brand new to Silent Hunter 4
 

Hello! I am new to Silent Hunter 4 and to Subsim and this forum. I just installed it on Monday and am trying to learn to use it. I have past experience in Harpoon and more recent experience in Flight Simulator 2020, among other software.

I learned of SH4 just a few days ago, from a comment posted to a Youtube video about US subs in WW2. Yes I'm aware that it is old but it looks well-made to me.

A part 2 about my in-game experience will follow.


Pat M.

great! welcome to subsim.

since you're new to SH4 you'll probably want to review this forum:

https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/sho...d.php?t=219029

and then one of these two forums, depending on your OS:

Win10

Win11

Welcome aboard!
 

pmcmull!:Kaleun_Salute:

learning curve begins
 

I bought SH4 on Steam and installed it there. But outside of Program Files directory. Running it unmodified for now. Upped the resolution to 1920 x 1080.


Started in the tutorial missions. Learning the controls and keyboard commands. Probably need to print the key assignments. It took me awhile to figure out how to read the radio messages. Artillery mission made some challenges. Deck gun was easy enough after learning to adjust range. AA gun I have not got successful yet. Shot down the 2 large planes (PBYs ?). Ran out of ammo, twice, trying to get the smaller planes. Very hard to target and lead the planes correctly. Shot one down but need to get 2 to complete, I think. Exact goal is not stated. The last time I had one plane trailing smoke and another plane looking like it was on fire but neither one crashed.
Torpedo mission against cruiser not moving and not shooting back. Easy.
Convoy mission. A whole 'nother level of challenge. I've failed 2 or 3 times so far. Learning about the depth charges the hard way. First time, depth charges destroyed the periscopes among other damage. Seemed no way to continue without periscopes as surfacing would be suicidal. The last try, I got past a screening destroyer and fairly close to nearest cargo ships. Thru the scope, I don't know how to get the range. I fired all 4 of the forward torpedoes at 3 of the ships. Then had to dive to escape approaching destroyers. I got reports of 2 or 3 hits but unknown if any were sunk. After taking a beating from the DDs, not in very good condition. And catching up with the convoy would seem to require a surface run that seemed unlikely. I saved, but wait until nightfall to try again?


Any tips would be appreciated, if you remember back to being new in the vanilla version. Good to see that there is a community for this. :)



Pat

Thanks for quick reply. I will check that out.

I am running on Win10. It seems to be running OK from the install. I did put it in a directory on the D: drive in anticipation of installing mods eventually.


Pat

are you using manual or auto-targeting?
if you are starting out, i recommend auto-targeting.
you set that option from the main screen, then OPTIONS.

if the box is checked, then uncheck it. then click Apply.
now when you are submerged and closing the range on a target, put the scope pipper on the target and you will see a little arrowhead in either red, yellow, or green. press the 'L' key (lower case will be fine). you are now "locked" onto the target and the range will display. when the AOB and range are within tolerance, fire the torpedo. the "L" key is a toggle, so L to lock, and then L to unlock.

give it a try.
:Kaleun_Wink:

Looks like I have the auto-targeting set. I could use a practice scenario where I have just one ship to chase, instead of that convoy.

check out the single missions and war patrols. there may be an easy one hidden in the pile. it's been a long time since i played them.:doh:

:sign_yeah:

With the update to 1.5, I see some changes. There are more scenarios available in the Quick Missions and maybe the War Patrols. I have started checking them out. I will start a new thread on my progress.