Is there, or will there ever be any time compression?

[OldCoder]

Originally Posted by Elphaba

And getting that to work with the dynamic campaign and all the clients was not an easy thing.

I agree completely; Falcon was in development for I forget, 10 years or so, and even then was rushed out the door with numerous issues before the publisher fired the development team just before Christmas 98.

And people wonder why there's not been another sim with a dynamic campaign quite like Falcon's (but finally, let's see what ED come up with for DCS because they're keeping the details quite hush hush at the moment).

FWIW, I still think it's a fair question from the OP, but technically to implement, it would open up a pandora's box.

I don't see a downside to having save games; maybe I'm missing something. I disagree with Elphaba about cheating being an issue. As long as it doesn't affect the MP community, who cares? The same reasons lack of time compression is okay (i.e. this is a hardcore niche simulator), I don't think we need to worry about it much.


That said, my own opinion is this is low priority. You can blow through the initial convoy seeking part once you've done it a few times.

[B4dHorse]

Originally Posted by Elphaba

There's just no call for the tremendous amount of work, a single feature would require.

Well, obviously there is a call for that, otherwise this thread would not be here and we would not be discussing this But i will agree, its not urgent.

Originally Posted by Elphaba

We've got Uboat coming out in just days, Sh3 and 5 are still playable, so if you want saves, port and ocean crossing transits - you've got your choice.

If you want to have PVP with save games, Dangerous Waters can scratch that itch.

This game is about co-op first person working of a pretty realistic sub over a short single mission.

That's its unique selling point and differentiator.

Not having a specific feature should not make a game unique or be its selling point. And even if so, when the community likes ur game but would like it even more with one (optional, cause noone forces you to use safegames) feature, why shouldnt they implement it?
And sure, there are these games that you listed. but they all are completly diffrent from what we have here. I dont see Savegames (or Time acceleration) changing that.

Originally Posted by Elphaba

I don't like playing with randoms. I don't like players with no patience or discipline and who try to take over everyones station and all want to be giving orders. So I can only play this game when likeminded players are found and available.

But I'm not asking, expecting. or even wanting the game to change to accommodate that.

Well thats your way to play it. And i have my way to play it. There no "right" or "wrong" way to play, as long as you and the people you are playing with are having fun.
But just because you dont need feature X, why shouldnt the people who want or need it get it?

I too enjoy Playing with my friends, where everyone knows what he has to do, and does a good job. And i would like it even more if we could begin a campaign this evening, and finish it over the course of a few days or weeks. maybe even with ports and limited Diesel.

Originally Posted by Elphaba

I agree, save states could be done - with some limitations.

What happens if you saved with only 2 subs engaging, and when you restart a 3rd sub wants to play? Where should that spawn? What would be fair / fairest.

I can see this working better in a 'private' lobby with only one sub - but again, if you start a mission with multiple subs, and then save and restart and only one sub can play, what happens to the rest? What if those players want to play halfway through the 2nd game?

So maybe saves, but it would have to be limited in some way because of the all the networking and spawning complications.

Of course there are these problems to overcome, but you have these in every aspect of the game. not just community requested features. And there could be simple solutions to some of these. Maybe not being allowed to safe while closer than 1000m to an enemy ship, or while they are in search mode. If the devs want, they will figure something out, maybe with the help and ideas of the community.

Originally Posted by Elphaba

But I agree, time compression, not a chance.

After reading your and Pisces comments i guess i agree with you on this one for now. Though i still think it would be possible, its not worth the effort and time this would take at this point in development. Still i think this would be a nice feature to fasten up some of the longer journeys in a mission.

Originally Posted by Elphaba

The only caveat is if (and I hope they won't) they dumb it down and you always spawn right on top of a convoy; to me that's just turned the game into target practice. The hunt and intercept is half the fun. [...]
This is a game about patience and being cautious. Time Jumps, especially as you described it, takes all that away.

Completly agree

Originally Posted by Elphaba

So no, I don't have the time and energy to play WOW - doesn't mean I keep asking for them the change the game into something that I do have the time and energy for; I'm just grown up enough to say "It's not the game for me" and move on.

noone here wants to change the core game in any way. they just want the option to play "more" of it in their limited free time. Just because i like something doesnt mean i cant change anything to make it even better. And like i said before, noone can force a lobby to use Savegames (or Time compression, but we already kind of ruled that out).

Originally Posted by tortuga power

I don't see a downside to having save games; maybe I'm missing something. I disagree with Elphaba about cheating being an issue. As long as it doesn't affect the MP community, who cares? The same reasons lack of time compression is okay (i.e. this is a hardcore niche simulator), I don't think we need to worry about it much.


That said, my own opinion is this is low priority. You can blow through the initial convoy seeking part once you've done it a few times.

Agreed. Safe games can wait. Its no urgent feature. But still it would be a nice to have and the community can always ask for things they would like. What the devs do in the end with community wishes and suggetions is completly up to them.

As long as a part of the active community wants something, i wouldnt just put it off the table because not everone needs or wants it. you can always make things optional. And for that "too hard to implement" Argument, i would wait for the devs to say something about that. Maybe they already considered this before and have an easy answer for this discussion, maybe they even want that feature themselfs in the long run.

[gutted]

I just want to be able to play a Silent Hunter style career with a friend or two on my uboat. Attacking randomly generated convoys will get old.

call me crazy.

[Elphaba]

Originally Posted by gutted

I just want to be able to play a Silent Hunter style career with a friend or two on my uboat. Attacking randomly generated convoys will get old.

call me crazy.

You're not crazy, but that's not what this game was conceived to be; what you're talking about is another game that hasn't yet been made.

Don't forget, this is first release of Alpha and more missions and more content will be in the game when it's officially released.

I just spent 3hrs in a game I never intended to be awake for, playing catchup behind a convoy. IMO having a cheat of time compression would have ruined the experience. The challenge was to get into position without being seen given our (random) really bad starting position.

I also wouldn't have enjoyed (and never have) leaving port and spending 15 mins at 4096x speed trying to get into the Atlantic only to have the dumb AI crash into an island not visible unless really zoomed in, or just sit there until I could get to the grid I needed to be at before I could start my search. Horses for courses. Never asked Ubi to change it for me though. Of course, Ubi barely bothered to support the games post-release but that's another matter.

My point, in this entire thread, is that what a minority of people want is a game that this was never intended to be.

Might it change to it? I doubt it, and I hope it doesn't, but that's going to be year(s) in the future to find out. Right now, they have a roadmap, and funding to get that stuff done.

With the amazing job they have done, I say, other than asking questions about what we have (as I did with the torp settings and magnetic torps) and making bug reports, let's just let them get on with delivering *their vision, for their game* before asking for a completely different one.

Who knows, maybe Uboat will add co-op and then everyone will be happy? No?

[Anton Kant]

From http://www.wolfpackgame.com/game_info.php
(could be out of date)


The plan is to complete the game with a skirmish mode that will generate random convoys and ships, and a historical campaign that will take the crew through the entire Battle of the Atlantic and let them experience all the iconic U-boat battles and missions, such as Scapa Flow, passing through Gilbraltar, Operation Drumbeat, massive convoy battles, and more. Then, it's on to player vs player....