Basic Gamplay elements MIA? Radio Chatter/Resupply/Wolfpacks :(

[JP351]

You know... there are a lot of cool things in this game. But no ammount of cool graphics, neat eye-candy, cool sound effects, or "new features" can make up for the horrible lack of the BASIC gameplay elements.

I leave on a patrol (1940) and will get 5-7 kills within the first week of gameplay. But since there's no resupply, I have to return to port and wait a month just to get 10 new torpedos. You can't get anymore unrealistic than that. 1 week of fighting and then 4-5 weeks of loading new torpedos? Those numbers should be reversed. I should return to port on fumes with long kill lists... or at least many hours logged at sea.

(into the radio)
Sub: 'Allo? 'Allo?? Anyone there?
BdU: Keep up the good work!
Sub: 24hr spent in patrol zone.
BdU: Keep up the good work!
Sub: Sunk 5 ships.
BdU: Keep up the good work!
Sub: No more torpedos (+48hrs after notification of completed patrol)
BdU: Keep up the good work!

WTF! I feel like shooting my radio officer for decoding the radio traffic wrong but I know he's getting the same thing over and over and over! I might as well be talking to the BdU answering machine.

Where is the request for new orders?

Where is the radio traffic? Am I really the only U-Boat out there? I know the early beta copies didn't have this but release?? I heard they said they didn't implement wolfpacks because of AI. How hard is it to random spawn a convoy along a shipping lane, and have a % chance that it's reported to BdU and relayed to the player?

At the momment I continue to get disappointed. I feel like I'm playing Quake in Submarine mode. Lots of cool frills and features... but hollow content. Running around the Atlantic solo having the return to base every week for new torpedos is NOT a submarine simulation.

There's lots of neat stuff in this "sim" (crew managment! yay!) and it has the bare bones of a submarine simulation (dynamic campaign) but it's missing all the meat http://forums.ubi.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_frown.gif

[JP351]

You know... there are a lot of cool things in this game. But no ammount of cool graphics, neat eye-candy, cool sound effects, or "new features" can make up for the horrible lack of the BASIC gameplay elements.

I leave on a patrol (1940) and will get 5-7 kills within the first week of gameplay. But since there's no resupply, I have to return to port and wait a month just to get 10 new torpedos. You can't get anymore unrealistic than that. 1 week of fighting and then 4-5 weeks of loading new torpedos? Those numbers should be reversed. I should return to port on fumes with long kill lists... or at least many hours logged at sea.

(into the radio)
Sub: 'Allo? 'Allo?? Anyone there?
BdU: Keep up the good work!
Sub: 24hr spent in patrol zone.
BdU: Keep up the good work!
Sub: Sunk 5 ships.
BdU: Keep up the good work!
Sub: No more torpedos (+48hrs after notification of completed patrol)
BdU: Keep up the good work!

WTF! I feel like shooting my radio officer for decoding the radio traffic wrong but I know he's getting the same thing over and over and over! I might as well be talking to the BdU answering machine.

Where is the request for new orders?

Where is the radio traffic? Am I really the only U-Boat out there? I know the early beta copies didn't have this but release?? I heard they said they didn't implement wolfpacks because of AI. How hard is it to random spawn a convoy along a shipping lane, and have a % chance that it's reported to BdU and relayed to the player?

At the momment I continue to get disappointed. I feel like I'm playing Quake in Submarine mode. Lots of cool frills and features... but hollow content. Running around the Atlantic solo having the return to base every week for new torpedos is NOT a submarine simulation.

There's lots of neat stuff in this "sim" (crew managment! yay!) and it has the bare bones of a submarine simulation (dynamic campaign) but it's missing all the meat http://forums.ubi.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_frown.gif

[BoneDaddy1844]

You are not alone...

http://forums.ubi.com/images/smilies/16x16_smiley-wink.gif

[nx02nx02nx02]

I coundnt agree more. Awesome engine they just forgot to put a game with it.

[nx02nx02nx02]

The game needs, Resupply, Chatter, Wolfpacks, other subs. Rearm Refuel.

Where is all this stuff? It was supposed to be in the game.

I love the game and I hate to complain but the game was rushed out the door.

[Copper2021]

I find this game very boring right now.

I am new to this game, just saw it in the store and picked it up. I like a lot of aspects of it but after the initial "cool!" which lasted 30 minutes, wore off I find myself wondering what to do.
My crew is very boring, they dont get excited, start chattering, or do anything. There's no radio chatter, no resupply, the ocean seems pretty empty.

I think it could be a fun game, but it needs much more.

[Axxent]

Some people just can't be pleased.

Don't like the game? Don't play it. Go elsewhere and complain.

[Yog_Shoggoth]

Yeah, and I distincly remember them saying the game would be terible back in August. Liars.

[Dominicrigg]

About torpedos, it was rare for a sub to get new torps anyway, if resupply is in the game it would be fuel. Torpedoes are next to impossible to put onboard at sea. They went to port to get torps.

So resupply wont help your torp complaint im afraid! On the rest i cant comment as i dont have the game yet http://forums.ubi.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_frown.gif

[JP351]

But did it take a month to load up the sub with new torps? I don't mind the trip back to base if that's the only option. But it down right sucks to have to stay in port for so long. 1 Week at sea and then 1 month in port means the game will be over very quickly http://forums.ubi.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_frown.gif

[archer49d]

Unfortuntley your crew are not a bunch of Robots.

[JP351]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by archer49d:
Unfortuntley your crew are not a bunch of Robots. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I do not understand this comment. Are you saying my crew needs a whole month in port? After just 5-10 days at sea?

Please... After a month at sea I could understand the need for some R&R but after just a couple days they should be fine.

[alarmer]

My opinions about the subject.

1) I understanded there wasnt much radio chater at all in u-boats. Allied could pick up these radio transmitions and locate the u-boats location. Atleast after the enigma was cracked. I mean what do you expect, u-boats were on patrol for months do you expect homeland to pop by every 5 minutes "how are you today".

2) By now you must have realised 95% u-boats did was wait and fight boredom, 5% was action at most. Sims do the trick for very small community.

3) I founded the Quake comment offensive. With manual TDC this game is light years away from quake.

4) At the time it was common that big part of the u-boat fleet wasnt in combat zone, they were refitted, training and being repaired. These things explain why even a month can pass by in between patrols.

[archer49d]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by JP351:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by archer49d:
Unfortuntley your crew are not a bunch of Robots. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I do not understand this comment. Are you saying my crew needs a whole month in port? After just 5-10 days at sea?

Please... After a month at sea I could understand the need for some R&R but after just a couple days they should be fine. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Your crew would probably need two weeks, combined with scheduling the boat to be refueled, reloaded and problems taken care of expect to stay up to a month in port. Anyway if you only patrol 4 weeks of patrol (when you get a IX or VII Boat) and do a month in port your doing 6 patrols a year for 5 - 1/2 years, which would give you 33 Patrols per camapaign, however I've already done 6 Patrols in 6 months and 4 days.

[BoneDaddy1844]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Axxent:
Some people just can't be pleased.

Don't like the game? Don't play it. Go elsewhere and complain. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Ok, genius...

And where else, other than a messageboard built for the discussion of Silent Hunter III, should people go to complain about problems with Silent Hunter III?

The answer is: this is EXACTLY where they should be.

Your solution of telling people to stop playing the game and to go away is exactly the type of immature response that the developers and the publisher DO NOT want to see here.

If people have issues with the game, whether technical or otherwise, the people who can fix it need to know. And that starts right here. http://forums.ubi.com/images/smilies/25.gif

[mashkis]

I am a newbiee to sub games and I am finding this game to be fantastic. I agree some things can be improved. But it seems like many of the folks that are complaining here have not picked up any of the great U-boat books out there.

The game is very close to being relistic on how it use to be. I think some are looking for a first person sub shooting game and don't realize that this is a sim and it take time to master at 100% difficutly.

[BoneDaddy1844]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by mashkis:
I am a newbiee to sub games and I am finding this game to be fantastic. I agree some things can be improved. But it seems like many of the folks that are complaining here have not picked up any of the great U-boat books out there.

The game is very close to being relistic on how it use to be. I think some are looking for a first person sub shooting game and don't realize that this is a sim and it take time to master at 100% difficutly. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thats a possibility, but I highly doubt it.

The thing people are most upset about has nothing to do with not being familiar with sub simulations or being able to play at 100% difficulty. Nice try though...

The issue is that the game was shipped in a half-finished state. Many of the features that should have been implemented were left out. This game is not a finished product. The development team needed another year to create a polished product. In its current version, even with yesterday's patch, this game has a long way to go to be considered a completed, polished product.

Right now, compared to AOTD, SH3 is technically superior, but falls way short of the gameplay immersion and polish that AOTD had ten years ago. However, the elements are there in SH3 to truly surpass AOTD, they just need to be finished. The developers are not done with this game.

[bertgang]

I haven't SHIII yet, but some questions and complaints seems a bit crazy to me.

Officers and sailors should be really pleased, when forced to stay about a month at land: less combats at sea = longer life.

Out of psychological side, there were good reasons for not leaving harbour soon.

One was the needings for maintenance and refitting of boats; another was depending on availability of torpedoes; expensive weapons, not easy and quick to build; maybe you have to wait for the next train from factory.

Refuel & resupply at sea weren't the usual way; furthermore, the few resupply boat couldn't be at your disposal, when needed.

[parkingslot]

compared to kotor2 this game has 85 percent done http://forums.ubi.com/images/smilies/icon_twisted.gif

[Bulwark_]

Some clarification... what JP351 is getting at, is the time frame it takes to go from one patrol to another. 4 to 5 weeks to get new torps, although may be realistic, is too much time. And although you don't experience that time in the game sitting in port, you kind of miss that time at sea experiencing weather changes and such. It's probably also realistic to not have patrols continuously all year, and all through the entire war for that matter. But with all due respect, that's why we are playing the sim, so we can go on these patrols. Especially with time compression and depending on how people play, one patrol may not last very long. Or depending on how quickly you run out of torps or fuel. It would be great to stop in any friendly port to re-supply, and maybe stay alongside a few days to a week for a little R&R. And help boost crew morale!

[bertgang]

I agree, Bulwark, but on the long run the delay between patrols won't make a substantial difference as - using realistic settings and not cheating - few careers will be over fifteen patrols long: most of people will be killed or retired before reaching this point.

So, on my point of wiew, long delays help in travelling during the whole wartime; shorter delays help in scoring hig tonnage, without big danger, early in the war.

[quillan]

On the subject of time in port, there's a lot more involved than just refueling and adding new torpedoes. First, there's R&R for the crew. It's uncomfortable and stressful in a small boat during wartime. They need time off to be able to function. No navy at that time used multiple crews on one boat to keep efficiency up. Second, there is maintenance. The mechanical systems of a submarine require a lot of work that cannot be performed at sea. They have to redo a lot of things once the sub reaches port. That's why you spend a minimum of 4 weeks in port once you return.

Now, on the other subject, if you had read the readme, you'd know that 1) wolfpack attacks will not be in the dynamic campaign; those are limited to multiplayer, and 2) resupply ships are slated for what was to be the first patch; with the gameplay fix being rushed out it's probably going to be the second patch.

[Mjollnir111675]

Agree with Guillan.

Also take into account that you are NOT the only boot in fer repair,refit,rearm and R&R.

You may be the first in line or the last to get in on the schedule.
If you think that you are the only one in port (even though that is what graphically shown) at any given time you obviously dont have a clue as to what Boot pens were like.
And its not a matter of just changin' the spark plugs,oil and various filters.
And remember they had shipyard techs that also evaluated the designs perf after each mission.This alone could take atleast a week to be finished.
Which leads to R&D fer future models. Hence the many types they actually had.

So just think to yerself: "hey I am not the ONLY boot in the Kriegsmarine, and my crew and I can indeed go fer some r&r!"


Mjollnir

"For the sparkling waves are calling you to kiss their white laced lips."

[JP351]

Wow... too many replies to quote so I'll be general and brief.

First of all I love the game, it's lots of fun and I'm glad I bought it... I'd even recommend it to friends.

That said, there is a LOT missing from the game so I'm sure as hell going to complain about it. The developers touted(sp?) this game as a TRUE WWII Submarine Simulation. There are some of the best realism settings in the this game ever seen to date: crew managment, TDC, etc. All of which have problems/bugs but I'm not complaining about stuff that doesn't work.

I'm complaining about stuff that IS NOT THERE!

All you people saying long time in port was realistic... what do you have to say about radio chatter. And no.. I don't mean reciving messages every 5 minutes as one person implied. I mean BdU communication that was more than common. Convoy relay information, important updates on the war, REQUESTS FOR A NEW ASSIGNMENT! It may be a crude analogy but without this gameplay element, you have a submarine shooter game. (granted 100% realism setting adds A LOT to the game) But in the end, the game is missing this crucial area of immersion. There's not even any variety in the responses from BdU when you report your status. It's always "Keep up the good work."

Radio communication and Wolfpacks (or lack there of) are my primary complaints. These points were of such importance, without them, the game feels hallow.

I mention resupply because I believe it does have a negative impact on gameplay. Maybe some people like to spend 1 week hunting and then rush back to their homeport to spend a month resuppling. Maybe it is realistic... but its not fun. I want to be out blowing stuff up. Coming back to port with 75% of fuel left seems disgraceful. There's several EASY solutions. Call for resupplies and you get more gun ammo and maybe some fuel. At the VERY LEAST though, they could let us dock at friendly ports for a "quick" resupply. At the momment, the only option is to return to your home port. No matter how close I am to a port, I have to travel all the way back to my home port with 0 ammo (so I can't engage anything) and then get a new assignment. What if I got orders to patrol an area, and it's just swarming with great targets. I unload, get some kills... uh oh! Time to go all the way back home? WTF! There's an axis port not 25km from me where I could grab supplies and head back out to patrol.

So all in all, it's defenitly a great game but theres just too much missing http://forums.ubi.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_frown.gif

Then again, maybe I was spoiled by AOTD.

PS. To the people who say "stop complaining and just stop playing" ... I commend you for your commitment to helping the developers make a great product even better and your validation of other peoples opinions and observations /sarcasm

[BoneDaddy1844]

@ JP351--

Agreed.

I enjoy playing the game in its current state. But it is clear that the game is not all it could or should be.

AOTD was immersive and engaging right out of the box, included many features that SH3 omitted, and it did it long before the mod community started making a big impact in games. Now, it seems the mod community has been both a blessing and a curse recently. I fear that their presence, while definately a positive force in keeping games fresh and exciting, has unfortunately given professional developers a crutch to lean on when it comes to meeting deadlines. The answer is too often: "Hey, there's always the mod community to finish what we can't get done before the deadline". This leads to lax standards when it comes to ensuring the game is complete before it hits the shelves.

That may not be the case here. But it makes you wonder what the future holds for computer games.

http://forums.ubi.com/images/smilies/blink.gif

[miscreant1980]

i'd just like to add two things to the discussion. first, i don't think it's realistic to expend all your torps in a weeks time. are you playing with full realism? realisitically the limiting factor for patrols was fuel not torps.

2nd, i read somewhere on this forum that it is possible to resupply at a friendly port without delay before returning to sea. just dock at the port and then click to continue patrol, or something like that. search for the post.

[GB.DEFOS]

Well ... certain things make a game ... certain things could not and should not be done in a game, for example ... you can manually target for players wishing to breeze through the game and enjoy its visual splendours and there is the hard core side for extreme sim fans for players that wish to expirience the full 100% (ish) reality of doing the job of a sub captain. The first of these needs to be fun easy and WELL explained (which it sh3 is not).
This boils down to options ... and it seems ubi soft always give the bare bones of games and know they can update later with patches or let you guys do all the explaining for them ... its us the modders and fans that do the work for them and like most games ubi dump the loyal fans when they got enough money. Why should they do it and spend money when us mugs eventually sort it for them? 6 months after release!!!
I can garentee most of what you talk about here the developer or patchers wont even read http://forums.ubi.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_frown.gif

[GT182]

Here's an idea.... make an addon for time in port to do the things that sailors do on R&R. http://forums.ubi.com/images/smilies/16x16_smiley-wink.gif

Painting, drinking, fighting, including the brig and yep, that too....women. Won't happen, but it would be nice to think about. LOL

This is starting to sound like the IL2 forums. Just be glad we've got what we have. B*tching and moaning about it won't solve a thing. It's the bugs in the sim that need the attention first and foremost. At least you're running it. Think of those that can't because of the key check and see how lucky you are.

[JP351]

I play with 65% realism on

You're telling me that it takes you more than a week to use 6 torps (Type IID here)? Half of them are duds anyway.

Around April 1941 I got a IX and the extra torps help a bunch but my patrols are still only about 2 weeks. Which is actually a good time frame. As for finding contacts... just park yourself in a shipping lane. I've never had trouble finding those solo ships and even the occasional convoy.

I'd LOVE it if someone could tell me how to dock at a friendly port but I have not been able to find how. no luck searching the forum for it either (**** search engine still broke)

[GB.DEFOS]

LOL ... bar brawl sounds good .. and yes im a sturmovic player too(and spearhead, bfv, hl2, farcry, and on and on) .. I have the option like millions of other gamers to return this game to the shop after 10 days ... I do love the game and I know in a few months it will have patches to pretty much repair all ... but why should I buy now instead of waiting to get a preowned one for next to nothing when everyone returns the game because of these issues. I know im rambling but I do think it matters because im annoyed with at least 5-10 things everytime a game is released, and with good titles so far and few between it can be a month or 4 wait until you find somthing good again http://forums.ubi.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_frown.gif ... I will visit this forum in 3 months time with a â£10+ copy of SH3 .. by this time the game will almost be ready and the community will have done its job http://forums.ubi.com/images/smilies/35.gif