WWII games

[syk]

This thread made me get and play Silent Hunter 3 (Krautboot > Allied sub). Last U-Boot sim I remember playing before was Silent Service (was that actually on the C64?). Naturally I suck at it, playing on merely 52% realism. The torpedo calculations are far above me. Still it's great fun to fuck up allied merchant shipping and getting away with it. 
From what I've read SH5 will be restricted to type VII boats. Don't think I will buy that.

[Caliga]

syk, unmodded SH4 with the U-Boat expansion allows you to play as a German sub, but you have to play in the Pacific Theater of Operations (i.e. Operation Monsoon).  There are mods for SH4 + U-Boat that do allow you to play in the Atlantic, though.  I have the U-Boat expansion (nearly all supermods require it, even if you are playing as an American skipper) but have not tried it yet.

I'd sure love to have a Type XXI though.  Maybe I can trade my Salmon-class in for one at Heinrich's Used Sub Lot next time I'm in Penang. 

Yes, that's correct about SH5, and yes I don't plan on getting it if it's released as advertised right now.

[syk]

Cool, good to know. Thanks!  I'll have a look at that once I'm done with my campaign. Just got me a XXI I need to try for a few more missions before I go for something else.

[Alatriste]

Syt, Cal

Why? The only thing I know about SH5 is, the developers were planning a 'real' crew and the ability to walk the whole sub, and that's it. Being limited to Type VIIs is not good, of course, but II and IX were far less in numbers and XXI are strictly speaking Alt His.

[Caliga]

Because I WANT A DAMN MILCH COW, that's why.

[syk]

Er, I'd like to command a XXI (or other types in general) because it's a game. I thought it was fun in SH3 to be able to get better boats over time. Being restricted to just one type sucketh arse. From what I read Ubi also has quite a history of bugginess. I may buy it later when ze game is properly patched and modders have made acquiring other boat types possible.

[Caliga]

Yeah, I have no doubt that the type XXI will eventually be modded into SH5, given the fact that somebody has made a mod for SH4 which introduces.... Los Angeles class nuclear attack subs.  There's also a Japanese campaign in development which mods in all of the major Jap fleet sub classes (apparently that giant Japanese sub carrier is already in the stock game as an incredibly rare encounter, as it should be).

My reason for not wanting to get SH5, actually, is because they are at last report planning on introducing some absurd copy protection scheme whereby the game forces you to be online and logged in to some site to play it.  So if your internet connection drops, no playing.  My connection is completely stable ever since I got DSL, but I object in principle--IIRC you can still play Steam-downloaded games if you're offline.

This "feature" has generated a near-violent fan backlash, so they may end up dropping it.  Even the dev team has allegedly complained about it.

[Alatriste]

My reason for not wanting to get SH5, actually, is because they are at last report planning on introducing some absurd copy protection scheme whereby the game forces you to be online and logged in to some site to play it.  So if your internet connection drops, no playing. 

Sigh... They never learn, do they?

[Incidentally I just had to download a no CD crack for Oblivion because my 100% legal copy made the CD unit spin so violently at random intervals that the noise alone was unbearable... not to mention that something just was going to break in pieces at that rate]

Regarding milch cows and wolf packs I would like to see them, of course, but I fear many have got a very wrong idea of how wolf packs did work. They seem to think U-Boats coordinated tactically their attacks and supported each other in combat... on the other hand, they would object violently to being forced to take part in pickets, shadowing convoys, getting meteo info... all the boring duties in which you don't launch eels. Oh, and being ordered to pass torpedoes, fuel and supplies to other boats even when you aren't a milch cow.

[HisMajestyBOB]

Syt, Cal

Why? The only thing I know about SH5 is, the developers were planning a 'real' crew and the ability to walk the whole sub, and that's it. Being limited to Type VIIs is not good, of course, but II and IX were far less in numbers and XXI are strictly speaking Alt His.

Ugh, crew management is the worst part about SH3 - I don't know if it was improved in SH4, but I use the "No Fatigue" model in SH3 because I got sick of telling my crew when to take a break, go to sleep, use the potty, etc. My very first patrol (in a type II) had me quit in frustration because all my crew were too fatigued to run the engine, so I was dead in the water in the North Sea.

It should be obvious that the most important part of any Sub sim is the stalking, shooting and sinking shit, and evading the destroyers. Everything else is garnish.

[Syt]

Syt, Cal

Not me.

[Alatriste]

Syt, Cal

Not me.

Sorry, but the difference between Syk and Syt isn't terribly great...

[Darth Wagtaros]

Ok, so I'm kinda missing playing any WWII stuff lately (the last such game I played was CoD: World at War, which I beat like 3 months ago).  I was thinking of picking up Silent Hunter: Wolves of the Pacific, or perhaps maybe one of those tactical shooters set in Europe.

Recommendations?  I know CdM was playing Silent Hunter at one point, but IIRC it was really buggy when it was released and I dunno if that shit got fixed.  It's $9.99 on Steam ATM.

Decision in the Desert and Crusade in Europe by Microprose. 

[derspiess]

This thread made me get and play Silent Hunter 3 (Krautboot > Allied sub). Last U-Boot sim I remember playing before was Silent Service (was that actually on the C64?).

  Played that over & over & over on my Atari computer.  Microprose FTW.

Naturally I suck at it, playing on merely 52% realism. The torpedo calculations are far above me. Still it's great fun to fuck up allied merchant shipping and getting away with it. 
From what I've read SH5 will be restricted to type VII boats. Don't think I will buy that.

Last thing I want to do in a sub simulation is do those stupid calculations.  Not sure why it even is counted toward realism, since that's not something you'd be doing as a captain anyway.  Granted, you wouldn't be manning deck guns either, but that part is actually fun.

[derspiess]

Decision in the Desert and Crusade in Europe by Microprose. 

Decision in the Desert kicked ass.  One of the few games at that time that factored in supply.  Battle of Gazala

I had Conflict in Vietnam as well, but never got around to playing Crusade in Europe

[Ed Anger]

Decision in the Desert and Crusade in Europe by Microprose. 

Decision in the Desert kicked ass.  One of the few games at that time that factored in supply.  Battle of Gazala

I had Conflict in Vietnam as well, but never got around to playing Crusade in Europe

I loved NATO Commander.