Radar and Sonar are unfinished stations? (solved)

[gronbek]

Hi,

I just started one of the quick missions.
According to manual they should be operatable, but they really are not.:stare:
Radar could not detect a merchant vessel that I had targeted and the crew was busy shooting with the deck gun at. I was circling around target and there was no detection with Sonar either. Some buttons at radar station are highlighted with mouse cursor but have no function. It is also not possible to manually use the direction handlers at the stations.:huh:
This is really shocking. Either I am a complete idiot who cant discover the controls or this game is not finished.
Please have a look at the manual page for radar and sonar. Pictures in manual are so small it is impossible to read the information. Probably because the stations really dont work.

<edited by Drebbel: It is not allowed to publish parts of the manual in this forum, just describe what you are referring too, if needed include the page numbers>

BR Anders

[moosenoodles]

Yup i posted the about the directional handles not working in the bug thread... shame huh..

[Payoff]

:o Hope that patch is in the works.

[Sulikate]

:o Hope that patch is in the works.
I agree!

[gronbek]

Hi,

I am shocked by this.:damn: I am seriously concidering going back to SH3.
And this is really not a bug in that term. This was left out. And its really sad that the manual is describing functional stations.
The manual is lying and there is no mentioned about this in the readme. I wonder what else is not working in this Sim?

BR Anders

[mookiemookie]

Hi,

I am shocked by this.:damn: I am seriously concidering going back to SH3.
And this is really not a bug in that term. This was left out. And its really sad that the manual is describing functional stations.
The manual is lying and there is no mentioned about this in the readme. I wonder what else is not working in this Sim?

BR Anders

SH3 was no better in this regard. There were things in the manual that were left out of the game.

[malkuth74]

The stations are Their but don't work? When you used sonar were you dived? And are you sure your sub had radar?

Some other guy posted that he used Radar to track ships during fog. So I'm hoping you just don't understand what going on, or your sub does not have Radar yet.

[Payoff]

In another thread Neal said he uses the Home & End keys to rotate the sonar head, and someone else said you have to be at 25m to pick up a sonar contact. Are you finding this as well?

[Arrowhead2k1]

Yeah, make sure you dive to use the sonar as the hydrophones need to be in the water. Those are the most important stations for any subsim, how can they not finish them! :shifty:

[Onkel Neal]

Hi,

I just started one of the quick missions.
According to manual they should be operatable, but they really are not.:stare:
Radar could not detect a merchant vessel that I had targeted and the crew was busy shooting with the deck gun at. I was circling around target and there was no detection with Sonar either. Some buttons at radar station are highlighted with mouse cursor but have no function. It is also not possible to manually use the direction handlers at the stations.:huh:
This is really shocking. Either I am a complete idiot who cant discover the controls or this game is not finished.
Please have a look at the manual page for radar and sonar. Pictures in manual are so small it is impossible to read the information. Probably because the stations really dont work.

<edited by Drebbel: It is not allowed to publish parts of the manual in this forum, just describe what you are referring too, if needed include the page numbers>

BR Anders


Yep, I've been wondering about that myself…

I think you're right, it is "not finished" as far as going to the screen and twirling the dial like SH3 and 2. The only function I can get out of it are the toolbar buttons at the bottom when you are in sonar: report closest contacts, track contact, etc. That works pretty well; I have played several missions with 100% realism and the "report closest contact" seems to work and is the only way at 100% realism to track a DD on your tail. SH3 had that but also have the first person control of the actual machine. Check and see if the HOME/END buttons work for you. Regarding not getting sonar contacts all the time when you think you should, that problem existed in SH3, too. I think….

Radar seems to be the same as sonar, best I can tell. But on some subs, you can turn on the radar using the toolbar buttons in the radar station (not the switches on the machine, they rarely seem to work). I have gotten the radar screen to come on and make a few revolutions, then it seems to go off again. It may be a setting that the game thinks the sub is underwater... Still, the radar AI guy will report on contacts, that's about all I have seen work.

Let's all sing the Patch Song….

When will the game be released?
When it's ready, when it's ready, when it's ready!
When will the game be released?
When it's ready, when it's ready, and not a day too soon!

The game is out, but it's not finished!
We'll fix it in the patch, in the patch, in the patch...
The game is out, but it's not finished!
We'll fix it in the patch, in the patch, trust us, guys.

When is the next patch, to fix the last few items?
<crickets chirping>

:ping:

[Gizzmoe]

And this is really not a bug in that term. This was left out. And its really sad that the manual is describing functional stations.
The manual is lying and there is no mentioned about this in the readme.
Please, don´t jump to conclusions before it is even 100% clear that those stations don´t work. Besides, there´s nothing that a patch can´t solve.

[Paajtor]

Check and see if the HOME/END buttons work for you.
Are those keys specific to SH4, or did they have a function in SH3 as well?
If the latter is the case...I didn't know that.

[gronbek]

And how strange is not this. Last tutorial mish you are assigned a boat.
Please read the tutorial mission objectives and then look at radar station. Its not available!
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t127/gronbek/ra2.jpg

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t127/gronbek/ra1.jpg

[elite_hunter_sh3]

omg, it looks so grainy :-? when i get itim taking some high res screenies:up:

[moosenoodles]

the grainy as u put it is the filter film effect, but without using it dont look as good then due to the *cough* bug, I wont mention it been said enough hehe..

[flintlock]

Perhaps it's not working as intended, but it sure does look purty. ;)

[Prientje]

Hi,

I just started one of the quick missions.
According to manual they should be operatable, but they really are not.:stare:
Radar could not detect a merchant vessel that I had targeted and the crew was busy shooting with the deck gun at. I was circling around target and there was no detection with Sonar either. Some buttons at radar station are highlighted with mouse cursor but have no function. It is also not possible to manually use the direction handlers at the stations.:huh:
This is really shocking. Either I am a complete idiot who cant discover the controls or this game is not finished.
Please have a look at the manual page for radar and sonar. Pictures in manual are so small it is impossible to read the information. Probably because the stations really dont work.

<edited by Drebbel: It is not allowed to publish parts of the manual in this forum, just describe what you are referring too, if needed include the page numbers>

BR Anders

we have 5 radar types for us subs

1.SD
2.SV
3.SJ
4.PPI
and periscope radar ST

is it possible that you only had the SD Radar ?


The earliest radar installed in the fleet boats was the SD air search radar. This was a very basic unit. Operated from the conning tower, the SD radar was only vaguely directional. It was capable of warning that a plane was within about 6 miles of the boat, but couldn't really pinpoint a bearing, or give much in the way of information.

[John Channing]

The drop down arrows would imply that you can select a different boat other than a Porpoise.

Is this not the case?

JCC

[jeff lackey]

In my first missions, from Pearl in a Porpoise (career,) I only have the SD air radar on the boat. But I still get regular radar reports on surface ships (this is with realistic sensors turned on.)

The sonar, on the other hand, seems pretty flaky (or, perhaps I just haven't gathered the nuances of the U.S. sonar and the SH4 system.)

[Prientje]

In my first missions, from Pearl in a Porpoise (career,) I only have the SD air radar on the boat. But I still get regular radar reports on surface ships (this is with realistic sensors turned on.)

The sonar, on the other hand, seems pretty flaky (or, perhaps I just haven't gathered the nuances of the U.S. sonar and the SH4 system.)


thats a bug with the sd radar...

[gronbek]

The drop down arrows would imply that you can select a different boat other than a Porpoise.

Is this not the case?

JCC
Sorry nope.
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t127/gronbek/a.jpg

[castorp345]

I only have the SD air radar on the boat. But I still get regular radar reports on surface ships (this is with realistic sensors turned on.)

same here (in the s-class).
again, is this a feature (ie could the sd actually pick up surface contacts), or perhaps another item for the bug list?

'in whichever case it certainly has come in handy on the luzon approaches... ;)

and i can confirm that home/end do in fact rotate the hydrophone heads. thanks for that undocumented key assignment info!

cheers
hc

[akdavis]

This is...disconcerting. :cry:

[gronbek]

This is...disconcerting. :cry:

Many things are in SH4, that is my experience. For example I was shooting more then 50 AP shells at an enemy destroyer and it did not even get a scratch.
Then I rammed it with my sub on 100 realism and nothing happened on the hulls of both ships.
There are so many things.
I am sure of one think though, and that is that I have had it with this sim.:cry:

BR Anders

[flintlock]

I am sure of one think though, and that is that I have had it with this sim. Sounds as though you're pretty frustrated at this stage.

[Prientje]

I only have the SD air radar on the boat. But I still get regular radar reports on surface ships (this is with realistic sensors turned on.)

same here (in the s-class).
again, is this a feature (ie could the sd actually pick up surface contacts), or perhaps another item for the bug list?

'in whichever case it certainly has come in handy on the luzon approaches... ;)

and i can confirm that home/end do in fact rotate the hydrophone heads. thanks for that undocumented key assignment info!

cheers
hc

no its a bug sd radar can not pick up surface contacts

[ReallyDedPoet]

and that is that I have had it with this sim.:cry:
BR Anders

That's not good:nope:

[Paajtor]

http://www.61shap.org/pilots/Paajtor/SH4/SH4_cancel.jpg

That's the cancel-button...should I? :yep::nope::yep::nope::yep::nope:
I have untill Wednesday, to do so.

I dunno, guys. I was so excited about this upcoming title...so much new stuff to learn about. I never played any pacific subsim.
But now I see reports like this one, and growing.

Maybe I should cancel, and get STALKER instead, which gets released here this Friday. I hardly have time for 2 big titles, so...
And then wait untill SH4 is patched or modded to a higher standard?

[AVGWarhawk]

Lets step back and see the big picture. Remember SH3 with all the crazy bugs. A patch was made and the modders took over from there? We might be in for the same but you know, look what the modders have done for SH3:rock: . I think our modding community will on this like stink on poop.

[Paajtor]

Yes, I remember how SH3 was released. :damn:

That's why I'm thinking of scipping that part of SH4, and wait.

I think it's sad, that UbiSoft forces our Romanian friends to release their product in such state.
A publisher should be proud, to have a simulation like this in their store.

[AVGWarhawk]

Yes, I remember how SH3 was released. :damn:

That's why I'm thinking of scipping that part of SH4, and wait.

I think it's sad, that UbiSoft forces our Romanian friends to release their product in such state.
A publisher should be proud, to have a simulation like this in their store.

I can understand your thoughts here. I'm like you, the game should be 100% out of the box functional. But, from my experience, SH3 is great today from the mods. So we hurry up and wait. More copies are hitting computers across the face of the earth. Let's see what they have to say.

[Paajtor]

Well said....."functional". It doesn't have to be 100% bugfree for me...that's why there are patches. But functional is the least that I expect.

Imo, it's evident, that releasing malfunctioning products puts a company's name in dishonour. But that doesn't seem a thought to the ones that share in the company's profits.

Am I allowed to say that here, btw?

[AVGWarhawk]

Well said....."functional". It doesn't have to be 100% bugfree for me...that's why there are patches. But functional is the least that I expect.

Imo, it's evident, that releasing malfunctioning products puts a company's name in dishonour. But that doesn't seem a thought to the ones that share in the company's profits.

Am I allowed to say that here, btw?

Yes, releasing malfunctioning products or products that do not live up to what is claim certainly throws egg on their face. But, in my view, this is like any other game. Create a patch. If you are familiar with IL2 I think this game is on patch 15:doh: . Give it time.

[Paajtor]

If you are familiar with IL2 I think this game is on patch 15:doh: . Give it time.
Yes, I'm familiar with Il2....for around 5 years now, hehe.

Give it time? I'm sure u mean "2 weeks"?:lol:

[Faamecanic]

And this is really not a bug in that term. This was left out. And its really sad that the manual is describing functional stations.
The manual is lying and there is no mentioned about this in the readme.
Please, don´t jump to conclusions before it is even 100% clear that those stations don´t work. Besides, there´s nothing that a patch can´t solve.

Ughh...and we heard that same song and dance with SH3... And how many bugs were STILL left after Patch 1.4b?? Bugs that modders without a SDK fixed, which means they could have easily been fixed by the devs.

sorry.... Im sick of Ubi, EA, and other game publishers running all over us gamers with a "promise" it will be fixed in the next patch.

I was going to run out and buy SH4 tommorow.... but now after the low res issues, and the non FSAA support (hello.... 1996 has been over for 10 years now..) Im in no hurry.

[AVGWarhawk]

If you are familiar with IL2 I think this game is on patch 15:doh: . Give it time.
Yes, I'm familiar with Il2....for around 5 years now, hehe.

Give it time? I'm sure u mean "2 weeks"?:lol:


Yeah, thats it...2 weeks:rotfl: :rotfl: :damn:

[Yak]

The version I played this afternoon after much fiddling I was able to use the sonar and radar, it just took a lot of futile button pressing and then it magically turned on, its not very clear, and the displays are so small as to be only of marginal interest, rely on the contact/map screen really, like in SH1 :)

[-Pv-]

Is everyone certain the problem with the SD radar supposedly detecting a surface contact is not due to a misunderstanding? Perhaps another sensor detected the ship (deck crew visual or sonar) and it's the way the WO reports the contact that causes confusion?

After all, when a game is new and just learning it, there are always things that are misunderstood at 1st and all the old hands are still explaining to newbies a year later. Like the non-functional sonar head that had movement keys after all.

Also, I suspect there is a minimum depth that leaves the SD exposed where passing below it momentarily would put it out of action, or a wave. Once surfaced enough to use it again, it would take a while to dry off enough to operate.

Or,
Could the devs have combined all the radars into one type only changing sensitivity as the model progresses?

It also seems to me the screens in this series are for a training run. I have seen games where scripted training sequences are more for familiarization and features than realism and a campaign patrol or mission scenario might work differently.
-Pv-

[jeff lackey]

Is everyone certain the problem with the SD radar supposedly detecting a surface contact is not due to a misunderstanding? Perhaps another sensor detected the ship (deck crew visual or sonar) and it's the way the WO reports the contact that causes confusion?



In this case, I don't think so - the report very clearly says "radar contact".

[malkuth74]

Hmmm. In SHIII I just let the AI handle the Sonar and Radar. Is that at least the same in SHIV?

[modisch]

I think this is a shining example of UBI's consistent performance. It seems like they're more concerned with how the screenshots and feature list look and not how the game actually plays. The same could be seen with the startling decline in the Rainbow 6 series after Raven Shield. Subsequent games had very 'pretty' engines but the gameplay and product quality went downhill. UBI even went so far as to list "New features" in sequel games that existed in previous games... not new at all.

On the upside, SH4 is a platform that can be modded. Some time from now, it's likely that the polished, feature rich game we were hoping for will be available through bug patches and community mods. That's a far cry better than what happened with Rainbow 6, which never had a mod SDK released (even though it was promised for Raven Shield).

But I certainly feel after one patrol that this game will be stuck in a drawer until UBI and the modding community can get it ready for primetime. At least I still enjoy SH3 because of the content produced by this excellent community.


As an aside... it's sad that we can't vote with our wallets on games like this since there isn't a competitor we can switch to. If you want a sub sim, you're stuck with what UBI puts out. But without giving UBI a business incentive to do better, we can't really expect that they'll change their practices.

-m

[nuggetz]

Lets step back and see the big picture. Remember SH3 with all the crazy bugs. A patch was made and the modders took over from there? We might be in for the same but you know, look what the modders have done for SH3:rock: . I think our modding community will on this like stink on poop.

Come on. This is why companies step all over us PC gamers. We get taken advantage of with every title. If this type of QA existed on consoles the game companies would go out of business. I haven't purchased SH4 yet and I think I'm not going to until I read more threads from those of you who have.

[malkuth74]

Lets step back and see the big picture. Remember SH3 with all the crazy bugs. A patch was made and the modders took over from there? We might be in for the same but you know, look what the modders have done for SH3:rock: . I think our modding community will on this like stink on poop.
Come on. This is why companies step all over us PC gamers. We get taken advantage of with every title. If this type of QA existed on consoles the game companies would go out of business. I haven't purchased SH4 yet and I think I'm not going to until I read more threads from those of you who have.

True but they also can't fix Console games. They can PC games. PC games are little more difficult then a Console game. Consoles are all the same. PC are not. All games have bugs. Most people move on to consoles cause of this. So one day you will have your wish and wont be playing PC games any more.

[Yak]

Lets step back and see the big picture. Remember SH3 with all the crazy bugs. A patch was made and the modders took over from there? We might be in for the same but you know, look what the modders have done for SH3:rock: . I think our modding community will on this like stink on poop.
Come on. This is why companies step all over us PC gamers. We get taken advantage of with every title. If this type of QA existed on consoles the game companies would go out of business. I haven't purchased SH4 yet and I think I'm not going to until I read more threads from those of you who have.
True but they also can't fix Console games. They can PC games. PC games are little more difficult then a Console game. Consoles are all the same. PC are not. All games have bugs. Most people move on to consoles cause of this. So one day you will have your wish and wont be playing PC games any more.

Actually consoles are starting to come down with PC syndrome these days and get pushed out with bugs and then get patched via Xbox live or whatever the other two consoles use, which sucks ass if you don't have broadband or XBL subscription...

[tedhealy]

EDIT: Same thing Yak said.

Although even without XBL, you can get the game patches on the 360 with a free silver account.

[malkuth74]

Lets step back and see the big picture. Remember SH3 with all the crazy bugs. A patch was made and the modders took over from there? We might be in for the same but you know, look what the modders have done for SH3:rock: . I think our modding community will on this like stink on poop.
Come on. This is why companies step all over us PC gamers. We get taken advantage of with every title. If this type of QA existed on consoles the game companies would go out of business. I haven't purchased SH4 yet and I think I'm not going to until I read more threads from those of you who have.
True but they also can't fix Console games. They can PC games. PC games are little more difficult then a Console game. Consoles are all the same. PC are not. All games have bugs. Most people move on to consoles cause of this. So one day you will have your wish and wont be playing PC games any more.
Actually consoles are starting to come down with PC syndrome these days and get pushed out with bugs and then get patched via Xbox live or whatever the other two consoles use, which sucks ass if you don't have broadband or XBL subscription...

Isn't anything sacrit now. Might as well just own a PC if they are screwing up the Console games now too. :rotfl:

[THE_MASK]

Isnt sh4 like sh3 . You have to go to the 3D captains room at the start of a patrol to add radar etc if tis available ?

[Onkel Neal]

Watch as I effortlessly yank this thread back on topic... yank!

Radar, Sonar explained (http://www.subsim.com/sh4/sh4_66.htm)

[THE_MASK]

What about the geting target speed thread too .