[REQ] Making crew interaction work for us

[gouldjg]

Hey there CCIP

Only just recently bought the game and believe it or not, I was just getting into the game and the first thing on my mind was "what can we do with abilities?" http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=165001

Anyway, I am just browsing over the file and it appears that there is huge potential in there (especially if new options can be shown in the UI menus throughout the sub equipment and crew).

I want to shout at my crew so they perform better e.g. watch crew, keep your eyes peeled you blind gits = spotting range increased for 1 hour and morale loss etc ying yang

Overall I am very interested in whats going to be discussed on the whole subject but one thing would really stand out for me:- the ability add the interaction UI on equipment as well as other crew members just dossing in thier bunks. If that is even remotely possible, then this game will far exceed the others for immersion factor.

Hope this is not too far distracted from your own ideas

[Ailantd]

What I would like would be to interact with crew from "speak tube" ( I don´t know the name ) of bridge as a new picking item that sumarize all conversations available in the sub. Rule the sub talking with crew as captain is very good idea, need to go to every crew member phisically to talk with him is not. A captain could send a message from "speak tubes" or with crew messenger. Need to go to torpedo room to tell the guy prewarm torpedoes as if it were a secret between him and us is absurd. The sub have all these "speak tubes" and phones for a good reason.

[PortoFerro]

Originally Posted by Ailantd

Or you could request that to save fuel, both of the props be run from a single diesel (something that was historically possible) during cruises, thus improving your range.

I didn't know that. Is there a reference somewhere?
Why would one shaft be stopped during recharge then, creating quite some drag?

And yes, lot's more stuff to do with the crew would keep me from spinning up the FTL drives much too often...

[EAF274 Johan]

I like the ideas!

Maybe a good way to start is to link existing orders to the dialogue screens. For example: "Single sweep", "report nearest contact", "follow nearest merchant" to the hydrophone operator, and "estimated time of arrival" to the navigator. These commands already work in game, and they have appropriate speech assigned to them.

As for the replacement "resource for orders", the most logical to me seems to replace morale by time: using an ability would then take x hours to replenish, and, if possible, experience would be a factor.

Expanding the RPG element will probably involve a lot more work, since you'll need to record additional speech files (or rip them from Das Boot, if that's legal). I think this is low priority for most people, but it would be nice if it could be done eventually. For example: talk to people in the sub pen to get the latest gossip ("No news yet from Kretschmer... he should have come in by now" or "Anyone notice problems with the magnetic fuses lately?"). If dialogues could be tied to the in-game date like the radio news in SH4, there would be enough variety to keep it interesting.

An idea for morale boosting ability: a dialogue option "The Tipperary song if you please" - I'm sure it will be appreciated by all of us