Silent Hunter 4: Wolves of the Pacific U-Boat Mission Gamespot QA

[kiwi_2005]

I can't wait for this addon to come out, is it due early 2008?

[John Channing]

Originally Posted by mrbeast

Think my fears have been confirmed. I haven't got the foggiest idea why they have to waste their time with 'strategic options'.

Fun?

JCC

[Reaves]

DD: As of now, the strategic-support features are available only for the new German campaign in U-Boat Missions. However, there is nothing stopping enterprising modders from adding it to the U.S. campaign.

I think this is a bit slack TBH. Leaving it for the modders to do is not the right way to be thinking. They know adding the stregic-support to the original campaign would be a great idea yet they don't do it.



I'm still looking out for it but now I know i'll have to wait for someone to put the new features into the US fleet, thanks in advance to whoever that will be.

/shrug

[scrag]

I wish that they would make it an AXIS edition and input I Boats with the superior Japanese torpedoes - imagine having to set and launch a plane....Be pretty cool - a Type 21 in the Pac? Figure the odds. I know the Germans gave the Japanese a couple of U-Boats in which the Japanese did operate but HOPEFULLY we can see something really new vice something retooled.

[Hitman]

What I would like to know is if the expansion will also be some kind of 1.5 patch, i.e. if it will solve bugs or correct problems that still appear after patch 1.4 or if it will be just a contents addition no matter what bugs are still there after 1.4 :hmm: If it's the first case, I hope that stock SH4 users get a 1.5 patch that puts them in terms of game stability on par with the expansion users

[ReallyDedPoet]

To me the add-on and 1.4 are a bonus, I am enjoying the hell out of SH4 right now.


RDP

[tomoose]

....even got the 1.4 patch and the original sorted out yet!

[LukeFF]

Originally Posted by tomoose

....even got the 1.4 patch and the original sorted out yet!

And your point is...?

[tonibamestre]

Great news of course but,what about if after the U boat addon they continue releasing some expansions more? They could give us control over the US Task Forces,command over the Enterprise,Hornet,Yorktown and Lex,so as to some destroyers,cruisers and battleships.

[AG124]

Originally Posted by tonibamestre

Great news of course but,what about if after the U boat addon they continue releasing some expansions more? They could give us control over the US Task Forces,command over the Enterprise,Hornet,Yorktown and Lex,so as to some destroyers,cruisers and battleships.

We will never see any of the three Yorktown class CVs (Yorktown, Enterprise, and Hornet) added to the game, either as playable or AI units, because of the Ubisoft-Grumman fiasco. But I see your point in regards to this being the door to commandable surface ships in general.:hmm: And even if Ubisoft does not expand this feature beyond the new German surface vessels, I'm sure the modding community will have a look at the keys which have been handed to them... More and more, I'm seeing this expansion as an invitation to modders to expand the game beyond its current borders.

[swdw]

Originally Posted by Hitman

What I would like to know is if the expansion will also be some kind of 1.5 patch, i.e. if it will solve bugs or correct problems that still appear after patch 1.4 or if it will be just a contents addition no matter what bugs are still there after 1.4 :hmm: If it's the first case, I hope that stock SH4 users get a 1.5 patch that puts them in terms of game stability on par with the expansion users

Here's a quote from another interview- The minimal requirements have remained unchanged, because we have optimized the engine quite a little bit from release. Loading times are much shorter and memory usage is lower.
(emphasis added by me)

This is very cool.

Also

Originally Posted by leovamopire

No doubt it will open the game up to a lot more than has ever been seen or used in any of the SH releases over the years.
I am impressed with the new work and idea's big time!

Originally Posted by sober

This is exactly what we need . We can mod it to be historical or leave it as is and it will be so fun to play . There is just something missing in SH4 . This will add that missing piece . Its the perfect idea .

I think Leo and Sober have it right. Too many sims have struggled from focusing only on historical accuracy. The idea of opening it up so people can be historical fanatics or just have fun is a GOOD idea. Strategic elements will attract wargamers and other's that like games like command & conquer. This means more money for more addons (like a british sub release including the med and pacific)

I'll go even farther and utter an "ultimate heresy". There should be a "Hollywood" option that gives you a super boat with deadlier torpedos and guns, more damage points, lots of target opportunity, strategic command of fleets, and automatic patrol routes with waypoints like a flight sim that takes you from one action to another. Definitely NOT something a hard core gamer would like, but something my son's in their 20's would find lots of fun. Especially if they could become "Fleet Admiral high and mighty" while still commanding their sub.

Again this would be an OPTION that would increase marketability, still allow historical accuracy by not selecting it, and once again, bring in more money.

Flight sims caught on to this a long time ago. It's why they have arcade like play when all the realism options are turned off. Naval sims need to catch up (to the devs- hint hint)

[mrbeast]

I might be being a bit pessimistic but this sounds like the thin end of a wedge to me.

They start by adding in things like strategic options and before you know it the only things available are 'accessable' arcade 'simulations' like Battle Stations Midway or Pacific Storm bye bye credible historic simulations.

IMO the simulation is largely a dying genre I can remember about 10yrs ago when there was a new sim out every month. I'm not being nostalgic, many of those simulations were only so so but its an example how far the genre has fallen. Few devs and publishers bother.

I think its a mistake to think that you need to 'water down' (no pun intended there ) simulations in order to attract more people to playing them. This does not mean that simulations have to be a mystery to all but the realism fanatics, scaleable opitions are a very desirable thing, turning them down is one of the best ways to learn how to play a game. The problem is I think its very tempting for publishers to just stick with the arcade options bcause its cheaper and they can market big explosions and huge guns to teenage boys more easily. By attempting to be all things to all people my fear is they will please none very much.

[Kapitan_Phillips]

I can see what mrbeast is saying. Sometimes the best simulation games include the tediousness of what it was really like. I can understand why these new features were included, but I was kind of hoping they'd also include some things to improve immersion even further.

[tomoose]

As some wise person once said; "finish what you started before moving on to something else". That's my point. That and Mrbeasts post.

[Doolan]

Regardless the ethical dimension of leaving things to the modders, think about it: who has done a better job at making SH3 and SH4 some of the best games out there? Ubi or the modders? Adding to the engine the bones of what modders will help flesh out will get us the best of both worlds, imho. I look forward to seeing this.

As for "the door towards commanding surface vessels"... if a Destroyer Command is released with the SH4 engine I will buy it four or five times and never come out of my house again.