From SH4 to . . .
 

Ahoy mates. I'm a long time sh4ite, and I still enjoy OM and play frequently. I couldn't pass up the Amazon offer on SH3 and SH5 a few months ago and bought both. Now, having been around more than a handful of decades, I'll say in advance I'm the old dog wishing to avoid new tricks wherever possible. Given that, what I am requesting is opinions on which of the two games I can most easily move into. I'm not looking for which game has best graphics, realism, etc. What I would like to know - is SH3 or SH5 closest to 4 in terms of hotkeys, icons, layouts, etc. Any comments from the old salts? I'll head to the hammock to await your reply. (Or mid rats, whichever comes first.)

I'd say that it's easier to switch between SH4 and SH3

That's what I would have guessed, but haven't installed either one yet and wouldn't know. I'm also guessing the base install of SH3 is less buggy than the basic SH4. I guess I'll find out! Thanks for the feedback.:salute:

Go for SH3, mate... so much will be familiar, whereas if you choose SH5 you're probably in for a world of frustration because almost everything is changed. Not least the ability to 'walk' around the boat, which can be problematic; if you are on the bridge, for example, then you will find that you must go below before you can order a dive. And if you've forgotten this, you face being blasted out of the water while you stand there scratching your head. Not everyone can get the hang of 'walking around' like this... climbing ladders etc... as for me I have no real trouble, being a vet of countless FPS games, except I do occasionally seem to get my trouser leg snagged on something

At the very basic levels you'll find rudder controls the same between SH3 & 4... also keys for commands like Periscope-Depth, Surface The Boat, Crash-Dive etc are unchanged. The clickable depth-gauge, compass and helm are still right there in front of you (unlike SH5, where you seem to have to search for everything) plus in SH3 you have your always visible pop-out at the left of the screen, enabling you to visit stations quickly and easily, or the use of 'F' keys if you prefer

Helm controls are a confused nightmare when you're new to SH5... an illogical mix of Shift, NumLock and [] keys will send you up the wall: sometimes you'll be headed straight down the maw of a destroyer and unable to order a hard to port or starboard because you can't remember how to do it

Basic periscope controls are the same for SH4 & 3 (Pg Up/Down & rotate with arrow keys or mouse, with Shift key to speed things up). Not so with SH5... here you only get to rotate the scope using the mouse. This I hate, as do many others... also you must zoom using the mousewheel in SH5

I love SH3 more than any of the others... to me the graphics are still wonderful but I find it far more exciting to fight the boat in this game. Although others might say it can be too easy, I like my flight sims the same way... to be able to get on with flying and fighting rather than starting from cold and endlessly twiddling knobs

Thanks Eich! SH3 it is. I've got to say we seem to enjoy the same gaming style, in the air or under the water. To me, the captain just issues a command and it's done. At least that's how it worked when I was a bluejacket!:03: