I wouldn't mind much being able to start right outside the port, or out on the open sea, but to jump all the way to the "front line" is a bit too much.

I'd just like to chime in on the 'Jump to action' thingy. I agree 100% with stabiz. That's what single missions are for.

IMO, it would be rediculous to put in something like that in the campaign. The whole deal is that noone really should know when and where they will run into the enemy. Too many people think they need to skip by huge sections of water to get to a certain area, but what you've done is possibly skip by half the targets you would have encountered if you'd actually covered the territory in the first place. And after skipping ahead, you arrive to find no targets. Well dumby, you just went right past 2 big convoys because you were in too much of a hurry to get somewhere which may or may not have any targets anyway. Get my point? :damn: :know:

But yes, it would be nice to be able to turn TC up without missing something or ending up dead by doing so. ;)

Something just occured to me, though, while looking at that screenshot with the spectacularly exploding bombers.

Silent Hunter 4 is aimed in part at the action player - the people who want to be fighting 80% of the time. Given that, I think it's possible that there might be an option to start out on sea after all, for those people.

However, I don't really know how it'd work. We already do have a "Skip to next action sequence" feature - it's called 1024-4000+ time compression.

i like start in port , adds a lot in the gameplay an inmersion.

But for people who don´t want it i´m sure that modders can change start location coordinades to other place like milcows in sh1.:yep:

other question is where is the torpedo management screen ?? :doh:

It's easy to change starting places in SHIII. You just change the location of the port itself.

It looks great but with me still waiting for games like Blackshark, Armed Assault and updates for Steel Beasts Pro I've learned NEVER to believe the dates that are quoted.

Honestly.... are they on schedule for a March 15th release? If they are pre-beta demo NOW they will have to work their butts off to get it released when they say so.

Excellent preview Neal. :rock:

Excellent work Neal....thank you for that preview. I am really looking forward to SH4. :up:

The only thing negative imo is the fact that there will be less 3D interior space than SH3. My understanding is that the Captain's quarters and radio room will not be modeled. I am sure SH4 will make up for this loss in other areas but it really adds to the immersion factor and its absence will be missed.
One thing I loved about SH3 was hanging out in the various rooms/compartments....where will my Captain sleep now? I guess I'll have to find some space near the bilge pumps...

I have to admit, I'd kind of lost interest in subsims in a major way over the last year or so but this has whetted my appetite big time. It's looking very impressive and a definite improvement over SH3.

I'm still uncertain about the campaign though. Is it like the one in SH3 or is it more 'mission' based and less free roaming? Anyone got any links where I might find out more about it?

Egan :rock:

It's like SHIIIs, with the obvious improvements. I think missions are just assigned on a random basis as you go; certainly noone would even so much as try to take away SHIIIs campaign. Right in the first interview with the SHIV devs, they emphasized how right the community was when they lobbied for a 'dynamic' campaign in SHIII and how they would never step back from that.

[edit]

Here's a source for you, from the first dev interview...
http://www.subsim.com/ssr/sh4/sh4_interview1.php

SHI had free roaming (within the patrol zone, as they had "jump to"--not action but patrol zone); and every so often you would get a radio message to go to X harbor and take photographs, or to Y city in advance of a bombing raid for potential lifeguard (pilot rescue) missions.

SH4 looks like it will have a similar system, but with lots more.:sunny:

CCIP & Steve: good to see you guys again! Hope you are both doing good.

Well, SH3 campaign plus special assignments sounds just about perfect. I read about the missions but didn't quite understand how they fit in. Looking forward to some stealthy insertions ( Although hopefully it won't be quite as rude as it sounds there....:lol: )

CCIP - You tried Red Viper yet? ;) That 3d pit with 6DOF......wow!

Anyway, can't wait for SH4. I'm dusting off my ciopy of Spike Jone's 'You're a sap mister Jap,' already..:up:

It is. We saw that in a trailer.

[quote=Sailor Steve]I just took a closer look at the Crew Management Screen

http://www.subsim.com/sh4/images/c_screen_sh4_1.jpg

Oustanding! Captain no longer needs to personnally wake up the crew to relieve the watch.

A few issues I'd like to comment on. I believe a past post brought this up, where are the "Dolphins"? Not having them would be a big dissapointment. They are what seperated sub sailors from the rest of the Navy and was a high point in a sailors carreer when they recieved them. I also believe to be OOD (Officer of the Deck) one needed to have gold dolphins. If they are included a nice touch would be improved damage control skills for a dolphin wearing crew member. This would show the crew member has intimate knowledge of his boat.

I like the fact that there are more petty officers than seamen. This is correct in modern US subs and was correct in WW2 boats. Though the issue I have is that the enlisted men's rates are like SH3 and too generic. It seems that SH4 only has engine room personnel, torpedomen, radio, helmsmen and gunners. What I would like to see would be Machinist Mates, Electrician Mates and Enginemen in the engineering spaces. Radiomen and Sonar men should be seperate rates as well. Would also be nice to see the cooks and stewards. They would not be in the watchbill but could be used for battlestions. I think there also was a rating for radar operators (RT?) but they came maybe in 43 or 44. I think (know) that I am forgetting some ratings.

While the above issues won't stop me from buying the game, I think that they definitley add to the immersion and realism of the game.