[Ducimus]

Originally Posted by Gangrene

I've read the whole manual and have decided to play the stock game until I get used to the new interface.

That is the common sentiment with either SH3, 4, or 5, but personally I disagree. The vanilla state of SH4, or 5, will probably traumatize you. I know it did me.

Playing SH3 for many years has got me used to that particular game...

I know the feeling.

First off, three questions(I've read the whole manual)

Ill stop that bus for a second. The manual to SH4 is garbage. Its basically a rewritten manual from SH3, with many details lacking or not updated to reflect the game proper.

1. In the manual it says there is a officer aiming assist setting in the realism settings. I'm not seeing it in game(like in the manual), all I am seeing is manual aiming and no officer assist, am I blind? I'm running version 1.5 with the add on game.

Your not seeing it, because its not there. The functionality is there in the game code, but it's not accessible through the UI. I believe the devs left it out, because it no longer functions correctly. They did alot of alteration to the games base code to account for the US TDC, and the imperial measurement system. So, in the process, i think they decided to cut WE assist.

2. Difficulty... In SH3 I believe the only "difficulty" is the realism... In SH4 there is realism settings and career difficulty. What exactly does that effect? Is is just AI? Is it the number of ships? Does this affect the realism(more or less ships / planes than there should be)? The manual doesn't give any help here. So, I put it on "normal"

The difficulty does nothing more then set default realism settings for a given difficulty level. In other words, realism settings work just like SH3, only you have some presets listed "difficulty level". For example, manual TDC might not be enabled on easy where it will be enabled on realistic. You can bypass this completely be selecting a custom realism setting.

3. Is there a max distance at current speed option for the "navigation officer" I can find time to end... As I've never played this game before I want to make sure I am going to be able to make it to my destination and back and it would be handy to know how far my U-boat can get at the various speeds.

Its in the game code, and it works, but not in the User Interface by default. This was added back by mods.

I'm sure I'll have more questions later. I started with the german campaign as I thought the transition might be easier german to german instead of diving into completely foreign territory and alien subs.

Unfortunately the German campaign is the least developed portion of SH4, and yet( ironically) it probably has the most potential. The US side really isn't that big of a leap when put in the context of Type 9 uboats. In a uboat players terms, the US side has no type 7's. Only type 9's. The difference between them, is much akin to the differences between a Type 9A, 9b, 9C, and 9C/41. An evolution of a design, or a refinement upon the previous one. If you can view it in that context, its much less confusing.

I really miss the officers in the corner(SH3), that made more sense to me as I was "talking to certain crew members" and asking areas of their expertise. It was a great menu system.

I could write an essay about this, but the gist of it all is I believe this bit was cut from SH3 because of User Interface issues. I think the biggest reason why the devs went with a "command bar" is because it was the easiest thing to resize based on the various monitor resolutions. Remember, SH3, only had one monitor resolution, and one aspect ratio, so the size and positioning of the various components of the UI was in fixed positions.

In Sh4, this is not so, because it supports many resolutions and aspect ratios. It's a nightmare to get it all working correctly, so i think they took the quick and expedient solution with a command bar along the bottom.

My personal advice, is to use keyboard shortcuts. At least thats what i did in SH3 anyway. Once i remapped the keys to a SH3 layout, it was MUCH easier to access the game.

I put it on high graphics... I have external camera on just so I can check the game out as I'm starting... There are rocks and plants on the sea bed! That's an upgrade!

You'll find SH4 has many upgrades, but there are also a couple missing features from SH3, so its a little give and take. So it may take a little time for the game to grow on you. Some years ago i did contemplate going back to SH3, but I just can't anymore, for several reasons:

1.) Greater resolution and aspect ratio support. My 1900 X 1080 monitor just doesnt like SH3, which admitidly , is starting to show its age.

2.) Load times are MUCH quicker in SH4. SH3 load times drive me insane.

3.) Greater choices, and alot of potential. Statistically speaking, with a fully modded US and German campaign, you conceivably have the option of skippering every Submarine type that plied the waters of the Pacific and Atlantic. That's alot of choices. In SH3, you have Half of that, and in Sh5, you only have 1/4 of that.