So I reinstalled SH5 the other day...

[GoldenRivet]

figured i would patch to the latest version, and install a hand full of mods.

I am currently running

- Accurate German Flags
- Capthelms Audio Mod
- Mightyfine less annoying footsteps
- Steelvikings interior mod

I have played through the entire first campaign reaching a stopping point at "Happy Times".

I have enjoyed the game.

I still have complaints... but i expect those will be fixed in due time.

here are my gripes in detail.

1. DRM: I still am annoyed by the DRM issue... it is number one on the list of items that must be corrected. though i must admit, since this install over the course of about 3 days i have not had any connection issues.

2. The campaign: why must it end in 1943? if your skills are such that you could survive the war, i think all of us should be given that chance. furthermore... i had a preference for the SH3 style campaign and thought it to be a little more realistic and historically accurate. While I appreciate the briefings and the insight they provide as to the overall strategic goal of the U-boats... i think that U-boats were more tasked with patrolling a certain area and sinking any target of opportunity that happened along versus going to a specific zone with orders to specifically sink 5 oil tankers, or specifically being tasked with sinking 50,000 tons for example. While i understand that this sort of campaign has to have clearly defined goals, in a real strategic situation its not so cut and dry. Real life u-boat operations just didnt work this way. Doenitz didnt send u-boats out specifically telling them to seek out and sink at least 5 troop ships in this area. Something about the campaign doesnt feel natural. Its like holding a pair of fake tits... its nice, but something just isnt right.

3. Characters: The characters inside the boat feel like, well, characters... not like real people. The interactions with them is still bulky and awkward. A couple of them would never have qualified for U-boat service either because of age or physical handicap. They are more like characters from a B-movie than a realistic simulation. And their uniforms - if thats what you could call them... why does the "gunner" always hang out in the aft torpedo room? and why is he always in head to toe Wehrmacht uniform? silly. i think the Chief Engineer and the Mechanic are probably the most appropriately dressed. as far as their interactions go, i rarely interact with them outside of a tactical scenario... i rarely just walk up and ask the 1WO about his family or whatever. while this is a neat concept, i think it was approached from the wrong angle.

4. Interface: though there have been a lot of improvements since release - the interface is still un-natural and awkward. for generations, we have been playing the silent hunter series with big round dials and everything was where we needed it. Now SH5 has been retrofitted with some new and alien interface. perhaps the intent here was to encourage the player to take a step back and command the boat more like a real commander would... but with limited commands, and without reliable voice commands this is nearly impossible. I still find myself spending about 80% of game time looking at the little circle speed across the map. the other "candy" of interaction with crew is just either too limited or it has worn off for me to be interested. Keep in mind of course... like any User Interface, you can get used to it... it just takes a while.

5. Being in port: well, its both a blessing and a curse. The 3D rendered sub-pen is a huge step forward. but, The nature of the campaign finds me going to the nearest friendly port and selecting "refit" instead of ending the mission and returning to port for a few weeks - there is no time penalty, you dont even actually have to dock - refit is instantaneous. There is just not enough time allowed in the campaign for you to go out and complete all the objectives to justify returning to port for any length of time... thus its like "one partol" really consists of 5 patrols with a bunch of "refits" thrown in between. The port is a huge step ahead, but being limited to the sub pen is most annoying... it gives the player nothing to look forward to while being in port.

Now - if there were a bar / whore house / whatever where some of your officers (and perhaps other commanders) would be present in a social situation with just a little bonus dialogue - that would be interesting. and instead of the BDU officer saying "come in" and fading to a map screen... i think it would have been a lot cooler to have to follow him to another room or to another building perhaps where the briefing would be carried out.

6. Voices: the voices are down right annoying. I feel like im talking to Jonny Pedophile when im dealing with the guy that makes modifications to the boat and torpedo loads etc. (you know the guy) he has the voice of some perverted back ally abortionist. all of the voices are just too "cartoony" to be taken seriously.

7. Lack of Crew / Animation. In the pre-release video we were all awe stricken. A crash dive is ordered - and despite the Oooga horn (which we all knew better) the men running to diving positions and the instant action the boat frenzied into was absolutely awesome. One problem... when i got the release version of the game i ordered a crash dive, and not one damned thing of the sort happened. Nobody went running by, or even got excited etc. I think that the crew should go running by. they should go to diving stations, (and i dont mean two planesman pushing the buttons or turning the wheels). Also, there should be watches - shifts if you will - men going up to the conning tower, coming down when you order the dive. Additionally, there are only a hand full of men in the entire boat. The game says 52 men in a typical crew... by my count its more like a dozen.

8. Time compression issues: time compression in SH3 was limited to 1024... SH5 should have been limited to 1024 as well. SH4 on the other hand where you have to cross the expanse of the pacific was rightly allowed higher TC... but the north atlantic really is not THAT massive of a theater of operations with 1024 TC that it is unplayable. With the high time compressions... interesting things happen. most notably, suddenly coming out of TC with a swarm of DDs raking your boat with gunfire.

I sh*t you not... last night while playing, i was running at high TC and dropped out of TC about 500 meters away from an escort carrier well inside the huge ring of escorts. SOMEHOW i made it through the escort screen and within 500 meters of the carrier without being detected or harmed before the game decided it was time to drop me to 1x TC. (it was night) fortunately i was able to dive before i was spotted - but it was a definite crap-o-the pants moment for me. encounters like this are far too frequent I have been killed twice in this campaign and had to reload a previous save because of cruising along - experiencing a slight stutter - and then suddenly getting the death screen as a DD rams my boat in half! and the only real way around them is to intentionally limit yourself to the 1024x or even the 512x TC - even though you know much higher TCs are available... and when covering a lot of ground, such discipline is not very easy to maintain.

overall, SH5 has seen a lot of improvement in the last few months. at least now it is playable, but it still has a long way to go... and still suffers from some of the problems people griped about at release.

if you ask me... the version of the game we are playing NOW should have been the version of the game which was released on release date.

I am anxious to see what our talented modders can do with this title.

I remind everyone of the early days of SH3 and SH4. look at where it went after only 1 or 2 years!

playable surface ships, GWX, RUB, Trigger Maru massive super mods the list goes on.

I got to thinking as i was climbing down the ladder... its only a matter of time before someone figures out how to animate these characters to go up and down the ladder instead of just appearing and dissapearing.

yes... it is only a matter of time before many of the secrets of SH5 are unlocked. and if we can continue to support our modders, and they continue to be dedicated to the passion for modding... SH5 could very well be one HELL of a subsim.

in the mean time, we will have to make due with mediocrity

thanks for reading

[sergei]

Originally Posted by GoldenRivet

Its like holding a pair of fake tits... its nice, but something just isnt right

Oh man, this line made me laugh

[Faamecanic]

Well said Golden!! I have done the same as you. And while Im having fun with the game....so much of it (bugs and design desicions) just make me sad This could have been a blockbuster out of the gate.... but sadly it will cause the SH franchise to die with a whimper.

"The campaign: why must it end in 1943? if your skills are such that you could survive the war, i think all of us should be given that chance. furthermore... i had a preference for the SH3 style campaign and thought it to be a little more realistic and historically accurate. While I appreciate the briefings and the insight they provide as to the overall strategic goal of the U-boats... i think that U-boats were more tasked with patrolling a certain area and sinking any target of opportunity that happened along versus going to a specific zone with orders to specifically sink 5 oil tankers, or specifically being tasked with sinking 50,000 tons for example."

I especially HATE the "sink 5 warships.... or 1 Carrier" missions. Uboats RARELY engaged warships (unless they were suicidal). And to have missions demanding you sink 5 of them Just silly.

Your review is accurate and spot on. It will be hard for the Fanbois to punch holes in it.

Yes SH5 is pretty... way better than SH3 or 4. But pretty only goes so far.

[GoldenRivet]

on the voices.

is it just me or is the navigator a really condescending jack ass?

we reach any last waypoint nd you get

"We've reached course end. would you like to plot a new course captain? maybe a search pattern?"

every time he says that i feel like he is about to end that sentence with "...retard."

ie.

"We've reached course end. would you like to plot a new course captain? maybe a search pattern retard?"


AND WHY IN THE HELL?...

WHY?

in every release of silent hunter there are about a DOZEN unused speech files just sitting there!!! Why is that!?

its as if ubi is saying... well, we were going to do all this other awesome stuff, but we just didnt. tuff schitt

[tonschk]

Originally Posted by GoldenRivet

4. Interface: ... like any User Interface, you can get used to it... it just takes a while.

5

I Agree , I love the new minimalist User Interface of SH5 , to me the Three popping out gauges of SH3/4 already look Arcade and Silly

.

[janh]

I'd keep adding those:
- invulnerable crew, no rotation/replacements
- wolfpack actions
- the type II and IX, and for fun even the XXI that everyone tried frantically to stay alive for the day to get it
- various AI issues

I suppose those things haven't been patched by modders yet?

[Seaman_Hornsby]

Originally Posted by GoldenRivet

Its like holding a pair of fake tits... its nice, but something just isnt right.

Classic.

[voss]

Originally Posted by GoldenRivet

on the voices.

is it just me or is the navigator a really condescending jack ass?

we reach any last waypoint nd you get

"We've reached course end. would you like to plot a new course captain? maybe a search pattern?"

every time he says that i feel like he is about to end that sentence with "...retard."

ie.

"We've reached course end. would you like to plot a new course captain? maybe a search pattern retard?"


AND WHY IN THE HELL?...

WHY?

in every release of silent hunter there are about a DOZEN unused speech files just sitting there!!! Why is that!?

its as if ubi is saying... well, we were going to do all this other awesome stuff, but we just didnt. tuff schitt

The English voice acting is, indeed, over the top. I play with German voices and they feel much more natural.

[krashkart]

A fine review, Rivet.

[sergei]

Originally Posted by tonschk

I Agree , I love the new minimalist User Interface of SH5 , to me the Three popping out gauges of SH3/4 already look Arcade and Silly

I fear you have missed the thrust of the original post somewhat.

[Nisgeis]

Originally Posted by voss

The English voice acting is, indeed, over the top. I play with German voices and they feel much more natural.

Do you speak German Voss? I mean, are they actually more natural, or do they just sound better, because you don't have the 'ear' for potentially over the top acting in German?

[voss]

Originally Posted by Nisgeis

Do you speak German Voss? I mean, are they actually more natural, or do they just sound better, because you don't have the 'ear' for potentially over the top acting in German?

I am not a native speaker. That is why I used the word "feel." It could well be that the German vocal acting is worse than the English, but, while I'm playing, it's Das Boot, baby!

[Nisgeis]

I'm always torn between the voices with stilted German accents, or a German voice (with possibly an equally stilted voice). I can never decide whether I want to understand them, or hear German.

[voss]

Originally Posted by Nisgeis

I'm always torn between the voices with stilted German accents, or a German voice (with possibly an equally stilted voice). I can never decide whether I want to understand them, or hear German.

I rely on the message board to understand exactly what is being said, but I love being called Herr Kaleun!

After a little while, I've learned to recognize many of the oft repeated phrases. After I've finished the game (if that is even possible), I'll probably know enough German to command a U-boat. Though, I won't be able to ask for directions or order a hamburger at a restaurant in Germany.

[IanC]

Originally Posted by voss

I am not a native speaker. That is why I used the word "feel." It could well be that the German vocal acting is worse than the English, but, while I'm playing, it's Das Boot, baby!

German voices is the only way to go with U-boat sims, even if you don't speak it

edit: come to think of it Aces of the Deep had great english voices, but with heavy German accents.