SH3 vs SH4?

[RedMenace]

Which do you prefer? :hmmm:

[Sailor Steve]

Both.

[Randomizer]

Yes.

[RedMenace]

Both.

B-b-but that's not a preference! :o

[razark]

U-boats: SH3.
Fleet boats: SH4.

The question is "Which is better, u-boats or fleet boats?"
:dead:

[RedMenace]

Sorry, I'm a bit new to the mod community, so feel free to rip me a new one, but AFAIK there isn't a single supermod that adds as much to SH4 as the numerous supermods that exist for SH3.

So, I assumed, as far as modders go, some people would have a preference between the two.

[CCIP]

I prefer SH4, because it's a much more stable and better-looking engine. Both the Atlantic and Pacific campaigns are covered superbly by mods.

HOWEVER, there is a downside: because far more modders have worked on SH3, there are still a lot of things and features that are not available in SH4. This includes a ton of objects, things like extended interiors, the recent .exe fixes, and perhaps most importantly - SH3 commander. All those things still make SH3 worth keeping. If it was not for that extra modding work, SH4 would be absolutely better than SH3 in all ways.

[Sailor Steve]

B-b-but that's not a preference! :o
Actually it is, because both have much to offer. I would explain further, but CCIP just stole the very words I was going to use. How he did that before I could use them is a mystery for which there is an explanation, but it's one I'm not sure I want to explore.

Like him, it's only things like GWX, with its blimps and other cool stuff, the MFM, the St Naz, Wilhelmshaven & Kiel mod, and of course Commander, that keep me playing SH3. SH4 has stability, graphics and little tweaks like correct crew management and the awesome General Quarters thing.

So yes, I prefer both.

[msumpsi]

Which do you prefer? :hmmm:
It is a better platform and you are on the right side of humankind. Plus the main strategy of german U boats was the wolfpack to neutralized the convoy sistem and in sh3 you are the only uboat in the whole atlantic hunting. Unless you ge to play with friends and form wolfpacks it is you against the convoys.

[msumpsi]

Which do you prefer? :hmmm:
Go the pacifrto to mention that theater was a much more rich scenario than the atlentic, with all the major nabal battles and engagements around the islands. Not worth playng without RSRD campaign and then use TMO or RFB supermods to make things a little harder. RFB is to me similar to NYGM in sh3, and TMO is more of thhe kind of GWX.

[sharkbit]

Plus the main strategy of german U boats was the wolfpack to neutralized the convoy sistem and in sh3 you are the only uboat in the whole atlantic hunting. Unless you ge to play with friends and form wolfpacks it is you against the convoys.

H.sie and Stiebler have done some wonderful work with their realism patches for SH3, which include limited wolfpacks. :up:

To the OP- nothing says you can't play both SH3 and SH4 as the mood suits you. Both are excellent games with excellent mods. Both will be on my computer for years to come.

:)

[boneman]

Like him, it's only things like GWX, with its blimps and other cool stuff, the MFM, the St Naz, Wilhelmshaven & Kiel mod, and of course Commander, that keep me playing SH3. SH4 has stability, graphics and little tweaks like correct crew management and the awesome General Quarters thing.

What is exactly the "general Quarters thing"?:hmmm:

[Sailor Steve]

What is exactly the "general Quarters thing"?:hmmm:
In SH4 the crew is divided into watch bills that rotate themselves. One watch is shown as on duty while the other two are shown as doing maintainence or spending time to themselves, including sleeping. When about to go into combat you can call 'General Quarters' and they will all wake up and go to their duty stations. If the lesser officers and petty officers were on duty they are replaced by the senior man, so every station is filled with the best crew. Graphically you also see this happen, plus the control room is filled with a couple of extra men turning wrenches and manning stations. It's cool to watch and it greatly aids the efficiency.

The only downside is if you forget to relieve them when the danger is over. You might suddenly find the boat shutting down because everyone stayed at their duty stations as ordered and all collapsed from exhaustion.

[RedMenace]

'General Quarters'

IIRC it's called "Battlestations" in stock

[Sailor Steve]

Could be. In the navy that was a term only used secondarily, as in "General quarters! General quarters! All hands man your battle stations!"

But they got a lot of things wrong in the game, many of which have never been fixed, even by modders.

[sharkbit]

The only downside is if you forget to relieve them when the danger is over. You might suddenly find the boat shutting down because everyone stayed at their duty stations as ordered and all collapsed from exhaustion.

Nope, nope....not me. :nope: Never done that before. Not me. :oops:

:)

[CCIP]

Could be. In the navy that was a term only used secondarily, as in "General quarters! General quarters! All hands man your battle stations!".

Well, the general quarters alarm in TMO and RFB is certainly authentic :D Stock game just has the bell, without the voice.

I think the little icon on the top says "Battle Stations", as does the keyboard shortcut. I suppose it's not entirely a problem per se, because as a status of the boat, saying that "the crew is at their battle stations" is not wrong or anything.

And yeah, I really like the crew management in SH4. The downside is that it's less "interactive" - I hardly ever even touch the crew except in port, but honestly it doesn't make sense for a captain to be "babysitting" his crew anyway. Some people say they miss the "interactiveness" from SH3, but I honestly don't see why - SH3 doesn't do a great job of reflecting how a real submarine's crew functions in routine operations (which is 99% of the time on any navy ship). SH5 goes too far in the other direction and basically tries to turn the crew into role-playing NPCs, removing the routine functions of most of the crew entirely. SH4 got it right, as far as crew realism goes.

[fireftr18]

CCIP, I agree. They seemed to hit the magic mark where you have to do something to get the best crew arrangement you can get without making it so complicated that it gets frustrating or tedious.

[Sailor Steve]

Nope, nope....not me. :nope: Never done that before. Not me. :oops:

:)
Aye that! When SH4 was released people started posting complaints almost immediately. There were two different complaints, and they were both legitimate and they were both funny.

Complaint 1) "I really hate it when I'm running silent, and all of a sudden this booming voice shouts 'Watch change, watch change!' How do I make it stop?"

Go to General Quarters.

Complaint 2) "My crew has all gone to sleep and I can't get any of the lazy slugs to do anything!"

Secure from General Quarters.

[Sandman_28054]

I like 'em both.

SH4 TMO 2.0 says it all.

However, SH3 with its" Exit Mission" option, well, what can I say. :rock:

[BigWalleye]

For me, the difference is simple: SH4 is all about the US Navy Submarine Service. SH3 is all about the German U-boat fleet. Consequently, I'm just not interested in SH3. YMMV

[igorlikespike]

Well, as saying goes, you never forget the first one, so it has to be SH3 - simply because when comparing vanilla SH3 with vanilla SH4, the former is absolutely superior - just check Subsim Reviews Page score. When I logged in to Subsim and found GWX Gold with MFM mod and SH3 Commander, that was IT! I seriously considered binnig SH4 althogether, but then found TMO and RSRD mods and decided to retain SH4.

[Arlo]

For me, the difference is simple: SH4 is all about the US Navy Submarine Service. SH3 is all about the German U-boat fleet. Consequently, I'm just not interested in SH3. YMMV


My mileage doesn't. :)

[jaxa]

I play both - SH3 with GWX and SH4 with OM. SH3/GWX with his superb dynamic campaign, hsie's modified exe, MFM and SH3Commander is really fantastic work with one thing outdated today - graphic. I try to polish it using MEP mod (the best graphic addon for SH3 imho), but graphic engine reached his limits. SH4/OM is quite good, especially for his eyecandy graphic much better than SH3, but it would be the best using all mods created for SH3/GWX, especially modified exe and SH3Commander. Problem is who could do it - search SH4 ATO forum and check number of visitors and modders comparing to SH3 workshop forum. The last guy who tried to create something new for SH4/OM was Traveller, but he lost his work and abandoned subsim community. Only Tomi try to do something using his talent for creating 3D works.
SH4/OM with SH3/GWX capabilities could beat SH5 with no problem, but for unknown reasons talented modders aren't interested in this.

[jscharpf]

I apologize if I am de-tracking this thread, but does SH5 play a role anywhere here?
The reason I ask is I now have all 3 games.
I love SH3 and all of it's mods. And there is now a widescreen mod.
So:
SH3 is great if I want to play the U-boad Atlantic campaign.
SH4 is for when I want to play as an American.

SH5 confuses me.. because I struggle .. trying to like it... the latest mods make it a beautiful game..you're limited to the VII and it just doesn't have the same feel as I had with SH3. I'm not sure how to explain it. but it feels like you're forced into a scripted career rather than being able to go out and hunt and come home and improve..etc..

Again, sorry for moving this slightly off topic, I know it was SH3 vs SH4 but I was wondering what everyone thought of SH3-SH4-SH5.. :hmmm:


Jeff

[razark]

I apologize if I am de-tracking this thread
I wouldn't worry too much about derailing a four year old thread.

[captcrane]

I agree with msumpsi on the being on the right side of humankind. I went from SHCE to Silent Hunter 4. Personally I could not see myself sinking allied ships

[Pisces]

Well, as saying goes, you never forget the first one, ...In that case, SH1 FTW!!!

I wouldn't worry too much about derailing a four year old thread.:/\\!!