steam sh4

[Nisroc00]

I have a steam SH4 and oddly it is only version 1.3 is it safe to patch to 1.4 or 1.5?

[Hylander_1314]

You are better off to patch it to 1.5 (the UBoat Mission add on). Fixes a lot of issue the original stock game had, and the mods for SH4 are for the most part geared toward version 1.5.

Check around though for adding mods to the Steam version of the game. Some folks have had issues with it, mainly because of the way Steam loads onto the hard drive from what i can tell.

[A Hidden Soul]

I have the game for steam. It says v1.3 but it's really v1.4.

As the person above me stated. Buy the game from steam (U-boat missions) so it will patch it to v1.5.

I haven't had any problems with my hard drive(s).

[CapnScurvy]

To learn what version of the game you're using, simply look at the "Main" game screen menu page, read the version at the lower right.





If it reads "v 1.3"........it's 1.3, no matter what the documents may state.

Personally, I don't trust any downloaded game, from any web site. Thinking the downloaded files aren't corrupt (or as in this case), you think you're getting the latest version, is a pipe dream. Steam is blowing steam up your.......! Where's the guarantee that the download you just paid money for will be there in the future? Look at what Direct2Drive has done with the selling off of their company, with a third party handling your account? Hoops to jump through?! Now, you've got to jump through hoops to prove you own the download, to a third party who doesn't believe you! The fact that you you can purchase a download for a fraction of what a disk copy costs provides little incentive to do it when you know the pit falls!

So, my advice to anyone who would like to play Silent Hunter 4 (either for the first time, or from just returning to a game that was pushed aside), get a disc copy of "SH4 Gold Edition" and reinstall the game. You'll get the 1.5 version, with a disc copy to back up any files that will go sour when you start modding your game (and yes, you will have issues from corrupt files if you do much modding).

There is an Amazon site from the UK that's selling the disc version of SH4 Gold Edition for $8 (just do a Google search). There's also this iNetVideo site that has it from 8.99. The disc copy is shipped from the U.S. I don't know how long this price or availability will hold out, but as of this writing the offer is still good. Got mine in 4 days, exactly as ordered.

[grottski]

As someone who has tried the steam route, I agree 110%!!! Save the money (and time) in the long run and just buy a physical copy from amazon for $8-$10. The Steam copy is (or atleast apears) to be v1.3 although some people believe it is actually 1.4. The bottom right of the title screen, the "readme", and the properties of the SH4.exe all point to it being v1.3...

[A Hidden Soul]

Originally Posted by grottski

As someone who has tried the steam route, I agree 110%!!! Save the money (and time) in the long run and just buy a physical copy from amazon for $8-$10. The Steam copy is (or atleast apears) to be v1.3 although some people believe it is actually 1.4. The bottom right of the title screen, the "readme", and the properties of the SH4.exe all point to it being v1.3...

Steam says it's v1.4 and the game is misleading it to be v1.3. I own the Steam version and everything works just fine for using v1.4 mods.

[grottski]

Originally Posted by A Hidden Soul

Steam says it's v1.4 and the game is misleading it to be v1.3. I own the Steam version and everything works just fine for using v1.4 mods.

Good to know its actually v1.4, its just odd that everywhere I've looked it claims its v1.3, I now have a physical copy of the game so my steam version has been uninstalled completely, but I remember most of the mods (ISE, NavMap makeover, various ship skins, and a radio mod) i tried (for v1.4) worked fine.

[blakjak]

Personally I've had nothing but problems with the Steam versions of SH4 and SH5. Both playing the vanilla game or attempting to use mods seemed to cause all kinds of issues. I ended up just repurchasing them directly from Ubisoft and haven't had a problem since.

[CapnScurvy]

Guys, if the game states it's version 1.4 at the bottom right of the "Main" menu page....... then it's version 1.4. If it reads version 1.3........it's version 1.3!! It doesn't matter what the readme's, download site statements, or anything else says differently........the game itself knows what version it's files are.

The fact that a couple of mods for a 1.4 version seem to run on a 1.3 version just proves there's very little difference between the two versions. It's no surprise to me the 3rd and 4th patch were similar in their files. I can tell you that's a whole other story when you compare 1.4 to 1.5!

One thing that was fixed/changed with the 1.4 patch over the 1.3 version was the units of measurement on the Navigation Map. Below is the 1.3 version of the map showing the unit of measurement with the ruler using tenths of nautical miles. Nautical miles were used from the game's release to measure distance. Not a very "user friendly" way of measuring distance.




With the 1.4 patch, the ruler measurement was changed to either meters or yards, depending on which unit of measurement (Imperial or Metric) was chosen. The below image shows a 1.4 version of the same game map with the Imperial unit of measurement as the option, a "y" is displayed at the distance figure for yards. Using the Metric option, the unit of measurement would have an "m" at the distance figure.





If you don't believe the games version displayed on the "Main" menu page is correct, just check the Navigation Map's unit of measurement of the ruler. If it looks like the nautical miles measurement is used.......it's version 1.3 or earlier. If there's an "m" or "y" at the distance measurement.......it's version 1.4 or 1.5.

[grottski]

Then it is definitely v1.3, as I remember the NM being used making it a pain to precisely calculate target speed...

[jegelstaff]

Hello,

I think that Steam has slipped in the 1.4 changes, but for some reason the version number on the front page does not change. In the patch notes for 1.4 it says that screenshots now contain the date they were taken in the filename. If you are in game in the Steam version and press CTRL-F11 for a screenshot, a .bmp is created in your Steam\Steamapps\common\Silent Hunters Wolves of the Pacific\ folder, and the name contains the date.

On the map in the Steam version, when using the ruler, it uses km as the units when you have set the game to metric. It uses nm as the units when you are using imperial.

All in all, I think they "hot swapped" in the 1.4 fixes to the files they distribute, but for some reason the version number was not changed on the front page. VERY CONFUSING!!!

--Julian

[CapnScurvy]

Julian, go back just a couple of posts to my images of the Navigation Map. If the ruler reads in nautical miles for the Imperial unit of measurement option......It's game version 1.3!!

No matter how you slice it, the Steam version of the game is not version 1.4. You think they "hot swaped" in version 1.4 on just a couple of things? Leaving other things as they were in version 1.3? If they did, they really messed up your game!!

Some things are version 1.4? Others are not?! No way my friend.

[merc4ulfate]

So on the disc it is 1.4 but steam has 1.3 ... so at some point there was a 1.0 so why is the disc a version higher than the original and the steam version? Seems pretty silly to buy anything from steam especially when a disc version is higher than what they are using.

[CapnScurvy]

Originally Posted by merc4ulfate

So on the disc it is 1.4 but steam has 1.3 ... so at some point there was a 1.0 so why is the disc a version higher than the original and the steam version?

Jegelstaff resurrected this year and a half post....pointing out the patch notes for version 1.4 state under CHANGES:

Screenshot names now contain the date they were taken on

Merc4ulfate, he did not say anything about a disc being version 1.4. His game was downloaded from Steam.

The main game screen reads "v1.3"; the Navigation Map reads in Nautical Miles for the ruler measurement on the Imperial option. These factors point to only one conclussion....the Steam game download is version 1.3.

Steam MAY have messed around with some of the files....but they apparently didn't change everything. To me, that's very disturbing to think your Steam download is some partially changed mess that's being sold as a copy of the SH4 game. What's even more suspect is that Steam is happy to point a customer to the next upgrade for its SH4 download by offering the U-Boat Missions Add-on download. At their regular price of $9.99 each, you've got twenty bucks tied up in getting your game to finally be version 1.5. You can buy the DVD "Gold Edition" for that price!!

There's a reason for what Steam's doing to its customers, and its to shake as much money out of them.....as UbiSoft did with the extra price we paid for the games fifth patch!

To get back to merc4ulfate's question about disk versions, there could be some disks that have a higher version on them than v1.0. I would think it depends on the manufacture process....and where in the world they were sold. I was talking to a SubSim member the other day about his DVD disk being v1.2. I don't know where he got his disk, but he was positive his game version was 1.2. Not that it matters with jegelstaff's question, he doesn't have a disk.


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Oh..........jegelstaff, WELCOME to SubSim!!!

[merc4ulfate]

Steam is what you use for running a coal burning ship. Hot air and vapor ... pfffft ... it's gone.