New Player, Need help

[LogicalLobster]

Hello, I have just purchased Silent Hunter 4 and Im looking forward to sinking some ships! But I have heard that there are a lot of bugs and issues with this game so could someone please help me with what patches and mods I need to download to make the game run as well as possible? Im not worried about any flashy new things like new ships or skins, just the stuff that makes the game work the way it should.

Any help is appreciated :)

[Kloef]

You can patch to 1.4,which is pretty stable or buy the add-on U boat missions which gets you to version 1.5,you dont have to worry about it the game is now as stable as the next..

Welcome to subsim!

Btw have a look at the mods..

[DarkFish]

yep that's true, if you only want most bugs fixed patch 1.4 or even better 1.5 would be enough for you. If you've got 1.5 you can also download GFO (Game Fixes Only) to fix most bugs that are still there.
But you really should take a look at the mods here, most are not just 'flashy new things like new ships or skins'. RSRDC for example completely rewrites the campaign to make it much more historical and fun to play. And RFB and TMO both make the game more challenging, RFB going for maximum realism whereas TMO takes some creative license.

And of course welcome aboard!:sunny:

[Rockin Robbins]

Actually any of the supermods fix many of the problems that remain. None of the supermods, including Game Fixes Only, fix them all, heck, they haven't all been found yet!

SH4 is a great game because we have several healthy, co-equal competing/cooperating supermods: Trigger Maru Overhauled, Real Fleet Boat, Game Fixes Only, Fall of the Rising Sun, Run Silent Run Deep, Operation Monsun. They are all installable and uninstallable using the Jonesoft Generic Mod Enabler (JSGME), so you can try them all out without big problems and even switch back and forth at will. None of them insist on taking over your game and locking the others out.

I would proceed as follows: first install the game and patch it to 1.4 or 1.5 SH4UBM. Install JSGME into the Wolves of the Pacific directory. Run it once and immediately exit without doing anything. This creates the MODS directory in the correct place for future use. That is where you'll copy mods to later.

Now before you even play the game, copy the entire Wolves of the Pacific directory structure to a new directory. I call mine SH4 Pristeen. When you initially copy it Windows will name it Copy of Wolves... Just rename it when you're done, then write protect the whole shooting match, directories and files. This way you won't accidentally alter them later. This installation is never to be played, and in fact cannot be. It's strictly a toy box to take uncorrupted files from when you find yourself with mod soup (thank you Kapt Lehmann for the best phrase on Subsim:up:).

In case of mod soup (you'll know when the game CTDs or starts acting squirrelly), you can just uninstall all your mods, delete all the contents of Wolves of the Pacific except for your MODS folder, copy everything from SH4 Pristeen to Wolves of the Pacific, write enable everything there, reinstall all your mods and start playing as if nothing had ever gone wrong.

All your settings and saved games are elsewhere, so they will still be there. Now you will never have to reinstall again!

[SteamWake]

Im always supprised when the first advice given a new player is "Go get mods".

Good lord let him get it installed, patched, and working first :doh:

I highly recommend getting the uboat mission addittion if you did not get the gold version. It includes inclusive cumulative patches to version 1.5.

Good luck. :rock:

[Rockin Robbins]

Good point! I recommend playing the game for awhile with no mods whatever so you have a base reference. How could you possibly know if you like the changes a mod makes if you unfamiliar with what it changed FROM?

The unmodded game is quite good, certainly undeserving of those who say it's terrible. As usual, SteamWake, you make an excellent point.

In the case of my post, just do what it says but initially don't install any mods. You can copy all the mods you want into the MODS subdirectory without changing the game. Only after they are installed with JSGME do they have any influence.

[Kloef]

I said look at the mods,not install them and copy etc. etc.:salute:

Nevermind...

[SteveUK]

Have to agree although I'm a relative noob myself to the forums, patch to 1.5 U-boat missions first if you can. See your in the US so I think you can download it quite cheeply.

And I would recommend playing the stock game for a bit to get used to the way everything works then mod when your feeling brave! :DL

Oh and by the way welcome aboard your gonna love it here :salute:

[LogicalLobster]

Thanks for all the help guys, Ive downloaded 1.4 and once i learn the basics of the game Ill get into the mods :)

I just started playing and I find it is really confusing how to get started and the submarine school mode just tells you to get to a point and doesnt explain any of the controls at all. I dont even know how to find my sub on the map or how to steer it in the correct direction :(

For such a difficult game they should have made a tutorial that actually teaches you how to play.

[magic452]

Welcome aboard mate.

To find your sub just hold control and right click the mouse. The sub marker will be under the arrow. Set Speed on the telegraph dial ( the first of three lower right) Set course by clicking the compass. Set depth on the last dial.
There are gray tabs under the dials that will change the scale for each.

The F1 key will give you all the the keyboard commands.

You do most of your work on the Navigation map, so start there and just click all the buttons to see what they do, you can't hurt anything. The third button in will mark way points for navigation. That is the main tool for getting from one place to another.

Check out this link: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=146795

Play on easy mode till you get a feel for things, than you can step up the difficulty.

Just keep trying things and reading the form and you will soon get the hang of it. It is well worth the effort, believe me.

As you can see there are a lot of helpful captains here so ask away and we will try to help.

Magic

[LogicalLobster]

Thanks magic that helps out a lot :) I didnt even know where to get started before.

One more question, What does bearing mean? Like when the sonar guy says new contact bearing 250.

[Inner Sound]

Bearing 250 is slightly aft of port.

All the watchmen, be they visual, radar or sonic, tell you the bearings of things relative to your boat's heading, which is very helpful if you want to check it out through binocs or something, as the binocs - and your scopes and surface scope thingy - have matching bearings in them.

[SteveUK]

Bearing is based on a compas rose ie north being 0 east 90 south 180 and west 270.

So if you get a report of a ship bearing 250 it will be behind you in a roughly south westerly dircetion.

When you look at the nav map it's always pointing north, although your boat doesn't!

Dont worry my friend you will get the hang of it quickly and it's such a nice feeling once you start getting it all together and it starts clicking.

One other thing check out the hints, tips and tutorials on the forums as well it's well worth it :D

[DarkFish]

Bearing is based on a compas rose ie north being 0 east 90 south 180 and west 270.

So if you get a report of a ship bearing 250 it will be behind you in a roughly south westerly dircetion.but keep in mind that bearing is relative to your boat: bearing 0 is always straight ahead, no matter what course you have, bearing 90 is always 90 degrees to your starboard, bearing 180 is always directly behind you and bearing 270 is 90 degrees to your port.

[Rockin Robbins]

And let's get weird: the Germans use a different bearing system that starts at zero and ends at 180 on both sides.

By the American system a target 90º to port would be at bearing 270. The Germans would say bearing 90º port. They both work great and have their advantages and gotchas.

[Sailor Steve]

And let's get weird:
Okay then - but this is unrelated to bearing. The Germans also numbered everything on the ship from stern to bow. On a destroyer the #1 boiler room would be the aftermost.

[SteveUK]

Likewise unrelated but don't forget about the map grid - everything numbered and lettered!!