SH 2, 3, or 4 - which is most accessable for a noob?

[raven22153]

I just got all 3 in the last month & I've heard stories that the learning curve may be steep for sub-noobs. I'm going to post this question to the SH3 forum as well.

[SteamWake]

Honestly SH3.

Espicially when patched up.

[XLjedi]

SH3 definitely over SH4...

Dunno bout SH2 tho, never actually played that one.

[Chock]

SH2, SH3 and SH4 (SH1 for that matter too) are much alike in terms of learning curves, although the current glitches in SH4 may lead to frustration for someone getting the hang of things, so I would go for SH3 patched up (official patches).

For SH3, there is of course the ubiquitous GWX (Grey Wolves) free super-mod add-on, which makes SH3 a much better game/sim, although it might make things a bit tough if you want to play on full realism and are not used to the tactics required (GWX is also a big five-part download, which could take a while if you haven't got a good broadband connection).

SH2 is also pretty good - it certainly has a bigger manual than the current SH4, being 115 pages, as opposed to the paltry 60-page effort that comes with SH4. But you might find the SH2 graphics a bit off-putting when you realise what later SH versions add on the eye-candy front, although it's certainly not dreadful.

Most hard-core virtual sub skippers are less concerned about the graphics anyway, since they are usually unable to see most of them on full realism settings, but when you're starting out, they help a lot as you can see exactly where your torpedoes go if they miss etc, and this helps in learning where you might have gone wrong. Easier settings with the external camera view enabled also make avoiding being depth-charged by a destroyer a simpler affair.

German sub sims (i.e. SH2 and 3) offer more in terms of variety than US ones (SH1 and 4), as there is a far more varied assortment of equipment available and a wider variety of submarines, so a lengthy career as a German Sub commander tends to offer a pleasingly progressive introduction to things like radar, and more complex types of torpedo.

Having said that, SH4 (despite its current faults awaiting a patch) has a far wider variety of mission types than any previous version of SH. So if SH4 runs okay on your machine and you want to use simple settings for targetting and the like and not be confused by all the German stuff, then SH4 is certainly the prettiest option for a beginner.

Don't worry about being new to sub sims either, everyone on this forum was new to sub sims at some point, and most people will gladly help you out with any problems you might have. Anything looks complicated if you've never tried it before, so stick at it, and good hunting!

Chock :D

[CaptainHaplo]

Welcome Aboard!

I would have to agree that SH3 would probably be the best choice. Fully patched - and using the forums here to answer any number of "undocumented" questions you may have - your sure to find yourself enjoying the game fairly quickly. In addition - the SH3 tutorials were a bit better fleshed out than the ones in SH4.

The other good point is that SH3 and SH4 are very similiar - some interface differences but the concept and gameplay is close. By the time you get fully versed in the nuances of SH3 - the bugs and such in SH4 might be worked out to where the jump over won't be so frustrating.

Since SH3 is more "mature" in its lifecycle - there are more mods available to tweak it to your own style. From minor tweaks in graphics or mechanics, to the ever useful SH3Commander - to the massive GWX addon - there are mods available to do most anything - or the tools available to change what you want yourself. For SH4 - we havent yet gotten a clear understanding of all the "under the hood" workings, so there will be some time before the level of tweakability is there for SH4 (although there has been a great start!).

As stated above - we were all new to this at one time. Everyone learns - so feel free to ask questions - we all do! I lurked for a year or 2 before posting - and rarely will you find a more mature and helpful community. That doesnt mean there isnt some sword crossing on occasion - but its much more rare here than elsewhere.

Good Hunting!
Captain Haplo

[Iron Budokan]

You'll love SH3 and once you get to where you feel comfortable with it enough time will likely have passed for our great modding community to pimp out SH4.... :up:

[Darkranger85]

I started playing this game less then a week or so ago. It confused me to no end, I fired torpedo after torpedo hitting nothing but the occational island that got in the way on the other side. Now after reading the tutorials on this site and watching the very informative videos some have made I have even started using manual targeting and am getting fairly good at it.

[raven22153]

Gentlemen,
Thanks one & all for your suggestions; I will START w/ SH3 and see how that goes. If all of my missions start AND end like the end of Das Boot (sunk in port), I’ll solicit some help & read some more of the tutorial stuff that I’m finding on this site. To answer some of your questions, I am a complete noob to these subsims, so I can’t say that I favor U-boats over U.S. boats, or vice-versa yet. I’ll try to work my way through SH3 & then try the GWX mod. I remember playing some quasi-text/ASCI (?) SUBWAR game in college in 1979 & nearly flunking because I wasted so much time in the computer lab getting depth-charged. I have read a little on sub warfare and I enjoy sub movies so I’m not completely in the dark as to what this kind of game will entail. Wish me luck.:ping:

[CaptainHaplo]

ok....

Good Luck :smug:

[McBeck]

SH3 is very easy to start with using the tutorials.

However, two thing you need to know, that is not included in the tutorials:

1) Before you fire ANY torpedo press Q to open the torpedo tube door.
2) For best hit-ratio you range to target should be 300-1000 and attack from the side.

That should be enough info to get you through the basics of the tutorials :)

[raven22153]

"Before you fire ANY torpedo press Q to open the torpedo tube door."

Thanks - I'm sure that I would have over-looked that bit of advice!

[ReallyDedPoet]

SH3 definitely over SH4...

Dunno bout SH2 tho, never actually played that one.

For now SH3 would be a good choice, but GWX not stock SH3:nope:, then SH4 later:up:

RDP

[Sailor Steve]

SH2: was full of bugs, but got a good fix with the official 1.1 patch. The good news was that with a whole lot of mods it was turned into a fantastic game. The bad news was that it could never be a true sim; there was no actual career possible. The so-called 'campaign' was a series of scripted missions which, like a first-person shooter, required that you complete each mission before going on to the next one. Die, you do the mission over. Don't sink the required tonnage, you do the mission over. There were several new and better campaigns created, which offered some variety, but in the end it still got old fast. The best part was the online playability with Destroyer Command; it was worthwhile just for that.

[dean_acheson]

Raven,
don't mess with SH2, it is a old.

as for curves, with GWX and SH3, good luck at avoiding those DDs, you might just try SH4 with the patches on easy, then once you start feeling froggy go to GWX in 1943ish. ;)

just install both 3 and 4 and play around, you will figure out what you like, they are both really fun games, and 4 is getting better b/c of the community's efforts.

[McBeck]

"Before you fire ANY torpedo press Q to open the torpedo tube door."

Thanks - I'm sure that I would have over-looked that bit of advice!
I know I did...and i couldt figure out why I hit the ships are the very rear or missed them....turns out it was the seconds used to open the torpedotube door that did that...

[raven22153]

oops - its SH1, not SH2 that I have, along w/ its expansion disk. Still, I'll stick w/ SH3 for starters. I remember all of the reviews mentioning problems in SH2 when it was released.