a few thoughts on Uboat v1.0

amerelium · 08-16-24, 07:32 AM

...some observations from the standpoint of it being an immersive sim.

The good:

Earth curvature - very neat.
Visuals - nice albeit there are some glaring issues with the gfx engine
Crew management and upgrades - a pretty interesting aspect.
Sub mainanance - bilges, pressurized air, pretty good.

The annoying:

Binoculars - just an extension of the periscope, and it will never point in the direction you are looking until you get the Focused skill. Which makse you, the captain, a moron.

Sub Interiors - pretty neat to walk around inside the sub (1 pers of course) but it is ruined by too many interface icons all over the place. They should all be hidden until really close and looking right at them.
Oh, and take a quick look at the map and the captain (you) will wonder off to a different part of the sub in the meantime.

Damage models - non existent. Torpedo a ship, there is some flames, and then it promptly sinks in 10 seconds. Vanilla SH3 was better then this.

Gunnery - a sad affair. Looks like a game from the mid 90s. SH3 did this an order of magnitude better two decades ago.

Darker night - supposed to be more realistic, but anyone who believes that has never been at sea on a moonlit night.

Uboat is a nice The Sims at sea I guess, but of you want to game Das Boot (which is of course what these games go for) Silent Hunter III does it much better - and that is not taking mods into consideration.
Still the standard, after all these years.

Just fire up the intro menu - sums it up perfectly. The hauntingly scored main menu of SH3 puts you right in the mood; that in itself is a fitting image of the difference between the two titles.

08-16-24, 07:32 AM	#1
amerelium Watch Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 21 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	a few thoughts on Uboat v1.0 ...some observations from the standpoint of it being an immersive sim. The good: Earth curvature - very neat. Visuals - nice albeit there are some glaring issues with the gfx engine Crew management and upgrades - a pretty interesting aspect. Sub mainanance - bilges, pressurized air, pretty good. The annoying: Binoculars - just an extension of the periscope, and it will never point in the direction you are looking until you get the Focused skill. Which makse you, the captain, a moron. Sub Interiors - pretty neat to walk around inside the sub (1 pers of course) but it is ruined by too many interface icons all over the place. They should all be hidden until really close and looking right at them. Oh, and take a quick look at the map and the captain (you) will wonder off to a different part of the sub in the meantime. Damage models - non existent. Torpedo a ship, there is some flames, and then it promptly sinks in 10 seconds. Vanilla SH3 was better then this. Gunnery - a sad affair. Looks like a game from the mid 90s. SH3 did this an order of magnitude better two decades ago. Darker night - supposed to be more realistic, but anyone who believes that has never been at sea on a moonlit night. Uboat is a nice The Sims at sea I guess, but of you want to game Das Boot (which is of course what these games go for) Silent Hunter III does it much better - and that is not taking mods into consideration. Still the standard, after all these years. Just fire up the intro menu - sums it up perfectly. The hauntingly scored main menu of SH3 puts you right in the mood; that in itself is a fitting image of the difference between the two titles.