology being simulated. In many cases they were combat veterans (or collaborated with veterans) to make sure that the games were as accurate as possible. To this day I love reading my Lucas Arts manuals. Quotes from men who were actually there, diagrams of tactics, strategic analysis - the works. More practically, you got more than a bare-bones intro into how to play the game - if you took the time to read, you would be fairly well prepared.

IMHO a game's manual is more intimately tied into product quality than a car's user manual - it's a reflection of the expertise/passion that its developers have for the subject being covered - especially in the case of a simulation. With "Jutland", Storm Eagle Studios proved that it's possible to design a modern PDF manual that's thorough and a good read. Unfortunately, SES seems to be a rare exception.

To beat the car analogy into the ground, a game with a sparse manual is like a Porsche that ships from the factory with a cracked windshield & scratched finish. Neither of those things would make the car unsuitable for its purpose, but they certainly would cause you to reflect on issues such as Porsche's quality, reputation, pride in work, and whether or not you as a customer truly got what you paid for.

[TheDarkWraith]

Here's the kicker to me: I opened the PDF so called 'manual' that's located under \Support\Manual. I read it. Let me quote a line from said manual: "The complete list of keyboard controls is given at the end of the manual. In-game,pressing the F1 key will show the help menu and the complete list of keys."

So I read the whole manual - what a POS it is! There's nothing to it - and is it just me or did I not see this complete list of keys mentioned above?? So we have an unfinished game AND an unfinished manual to boot. WTF?!?!

[pzGrenadier]

I got my SH5 from UBI digital store and I have to say the manual for the this version is the worst manual I've ever seen. 6 pages out of the total 35 pages is about the background information on the crew members. Guess how many pages they used on explaining the TAI? 1/4 of a page! What about getting a firing solution? Half a page.... This makes me wonder did I bought a simulation game or an RPG hack-n-slash game that the only important information about the game is introducing you to the NPCs.

Besides, even if I wanted to fork out another $10 for the gold version, that product is limited to US and Canada only. I just don't understand the logic behind this, so the $10 from the rest of the world is not as good as $10 from US or Canada?

Now my only hope is that the game itself is in better quality than the manual they included.

[mstang67]

Pretty bad when the game manual isn't even half as good as the supermod manuals for SH3. Hope you modders keep up the amazing work, because obviously the game producing companies can't. $50 for a game and some extra dvd I'll probably never watch. Buncha crap.