General questions from an SH4 newbie

[Inajira]

Hi fellow sub captains!

Just bought SH4 after having enjoyed SH3 for some time. I'm pretty impressed with the game, although its not a HUGE improvement over SH3 IMHO. I've only run one career mission, so I'm looking for any general tips on "what to watch out for", as in things that have been changed from SH3. I have patch 1.4 which I installed straight away (219Mb omg!). I read a hint about the "patrol an area" mission type has been changed, no longer 24 hours but how does it work then? Anything else of that nature to look out for?

Also I installed an SD radar after my first patrol. This is an air search (?) radar but I see it doesn't have a separate radar display. Does it work like the radar warning receivers in SH3? Do I get an alarm or something when it detects approaching aircraft, and does it do that in time to turn off time compression and dive?

Also I see there is a captain's log type of thing but am I able to add in my own notes/log entries? This was always something people missed in SH3.

Can I rename my ship and/or add a decal to her hull?

I cannot find a button in the interface that allows me to take a sounding of the depth, is there one? Do I get weather reports? The sea seemed awfully calm and the weather mostly sunny during the 20-odd days of my first campaign... I hope I get more interesting weather next one!

I cannot seem to get any stats for the submarines using the Museum object-viewer. Obviously I need to have data on my sub like crush depth, etc. and the manual doesn't have it.

Is see the depth gauge has a red needle and a white one. White is obviously current ordered depth. The red?

I see there is no salvo setting for torpedoes in SH4, and the manual seems to indicate that launching torps one after the other is considered a 'salvo'. Bearing this in mind, if I set a spread angle of X, does the first torp fire straight, the second x dergrees to the (eg.) right, and the third x degrees to the left? Or do I have to manually change the spread angle after each torp launch to get a fan of torpedoes?

What's the arming distance on torpedoes?

Any must-have mods out there?

Thanks for all the help!

[Mush Martin]

SD does work like RWR

you cant rename a ship without modding it.
for conning towers see the Battle flags sticky
at the top of the shIV mods forum.


sounding isnt on a button but on the screen gui
(Weather too)

Re salvo angles you will need to learn how to use
the Position keeper to adjust angles between
firings.

Torp arming is 300yds

those are the ones I have ready answers for anyway.

hope this helps
M

[maerean_m]

Is see the depth gauge has a red needle and a white one. White is obviously current ordered depth. The red?
The red hand on the shallow water dial is the periscope depth for that particular sub
and on the deep water dial is the test depth (that you should not go beyond, unless with a good reason :arrgh!:) for that particular sub.

[Inajira]

Thanks for the answers, guys. Are there any links to any navigation and contact-tracking tutorials like Wazoo's for SH3?

Couldn't find Weather or Depth Sounding on the GUI, that's what I meant. I'll look again though.

[Linavitch]

Hi fellow sub captains!

Just bought SH4 after having enjoyed SH3 for some time. I'm pretty impressed with the game, although its not a HUGE improvement over SH3 IMHO. I've only run one career mission, so I'm looking for any general tips on "what to watch out for", as in things that have been changed from SH3. I have patch 1.4 which I installed straight away (219Mb omg!). I read a hint about the "patrol an area" mission type has been changed, no longer 24 hours but how does it work then? Anything else of that nature to look out for? 'Patrol' objectives require you to stay within 100nm of the star for 48 hours. 'Deploy' missions mean you must goto the star but are then free to cruise off were you please. Once a mission is completed (star goes grey) you can radio in and receive new orders. More info in the stickies.

Also I installed an SD radar after my first patrol. This is an air search (?) radar but I see it doesn't have a separate radar display. Does it work like the radar warning receivers in SH3? Do I get an alarm or something when it detects approaching aircraft, and does it do that in time to turn off time compression and dive? An air radar contact will drop your TC to 1, ship radar contact will drop it to 8.

Also I see there is a captain's log type of thing but am I able to add in my own notes/log entries? This was always something people missed in SH3. Was suggested that you could make notes on the map/log in the pre-release literature but never materialised.

Can I rename my ship and/or add a decal to her hull? By modding. Check the Mod forum.

I cannot find a button in the interface that allows me to take a sounding of the depth, is there one? Do I get weather reports? The sea seemed awfully calm and the weather mostly sunny during the 20-odd days of my first campaign... I hope I get more interesting weather next one! Depth to Keel is on the Command Room orders bar. Fourth from the left. I use CTRL W for weather but I think that is enabled by TM mod. I think there is a problem with weather changing if you TC over 256. Someone else may be able to expand on this.

I cannot seem to get any stats for the submarines using the Museum object-viewer. Obviously I need to have data on my sub like crush depth, etc. and the manual doesn't have it. You could look it up, search on here or the internet. Or for a bit more fun do a test dive. Dive to test depth then position yourself in the conning room and dive slowly. When your lights start to flicker your getting close to crush depth, how big are your balls boy!

Is see the depth gauge has a red needle and a white one. White is obviously current ordered depth. The red? Test Depth

I see there is no salvo setting for torpedoes in SH4, and the manual seems to indicate that launching torps one after the other is considered a 'salvo'. Bearing this in mind, if I set a spread angle of X, does the first torp fire straight, the second x dergrees to the (eg.) right, and the third x degrees to the left? Or do I have to manually change the spread angle after each torp launch to get a fan of torpedoes? Up in the stickies you'll find tutorials and videos for the TDC.

What's the arming distance on torpedoes? 300 Yards

Any must-have mods out there? Yes. What is 'must have' is down to personal choice. I Use TM, ROW and NSM plus some Hi Res skins. Play stock, get a feel for the game and then decide what you'ld like changed.

Thanks for all the help!
Good hunting.

[Cerberus]

sounding isnt on a button but on the screen gui
(Weather too)
M

Like Inajira I'm new to SH4 having played SH3 for some while.
He's already asked two questions that puzzled me - how to get a reading on water depth & a weather report.

You've answered those two, but I'm afraid I didn't understand the answer.

Can someone explain what "sounding isn't on a button but on the screen gui" means?

I understand gui - graphic user interface - but don't understand what you mean here.

Help anyone?

[peabody]

sounding isnt on a button but on the screen gui
(Weather too)
M
Like Inajira I'm new to SH4 having played SH3 for some while.
He's already asked two questions that puzzled me - how to get a reading on water depth & a weather report.

You've answered those two, but I'm afraid I didn't understand the answer.

Can someone explain what "sounding isn't on a button but on the screen gui" means?

I understand gui - graphic user interface - but don't understand what you mean here.

Help anyone?
I think he may have misunderstood and thought he meant "sound" as in music, voice, etc sound levels, which is in the Options on the main Screen or GUI.
The "sounding of the depth" that he mentioned is a button. Click the first button that looks like a ships wheel ("Command Room" )and then the fourth under that ("Depth under keel")

EDIT: Sorry Linavitch, didn't read the part in the quotes so I didn't notice you had already answered the question in there.
Peabody