Observations of a Rookie

miteymitey · 10-09-07, 11:49 PM

I played the original Silent Hunter and Silent Hunter Commander's Edition for several years and dearly enjoyed them. I blew a lot of hours prowling the Pacific Ocean in my vitual sub hunting and, with some luck, sinking the vitual enemy. It was lots of fun and, at times, exciting. I tried Silent Hunter II but wasn't nearly as impressed with it. It seemed to have a lot of quirks and I just couldn't get nearly as excited about sinking Allied ships. Yes, I know it's only a game, but somehow that seemed to be less enjoyable than sinking Jap ships. What can I say? I never even knew there was a an SH3. Imagine that.

Anyway, I recently purchased Silent Hunter IV and have been playing it for a couple of weeks now, after upgrading to 1.3 of course. I liked the Sub School. It was educational. I've done several war patrols and used them mostly for practice, sometimes neglecting the stated objective of the patrol. Haven't done a career yet, but will try that soon. For the most part I find the game entertaining and while the graphics are truly amazing compared to the original Silent Hunter, the new SH4 has some quirks of its own. When attacking a convoy, the escorts are not nearly as agressive as they were in SH. They just seem to mill around, sometimes being content to stay as far away from the action as possible. At first I would fire my torpedo's at a target(s) and then hussle down to 100 feet or so in anticipation of an attack that never came. Of course, if they see you (your periscope or if you're on the surface) they'll come a running, guns blazing. I was amazed during one attack to watch a destroyer put itself in reverse then stop, letting a freighter pass by. It would have been a sitting duck if I had been in a position to fire. And I have hit targets with 6 or more torpedos with no effect. Yes, they were set to what should have been an effective depth and they impacted. The ship just keeps sailing along. But overall it's a pretty good game. As time goes by I'm sure I'll learn more about how to do what I want to do. And it isn't without some realistic challenges. Since I got it for nearly half the retail price, I'm sure I'll get my money's worth out of it.

One humorous item it noticed about the graphics. The crew members on the merchant ships seem to be a bit unusually dressed. Do you suppose most merchant crew men on WWII Jap ships actually wore slacks with sport coats and ties? I'm just pretending they are dressed for their funeral.

I want to thank all of you guys who fought for the 1.3 fixes. I didn't find this site until a few months ago, but I've watched it closely to see how the SH4 program was coming. I agree with some of the folks who would like to see a 1.4 come around. If it does, that's great. If not, I guess we'll work with what we've got.

bookworm_020 · 10-10-07, 12:01 AM

Nice first post and welcome aboard!

You may want to get SH3, as it's in the bargin bin, and there are plenty of mods out that improve the game beyond what the original version was like (GWX super mod is the best example of this)

Sailor Steve · 10-10-07, 12:26 PM

Welcome aboard, miteymitey!

I too loved SH for years, but looking back it did have its bad points: did you ever think you had escaped those rabid DDs and start to leave, only to have the Time Compression trigger a magic signal and make them come back and start killing you all over again? Or the "I can see everything when the periscope's up" syndrome? I used to put the scope up and try to dogfight with the destroyers.:rotfl:

Still and all, SH4 is already a vast improvement in the 'immersion' department, and is looking to be the best of all...at least until the next big step comes along.

AVGWarhawk · 10-10-07, 12:31 PM

You need to make a pass by the mod forum to help cure some of the ills you are having. Trigger Maru addresses the non-aggressive DD. NSM 3.3 addresses non sinking ship issues. There a loads of mods to enhance your gaming experience. Check it out.

ReallyDedPoet · 10-10-07, 12:33 PM

Welcome to SUBSIM

miteymitey

RDP

Cynicalgeek · 10-10-07, 02:24 PM

I was disappointed with SH 3 as well, I felt the same about yearning to sink Jap ships again in the Pacific. I probably logged all of 2 hours on SH 3.

I grew up playing GATO, Silent Service, then later on...SH 3.

Once I saw a movie of SH 4 a couple of weeks ago, I had to have it.

I've installed the mods:
360 Degree Bearing
Living Breathing Ocean
Natural Sinking Model

I only have 1GB RAM (I spent the rest of the money on a AMD x2 chip, mobo and Nvidia card last year) but the game runs very well. It locks up occassionally, and I'm sure I can work that out (most likely hardware cooling problem for me,) I just save often.

I started my first career with Easy difficulty and will probably stay there for quite some time. I'll be lucky if I get to play 5 hrs per week, but I'm excited about it.

I sank about 20,000 tons off the coast of Honshu last night so that made me feel better about getting slapped around by the destroyers for two day prior to that.

Kudos to Ubisoft for the game, and all of the modders out there working their butts off.

--CG--

10-09-07, 11:49 PM	#1
miteymitey Swabbie Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: East Texas Posts: 11 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 0	Observations of a Rookie I played the original Silent Hunter and Silent Hunter Commander's Edition for several years and dearly enjoyed them. I blew a lot of hours prowling the Pacific Ocean in my vitual sub hunting and, with some luck, sinking the vitual enemy. It was lots of fun and, at times, exciting. I tried Silent Hunter II but wasn't nearly as impressed with it. It seemed to have a lot of quirks and I just couldn't get nearly as excited about sinking Allied ships. Yes, I know it's only a game, but somehow that seemed to be less enjoyable than sinking Jap ships. What can I say? I never even knew there was a an SH3. Imagine that. Anyway, I recently purchased Silent Hunter IV and have been playing it for a couple of weeks now, after upgrading to 1.3 of course. I liked the Sub School. It was educational. I've done several war patrols and used them mostly for practice, sometimes neglecting the stated objective of the patrol. Haven't done a career yet, but will try that soon. For the most part I find the game entertaining and while the graphics are truly amazing compared to the original Silent Hunter, the new SH4 has some quirks of its own. When attacking a convoy, the escorts are not nearly as agressive as they were in SH. They just seem to mill around, sometimes being content to stay as far away from the action as possible. At first I would fire my torpedo's at a target(s) and then hussle down to 100 feet or so in anticipation of an attack that never came. Of course, if they see you (your periscope or if you're on the surface) they'll come a running, guns blazing. I was amazed during one attack to watch a destroyer put itself in reverse then stop, letting a freighter pass by. It would have been a sitting duck if I had been in a position to fire. And I have hit targets with 6 or more torpedos with no effect. Yes, they were set to what should have been an effective depth and they impacted. The ship just keeps sailing along. But overall it's a pretty good game. As time goes by I'm sure I'll learn more about how to do what I want to do. And it isn't without some realistic challenges. Since I got it for nearly half the retail price, I'm sure I'll get my money's worth out of it. One humorous item it noticed about the graphics. The crew members on the merchant ships seem to be a bit unusually dressed. Do you suppose most merchant crew men on WWII Jap ships actually wore slacks with sport coats and ties? I'm just pretending they are dressed for their funeral. I want to thank all of you guys who fought for the 1.3 fixes. I didn't find this site until a few months ago, but I've watched it closely to see how the SH4 program was coming. I agree with some of the folks who would like to see a 1.4 come around. If it does, that's great. If not, I guess we'll work with what we've got.

10-10-07, 12:01 AM	#2
bookworm_020 Navy Seal Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Sinking ships off the Australian coast Posts: 5,966 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	Nice first post and welcome aboard! You may want to get SH3, as it's in the bargin bin, and there are plenty of mods out that improve the game beyond what the original version was like (GWX super mod is the best example of this) __________________ "There is always one person in any organization who knows whats going on, That person must be fired"

10-10-07, 12:26 PM	#3
Sailor Steve Eternal Patrol Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: High in the mountains of Utah Posts: 50,369 Downloads: 745 Uploads: 249	Welcome aboard, miteymitey! I too loved SH for years, but looking back it did have its bad points: did you ever think you had escaped those rabid DDs and start to leave, only to have the Time Compression trigger a magic signal and make them come back and start killing you all over again? Or the "I can see everything when the periscope's up" syndrome? I used to put the scope up and try to dogfight with the destroyers.:rotfl: Still and all, SH4 is already a vast improvement in the 'immersion' department, and is looking to be the best of all...at least until the next big step comes along. __________________ “Never do anything you can't take back.” —Rocky Russo

10-10-07, 12:31 PM	#4
AVGWarhawk Lucky Jack Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: In a 1954 Buick. Posts: 28,253 Downloads: 90 Uploads: 0	You need to make a pass by the mod forum to help cure some of the ills you are having. Trigger Maru addresses the non-aggressive DD. NSM 3.3 addresses non sinking ship issues. There a loads of mods to enhance your gaming experience. Check it out. __________________ “You're painfully alive in a drugged and dying culture.” ― Richard Yates, Revolutionary Road

10-10-07, 12:33 PM	#5
ReallyDedPoet Canadian Wolf Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Canada. The one and only, East Coast Posts: 10,884 Downloads: 946 Uploads: 5	Welcome to SUBSIM miteymitey RDP __________________ Back in the Day

10-10-07, 02:24 PM	#6
Cynicalgeek Swabbie Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Georgia Posts: 5 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	I'm a newb to SH 4 as well I was disappointed with SH 3 as well, I felt the same about yearning to sink Jap ships again in the Pacific. I probably logged all of 2 hours on SH 3. I grew up playing GATO, Silent Service, then later on...SH 3. Once I saw a movie of SH 4 a couple of weeks ago, I had to have it. I've installed the mods: 360 Degree Bearing Living Breathing Ocean Natural Sinking Model I only have 1GB RAM (I spent the rest of the money on a AMD x2 chip, mobo and Nvidia card last year) but the game runs very well. It locks up occassionally, and I'm sure I can work that out (most likely hardware cooling problem for me,) I just save often. I started my first career with Easy difficulty and will probably stay there for quite some time. I'll be lucky if I get to play 5 hrs per week, but I'm excited about it. I sank about 20,000 tons off the coast of Honshu last night so that made me feel better about getting slapped around by the destroyers for two day prior to that. Kudos to Ubisoft for the game, and all of the modders out there working their butts off. --CG--