SH5 customer feedback

[GerritJ9]

I would have bought SH5 but did not, for several reasons. Fisrt, the SE Asia-Pacific scene is of far more interest to me (though I did buy SH3) and I hoped for more expansions for SH4- IJN, RN and RNethN to cover all navies that operated subs in that theatre. But it was the Atlantic again. Next, only one sub and only until 1943. HUH? Did the war end in 1943??? Even then, I probably would have bought SH5 if only to support the genre. But UBI slapping on their excessively restrictive DRM was the sale killer- I don't particularly like the DRM on SES Distant Guns and Jutland, even though it is by no means as restrictive as UBI's. Plus, I have not forgotten the IL2 Sturmovik 4.05m/Boonty Box fiasco- excellent way to treat and alienate customers! So, UBI, kiss one sale goodbye.
Although I did not buy SH5, I have played it briefly on a mate's computer so I have taken a look at it. Yes, the graphics leave SH3 for dead; they are also better than SH4's, but not by much in my opinion. The manual is a disgrace for such a complex sim- I'd almost say "WHAT manual?" The manuals that came with SH3 and SH4 were streets ahead of this one. And even after patch 1.2, it still has bugs- ships colliding for no apparent reason, for example.
And yes, the mods have taken care of quite a few bugs etc. But that should be UBI's job, not theirs. Patch 1.2 came with much less than was announced at first, and after a considerable delay (though the Russians did get it earlier). Will a patch 1.3 be released? UBI won't say- their silence is deafening.
Then there are such silly and avoidable errors such as "Emden"'s armament- half of her eight 15cm guns are missing, as are her torpedo tube mounts. A minor point, and no doubt mods can (fairly) easily correct this- but again, the devs could and should have spotted and corrected this during their testing.
SH3 and SH4 had their share of bugs, and SH5 has continued the tradition of being released without sufficient proper testing. UBI never learns, it seems. Apparently the pirates don't even bother with SH5 any more- surely a sign that the sim is not worth persevering with. All in all, I'm glad I gave SH5 a miss; I'll stick with SH3 and SH4. Perhaps in three years or so, if/when DRM has been removed, the price has dropped and UBI have patched out all the bugs it will be worth buying- but I'm not holding my breath.

[Sailor Steve]

@ Karasunx: Finally, someone I can disagree reasonably with. Thank you for your insight and explanations. Great post.

[Karasunx]

Thanks Sailor Steve I think its funny how in my first post I apologized for thinking I was ranting and now in every subsequent post it is becoming more and more of a rant. The forums...they corrupt me

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Karasunx

The forums...they corrupt me

We try to help any way we can. That's what we're here for.

[mjrhealth]

Wlell I gues its my turn, being waiting for SH5 for a while, was going to buy it earlier but other things put it off, them after reading these forums got even less enthusiaitc about . it, till i walked past EB games 50% off, got it there and then, Well i gueess online play can only be considered worse then a CD in the cd player, and as far as online saves, people have being thrown in jail for holding peoples data to ransom, so i guess we all already know where UBI stand. Mind you that would be the bean counter way of thinking. Get rid of online play , allow us to keep our saved games, and maybe one more patch then i am sure we wil all enthusiastically push the game to our friends. and more sales, more revenue to UBI. Pity bean counters cant count.

[Seminole]

I don't see the point in bashing UBISoft. If they had not developed the SH series were would we be today? As I see it they got a lot of things wrong...but they also got a whole lot more right.

Even hardcore Anti-UBIs should admit that they have listened to us and what it was we all wanted...at least after the SHII disaster they began to hear us.. Sure they don't always understand completely what we tell them but they have tried.

I understand that not everone on planet earth is a hardcore Sub sim fan so the game developers,working without our depth of knowledge, interpret what we tell them as best they can.

So the results are a mixed blessing. But what if there were no subsims at all to play?

Here's the Customer Feedback Department at UbiSoft.

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Seminole

Even hardcore Anti-UBIs should admit that they have listened to us and what it was we all wanted...at least after the SHII disaster they began to hear us.. Sure they don't always understand completely what we tell them but they have tried.

I only quoted this paragraph, but your whole post is excellent. I'm not a hardcore anything (except perhaps history buff). There are still things I complain about with SH3 and SH4, and SH5 sounds like more of the same, but that doesn't make me anti-UBI. Currently I'm anti-DRM, but I still will get the game at some point, and will try to enjoy it.

The constant bashing and the constant cheerleeding are both equally annoying, and both equally useless.

They will get more respect if they at least make an effort to fix the real problems. The things that are merely annoying or dissatisfying can be fixed by modders. What we need from UBI at the moment is some kind of sign one way or the other, so we know which way to jump.

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

What we need from UBI at the moment is some kind of sign one way or the other, so we know which way to jump.

Here's your sign.

[nikimcbee]

well, look at the bright side, we'll have something to talk about at the subsim shindig.

[nikimcbee]

I don't like the on-line thigny, but I haven't purchased it because: no room on hard drive, I'm happy with my current sh (3/4) games, I barely play games anymore.

Originally Posted by nikimcbee

well, look at the bright side, we'll have something to talk about at the subsim shindig.

I always try to .
But UbiSoft always !

[nikimcbee]

Originally Posted by privateer

I always try to .
But UbiSoft always taunts us!

Cheer up Pwivateer

Well played sir

[Badger Finn]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

I said I believe SH5 has a bright future. That doesn't mean I think it's worth two cents at the moment. Beautiful graphics and cool screenshots don't mean anything to someone who still plays Aces Of The Deep after all these years. SH5 is gorgeous to look at, which is what gamers live for, but to someone who plays the game for the history it is severely lacking as it is right now. I believe it will get better with time, and I hope that someday it will have everything SH3 has to offer and more. But at this moment it lacks pretty much everything. It's a very pretty game, so post all the screenshots you want. They won't make it into a WW2 submarine simulator. Only proper patching, and modding, and time will do that. Until then it may be a great game, but it's not a good sim. Not even close.

Indeed AOD a sim thats 20 years past out of the box worked with no internet no mods no support yet captured in its simple way the feeling of the Battle of Atlantic.

All AOD needed was a graphics tune up! SH3-GWX and other super mods with more mods has 90% captured that AOD sim feeling - perhaps SH5 may one day...

For now DRM and UBI can take a trip to the bottom!

Im going to donate to subsim instead of UBI. This forum and site and the people involved have been awesome!!!

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Badger Finn

All AOD needed was a graphics tune up!

Back when we were waiting for SH3 someone said he would be happy with AOD and SH2's graphics. I agreed at the time, but now I've become a little spoiled by the pretties.

SH3-GWX and other super mods with more mods has 90% captured that AOD sim feeling - perhaps SH5 may one day...

I completely agree. Ninety percent sounds about right. I would rate SH4 as currently about 80%, and alot better if it could only get the same mods. SH5? Hopefully we'll see someday.