SimHQ.com - Naval Combat Zone - Interview: Silent Hunter III

Q. In past U-boat / submarine simulations a player has been instantly aware of when a ship has been sunk and what tonnage. This is in spite of the fact that the player is submerged and hit the wrong ship. Will Silent Hunter III implement a fog of war with regards to unseen sinking’s?

A. A sinking will be confirmed only if the player has a visual confirmation of the sinking. If the player didn’t visually confirmed the sinking, it will be recorded as possible sinking confirmed later (after a few weeks/months) during the campaign (simulating the confirmation of sinking from other sources of information).

Q. When taking on a new U-boat because of your successes will there be a lay over period of 6+ months to simulate the run up of the new vessel? And will your crew be different?

A. There will be a period of delay (a few months) between patrols whenever the player takes on a new U-Boat. However, the player will have the option to preserve its old crew (U-Boat captains rarely gave up on veteran experienced crew members). Of course switching to a bigger sub will mean adding new members to the crew and reversely switching to a smaller sub will force the player to lay off some of the extra crew. Nevertheless, it will be his choice either way.

Q. Will the sea state effect the player’s ability to attack a target and will it also have an adverse effect on the torpedo?

A. The weather will definitely affect the player’s ability to engage a target. First, bad weather will influence the sensors, making targets harder to find. Second, the sailing performance of the U-boat will be affected, making it harder to reach a good attack position. Third, the crew will get tired faster sailing on surface during bad weather and thus perform poorly. Fourth, torpedoes will miss, detonate prematurely or fail to detonate more often.

Q. There have been many recorded instances of U-boats surviving a depth charge attack where upwards of a hundred or more depth charges have been dropped. Will the player experience such attacks and is the damage model and the AI such that he could survive?

A. This will be a common occurrence in the second half of the campaign when the ASW technology and the experience of the AI will test and challenge the player.

Q. Will the time compression drop to a lower speed when A. a vessel/aircraft is detected or B. a vessel/aircraft is near? Will the player have the ability to adjust what speed the compression drops to for these instances?

A. The time compression will drop to normal (1:1) whenever a vessel / aircraft is detected. There will be no option regarding adjustment of the time compression speed in these instances. A more limited time compression range will be available while under the restrictions like enemies nearby, if the player still wants to make things happen faster.

Q. Will the player have to go to the conning tower (except in the Type II) to use the attack scope or will it be configured as it has been in past simulations where by flicking a switch the ‘same’ scope changes from sky to attack and back?

A. Both options will be available in Silent Hunter III. A “quick access” is available through a shortcut.
A more realistic access will be available in 3D. In this mode, the player will access the periscope moving to its location and clicking with the mouse on periscope.

Q. Will there be a variance in the number of torpedoes required to sink a ship of the same tonnage? That is, if I attack a 5000 ton merchant ship will it always take 1 torpedo, or will there be times where it will take 3 or 4?

A. Our damage system is modeled so that it will take more ways to sink the same ship. The experienced players will be able to sink almost any ship with one hit. However, expect a 5,000 ton merchant may take anything between 1 to 3 torpedoes to sink.

Q. On your web site Q&A you stated “Crew morale will depend on how well or how bad you are performing in the patrol”. Could you please detail examples of what specifically is considered “performing badly”, and what immediate and ongoing effects on morale we would expect to see?

A. Taking damage, having casualties, being under prolonged depth charge attack, reaching the oxygen limit are considered “bad performance” from the player. In this case, expect to see the efficiency of the crew dropping dramatically — you’ll need more people to do the same job. You can even reach a moment when everyone is too exhausted to perform anything but minimal U-boat sailing.

Q. What screen resolutions will be available for Silent Hunter III? Will there be dual monitor support?

A. Currently, the game works at a resolution of 1024 x 768. There will be no dual monitor support as far as I know.

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