Safe-Keeper
12-25-06, 09:48 AM
OK, so I managed to mess up my SH III install again (this time by forgetting to roll-back SH3 Commander), so I had to re-install the game. For probably the eight time since starting NorOps.
But before I patch it and install GWX and its update, and before I put all the NorOps stuff back into it, I think, I'll try a single Vanilla patrol. No mods, no SH3 Commander, not even any patches. Stock un-patched, un-modded, un-anythinged Silent Hunter III. Funny is, there were some things I actually liked, such as the in-game music or the Vanilla splash screen:-?.
First thing that struck me was the loading screen. It's just the game logo with a ball of blue under it. Quite frankly, it looks exceedingly rushed. The game splash screen, though, actually looks good. It's, to my memory, the same as the GWX one, only grey instead of red. I've forgotten how good it looked. There's also the old "Are you sure?" dialogue box, which actually also looks good. The old music is good, too, I think.
http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/1559/1ew5.th.jpg (http://img407.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1ew5.jpg)http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/5476/2mb4.th.jpg (http://img218.imageshack.us/my.php?image=2mb4.jpg)http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/8226/3ue9.th.jpg (http://img218.imageshack.us/my.php?image=3ue9.jpg)http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/6408/5pv1.th.jpg (http://img407.imageshack.us/my.php?image=5pv1.jpg)
But anyways. I start a new career in 1942, making Bergen my home base. I load the game (no war news;)) Upon leaving port, I notice the band plays Deutschland über Alles instead of the GWX-induced theme, and I also notice that the game runs totally smooth, in contrast to when GWX is present. I swiftly realize that this is because the harbour is as empty as the brain of your average Fundie (http://winace.andkon.com/fundies/):p. The map is also nearly completely empty - nearly no cities, and no harbours inscribed on the map. It brings back memories of my many crashes into piers before I modded my game.
http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/8585/5se8.th.jpg (http://img407.imageshack.us/my.php?image=5se8.jpg)http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/5425/6tg6.th.jpg (http://img218.imageshack.us/my.php?image=6tg6.jpg)http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/7726/7pj4.th.jpghttp://img334.imageshack.us/img334/826/9jr5.th.jpg (http://img218.imageshack.us/my.php?image=7pj4.jpg)
My sub engine ticks (!) merrily as I leave Bergen (yes, beneath the roar of the engine there's a delightful ticking sound), mixing with the sea-gulls and my frustrated grumbling which inevitably starts each time the time compression drops to one due to proximity to the shore-line.
The old textures are back, too. The old sea-floor, the old rusty boat, the old gauges, and the old everything else, much of it in low-res. It's cute, in a sense.
The ether devoid of any kind of radio traffic whatsoever, and there's also nearly no sound when I accidentally fire a torpedo as the hot-key is just "Enter". Cursing, I head out for my BE patrol grid. I make it to Shetland without a single incident (noting that everything slide-in, such as the harbour maps and gauges, are gone), and then run into a British Flower Corvette. Thinking I'll try my luck with the deck gun against my Vanilla foe, I order the weapon manned - but apparently the game considers the tiny waves on the surface to be too severe for gun-manning, so I'm forced to abstain. I dive, and fire a Falke to dispatch him. The Falke instead heads for a DD that's come to help, sinking her in seconds, and I'm forced to skulk away at periscope depth - which, like navigation in battle on the surface, is cumbersome because there's no Heading to View hot-key and no compass around your sub icon on the navigation map. Despite this, and despite air attacks, I get away.
Some time later, between air attacks, I spot another Corvette. This one, too, immediately opens fire, its machine guns making "phit"-sounds like blowpipes, and I submerge again. My sub sneaks away, a tell-tale orange marker denoting its position, and I'm soon in the clear.
My last target is a Small Merchant. She opens fire with her deck gun, and is soon joined by aircraft. After a failed torpedo attack (el-torpedoes have a range of only 1.8 km), some probing with an inexplicably slow-turning hydrophone needle, and aircraft joining the fray, I hit "Exit Patrol" in the middle of the battle and leave the game with 338 or so renown. Back to the dull, dark office and the Vanilla music.
1,4b, GWX, NorOps, here I come:up:!
But before I patch it and install GWX and its update, and before I put all the NorOps stuff back into it, I think, I'll try a single Vanilla patrol. No mods, no SH3 Commander, not even any patches. Stock un-patched, un-modded, un-anythinged Silent Hunter III. Funny is, there were some things I actually liked, such as the in-game music or the Vanilla splash screen:-?.
First thing that struck me was the loading screen. It's just the game logo with a ball of blue under it. Quite frankly, it looks exceedingly rushed. The game splash screen, though, actually looks good. It's, to my memory, the same as the GWX one, only grey instead of red. I've forgotten how good it looked. There's also the old "Are you sure?" dialogue box, which actually also looks good. The old music is good, too, I think.
http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/1559/1ew5.th.jpg (http://img407.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1ew5.jpg)http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/5476/2mb4.th.jpg (http://img218.imageshack.us/my.php?image=2mb4.jpg)http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/8226/3ue9.th.jpg (http://img218.imageshack.us/my.php?image=3ue9.jpg)http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/6408/5pv1.th.jpg (http://img407.imageshack.us/my.php?image=5pv1.jpg)
But anyways. I start a new career in 1942, making Bergen my home base. I load the game (no war news;)) Upon leaving port, I notice the band plays Deutschland über Alles instead of the GWX-induced theme, and I also notice that the game runs totally smooth, in contrast to when GWX is present. I swiftly realize that this is because the harbour is as empty as the brain of your average Fundie (http://winace.andkon.com/fundies/):p. The map is also nearly completely empty - nearly no cities, and no harbours inscribed on the map. It brings back memories of my many crashes into piers before I modded my game.
http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/8585/5se8.th.jpg (http://img407.imageshack.us/my.php?image=5se8.jpg)http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/5425/6tg6.th.jpg (http://img218.imageshack.us/my.php?image=6tg6.jpg)http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/7726/7pj4.th.jpghttp://img334.imageshack.us/img334/826/9jr5.th.jpg (http://img218.imageshack.us/my.php?image=7pj4.jpg)
My sub engine ticks (!) merrily as I leave Bergen (yes, beneath the roar of the engine there's a delightful ticking sound), mixing with the sea-gulls and my frustrated grumbling which inevitably starts each time the time compression drops to one due to proximity to the shore-line.
The old textures are back, too. The old sea-floor, the old rusty boat, the old gauges, and the old everything else, much of it in low-res. It's cute, in a sense.
The ether devoid of any kind of radio traffic whatsoever, and there's also nearly no sound when I accidentally fire a torpedo as the hot-key is just "Enter". Cursing, I head out for my BE patrol grid. I make it to Shetland without a single incident (noting that everything slide-in, such as the harbour maps and gauges, are gone), and then run into a British Flower Corvette. Thinking I'll try my luck with the deck gun against my Vanilla foe, I order the weapon manned - but apparently the game considers the tiny waves on the surface to be too severe for gun-manning, so I'm forced to abstain. I dive, and fire a Falke to dispatch him. The Falke instead heads for a DD that's come to help, sinking her in seconds, and I'm forced to skulk away at periscope depth - which, like navigation in battle on the surface, is cumbersome because there's no Heading to View hot-key and no compass around your sub icon on the navigation map. Despite this, and despite air attacks, I get away.
Some time later, between air attacks, I spot another Corvette. This one, too, immediately opens fire, its machine guns making "phit"-sounds like blowpipes, and I submerge again. My sub sneaks away, a tell-tale orange marker denoting its position, and I'm soon in the clear.
My last target is a Small Merchant. She opens fire with her deck gun, and is soon joined by aircraft. After a failed torpedo attack (el-torpedoes have a range of only 1.8 km), some probing with an inexplicably slow-turning hydrophone needle, and aircraft joining the fray, I hit "Exit Patrol" in the middle of the battle and leave the game with 338 or so renown. Back to the dull, dark office and the Vanilla music.
1,4b, GWX, NorOps, here I come:up:!