SUBSIM Review -SH2 Innerview part 2

SUBSIM
Review
by Neal Stevens January 22, 2000

Silent Hunter II Innerview: with Rick Martinez, Senior Producer

Part II: Multiplay and Destroyer Command

SUBSIM Review: Let’s talk about multiplay, if we could.

Rick Martinez: The controversial issue!

SSR: Is it? I understand there could be two types of multiplay. One where two or more players with Silent Hunter II get together and go after AI generated convoys in a cooperative spirit. The other would be the long-awaited interoperable play between a few U-boat skippers with SH2 and one or more players running the companion sim Destroyer Command.

RM: Okay, first of all, let’s go through interoperability, and that’s the idea of Destroyer Command and Silent Hunter II. That has been planned from the beginning and is already embedded in the code of both sims. It’s not going to be easy but we think we can do it, that’s why we said we were planning it. The two developers, Ultimation and Aeon, like each other, they get along and have had long conversations. The result is we have multiplayer code embedded in both games and it matches. We went to a third party, RTIME, and used their code in both sims. That’s a big leg up, it means there’s standard multiplay code in both.

Some people think this a trick to get them to buy two games—it is not. We would love you to buy both but you don’t need to if all you want to play as the sub skipper or the destroyer captain. If one guy has Silent Hunter II all he has to do is jump up, go online and find a guy with Destroyer Command. And that ain’t hard to do you, know. There will be players of both games looking for each other everywhere.

I’m very convinced that a lot of the people who buy the destroyer sim, they may own Silent Hunter II or not, but they want to play with destroyers.

Some people think this a trick to get them to buy two games—it is not. We would love you to buy both but you don’t need to.

SSR: Sure, I’d like to try that out. There hasn’t been a really good destroyer sim where you’re out hunting U-boats, especially other players conning U-boats online.

Destroyer Command

RM: Destroyer Command is just shaping up beautifully! Ultimation is doing a terrific job. Take the weapons system of a submarine, then add all the weapons systems of a destroyer. We’ve modeled the machine guns, all the way from the machine guns to the 20mm, the forties, up to the depth charge station, the main gun batteries—everything. If they want to sit in a station, they can find a lot to do.

SSR: Describe the type of scenario between U-boat and destroyer players.

RM: Here’s how it will work. In interoperability we’ll offer one basic kind of game, which will have variants. Let’s take it from the Silent Hunter II perspective: I’m a wolfpack leader and I’m coming at a convoy. I can attack the ships by myself against a Destroyer Commander or in combination with other U-boat guys. That convoy is guarded by—you guessed it—one or more guys playing Destroyer Command.

SSR: And the convoy ships—the merchants—will be AI?

RM: Yeah, yeah. It’s early but we may give the destroyer commander a line to the convoy AI. I think we are going to but I don’t know if it will be pure or a limited set of commands. What’s really interesting about this kind of interoperability, as the sub player, the destroyer really isn’t your foe, your prime target, he’s someone to be avoided. As the destroyer player, the U-boat is your foe, he’s your target. The submarine players aren’t going to want to mess with the destroyers, they're going after the merchant ships. Now, I’m sure some destroyers are going to get in harm’s way, some U-boat players will ignore the convoy and try to pick off the destroyers then go after the convoy in their leisure.

SSR: Multiplayer, where three or four Silent Hunter II players meet online to play together, will that be available?

RM: We submitted a memo to Erich Topp real early on, through his translator, and we said, look, we’ve got a problem. We can’t find a way to make wolfpack actions fun in multiplayer. We have them in the campaign, they work well there. In the campaign game, when you go on patrol, some of the missions will feature wolfpacks, the coordination, meeting a lot of other subs to attack a convoy. Topp was one of the architects of the wolfpack tactics with Admiral Doenitz, he was one of the originators of how it works. According to him, if observed good tactical doctrine, you’ll never see a friend. You won’t be near them. You won’t use the radio because that will get you killed.

We had some real challenges because we were faced with making arcade mode multiplayer—we can see each other, we turn the maps on so everyone can see where everyone else is, which is totally bogus. We let them talk away with out any impact on the game, without the convoy escorts reacting. We couldn’t see Silent Hunter II becoming this arcade-like. It’s still possible you will see a purely functional SH to SH multiplayer role, I don’t know. Currently, multiplay will be confined to the interoperability. That does not mean you have to own the other product (Destroyer Command), it just means you and your buddies will hook up with a DC player to get a game going. And there will be plenty of guys online to play against.

We’re not sold on having U-boats go against U-boats. Logically, it doesn’t make any sense.

SSR: Let me offer this: Jane’s 688(I) has such a multiplayer mode. You get four players together and you have four 688’s attacking each other—completely unrealistic. You can communicate (chat) under the water, do flank speed at test depth and your sub never bobbles below the danger zone and causes a crush depth accident. But it seems like 688(I) has a lot of staying power. The virtual fleets such as the Marauders, the Seawolves, the social interaction between players keeps the game alive.

RM: Yeah, but with modern subs your weapon systems are sophisticated enough to make it possible and fun, With the World War II U-boats, you would never have any real contact with the other players. And we’re not sold on having U-boats go against U-boats. Logically, it doesn’t make any sense.

DC sonar station

SSR: True, it doesn’t. One caveat; socially it may be enjoyable for two or three U-boat players to hook up and go after a convoy cooperatively, see who can sink the most tonnage. If one player is pinned under a heavy depth charge attack, another player can let him suffer while he goes after the big, fat freighters…or he can go over and cause a disruption, help his wolfpack comrade to evade. I don’t know how much value there is in that kind of gameplay.

RM: At this time, we’ve been unable to find a compelling type of wolfpack multiplay. Because of the times, the distances, the need for radio silence, and the level of realism we’re striving for, you will be literally out there alone. You know what, it will be no different than playing a single player game.

SSR: But the interoperability between Silent Hunter II and Destroyer Command, so far, looks good?

RM: Oh yeah. Honestly, I can say that Destroyer Command would probably be a different kind of game except we want so badly to have this done. We need a first step in this area. My boss has wanted to this for a long time—the interoperability. And what would be more natural than to have these two work together? It’s like the Holy Grail of sims.

Next: Focus on features
Will be posted January 28, 2000

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