Silent Hunter III Interview

In the world of submarine simulations, the Silent Hunter series has consistently proven itself to be at the top of its game. Now in it's third incarnation, Silent Hunter III is again proving to be the game to beat within this niche sub-genre. Recently we were able to sit down with one of the folks who worked on this exciting PC title to get a peak into what went into it's creation.

First off, thank you for taking the time to speak with us regarding Silent Hunter III. Could you please give us a little bit of your background, as well as what your role has been on this project?

My name is Critian Hriscu, game designer and 3D artist of Silent Hunter III working out of Ubisoft's internal development studio in Bucharest, Romania. Silent Hunter III is one of the most interesting and challenging projects I've ever worked on. My background was in theater but I decided, six years ago, that the future of entertainment was in video games, so I got into Game Development and I haven't been disappointed.

What are the challenges inherent in having the player assume the role of a villain? I mean, obviously it's not that big of a hang-up if you've made it to Silent Hunter III, but convincing the player to assume the role of WWII-Eram German U-Boats can't be as easy as, say, a futuristic Space Marine fighting anonymous aliens...

The German U-Boot was one of the most advanced and formidable weapons of in all of WWII. Winston Churchill was quoted as saying, that "the only thing that ever really frightened me was the U-boat peril." Not before or since have submarines played such strategic and important role in active warfare. Also the use of U-boats in the North Atlantic was broader and more famous compared with the allied submarine actions, so focusing on them as a weapon of war gave us greater campaign variety and more strategic options for the game.

Will your ship's crew become more or less effective as things like morale and fatigue are factored in? Will an exceptional commander be able to get more out of their crew than a regular one?

Yes, if you sink ships and avoid involving your crew in dangerous situations that means that you are a good captain and commander. If you are a good captain, the crew will feel secure and perform better. If escorts detect you and keep trying to destroy you with depth charges, your crews moral will go down and you will not perform as well. You can also reward your crew with promotions and medals that will raise their moral.

Do all battles take place in open sea, or could players expect to have to fight their way out of a sub pen, or perhaps attack a coastal emplacement?

The players could have some surprises if they are detected near the enemy coastlines - bunkers with heavy weaponry can be very dangerous for submarines. Even a small fishing boat could ruin your day if they spot you and can call for help. Destroyers and air units could be alerted and come in a very short time.

Will the environment itself ever be a threat? I can imagine trying to slip through the fjords of Norway would test a commander's navigational skills, especially while being pursued...

Yes… it's quite possible to end your submarine career in less glorious ways… especially through the fjords. Even the exit from a harbor could be as deadly as a destroyer attack without proper navigation skills and could potentially end your first patrol in rather humiliating fashion.

Will your ship be able to pick up prisoners from downed aircraft or ships and use them for purposes such as intelligence?

The main focus is on ships and aircraft vs. sub fighting, so no prisoners or intelligence gathering of that kind. The Uboat crew is depicted but Allied sailors are not, just the ships and aircraft.

When aiming for particular areas of a ship, is it possible to use a crippled ship to your advantage? For instance, using a ship with crippled guns and engines as a kind of shield from other battleships in the area?

You could use a crippled ship to help cover you, but given the power of ships' weapons, it wouldn't help you very much…especially when you play at higher realism settings.

How will the four available U-Boats differ from one another? Do they all have different above- and below-water capabilities?

There are big differences between the capabilities of each model. The U-boat models introduced later in the war had higher speeds for interception and disengagements, deeper depth capabilities, quieter engines, and in XXI model's case, the capability to launch torpedoes from high depth without been exposed.

If you consistently take command of the deck guns and flak guns yourself, will your crew still gain experience from it, or will you have to let your crew fight their own battles in order for them to improve?

Combat experience is an important factor for the entire crew. If you sank ships and came back home in one piece, the crew will gain more or less experience depending on what you've done as captain in that patrol. There are skills besides the experience that drastically improve your crew (those skills are available for petty officers and officers). So, if you have a petty officer skilled in using weapons (specific skill for that weapon - gunner or flak gunner) and a highly skilled officer in guns on the deck - the result will be a higher efficiency on guns… that means more accuracy and an obvious economy on ammo.

How open is the Silent Hunter III Mission Editor? Will players be able to create their own U-Boats and Destroyers and such?

The Mission Editor is not for creating and customizing U-Boats or Destroyers, but for creating custom Missions with various weather changes, escorts and ships. A variety of single missions come with the game but if you want to go deeper and create your own missions from scratch or edit the campaign data for the Dynamic Campaign.

Finally, are there any plans to take the Silent Hunter series online? Two teams of sixteen submarines trying to take each other out sounds like it could be exciting...

Silent Hunter III does have on online mode over the internet for up to 4 players using both scripted missions and generated missions. We hope Silent Hunter III will set a new standard for the naval Sims. No actual features for future iterations have been planned yet, but an enlarged the multiplayer mode would certainly be something we would consider, as well as covering the Pacific theater and the Allied submarines. We are still considering future plans but the success of Silent Hunter III insures that there will be more submarine naval action for the future.

Mar 26, 2005 - 1:40 pm | 0 comments
Ryan Sharpe