Silent Hunter III

[Synapse]

Now I think anyone can agree that it was a great game, one of the best simulation games, and KSP can learn many things from it, such as

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  Crew Promotions/Medals/Experience

• Crew controlling the ship by issuing orders to crew (extend all solar panels for example)

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  Upgrading your submarine (consider starting career mode with a small rocket, and adding parts to it rather than building afresh)

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  The atmosphere inside the subs/command modules

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  Going on deck? Like a restricted first-person EVA, would certainly be nice.

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  Immersion via sound and lighting

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  Tension...I'm thinking docking should be a lot more immersive and scary. Maybe you must dock in first person view.

[Dusty926]

Shouldn't this be in suggestions, and isn't some of this planned, and can't you already, in other ways, do some of these?

[Synapse]

Agreed, this isn't a suggestion thread though. I'd specifically like to discuss SH3 and it's similarities and applicability to KSP.

[Dusty926]

Agreed, this isn't a suggestion thread though. I'd specifically like to discuss SH3 and it's similarities and applicability to KSP.

Then wouldn't this be in off-topic or something? Anyways, Silent Hunter 3 is a great game, one of the best I've played, but I don't think that KSP could learn much from it. One takes place under the sea, the other has you making NASA cry themselves to sleep.

[Synapse]

Both take place on cramped ships on lengthy voyages, but SH3 manages to make those voyages more fun than KSP. And the suggestions of crew that have been made for KSP reminded me of the crew screen of SH3, which was very well done.

[royalkingofgames]

under sea and space are similar.

[Tw1]

I can't see any reason EVA would be restricted to one part of the ship, unless you're using magnetic boots or Velcro, or something to hold yourself to the decks.

Upgrading your ship can kinda be done by docking extra parts to it.

But craft re-use could involve adding new parts to a ship you got safely back to the space centre maybe.

If you want tension, try getting back from Moho with a tight delta V budget, when you're starting from a highly impractical orbit. Add the life support mod, and it's even more tense.

Docking is challenging enough, but the addition of some sort of docking view might be handy.

Remember, things that work in one game aren't always suited to the style of another.

They have different experiences they intend you to have. . But, no reason why some ideas could not be borrowed.

Edited July 12, 2013 by Tw1

[skendzie]

Everyone seems to be losing the connection here.

The OPs point is to make the IVA more interesting/fun (I think that's his point) as well as suggestions for the development of your Kerbal's career.

If you take some of these core mechanics and stick them into the right places, mixed in with some more atmosphere and tension, career mode will be amazing.

(Tension should rise naturally if there is permadeath with your kerbals!)

[DChurchill]

Upgrading your submarine (consider starting career mode with a small rocket, and adding parts to it rather than building afresh)

SH3 is about one ship. KSP is about a fleet of ships. You don't design your sub from the keel up in SH3.

[Drunkrobot]

I've played silent hunter 3, it's a brilliant game! I see a potential similarity to one part of SH3-that you can go to first-person on the "top deck" when not submerged (as you can see, I am an expert in U-boat design(!)). Apollo 15 pioneered a technique were the commander would peek his head out of the docking hatch after landing, to get a "look of the land" around the landing site. This chance to pick out interesting features in range (15 had the first rover, so they needed to be able to identify were to place the "forward bases") with the excellent visibility of the top of the lander made their limited time on the surface much more effective.

I propose the same kind of idea. A Kerbal pokes their head out the docking port (I'm imaging the player clicking on the ladder in the two-person lander-can IVA. Gives the guy not piloting something to do). You have a first-person, panoramic view of the landing site. Potentially, it would have a "zoom-in" feature, like binoculars, and you can place "feature of note" markers on interesting features, like the rim of a crater, or an anomaly.

[Synapse]

Yeah sorry I wasn't very clear. I know an already proposed idea is EVA with magnetic boots etc. but a SH3 style IVA where you can go onto an observation deck module and look around can only be a good thing.

I know they are not the same games and KSP should not just try to be SH3. But that game got things so right in terms of ship sims, that it would be foolish to ignore it.

[Tw1]

-snip-

I propose the same kind of idea. A Kerbal pokes their head out the docking port (I'm imaging the player clicking on the ladder in the two-person lander-can IVA. Gives the guy not piloting something to do). You have a first-person, panoramic view of the landing site. -snip-

I like this idea. That would make IVA a lot more awesome.

(For the record, I haven't played SH3, just did a bit of a Google before replying to this thread.)

[entaran]

I'm pretty sure if you implemented even half of these you'd lose about 50% of your players. We're playing it for fun, not realism. If you want realism, go play orbiter.

[Gargamel]

Well, I do know over on Subsim.com, where one of the largest SH3 communities resides, we have a dedicated KSP Thread, which is how I found KSP.

[espm400]

I'm pretty sure if you implemented even half of these you'd lose about 50% of your players. We're playing it for fun, not realism. If you want realism, go play orbiter.

How do you figure? The only change that was mentioned that would make the game any more difficult, was the one about an atmosphere inside your pod, something that is already handled (to a certain extent) by IonCross Crew Support, which I use. Although I don't necessarily agree with all the points (I think docking is fine the way it is and an upgradeable spacecraft is a stupid idea, no offense), most of the items up there are already planned for implementation or are handled by one mod or another. Either way, most of them are good ideas that I wouldn't mind seeing in future versions of the game.