[panthercules]

Originally Posted by ryuzu

I've used the binocs to approach on the surface - no problem that I'm aware of.

Well, I like to be able to sweep the horizon with the binocs while I'm trying to make my end-around to reach position for my approach to the target - if 50% or more of the horizon is blocked by crew heads and superstructure while in binocs view, then this isn't really possible. Using the TBT as someone else suggested may be an acceptable workaround for now - I'll try it, but if it's essentially like using the UZO in SH3 then it won't really be the same thing, especially in darkness or near-darkness conditions when all the extra HUD elements on the UZO screen tended to make it really hard to see things out there in the dark. From a logical perspective, the TBT would presumably be even more limited in a fixed position than a guy with binoculars, so if everything can go "invisible" for the TBT view (which IRL certainly would not be able to get an unobstructed 360-degree view from its fixed position) then it certainly ought to be able to do so for the binocs view. Plus, using the UZO/TBT just doesn't "feel" the same (from an immersion perspective) as scanning with binocs - a small point to be sure, but for me a subsim is really all about the immersion factor. For me, without immersion it's just an arcade shooter, and there are certainly more interesting formats and genres if all you want is an arcade shooter.

Originally Posted by ryuzu

This can be avoided by turning off the Environmental Effects for now. You lose fog (and see through crew men) but you gain FPS. That fixed it for me (and it was a fairly rare event albeit extremely irritating).

I can try this - I'm not sure what losing see through crewmen means, but losing fog would be a huge sacrifice for me, since some of the more intense moments in SH3 came during approaches and attacks during "fog"/low visibility conditions, and I would hate not to be able to have fog work in SH4

Originally Posted by ryuzu

There are some issues with the TDC but nothing that should stop you putting in a decent performance with it (assuming you use it correctly - that requires a bit of readnig and experimenting just like the real thing).

Well, I haven't gotten to the point of conducting torpedo attacks yet, but from reading several threads here it sounds like there's still some significant bugs in the way the TDC/position keeper mechanism in game deals with targets on part side versus starboard side, and I haven't seen any indication that this has been fixed or a viable workaround developed yet. I don't mind spending time learning the new/different way the US version of this device worked compared to the German one in SH3 (in fact, I was looking forward to it), but I don't want to have to plan all my attacks to be from one particular side or invest a lot of time trying to learn how this thing works if it's not really working correctly in game yet, so I'm just saying that it seems better to wait on this part till the bugs get worked out of it.

Originally Posted by ryuzu

Graphics ..... in a sim - who cares? Wrong genre for that....

I sort of understand where you're coming from, but in some respects I couldn't disagree more - as noted above, the subsim genre is all about immersion - back when PC subsims were first introduced graphics didn't really matter all that much (as long as you could tell that 2 blocks and 1 stick was a destroyer and 4 blocks and 2 sticks was a freighter) because anything on the PC was more immersive than playing Avalon Hill's submarine board game. By now however, graphics have become critical for immersion - the time and effort the devs (and the modders) have obviously spent in both SH3 and SH4 improving sub, ship, water, explosion, fire, smoke, crew and other graphical elements of the game is a testament to that, and in general they've done a fantastic job improving the graphical "look and feel" of the series as it has progressed from version to version. That's what makes this jaggies business seem like such a giant step backwards, and I really hope the devs are able to put this right as they seem to be committed to do.

Originally Posted by ryuzu

From your description, itr seems like you've just heard all those problems repeated by others rather than tried them out for yourself to see how much of an issue they really are. There is rather a lot of disinformation going around about SH4 at the moment.

It's true that since my copy didn't arrive till recently I have done more reading that playing up to this point. However, I have now tried it out at least a little and have confirmed at least those problems I mentioned (except for the TDC thing, whch I haven't gotten to yet as noted above). I have great faith that the devs will eventually get this thing patched up to where it will become playable, and I'm glad that there are some folks who are able/willing to keep trying to play it now and thereby in essence serve as beta testers who can keep pointing out issues for the devs to address. I was just hoping that it would be a bit closer to playable at this stage.