One of the primary differences between the PTO and the ATO was that the combination of vast distances and lower total traffic meant that US submariners spent more of their time hunting for targets and less time attacking them. By way of compensation, the density of ASW forces was also much lower, both because of the smaller size of the IJN and those great distances. Playing SH3 and SH4 accurately reflects this, particularly if you play RFB and one of the SH3 supermods. It's not everyone's cuppa and it requires a different mindset. But it does portray the situation as described in the first-person accounts of both sides.
A typical patrol area in SH3, a single grid "square" (sic) is less than 20,000 square km, A patrol area of 100 nm around a center point (typical in SH4) is over 100,000 square km. And the densest traffic lanes in the Atlantic - the Western Approaches, are a few hundred kilometers from German bases, while the dense traffic lanes around the Japanese Home Islands are more than 5000 km from Midway, the US forward base for much of the war. So the problems posed by the two games are quite different.
IIRC, TMO tries to create a situation nearer to the ATO for SH4. TMO increases the traffic density significantly, while making the Japanese ASW much more deadly. It's a way to make the transition to SH4 feel more familiar.
You might also read some of the US first-person accounts. Most of the hunting techniques they used R/L will work in SH4.
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