Anyone else dissapointed it will be PTO?

-Pv- · Joined: 05 Apr 2006 Posts: 12

I too have clicked the red button in three German sub games and didn't like it very much. I enjoyed the graphics, the sim, the challenge, appreciated the historical significance of what the men in those mahines endured and accomplished, but still hated sinking my own virtual countrymen. I guess I'm just a little sensitive and my father was in the US WWII Navy.

That didn't keep me from playing the games for what they were intended to do. Entertain, just like Das Boot entertained me. I just don't like my face shoved in it year after year after year and paying for it as I believed in the SH franchise more than I believed in the German war machine. I now see my investment paying off in a modern Pacific game. I welcome it. SHIII will remain a modern game for a couple more years yet. I'll probably be trying to finish my 1st SHIII campaign long after SHIV hits the shelves.
-Pv-

Steeltrap · Joined: 14 Mar 2001 Posts: 234

A few comments (haven't been here for a while, so making up for it now....) in no particular order:

* Japanese ASW did suck in comparison with what the Germans faced in the Atlantic, for a few reasons.
- Japanese navy trained by England BUT remained very traditional...considered ASW work 2nd rate and of low importance. Thus it received less emphasis, tech development and resources. They paid for it big time....
- throughout the war, there were large numbers of ships travelling singly/in small groups without escort. The convoy system never approached the allies' level of achievement.

* The Pacific is HUGE! Excellent news in that you won't run into aircraft in the middle of nowhere (always irritated me that this happened seemingly independently of where aircraft were actually based and their ranges would allow them to reach). Bad news in that you can expect to spend a LOT of time puttering from here to there without much going on. Great in real life, not so much for a sim.

* Part of the drama in Pacific is that you might just run into a particularly good commander of an escort some day, versus latter stages of the Atlantic when any escort could (and did!) kill you with depressing certainty.

* Someone pointed out that there were plenty of action opportunities based on a variety of missions and landscapes/conditions, and they were correct in doing so. Doesn't remove the fact that the majority of missions are the same as in the Atlantic, i.e. go here and patrol for a few weeks then come home, which is how it should be.

* The comparitively poor diving depths and submerged manouverability of US subs matter little when the opposition has poor ASW technology and training. Other tech aspects give US subs a considerable edge in some ways, such as radar (surface AND air, especially the latter where they received sufficient warning to submerge before an aircraft could get close).

As far as the question of which theatre was deadlier, does anyone think it matters to the thousands on all sides who died?

I'd always prefer Atlantic over Pacific, but that doesn't mean I think Pacific doesn't have plenty to offer if done well.

Red Devil

zombiewolf · Joined: 22 Apr 2005 Posts: 204

bill clarke · Posted: Mon Apr 17, 2006 5:02 am Post subject:

I'm hoping they model a narwahl class boat, I want to take on a DD with 2 6" guns, mmmmm Rotfl

Ahoy! · Posted: Mon Apr 17, 2006 5:05 am Post subject:

The Pacific can offer som different gameplay than the Atlantic, although for me the German boats have more "mojo". I understand the decision to make a PTO sim this time. The best would be if the SH series went the same route as IL2; the different theaters are merged into one big game.

Beery · Joined: 09 Nov 2004 Posts: 2817 Location: Boston, MA, USA

My heart will always be with the German Atlantic U-Boats, BUT I have fond memories of SH1 (and Silent Service II and even Gato), so I'm looking forward to it. In my view the Atlantic is the 'real' submarine war, but the Pacific has a lot of charm too. If I hadn't played SH1 I'd probably be pushing for a WW1 sub sim, but if they do it right (i.e. if they include Japanese subs), then we'll be in for a treat.

aanker · Joined: 30 Apr 2004 Posts: 62 Location: Yellow Sea

DeepSix · Joined: 27 Mar 2005 Posts: 802 Location: DB22

Etienne · Joined: 10 Jan 2002 Posts: 641 Location: Canada

don1reed · Joined: 16 Dec 2004 Posts: 437 Location: Valhalla

Torplexed · Joined: 25 Dec 2001 Posts: 1194 Location: Seattle, WA

JJ · Joined: 22 Apr 2004 Posts: 879 Location: Oulu, Finland

I don't really mind whether it'd be Pacific or Atlantic theater. I'm getting my ass whopped anyhow by some no good fishing boat equipped with just harpoons and poo poo Laughing

And on the other hand, the weather may not be so hostile as is the case most of the time at the North Sea. Of course those tropical storms are a whole other thing altogether. But they're more seasonal type of thingies. I think.

But Pacific is fine with me.

Boris · Joined: 07 Jun 2005 Posts: 185 Location: Bendigo, Australia

I would be truly pissed if SH4 (using the same engine) gets all the great features SH3 should have had, but does not have the atlantic theater to enjoy these in.
At very least they could release the SDK, so all the features of SH4 could be brought into SH3.
I wouldn't mind a bit of pacific action, but I'm an u-boot man at heart.

Why not include the atlantic theater in SH4 (all the content is there!), and have a fully populated global WWII scenario. So if you were able to sail your german IXD2 to the pacific theatre, you'd be seeing all the pacific campaigns going on.

gorilliamos · Joined: 20 Apr 2005 Posts: 77 Location: Seattle, WA