SH4 What would you like to see

[kiwi_2005]

I meant spawn uboats not convoy

[Harry Buttle]

An ability to assign crew to 'cruising watches' and 'battle stations', so every 8 hours the tired crew go to bed and the rested crew replace them, when you hit the 'general quarters' button crew go to their battle stations.

An ability to bury the dead at sea (did they really carry dead bodies for weeks on end?).

Realistic detection of schnorkels (very few snorting subs were detected, let alone attacked).

realistic seafloor.

ships in harbour.

realistic reloads (external) re weather conditions.

[bill clarke]

Originally Posted by Joe S

I hope SHIV if we ever see it is a WWII US Pacific Theater sub sim. Joe S

Well Joe S if they do that then they willwant to model every class of warship, merchant ship, and auxillary to make it interesting, and that is going to be a big job.

[iambecomelife]

I noticed someone mentioned rescue missions for the subs. This would be especially important for a Pacific Theatre game. Pacific Fighters models ditched pilots floating in rafts; how hard can this be for a subsim, which doesn't have to do in-depth modeling of high performance aircraft? Not to have this feature would almost be negligent.

Survivors and lifeboats would also be important. Think of how different the war would have been if escorts didn't have to deal with rescuing the crews of stricken ships.

The AI needs to exhibit a new level of complexity. As was mentioned before, friendly fire would be great. I'd also like to see destroyers shelling fatally damaged ships, escorts screening the vessels we hit, and merchantmen straggling from convoys. They should also manage their available forces wisely; it's annoying in SH3 when the DD's all swarm around your sub, leaving the ships they're escorting defenceless. Why should they know yours is the only sub around?

This brings me to the topic of AI subs. Whether the game's in the Atlantic or Pacific I'd like to see them from time to time. I realize that wolfpacks were rarely used by the Americans but it would still be a nice touch.

Miscellaneous items:
-Dud torpedoes, even if they hit at a 90' angle
-Cut scenes for important events (medals/promotions, abandoning ship, beginning/end of war)
-Minelaying missions
-Panic, combat fatigue, and injuries modeled visually
-Court Martials for friendly fire/poor performance
-Marine life on hydrophones
-Wider variety of merchants and merchant cargoes
-More readily moddable tga files and 3d models (please, no more excessive texture repetition)
-Better selection of warships and aircraft - Units included should be historically important (why did we get the P-38, instead of an Anson or Skua?)
-Mechanical failures
-Deteriorating sub (rust gradually increases, breakdown probability increases over time)
-Limited passenger capacity for subs (rescued airmen, evacuees from, say, Bataan in '42, survivors from enemy units picked up for intelligence purposes, etc).
-A strategic mode, a la SWOTL, with limited commodities, missions tied to land offensives, management of flotillas, R&D component, and possibly even a little alternate history - Give the Americans a decent torpedo early on and the war's over in January of '45. Fail to sink enough Japanese tankers and the Emperor stays in business untill early '46.
-Some equivalent of the tavern in 'Aces of the Deep'. Recommend transfers, talk to AI sub skippers, chat about your last voyage, and ogle the jazz singer.
-If Pacific, careers as Dutch, British, or Japanese submariners, maybe as expansion packs. If Atlantic, the same thing, perhaps for Italians and British.

Even 1/4 of this stuff in addition to what we have now would be a major step forward.

[Kissaki]

Originally Posted by iambecomelife

-A strategic mode, a la SWOTL, with limited commodities, missions tied to land offensives, management of flotillas, R&D component, and possibly even a little alternate history - Give the Americans a decent torpedo early on and the war's over in January of '45. Fail to sink enough Japanese tankers and the Emperor stays in business untill early '46.

Yes, I've thought about that, too. While it's not that realistic that a single sub/u-boat commander will have a major impact on the war, it still feels a bit futile to go on my patrols knowing not only that I will lose the war, but knowing when as well.

It would be nice if my efforts made some difference, or that maybe actual historical events weren't carved in stone (e.g., the Battle of the Bulge could be a successful German venture, extending the war, or that Market Garden had been a resounding success, ending the war sooner etc.), making the war less predictable.

[FERdeBOER]

Maybe what I'm going to say is too ambitious, but, what about some kind of "admiral simulation"? Remember when in AOD you were promoted? Why not in SH4 and the is you who decide where and when and what objetives for the subs? :hmm:
Of course you would have the posibility of reject the promotion and continuing as sub Commander and go to patrol.

I know it would be very difficult and hard to do, but there's an idea.

[iambecomelife]

Originally Posted by FERdeBOER

Maybe what I'm going to say is too ambitious, but, what about some kind of "admiral simulation"? Remember when in AOD you were promoted? Why not in SH4 and the is you who decide where and when and what objetives for the subs? :hmm:
Of course you would have the posibility of reject the promotion and continuing as sub Commander and go to patrol.

I know it would be very difficult and hard to do, but there's an idea.

That's exactly what I'd like to see. This was done for "Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe", which was just a small DOS game. It should be doable for SH4, especially since the game's basic features can be copied from SH3 so they have more time to work on a new campaign mode.

[coronas]

All of thiss and identification of cargo and documents of (neutral) ships before shotting them!!!

[Valtonen]

One day I got this wonderful but too ambitious idea...
So I was travelling with tcx1 and was very very bored, but If I could communicate with my crew, just like some options which to choose my lines, like in old adventure games. And from what you speak could affect the crews behaviour. Heh I know its pit high flying idea but it could bring another, social relations, side to game.

[Sulikate]

Originally Posted by CPT STUBING

Some good suggestions and hope they are considered. In addition to what has already been suggested I'd like the following to see the following...

* Water leaking into the sub, it's too dry in there even when not damaged.

* On crash dive, we need to see the crew running forward.

* Along the lines of the Wolfpack, player should be able to coordinate convoy attacks with other subs, perhaps by mission orders or by selecting and/or responding to attack options via direct radio contact with other sub.

* During rough weather and only on very very rare ocassions I think it would be hysterically appropriate to see somebody hurling b/c they are sea sick! Oh, and on a calm day it would be great to see a crew member taking a wizz off the boat.


Oh yeah, one of the things w/ SH3 that has confused me that might need to be considered....

* You shouldn't be able to take in the fish from external storage in rough weather.

* Fatally wounded crew members are moved around the sub in the crew management screen....did they really carry the corpse around?????

That's all I can come up with right now, lots of good ideas here, hope the right people are taking notes! :|\

[OKH]

I want to be able to run around my boat Doom style with a luger so I can pop any of my crew who cant do a 2 hour shift in the torpedo room without collapsing!

[Kissaki]

Are there any sound mods that will make crewmen scream when wounded or killed? If not, then that's something I want to see. Or hear.

[Ula Jolly]

Using the attack scope to launch a torpedo, I... Would VERY much appreciate it if there was a lamp or something that told me that I had used manual fire calculations for the torpedo. DAMNIT, THAT CLEMSON WAS AT POINT BLACK

[kiwi_2005]

A captains own log to type out. when on patrol. when back at base you have the option of writing up a report for Bdu, you also have the power to get rid of sailors that dont perform well, court martial, or have shot :-) like that das boot guy that freaked out when depth charged. You either report him to bdu and be a bastard of a captain or give him a second chance. The AI will freak out, refuse to do there duty. Do you shoot him?

[Serverdaemon]

Ok, this is REAL ambitious, but here goes...

I'd LOVE to see a game where, in "multiplayer" mode, you could have different players each take a STATION on the boat and run their stations together in real time.
Obviously, some players would learn their stations better than others and would be more often picked as time goes on by captains as crewmembers, etc...
The ongoing saga's of each of the boats alone, would be outstanding!

Twould be fun!

S