First impressions...two years too late

[finchOU]

Round two...ding ding!

Saved half way through the first real patrol to start this thread. Soo...some more observations.

Just found the Keyboard Key (have to Shift to get F1 on my lab top)...that helps fill some questions I had...but still there is alot left to be desired. Rudder Midships... My Z key operates "silent running" but the legend says it does somthing else. Gear up/down ??? No "turn to bearing" key which is really needed. Why only 5 degrees of rudder with the arrows....if you're manually operating the rudders ....I would assume you would want full (not have to shift+arrown for it).

The whole Nav screen is a mess IMHO. Sure they give you the basic tools for plotting but no converstion charts for basic stuff like KM to NM ..which of course is needed to find speed in knots. The big bubbley blud course lines really annoy me....the map annoys me. All the pop up clickable crap annoys me. I want something that seems as realistic as posible...so I want my Nav map and charts authenic...real course lines to look like they were drawn in penicl. What about a map with soundings so we at least have an idea of what the depth under keel is without having to give away our position (if that is even modelled). What about the KM grid system which is no where to be found? That missing alone should make any realism simmer scream bloody murder. I just dont see how they could develope so far off the script from a uboat sim and expect to be taken seriously. Where was the historical oversight? I guess thats the problem...trying too hard to expand to a broader audience of players...by trying to dumb it down and make it gamey and fun....vice Simmy and hard...maybe?? Sorry for the rant. I digress.....oh yeah...electronic Moboard!! hehe

Sun and Moon rise/set tables missing

why does the speed selector bar go to 30 knots??

ooooooh....this is a biggie for me.... damn lock fuctionality in general. Why?? sure i understand so that your weps O can start getting info...but its so hoaky and not realistic...espeically as im turning the sight and get the "Lock" pop up window....in the middle of the view. Speaking of periscope/UZO view....its way too bright....in fact night time is practially day time. sure their was a 3/4 full moon...but it was a broken cloud layer...should be reallhy really dark....but since i havent played enough yet...I cant speak to if it does fluctuate darkness.

Why are weather reports and critical nav info missing from the Navigators fuctions. would be nice to know a good estimation of how far I can expect to go at my current speed/sea state. The lack of function with the crew is very annoying...they do very little and are missing things we've had in the past! what the hell does the Torp or Gunner guy do? Sound dude?

Speaking of crap....whats this levels of job function? Total crap! I get experiance...but the using points to buy abilities? come on!! Very stupid...do I get the Level 5 laser torpedos if I get enough renown? or the "sound guy" who can pull contacts out of his butt....dont have the game up right now ...but it just seemed very hoaky when I went through the crew management stuff. Seems like you have to buy natural ability like...eyesight....or listening.

another graphics issue...the whole halo effect highlighting things before you click on them (like talking to dudes or UZO..etc) is very gamey and lame. There seems to be no wake from your periscopes.

Dont like the footstep sounds....suuuure..its authentic FPS sound for sure...but its lame

The lack of TDC really really annoys me....I attacked a small convoy and wanted to shoot two torps and two diffent ships doing a 90 AOB shot. It worked out that I hit the far ship at like 3000 meters but missed the near one at 1000. The game is not set up good for multipule shots since you cant see gyro angle without switching to the nav map to guess at it (which I dont like seeing a vertical profile of where my trops are going anyway...kind of knitpicking here). What's my gyro angle again??

Recce man to me is too in your face takes up too much room on the screen. I personally want a stand alone scope screen with nothing on it but the scope view..but thats just me. and how do you exit the Recce manual without turning off your TDC/weapons officer? How do you open torpedo doors again? Does it even matter if

I loved the Deck Gun!! Minus the climb down to it everytime. my only complaint is the range scale in the middle of the optic ..hence cluttering what you're looking at. oh and how do you stop your crew from firing at a target without taking them off the gun?

The graphics...even turned way down I pretty impressive. But im not a huge graphics guy.

Range calculations are going to be a pain. I do like that you dont get instant Range from your watch...an estimate would be nice...but it will make it harder to get good course and speed calculations which may or may not be realistic....the stadimeter does not seem user friendly...and I dont like the fact that you have to have a target selected to use it. I had to trail a convoy for hours to get a good speed/course from them without manualy plotting it....getting there tho. So it made stalking the convoy a little more realistic in my opinion since I had to find out a different way to get the info i needed.

more later!!