Silent Hunter II Update by Leonard "Viking1" Hjalmarson
	An interview update with Rick Martinez, Producer of Silent Hunter II. Q: Tell us about our viewing options in terms of 3d perspective. What does the player see on screen when aircraft are attacking his Uboat, for example. Can he choose to view from the air in a target to player type view? A: View options will be limited by the reality settings chosen by the player since certain views would give away crucial information that would not normally be available to an undersea captain. However, we will have cheat views, so there is an underwater view available. It's really cool, and even the murkiness of the water varies. If you are making an approach underwater you will have access to an outside view of your sub, even while launching torpedos. Q: Can you tell us about changes or additions to SH2 since the interview back in February? A: We've added a complete sub tour. Previously, photos of an interior could be taken but the end result was a rigid system giving fixed views. Now we have an IPIX sub tour of U505, the best surviving example of a U-boat, and the tour was created by a film crew with special cameras. This is a literal virtual reality tour including zoom views. We've also been working on the rest of the multimedia area. We spent four days at the archive in Cuxhaven and have been busy extracting film. We also interviewed Erich Topp, a U boat captain who eventually retired as a Rear Admiral. Two others interviews will be included, and these are interviews in their homes in Germany. We'll also have footage of the Uboat museum. Click to continue		Silent Hunter II Interface Screen Q: Will we see significant interaction with the shore in SH2? Will we have to avoid shore batteries? A: This will definitely be present in Destroyer Commander. In Silent Hunter 2 you may have to get by them, but we're not sure about this feature yet since it's on the B list. If we get other higher priority items accomplished by our target date, it could still be included. Q: You've told us a bit about your trip to Germany. What were the goals of your trip and whom did you meet other than Erich Topp? A: From the business standpoint, we needed the press tour. In Germany Silent Hunter 1 was a megahit. It sold the same numbers there as in the USA, but with only 1/5 the population! Go to Part Two
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