Question to the modders: Has SH4 the potential to become a good game?

[h.sie]

I am currently playing SH3+GWX2 and am thinking about buying SH4, but I've heard a lot about bugs over bugs.

my question to the modders (GWX-team or others): does SH4 have the potential to become a better game than SH3 (for atlantic scenery) when using a supermod like GWX or Monsum? or will the hardcoded bugs prevent that??

greetings

[Zero Niner]

Imo SH4 has had most of it's bugs ironed out. Nothing game-breaking, although there may be one or two annoyances.

But if U-Boats in the Atlantic is your game, I suggest you stick with SH3. SH4 is primarily about the Pacific Ocean (Indian Ocean for U-boats) and there's no Atlantic campaign. And afaik no one's making one either.

PS - I used to play SH3+GWX too, if that helps.

[h.sie]

you surprise me. i thought, operation monsun and GWX4 are for the atlantic!?!?!

[Zero Niner]

Well what do I know, lol.
What I was trying to convey is that SH4 is primarily for US boats in the Pacific. I'm not sure whether OM would approach the level of detail for Atlantic ops that SH3 does.
And I think that OM mod mods the U-boats in the Indian Ocean bit. I'm don't know if the mod extends to the Atlantic as well.
And afaik there is no GWX4 yet. Not even sure if there's one in the works.

Quite happy hunting Japanese ships really. :cool:

[Mush Martin]

OM I think may transit or maybe not I dont know but it is IO theatre of Ops.

However the GWX team have transitioned to the shiv1.5 platform
fully and commited to producing a full atlantic campaign. which no
doubt will take some time due their generally exacting approach to
detail.

shiv1.5UBM has its own forum for the atlantic theatre of operations (ATO) mods, where you will find announcements regarding GWX's current project.

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/forumdisplay.php?f=234

enjoy:up:

[Nicolas]

SH4 its an excellent game, i played a lot sh3, but before i was a fan of Silent Hunter 1, Sh4 with a good mod its great, and "i have a reason to fight, self defense freeedom" not hitler assasin, and in the end you win the war. :|\\

[kylania]

GWX for SHIV is definately in the works. There's already OP Monsoon as others have said, and a few other ATO options being worked on. Heck we even have an ATO specific forum here.

So yes, while at the moment SH III is best for uboat and Atlantic Ocean operations, SH IV is well on it's way.

[SteamWake]

Bugs over bugs :yep:

Yes there are a few niggling bugs left but none are show stoppers.

SH4 is already a good game, Mods just make it better.

[Seminole]

As much as I am attracted to the Atlantic U-Boats I can't seem to convince myself to go back there after experiencing SHIV graphic and other advances.

I keep telling myself I'm going back tomorrow but tommorrow never comes.


And I don't find IV any buggier than III...yeah..I would say it is already a good game...in fact the vanilla version of IV IMHO is better than III was and IV required less modding to make it truly enjoyable.

Just my opinion..yours may vary.

[h.sie]

thanks all

[Rockin Robbins]

thanks all

SH4 is a GREAT game. Go forward with confidence and you won't regret it. Just imagine being able to save your game with confidence that it will be there when you get back. (it always amazes me when SH3 players talk about SH4 bugs):rotfl:

[Sailor Steve]

(it always amazes me when SH3 players talk about SH4 bugs):rotfl:
SH4 does require more computing power than SH3, and I still haven't found the necessary upgrades to run the game properly. That said, I look at the game as my computer runs it now (minimal graphics settings, poor frame rates) and I look at screenshots posted by others and I think it's already a better game, just waiting for the proper fully developed Atlantic campaign.

So I, too, am amazed when other SH3 players talk about SH4 bugs.:sunny:

[GunnersMate]

(it always amazes me when SH3 players talk about SH4 bugs):rotfl:
SH4 does require more computing power than SH3, and I still haven't found the necessary upgrades to run the game properly. That said, I look at the game as my computer runs it now (minimal graphics settings, poor frame rates) and I look at screenshots posted by others and I think it's already a better game, just waiting for the proper fully developed Atlantic campaign.

So I, too, am amazed when other SH3 players talk about SH4 bugs.:sunny:

What are your system specs? Upgrading is pretty cheap these days.
C2D - $90
Intel Dual Core - $70
8800GT - $110
9600GT - $95

[Rockin Robbins]

I run graphics settings WFO (wide freakin' open) at 24 fps 1280x1024 in exterior camera looking at the sub with Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe socket 939 motherboard, Opteron 175 processor, 2 gb memory, old fashioned nVidia 7600GT graphics card. So it can be done well for a lot less than you quote above. Yeah, it cost me $1000 (including a decent case) in January 2007, but I bet less than half of that would do it today.

It's SH4 time!http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa293/RockinRobbins13/smileys/rainbowbanana.gifhttp://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa293/RockinRobbins13/smileys/rainbowbanana.gifhttp://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa293/RockinRobbins13/smileys/rainbowbanana.gifhttp://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa293/RockinRobbins13/smileys/rainbowbanana.gif

But don't get rid of SH3. It's a great game as well until you lose your saved career.

[SteamWake]

just waiting for the proper fully developed Atlantic campaign

You know something I dont ? :hmm:

[Sailor Steve]

8800GT - $110
9600GT - $95
All I need is a better card, but you're talking to someone who goes to the local food bank for free groceries and considers a pizza on Sunday to be a luxury. It took me two months to save up for a new $30 sound card. And I wasn't trying to steal this thread, just commenting that I think SH4 is the better game even though I've never actually played a patrol.

You know something I dont ? :hmm:
Not trying to dis the guys who've already done such sterling work in that regard - just looking toward GWX4.

[elanaiba]

All I need is a better card


What card are you using now?

[LukeFF]

my question to the modders (GWX-team or others): does SH4 have the potential to become a better game than SH3 (for atlantic scenery) when using a supermod like GWX or Monsum? or will the hardcoded bugs prevent that??

Plenty of mods that have nothing to do with GWX have already made SH4 a very good and fun game to play.

[Orion2012]

Plenty of mods that have nothing to do with GWX have already made SH4 a very good and fun game to play.

:yep:

[Sailor Steve]

All I need is a better card


What card are you using now?
My computer came with an ATI 9600 128. I believed 'them' when 'they' said that doubling it to 256 would be a definite improvement, so I bought an Nvidia 6200. No noticable difference. Both are AGP. I'm torn between spending a lot more for a much better card or just waiting awhile and trying for a whole new system.

[SteamWake]

just waiting awhile and trying for a whole new system.

This since evidently your stuck with AGP slots.

Maybe someone that upgrades their AGP card can help you out.

In the meantime have you looked into getting more ram? I was shocked at the difference when I upgraded from 1 gig to 2. It was like getting a new machine.

[DeepIron]

I'm torn between spending a lot more for a much better card or just waiting awhile and trying for a whole new system.

Hey SS, I'd advocate waiting and do "the system thing"... I've got an nVidia 7600GS 512M running in an 8X AGP slot and I've maxxed it out performance wise. I get 27-30 FPS with everything except lightshafts and fog configured. I've tweaked about every setting I can for video. My mobo uses a 2.14Ghz AMD CPU and has 2Gb RAM under XP SP3. It ain't gonna get any better 'til I get a newer system methinks...

AGP has gone "by the wayside" with PCI-X slots and newer video technology in the mobos these days...

[Nicolas]

I have a little better card 7300 GT, but with factory clocks i cant run SH4 ive overclocked a lot, and put a fan to cool the card, and now i can play well sh4 (Photographic filters and 4x aa, volumetric fog). Maybe before buying try overclock, you just need to be carefull not to fry the card.

[Sailor Steve]

In the meantime have you looked into getting more ram? I was shocked at the difference when I upgraded from 1 gig to 2. It was like getting a new machine.
I started with 512k, upgraded to 2gb months ago. First thing I did.

[GunnersMate]

All I need is a better card


What card are you using now?
My computer came with an ATI 9600 128. I believed 'them' when 'they' said that doubling it to 256 would be a definite improvement, so I bought an Nvidia 6200. No noticable difference. Both are AGP. I'm torn between spending a lot more for a much better card or just waiting awhile and trying for a whole new system.

I have a BFG 6800GT AGP in my wife's system that I'm about to swap out for an Ati X1950 AGP I have laying around. PM me and maybe we can work something out.

[Arclight]

My computer came with an ATI 9600 128. I believed 'them' when 'they' said that doubling it to 256 would be a definite improvement, so I bought an Nvidia 6200. No noticable difference. Both are AGP. I'm torn between spending a lot more for a much better card or just waiting awhile and trying for a whole new system.Hate to say it, but a 6200 is not an improvement. Went from a radeon 9250 256mb to Geforce 6200 256mb (both AGP); frames dropped. :nope:

9250 is little faster, but 6200 supports DX9 and higher shader-models. Bought the card for that more modern support, but ofcourse games requiring that support are to much for that card to handle. :shifty:

For AGP, the only decent card still on sale (around here) is the 7600GT (or maybe ATI equivalent).

Started saving up after that "6200 mishap" and went all the way. No upgrading (or worries) for me in the near future.

* Trust "them" and "they" will royally you-know-what you. Half the time "they" are not 100% sure of what "they" are talking about anyway.

[Sailor Steve]

Yep, it's nice to know someone else made the same mistakes I did.:dead: I'm still thinking about putting the Radeon back in, as what you said about shaders is so true.

I've found several higher-end AGP cards online, but I'm thinking I don't want to spend close to $200 for a decent card when a little over four times that will get me what looks to be a pretty nice whole new system.

[Nicolas]

Overclocking my card brought me 30% improvement :arrgh!:
I read news of new nvidia series hot a lot, nvidia was hiding that was a hardware failure, now its on legal things, and the wall street thing drops 30%, and they loss 3000 million of theyre capital, thats i heard.

[Arclight]

Don't know about Nvidia's latest antics, but OC'ing a card that's too slow to begin with won't gain you much. The more horsepower you have, the more gain you're gonna get.

No use doing it to a 6200, trust me. :nope:
I've found several higher-end AGP cards online, but I'm thinking I don't want to spend close to $200 for a decent card when a little over four times that will get me what looks to be a pretty nice whole new system.Think a new system is your best bet, AGP is being fazed out. I remember buying 512mb PC133 SDRAM for ~E80,- for an old system; I spend the same on my current 2GB DDR2 PC1066! 4 x the size, much much faster but the same price. Older tech is overpriced IMHO. Get PCI-E and upgrading in the future will be easier as well.

[Kruger]

I completely agree. IMHO, the minimum in order to run SH4 modded with all the eye-candy and in a nice wide resolution (if you also have the monitor for it) is a 8600GTS. Anything less, and you have to take out options.

[Rockin Robbins]

That 8600 GTS is just about identical in performance to my 7600GT. Plays SH4 great. With just an AGP slot he doesn't have a choice between the two. If he upgrades his motherboard he's stuck buying a new microprocessor and memory, so that can be a pretty decent chunk of change.

If all I wanted to do is play SH4 I'd upgrade the card to a 7600GT. Yeah, you'll pay a little more for the AGP version than a 7600GT for PCIe slot, but you won't have to buy all that other stuff.

[Nisgeis]

An important factor is the speed of your AGP port on the motherboard. Is it an AGP 8x port?

[JHuschke]

Silent Hunter IV: Wolves of the Pacific is a good game, I admit, but I love Silent Hunter III more than anything.

The controls are different, and the graphics are a bit less then you would expect. But I say SH4 is worth to get, enjoy a taste of the American skipper's side!

[Sailor Steve]

An important factor is the speed of your AGP port on the motherboard. Is it an AGP 8x port?
:yep: