Is SH5 the Future of Silent Hunter?

[Bilge_Rat]

Originally Posted by Cavell

I have to admit, that is pretty awesome. Which button fires the cruise missiles?

There are no cruise missiles in ww2, you obviously know nothing about ww2 submarine simulations. I would recommend you read these:

http://www.amazon.com/Hitlers-U-Boat...9264191&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/Hitlers-U-Boat...tt_at_ep_dpi_2

[msxyz]

Originally Posted by Bilge_Rat

There are no cruise missiles in ww2, you obviously know nothing about ww2 submarine simulations. I would recommend you read these:

http://www.amazon.com/Hitlers-U-Boat...9264191&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/Hitlers-U-Boat...tt_at_ep_dpi_2

I think he was ironic.

BTW, there was at least one cruise missile in WW2: The V1

It could be fired either from ground or from planes. It was gyroscopically controlled (like a torpedo) and had a simple device to calculate the distance travelled using the airspeed. Upon reaching a pre-determined distance it simply entered a straight dive. No terminal guidance. It flew under its own power at about 650 km/h till the engine (an advanced, yet cost effective pulsejet) died out for lack of fuel; from there it continued to glide under its own intertia.

It was quite easy to shot down because of its straight path and because, once the engine stopped, its speed decreased to a point interception was easy for a fast fighter of the era.

[SteamWake]

Wait a second a V1 launched from an airplane ?

[Bilge_Rat]

Originally Posted by msxyz

I think he was ironic.

so was I...


There was also glide-bombs developped by the Luftwaffe which were similar to modern guided munitions:




even saw action:

Following the capitulation of Italy in 1943, Germany damaged the Italian battleship Italia and sank the Roma with Fritz-X bombs. Attacks were also made on the USS Savannah, causing heavy damage and extensive loss of life. HMS Warspite was also hit, had to be towed to Malta and was out of action for six months. The cruiser USS Philadelphia was very slightly damaged by several near misses of Fritz-X bombs. The light cruiser HMS Uganda was also hit and put out of action for almost the entire war as a result.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glide_bomb

[msxyz]

Originally Posted by SteamWake

Wait a second a V1 launched from an airplane ?

Some Heinkel HE111 and Junkers JU89, at the end of their operational life and outclassed by the latest fighters, were converted to this purpose.

After France was taken back, Germany lost the necessary bases to attack England. Not to mention that, while the massive concrete bunkers could resist allied bombings (they even tried those 10000 lbs bombs) a plane is a much better launching platform. It's small, it can change location very fast and you don't know from which direction the missile is coming till it's too late.

In the Mediterranean sea, the Germans also tested the first TV guided missiles. I think an US merchant was the first victim of this weapon. More infos and photos can be seen at Luftarkiv.de

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Faamecanic

And that my friend is why a lot of us DO NOT like SH5... how many Uboat captains knew exactly how far ships ASDIC and hydrophones could hear them while submerged (or on the surface for that matter).

That is why a lot of people say this is too dumbed down.

The map can be switched off altogether, or map contact updates can be turned off. Having anything on the map other than a mark and some writing, and then only for one ship at a time, is unrealistic; so SH5 is not dumbed down from any previous sim in that department.

What cracks me up are the bugs that are in SH5 that are the same as sH4, that were the same as SH3 (sub on a rail anyone).

SH3 did not have subs on rails. That was an SH4 original.

[Faamecanic]

Originally Posted by tommyk

I think Ubi will (in general) go to shallower waters -> Console and maybe iPhone. They answer to money only and (like it or not) today money is found in 360/ps3/...

I think there will be DLC and Microtransaction (like steam will do soon).

The good side? I am quite sure UBI will patch SH5. They need a platform to sell their DLC from...

Hopefully the Devs in Romania will either be let go and picked up by a GOOD company that wants a immersive sub sim (as I think the Devs dreams are BIG... they just need the money and time) OR the Devs leave Ubi and form thier OWN company.

I think...given the time and money.... the devs could do GREAT things with SH5..... but Im also sure Ubi will never release the rights to the engine or title....

[Faamecanic]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

The map can be switched off altogether, or map contact updates can be turned off. Having anything on the map other than a mark and some writing, and then only for one ship at a time, is unrealistic; so SH5 is not dumbed down from any previous sim in that department.


SH3 did not have subs on rails. That was an SH4 original.

Maybe no where near as bad as SH4.... but there was still an unrealistic amount of NON motion in heavy seas.... One of the biggest selling points in GWX was Realistic sub motion.

As far as map contacts go..... out of the three weekends now that I have owned the game, I havent been able to play 2 of them... and I got about 5 hours into my first patrol (after the lackluster tutorial) and realised my options had defaulted to Easy mode even after I set them to HARD (with no map contacts).

[Faamecanic]

Originally Posted by Bilge_Rat

here is a tip: you can turn map updates "off" in the realism setting, just like in SH 3 and 4. Then you only see what you actually plot on the map yourself. Feel free to pass it on..

I am only using map updates "on" to get more familiar with how the game works. It's amazing the attention to details. For example, the visual sighting range of the escorts (the grey circle) is influenced by the height of your periscope. In the example above, if my periscope was fully extended, it would already have been spotted. As you can see, from the bar in the upper left corner of the screenshot, my periscope is barely breaking the surface and the carrier was obscured by waves 80-90% of the time.

Like I said to sailor Steve...I have only been able to play for 5 hours the last 3 weekends (the only time I can play due to work)..out of those 3 weekends I couldnt play 2 of them due to DRM. Ubi=EPIC FAIL there....

Then when I did get to play I realized the Options reset themselves to EASY after I started the mission, even though I set them to HARD, and cant be reset unless your in port (Another Ubi=FAIL)....

Originally Posted by Bilge_Rat

no, you are saying that. Except for some excesses like the RPG elements, this game is not anymore dumbed down than SH3 or 4.

Wrong again.... a lot of vets are not liking the new interface. Their posts of displeasure are all over the forum. Example: lack of rudder control. Why can I only go full rudder while using Awesome/EXTREME/LUDICROUS Speed Ahead(translate Flank speed so the console kiddies can understand). No very good if trying to evade and stay silent....

On the plus side I do like the idea of the RPG elements.... but not if they are poorly developed (as they are in SH5). Best to make the sim good, work the bugs out, BETA TEST...then add a half baked RPG element. I think most vets would have been happy with a re-vamped SH4 engine with bugs worked out rather than this bug ridden release.

But this thread was started by the OP asking for an opinion on if SH5 is the beginning or the end of the SH franchise...I gave my opinion.

[Boats]

Well, on the bright side, with all arcade aspects (or should I say the unrealistic WW2 era detection gear enabled) the game is a good platform for a nuke sub mod. Like the ones done for SH4.

So maybe this game is written to transcend more than just one time frame, though the time frame it's originally written for is limited in its scope.
Relying on modders of course. Has Ubi said anything yet about fixing some more of the bugs?

[Stuart Galbraith]

I think people have forgotten how bad SH4 was when it arrived, and how even after the mission pack, it was STILL bugged to high heaven. It looked fantastic, and had a lot of good aspects, but it was not realistic. Remember pulling the plug on the type IX and being able to dive in seconds?

Silent Hunter III was bugged, and its only due to the removal of starforce (remember how contentous THAT was) and modding by the community that made it playable? Or how bugged Silent Hunter II was, how nobody played it after Silent Hunter II arrived?

There was only one near flawless example in the franchise, and that was Silent Hunter I. So somehow concluding that due to the bugs, the copy protection and that x y or z is not available without being modded in, avoids the fact that franchise has survived thus far with all those problems already.

Is the end of the franchise? Perhaps, but im not reaching for the livebelt yet. The game is very largely stable, playable, fun (which GWX for all its realism sometimes is not.). Realistic? I think its better in some ways than previous versions. It actually seems possible to attack on the surface at night, whereas before in previous versions they could see you coming form 10 miles away and had to conduct a submerged night attack. It has potential for the future. As far as I can see, its potential lies more in the communities hands than Ubisoft.

Its a step up from SH4. Best yet? No, but I think if its given a chance it might just be another SH3. Whether the community wants to give it a chance its another matter.

Im having fun. Surprisingly good fun considering how nearly everyone slammed this game only 5 minutes after it came out.

[Bilge_Rat]

Originally Posted by Faamecanic

Wrong again.... a lot of vets are not liking the new interface.

I see you are confused again, but I am here to correct you. Whether someone "likes" an interface or not is purely a matter of personal taste and is totally irrelevant to an "opinion" on SH5, as you should know.

Neither this interface nor that in any subsim is realistic. An interface is purely an artificial construct to allow the player to play the game. To argue that the "screens" in SH3 are more "realisitic" than the "screens" in SH5 is ludicrous.

But this thread was started by the OP asking for an opinion on if SH5 is the beginning or the end of the SH franchise...I gave my opinion.

I also chose to provide my honest opinion on SH5 and the future of the SH series. You chose to personally criticize my opinion with irrelevant and false issues, on which I corrected you.

I don't understand why the posters who have a negative opinion of SH5 always feel the need to attack those that provide a positive opinion. Are you afraid that the average player will see through the feebleness of your arguments?

[RSColonel_131st]

I am only using map updates "on" to get more familiar with how the game works. It's amazing the attention to details. For example, the visual sighting range of the escorts (the grey circle) is influenced by the height of your periscope. In the example above, if my periscope was fully extended, it would already have been spotted. As you can see, from the bar in the upper left corner of the screenshot, my periscope is barely breaking the surface and the carrier was obscured by waves 80-90% of the time.

Isn't that the very definition of "dumbed down"? In SH4 I have to play with map updates since there's no realistic and "manual easy" way to switch between periscope and the map for marking contacts. Of course it could be done and some are doing it, but it's not very realistic either to have to do both.

But at least in SH4, map updates only give the basics. Now here you get magical "they will detect you inside this circle but not outside it" information?


There's a lot of potential under the hood of the new engine, but it will take a while for the modders to put it into actual use.

[SteamWake]

Originally Posted by msxyz

Some Heinkel HE111 and Junkers JU89, at the end of their operational life and outclassed by the latest fighters, were converted to this purpose.

Huh I thought the V1 was a monstorus thing at least twice the size of an HE111 maybe I was wrong.

[razark]

Originally Posted by SteamWake

Huh I thought the V1 was a monstorus thing at least twice the size of an HE111 maybe I was wrong.

This should give you some idea of size.

and this:

On the left is the V1, on the right is a Spitfire.