I'm not really sure on the batteries the S class. It was a antique when they employed them for combat. The fleet boats were on the table and in the works so any type of upgrade for the S class was, for the most part, non-existent. But, the pig boat was used quite a bit in the Asiatic Fleet. Deep breath....I suspect the charging did take a bit of time as the batteries for this boat were not the best. She is like the Type II but even the Type II was way ahead of the S class. Like the German boats, one engine was used to charge the battery while surfaced. But, if the player realizes the S class needs to be nursed concerning the batteries, she can be a nasty little boat. I had one for 5 patrols until I got a sportier model. Lots of tonnage
The weather in the game IMHO works a bit better than SH3. Yes, it will start the clock over if you save but....the weather changes more frequently and with some regularity. I decided to sit on the bridge at TC X32 to watch what the weather does. I had a blue cloudless sky and over a period of 3 hours the fine wisps of clouds rolled in that turned into overcast skys then into a full fledge rainy day. So, there is some dynamice to the weather and if you are nut who likes to play real time you will see the weather change. All in all, I have not experienced over 5 weeks of rain as I did in SH3.
Action....start in the Asiatic Fleet. You will be closer to the action. If you are playing unmodded traffic, there were be more targets than you care to count. Often you will out of torpedoes before you hit your assigned patrol area....just sinking things on the way. Therefore, modding has been done to handle historical traffic. However it is fun to have a bunch of targets every now and then. Play vanilla for a few patrols and you will see that the traffic needs a good strong mod. Run Silent Run Deep handled this and in darn good fashion. The mod was logically put together with historical traffic and Lurker who created it sends you to logical places for patrols. Now, if a message says there will be a convoy at 110 x 02, please intercept if you are in position to do so does not mean the convoy will fall into your lap, you have to hunt it! Makes for a bit of a challenge and a good time. This is one of the differences between SH3 and SH4. As you know, SH3 just had a grid to patrol. SH4 is moddable to add any mission the modder wants. The mission can be changed while enroute to the assigned patrol area...such as a task force in such and such a spot, go find it and sink it if your close enough. Things of that nature. Lurker did a great job in this respect.
Glad you are giving it a try again....I know you had thrown your hands up in the air with the original release. So did a bunch of others. Right now it is a great game it you let it be.
The S-Class affectionately known as 'The Pig Boat'.
