There are some really stupid character clipping issues in the game so far right now. They are not really terrible and honestly the transparent SHIV crews and occasionally wooden SHIII crews were no better as far as offenses go - but I hope it gets fixed. It's a little weird to see that they decided to forego modeling every single man on the boat (clipping and graphics issues would be one of the reasons I'm sure), and yet the clipping is still very much there....
But it's not the end of the world and it can be fixed. Actually, one supremely ironic thing in all this is that while people were screaming about the game devs spending far too much resources on the sub interior and characters, I have to say that it is obvious from the game that this is NOT where most of the development effort went. The sub interior is still very much a compromise for performance, and you can tell it's a somewhat rough job. Under the skin however, I do sense a lot of very positive changes here.
As for being an interior skeptic, this scene suddenly sold me on why the interior is awesome:
I stood here and just happened to order full speed ahead on the diesels. My jaw dropped to the floor at not even so much the sight as the sound of it. It was eye-wateringly beautiful machinery at work, right there. That one is really something to experience for yourself!
There are also some graphics things which struck me as a bit lazy and overcompromising. Explosion sprites are one of those things... they have much better animation now but the resolution of some of the sprites is godawful. One for the modders to fix yet again. Textures in the game generally are a little lacking...
At the same time, some of the new shaders are stunningly pretty.
So the graphics are not ALL good news, but for what it's worth there are many important steps forward here over SHIII and IV that can be built up on. And the game performs really well - these looks come at the exact same FPS figures as SHIV to me, and that is great.
Meanwhile, the terrain is absolutely gorgeous overall:
Recognize that? It's Kiel - so much closer to the real thing!
Overall the terrain strikes you with sheer volume of objects and lushness. Some of the smaller details are toned down in ports compared to SHIV/III, but for the benefit of overall volume of things. Coastlines are infinitely better.
Take a look at this:
Recognize it? Yep, that's the entrance to the Kiel canal, right out of the box.
But wait...
Curves! No more ugly square blocks making up the coasts. The game's shorelines now curve much more smoothly, and there's detail everywhere.
And the bunkers in port are not just a separate "map" in the game like the Captain's Office in SHIV. Nope, all these guys and things are part of the big game world and will be waiting for you as you dock your sub in real time.
What more to show? Requests?
