Silent Hunter 3 4 5 ? [Archive] - SUBSIM Radio Room Forums

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gungunx

03-31-11, 10:53 AM

Hello i'm generaly new to sub sims (last time played was silent service and silent hunter in 90's )

Which SH should i get ?

3 with GWX maybe 4 or 5 ?

Which is the most fun and provides good singleplayer campaign ?

Herr-Berbunch

03-31-11, 10:57 AM

Don't ask that question here! :nope:

My advice is get all three, they're so cheap now. And decide for yourself.

Needless to say, whichever you choose I'd recommend you go to the downloads section and get a good number of mods for all.

Welcome aboard :salute:

Gerald

03-31-11, 10:59 AM

:up: You can explore the surroundings here, take a closer look at what YOU think is right for you.

maillemaker

03-31-11, 11:01 AM

I remember the old Silent Service! Man that was some cutting edge stuff at the time!

I've only every played SH3, so I can't comment on 4 and 5.

The things that I have heard about 5 that annoy me are:

1) War ends in 1943
2) Lack of submarine classes
3) Phone-home DRM at start-up

Steve

gungunx

03-31-11, 11:17 AM

Anyone that actualy played all three can give me some info? It would be appreciated, as I don't want to spend money on 3 games.

Gerald

03-31-11, 11:24 AM

Anyone that actualy played all three can give me some info? It would be appreciated, as I don't want to spend money on 3 games.

Personally, I would say, SH3, because I play it, can be a good start, a good and developed the game, with many opportunities and examples GWX at the top of the SH3,link for GWX

http://www.filefront.com/user/JimbunaGWX2/ (Mods etc.)

SkyBaron

03-31-11, 11:29 AM

IMO, it depends on what you want to experience.

Want to experience a complete U-boat war simulation? Get SH3 + GWX and read GWX's awesome manual.

Want to experience the US submarine war against Japan in the Pacific? Get Sh4 + TMO or RFB.

Want to experience a Type VII only simulation with current graphics? Get SH5 + MO megamod.

Jimbuna

03-31-11, 11:47 AM

Gargamel

03-31-11, 01:55 PM

Well here's the thing. The above posts are great, but they may not tell you what game you'll like.

I know you can get SH3 for under $5 on steam on a good day, and about $10 normally. SH4 runs about $20+ with the xpacs, and I'm not sure about SH5.

If money really is an issue (I empathize, trust me), Then I'd start with SH3. The mods for SH3 are the most complete, vs the still (well done) WIP's that the other 2 have. But you can get a feel for what the series has to offer with little cost to you.

Remember, it's a Sim more than a game. Some patrols take weeks of real time for me to play. The game can get very monotonous at times. But that's what makes it great. It's a sim.

I've seen many discussion son these boards about how the various items on a boat operated historically, and then how it applies in game. Most games are totally out of touch with reality. This game, and the modders, have made strides to make it as historically accurate as possible.

Dunno if that helps at all, just my 2c.

Herr-Berbunch

03-31-11, 02:35 PM

Me again. It also depends on your system specs!

Sailor Steve

03-31-11, 03:54 PM

SH3 still has the best combination of overall gameplay and feel.

SH4 is much better graphically and has some good improvements over SH3, and modders have made it much better, but still lacking a lot of SH3 mods' little details it desparately needs.

SH5 is still better in the graphics department, and adds a lot of graphic detail, but has disappointed many with things that should have been fixed but weren't, some things that were actually made worse, and things that were basically wrong turns in the development department. Many players love it, many hate it, and some say "It's okay, but..."

So the choice really is yours to make, as all of them have great points, and all three have bad points.

I remember the old Silent Service! Man that was some cutting edge stuff at the time!
AOTD and SH1 were vast improvements, having a full random campaign that allowed you to start anytime during the war.

I've only every played SH3, so I can't comment on 4 and 5.
Then you're missing out on a lot of improvements that SH3 can't compete with. On the other hand, SH3 has campaign features that still haven't been fixed in the others.

The things that I have heard about 5 that annoy me are:

1) War ends in 1943
Partly fixed by a great mod. Still needs some improvement, and it's getting there.

2) Lack of submarine classes
But full-blown models of all Type VII sub-variants, with animated crew and full walk-around, which is why they couldn't do the other types. Frustrating for me, but they had their reasons. It's a trade-off that some like and some don't.

3) Phone-home DRM at start-up
Better than what they started with, which was a full-time online requirement. That's the only reason I didn't buy it at the start, and still won't.

Bakkels

03-31-11, 03:56 PM

Remember, it's a Sim more than a game. Some patrols take weeks of real time for me to play. The game can get very monotonous at times. But that's what makes it great. It's a sim.

That's very true. However, also don't feel put off by this. The great thing about Silent Hunter 3 (but I assume this applies to 4 and 5 too) is that you can make it as sim-like or arcade-like as you want it to be.

Want the hard-core sim feeling? Check all the realism options and don't touch the time compression. This will give you the patrols Gargamel is talking about. Just want a quick game? Uncheck some realism options and shorten the boring trip to you patrol zone by setting time compression to x1000. Or you can choose anything in between.

I can't tell you which game is the best. I only play sh3. But that's because with all the mods I like it so much I never felt the urge to get sh4 or sh5.

Fish In The Water

03-31-11, 08:19 PM

Victor Schutze

03-31-11, 09:02 PM

I never felt the urge to get sh4 or sh5.

Same here. If you use lots of mods on top of one of the megamods, use JSGME to enable them. Trial and error to cope with mods soup. Ask in the forums if you experience any difficulties.

Hey, I played Silent Service too on a Commodore computer. The game had to be loaded from a tape.:haha:

Welcome:salute:

Fish In The Water

03-31-11, 11:33 PM

Hey, I played Silent Service too on a Commodore computer. The game had to be loaded from a tape.:haha:

Scary to think there was a time when 'loading from tape' was state of the art. Sends chills down your spine... :nope:

Snestorm

03-31-11, 11:55 PM

SH3 for The Atlantic. (My reccomendation).

or

SH4 for The Pacific.

SH5 not reccomended.

Gargamel

04-01-11, 09:33 AM

Scary to think there was a time when 'loading from tape' was state of the art. Sends chills down your spine... :nope:

I sued to do programming on a TI something or other (4a?). It was saved and loaded from a cassette tape. For SNG's I would listen to it on the stereo. Drove my parents insane.

STEED

04-01-11, 09:46 AM

Forget SH5 its all there in SH3 With GWX3.0 Gold. :DL

I got SH3 & SH4 only and play them about...SH3 80% SH4 20%

gungunx

04-01-11, 10:40 AM

I've decided to go with SH 3 + gwx.

Finished training, like it overall. I got a question though, how i can set on map if ship is friendly or hostile? I'm not so hardcore enough to play without this.

Herr-Berbunch

04-01-11, 10:58 AM

I've decided to go with SH 3 + gwx.

Finished training, like it overall. I got a question though, how i can set on map if ship is friendly or hostile? I'm not so hardcore enough to play without this.

A wise choice, sir.

Depending on your realism options you can see friend or foe. I think (off the top of my head) that red is enemy, blue is friendly and green is neutral. I'm sure it'll be in the GWX manual (don't print if you like the environment!). Shoot at green and they'll be your enemy for the next 24 hours or so.

Gargamel

04-01-11, 11:02 AM

I've decided to go with SH 3 + gwx.

Finished training, like it overall. I got a question though, how i can set on map if ship is friendly or hostile? I'm not so hardcore enough to play without this.

Theres a mod to return the color back to the map. But, in reality it's simple. If you're near friendly waters, check the flags real closely. But if you're that close to friendly waters, chances are they're not enemies.

Neutral ships are usually lit up, so they don't get shot, but not always the case. Anytime you see a ship, just identify it by the flag they are flying, and use the flag pulldown on the scope/uzo.

frau kaleun

04-01-11, 11:39 AM

GWX removes the color-coding from the units in the game, so as Gargamel has noted the only way to tell their affiliation is to ID them correctly by flags or other markings.

Or as also noted you can use the Contact Color Mod, which will put the colors (as well as the navigational tails) back on your map:

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/downloads.php?do=file&id=33

Herr-Berbunch was correct about the colors: red=enemy, blue=friendly, green=neutral.

Happy hunting!

Jimbuna

04-01-11, 04:05 PM

desirableroasted

04-01-11, 04:10 PM

Also, if you look closely in the GWX manual, you will notice that all merchants belong to a set of merchant marine fleets.

For widely used ships, that means you will still have to make a visual ID. But if, for example, you come across an Empire-class freighter, have at it -- only the UK and Canada have it.

I've printed that part of the list out... saves time and worry.

GoldenRivet

04-01-11, 04:38 PM

Gungunx

Ask for opinions and you will get them.

as far as i'm concerned, SH3 with GWX3 and a few other mods is the best world war two era subsim available at the moment.

unfortunately, just days after getting back into SH3 i upgraded to windows 7 and it will not work with win7 without some changes being made.

at the moment i am too lazy to make them.

good luck.

i suppose the best advice would be to play all three and keep the one you enjoy the most.

I find Sh4 just lacks the right "feel" for reasons i can't quite put my finger on... and that SH5 is just too deeply buried in the role playing element to be enjoyable as a sim.

Fish In The Water

04-01-11, 07:21 PM

I've decided to go with SH 3 + gwx..

Great call...

Good to have you on board! :salute:

gungunx

04-02-11, 04:00 AM

I have 2 patrols on me right now.

I started in 1939 and the fiirst patrol was fairly easy as it was pre-war everyone was neutreal and there was nothing to torp , i just enjoyed the ride.

But the 2nd , oh boy !.

I'm with the 2nd flotilla in the VIIb sub. After leaving the docks I set my sights on Poland! After recieving the first radio chatters i said ' WOW' haven't seen anything like this before, pretty cool ! I recieved information about the war and what is going on.

I arrived at the Polish shore, and spotted my first ship on the horizon. Ordered my men to dive the sub to periscope depth and searched for my target. It was 1am , heavy rain was pouring and i couldn't see the flag nor the type of the ship.
After some time i noticed it changed its course and it's heading for me !!! I identified it as a some type of warship! 'oh boy, first combat patrol and i'm gonna get it' i thought. I dived to 50 meters put on the silent mode and started to pull out , but i heard the sonar pinging !!. The warship started to bomb me with the depth charges. He made 2-3 passes and missed. 'Whew, now that is over' i thought. I ordered my men to flank speed , but that was a bad decision. The warship found me and this time the depth charges were a direct hit !!. My sub was badly damaged, a few men died, compartments were damaged or unoperational, lights went out !!! I was scared !! I'm in this tin can 60m under water and cannot do a thing and its dark in here ! My men are dead , i'm gaining water and i can hear pressure damaging my ship. Sub took much damage, and pressure took it's tool. 2nd patrol was last for this tub.:down:

The hunter becamed the hunted.

all i can say is WoW this sim is great, next time i'll attack merchants and avoid the warships lol !

Fish In The Water

04-02-11, 06:46 AM

all i can say is WoW this sim is great, next time i'll attack merchants and avoid the warships lol !

Glad to hear you enjoyed it so much...

We've all taken our fair share of lumps, (especially at first), so hang in there and keep working on your tactics! I think you'll find the time you put in will pay off handsomely with a sweet reward.

Thanks for keeping us up-to-date, and good hunting! :DL

Snestorm

04-03-11, 05:45 AM

Looks like we have another SH3 addict.

Welcome to our world.

Gargamel

04-03-11, 04:08 PM

Hehehehehe... Glad you enjoyed it. Never attempted to go to poland though. I thought about it, but by the time I was done thinking, they had folded.

Check out some of the threads here on evasion and such, I think you'll live a lot longer. :yeah::arrgh!:

Fish In The Water

04-03-11, 08:55 PM

Never attempted to go to poland though. I thought about it, but by the time I was done thinking, they had folded.

Short and sweet...

To quote an old Trooper song:

"We're here for a good time, not a long time..." :woot: