Which Silent Hunter game is the right one for me?

Puppetbro · 05-24-11, 08:19 PM

Hello, I've been really interested in getting into the Silent Hunter series, but I don't know which game to start with.

I've heard a heap of awful things about SH5, but also a lot of words about how mods have turned it around into possibly the best in the series. Plus, it has a lot of great features and graphics that aren't in the previous games. Should I start with this one?

SH4 and SH3 seem to have universally great reviews from simmers, so I've been leaning mostly toward getting 4, or (possibly 5 if the mods really do turn it around) simply because of the more modern engines and graphics. The entire series is going to be on sale this week on Steam, but I only want to pick one if possible.

So can anyone tell me what game I should start with? I am new to sub simulating, but I'm not new at all to the rest of the simming family and definitely not new at all to modding, so any essential mods or complicated controls to get over shouldn't be a big deal.

Side: Are there any problems with buying the games on Steam? Does that make it harder to get mods working or anything? Also, what are some of the essential mods that you pretty much need to have for whatever game you suggest? If I really should just invest in all of them then tell me why.

Thanks a ton to anyone who can offer some help.

P.S. I made this thread in the SH5 forum because I couldn't find a general SH forum.

Torplexed · 05-24-11, 09:01 PM

Might be best to start with SH3 and the GWX mod. It's the most established and stable. If you start with SH5 and are disappointed with it, it won't seem like such a huge step backwards in graphics to go to SH3 at that point.

Also depends on your area of interest. SH3 & 5 are German U-boats in the Atlantic. SH4 is USN submarines in the Pacific.

jwilliams · 05-24-11, 09:17 PM

SH3 with GWX is prob the best to start with.... Most bugs have been fixed and it isn't too demanding on your hardware.

SH5 is IMO the best Silent Hunter game... but its still plagued with many bugs and you need a super computer to run it...

kiwi_2005 · 05-24-11, 09:25 PM

Silent Hunter 5 on its own might be pushing it to say its the best but with the mods added SH5 is a masterpiece

jwilliams · 05-24-11, 09:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kiwi_2005

Silent Hunter 5 on its own might be pushing it to say its the best but with the mods added SH5 is a masterpiece

Oh, of cause. I meant modded SH5 being the best silent hunter.

saipan · 05-24-11, 09:35 PM

i say sh4 or sh5, depending on what ocean u want to be in. just get all the mods u can

Puppetbro · 05-24-11, 09:52 PM

Thanks for all the replies guys. I guess it would have been a good thing to mention that I'm mostly into the German U-boat crews, but don't all three games have Germans? or at least the expansion for SH4 adds U-boats to that game, correct?

I have a powerful enough computer to handle 5 I'm sure, so I don't think that's going to be a factor.

Do all of the games handle pretty nicely (for being simulators of course)? Like are any of them particularly unwieldy or buggy to control compared to the others?

Sorry about all of the questions, perhaps I should just bite the bullet and buy all three to test for myself

Sailor Steve · 05-24-11, 11:17 PM

Given the current price it probably wouldn't hurt to just try all three. Of course if you end up liking one over the others then you may think you wasted the extra money, no matter how little.

SH3 is the most complete, in that you can run any u-boat in any period of the war. If you want to run a Type II in 1939 or a Type IX in 1944, or even a Type XXI, then that's the way to go.

SH4 is much better looking and has some improvements, and you can play with u-boats or with US fleet boats, so it does have that advantage. Its biggest disadvantage is that it sort of got ignored by the modders. Still, it has its fun points.

SH5's is even better looking and contains some new features, such as interacting directly with the crew and walking around the whole boat. It only has one type of u-boat, the Type VII, but it has all four variants of that type and can be forgiven because the devs were faced with the option of doing all the boats or doing one really well, and they wanted the whole atmospheric bit of feeling like you're there. Improvements are being made daily and it's looking more and more like someday all those other features will be available.

So it comes down to what kind of game you want to play. I hope I've helped and not made it worse.

Puppetbro · 05-25-11, 12:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

Given the current price it probably wouldn't hurt to just try all three. Of course if you end up liking one over the others then you may think you wasted the extra money, no matter how little.

SH3 is the most complete, in that you can run any u-boat in any period of the war. If you want to run a Type II in 1939 or a Type IX in 1944, or even a Type XXI, then that's the way to go.

SH4 is much better looking and has some improvements, and you can play with u-boats or with US fleet boats, so it does have that advantage. Its biggest disadvantage is that it sort of got ignored by the modders. Still, it has its fun points.

SH5's is even better looking and contains some new features, such as interacting directly with the crew and walking around the whole boat. It only has one type of u-boat, the Type VII, but it has all four variants of that type and can be forgiven because the devs were faced with the option of doing all the boats or doing one really well, and they wanted the whole atmospheric bit of feeling like you're there. Improvements are being made daily and it's looking more and more like someday all those other features will be available.

So it comes down to what kind of game you want to play. I hope I've helped and not made it worse.

Really helpful and gave me a lot of information, but you're right - now I'm even less certain about which to get

. Looks like I'll just get them all, there's just too much content between them for me to choose one over the other and it's not like I will regret the purchase for the rest of my life.

Thanks again guys. And are there any other essential mods besides GWX that you guys recommend? I'm sure there are some pretty big important ones for SH5.

JU_88 · 05-25-11, 04:03 AM

Sailor Steve pretty much hit the nail on head.
If I were in your shoes I'd proabably start with SH3 or 4 on the basis that they cost next to nothing now and they are more mature in terms of mods and fixes. Also going back to SH3 after Sh5 will probably hurt your eyes

If you like what you get, then pick up 5 (which isnt awful at all, its pretty decent now)

but it still needs another 2 years of TLC from modders before it can truley shine.

CCIP · 05-25-11, 07:28 AM

My own preference would be SHIV - doesn't have some of the bells and whistles of the more advanced SHIII mods, but it's solid, the major mods (whether you like playing Americans or Germans) are simple to install and rock solid, the game looks and performs much better than SHIII (much shorter loading times, much better graphics, much simpler to configure), crew management is much better implemented, and honestly if you choose RFB, TMO or OM mods - you get something that's pretty darn complete and good to play. It has the largest number of available subs to play, and the game's file structure has made it very easy to add playable ships if you feel like taking some big guns out for a whirl. I disagree with Steve that it's been 'ignored' by modders by the way - that's far from true and the amount of modding in SHIV can definitely stand up to the other two games, and much exceeds what's currently there in SH5 (but that's because it's been out longer). Still lots of good things being made for it.

It seems to be the most overlooked of the three, whereas I personally think it's the most solid. Again, SHIII has had an additional 2 years of modding development and it shows, but it's also a much older platform. And if you're starting out, you might not even appreciate all the bells and whistles immediately, but you will probably appreciate the ease of install, nicer graphics and performance (compared to SH3), and relative lack of major problems (compared to SH5).

hocking · 05-25-11, 10:34 AM

First, let me say that I am a huge SHIII/GWX fan, preferring the Atlantic for my sub-simming theater of operation. I am just now making the SH5 plunge myself after waiting the last 15 months since its release to give modders the chance to make the game decent. I have not actually played it yet, but look forward to trying out in the next few weeks. I was hoping that a mega-mod would have been released by now that would be similar to the GWX mod for SH3. Who knows, maybe one is being worked on that we don't know about.

Anyway, I really wanted to ease your mind as to which one you should purchase during STEAM's sale. It appears as if UBISoft's DRM idea has worked as far as stopping pirated copies of the game from circulating. The game is currently listed at Amazon.com at a regular price of $4.60 for the DVD version of the game. Who would go through the trouble of downloading a pirated copy of SH5 when you could simply buy the game (DVD) for $4.60 at Amazon. And, it only took 15 months since SH5 was released to reach this low price. And we thought UBI didn't know what they were doing with there DRM strategy!!! It actually does work!!! No pirated copy for me, me get $4.60 DVD instead!!!!!

It is actually sad to see. I really do like the Silent Hunter series but I am afraid that it is going to be yet another "Simulator Series" that dies. UBI won't see the error in their ways, and will instead blame the poor sales due to the series itself. With that said, I believe that SH5 will be it for a long time to come, so that mega mod will probably come out within the next two years.

If I were you, I would get the DVD version of SH5 from Amazon for $4.60 before it isn't even available anymore, and also get SHIII however you want to. I would then start playing the SHIII first to get my sub wet. Before you begin playing SH3, install the GWX mod and other popular mods that are compatible with GWX. This will give you the best possible Sub-Sim experience as far as game play is concerned. Yes, the graphics won't be as good, but they will be pretty darn good to say the least. Then, when you have exhausted all the possibilities in SH3/GWX, you can move over to SH5. Hopefully by that time there will be a GWX-similar mode available for SH5 that you can jump into. Basically, treat SH5 like a game that is in "late Alpha-early Beta" stage that won't be released for another 12 to 18 months. There isn't anything coming out after SH5 for a really long time if ever, so why rush to SH5 now.

Puppetbro · 05-25-11, 02:25 PM

Wow, that deal on Amazon is perfect, plus I just realized steam is doing a 3 pack for SH3, 4 and the U-boat expansion for like 20 bucks(which might go a lot lower some time during the week). Looks like I'm going to be getting all three of them for sure then, I'll just wait until the end of the week in case that pack goes on a mega sale.

I'll do like you guys suggest and start by playing SH3 first and work my way up. Hopefully that will mean I won't be spoiled by good graphics when I get to SH5 and I'll get to see the series at its most stable first.

Thanks again everyone, perhaps I'll see you guys around!

FIREWALL · 05-25-11, 03:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Puppetbro

Wow, that deal on Amazon is perfect, plus I just realized steam is doing a 3 pack for SH3, 4 and the U-boat expansion for like 20 bucks(which might go a lot lower some time during the week). Looks like I'm going to be getting all three of them for sure then, I'll just wait until the end of the week in case that pack goes on a mega sale.

I'll do like you guys suggest and start by playing SH3 first and work my way up. Hopefully that will mean I won't be spoiled by good graphics when I get to SH5 and I'll get to see the series at its most stable first.

Thanks again everyone, perhaps I'll see you guys around!

I think you made the right choice.

If you can get all 3 cheap now you, won't look back later.

BTW. Make sure you get the SH3 Version thats StarForce free and prepatched to 1.4

Puppetbro · 05-25-11, 04:16 PM

Ah, just when I thought I was done asking questions in this thread.

I was going to get 3, 4 and the expansion from Steam because of the price, but after you mentioned the thing about Starforce and 1.4, I decided to look into what the steam version had.

I can't tell whether or not it has Starforce, but it looks like it is only patched to 1.3.

Does anyone who has experience with the Steam version know if this is an easy fix, or should I just not bother getting it through Steam? I found a couple of threads talking about using a no-cd workaround for it but I'm not sure how reliable that will be. Do the other games have problems with the Steam version too?

05-24-11, 08:19 PM	#1
Puppetbro Swabbie Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 6 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	Which Silent Hunter game is the right one for me? Hello, I've been really interested in getting into the Silent Hunter series, but I don't know which game to start with. I've heard a heap of awful things about SH5, but also a lot of words about how mods have turned it around into possibly the best in the series. Plus, it has a lot of great features and graphics that aren't in the previous games. Should I start with this one? SH4 and SH3 seem to have universally great reviews from simmers, so I've been leaning mostly toward getting 4, or (possibly 5 if the mods really do turn it around) simply because of the more modern engines and graphics. The entire series is going to be on sale this week on Steam, but I only want to pick one if possible. So can anyone tell me what game I should start with? I am new to sub simulating, but I'm not new at all to the rest of the simming family and definitely not new at all to modding, so any essential mods or complicated controls to get over shouldn't be a big deal. Side: Are there any problems with buying the games on Steam? Does that make it harder to get mods working or anything? Also, what are some of the essential mods that you pretty much need to have for whatever game you suggest? If I really should just invest in all of them then tell me why. Thanks a ton to anyone who can offer some help. P.S. I made this thread in the SH5 forum because I couldn't find a general SH forum.

05-24-11, 09:01 PM	#2
Torplexed Let's Sink Sumptin' ! Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 5,823 Downloads: 43 Uploads: 0	Might be best to start with SH3 and the GWX mod. It's the most established and stable. If you start with SH5 and are disappointed with it, it won't seem like such a huge step backwards in graphics to go to SH3 at that point. Also depends on your area of interest. SH3 & 5 are German U-boats in the Atlantic. SH4 is USN submarines in the Pacific. __________________ --Mobilis in Mobili--

05-24-11, 09:17 PM	#3
jwilliams Ace of the Deep Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: New Zealand Posts: 1,013 Downloads: 124 Uploads: 0	SH3 with GWX is prob the best to start with.... Most bugs have been fixed and it isn't too demanding on your hardware. SH5 is IMO the best Silent Hunter game... but its still plagued with many bugs and you need a super computer to run it... __________________ Windows 7, 64bit. Phenom II 965BE (OC 4cores @ 3.8 Ghz). Radeon HD4870 (1gb gddr5). 6gb Ram.

05-24-11, 09:25 PM	#4
kiwi_2005 Eternal Patrol Join Date: May 2004 Location: Aeoteroa Posts: 7,382 Downloads: 223 Uploads: 1	Silent Hunter 5 on its own might be pushing it to say its the best but with the mods added SH5 is a masterpiece __________________ RIP kiwi_2005 Those who can't laugh at themselves leave the job to others.

05-24-11, 11:17 PM	#8
Sailor Steve Eternal Patrol Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: High in the mountains of Utah Posts: 50,369 Downloads: 745 Uploads: 249	Given the current price it probably wouldn't hurt to just try all three. Of course if you end up liking one over the others then you may think you wasted the extra money, no matter how little. SH3 is the most complete, in that you can run any u-boat in any period of the war. If you want to run a Type II in 1939 or a Type IX in 1944, or even a Type XXI, then that's the way to go. SH4 is much better looking and has some improvements, and you can play with u-boats or with US fleet boats, so it does have that advantage. Its biggest disadvantage is that it sort of got ignored by the modders. Still, it has its fun points. SH5's is even better looking and contains some new features, such as interacting directly with the crew and walking around the whole boat. It only has one type of u-boat, the Type VII, but it has all four variants of that type and can be forgiven because the devs were faced with the option of doing all the boats or doing one really well, and they wanted the whole atmospheric bit of feeling like you're there. Improvements are being made daily and it's looking more and more like someday all those other features will be available. So it comes down to what kind of game you want to play. I hope I've helped and not made it worse. __________________ “Never do anything you can't take back.” —Rocky Russo

05-24-11, 09:35 PM	#6
saipan Gunner Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: so california Posts: 98 Downloads: 118 Uploads: 0	i say sh4 or sh5, depending on what ocean u want to be in. just get all the mods u can

05-24-11, 09:52 PM	#7
Puppetbro Swabbie Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 6 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	Thanks for all the replies guys. I guess it would have been a good thing to mention that I'm mostly into the German U-boat crews, but don't all three games have Germans? or at least the expansion for SH4 adds U-boats to that game, correct? I have a powerful enough computer to handle 5 I'm sure, so I don't think that's going to be a factor. Do all of the games handle pretty nicely (for being simulators of course)? Like are any of them particularly unwieldy or buggy to control compared to the others? Sorry about all of the questions, perhaps I should just bite the bullet and buy all three to test for myself

05-25-11, 04:03 AM	#10
JU_88 Silent Hunter Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: UK Posts: 3,803 Downloads: 11 Uploads: 0	Sailor Steve pretty much hit the nail on head. If I were in your shoes I'd proabably start with SH3 or 4 on the basis that they cost next to nothing now and they are more mature in terms of mods and fixes. Also going back to SH3 after Sh5 will probably hurt your eyes If you like what you get, then pick up 5 (which isnt awful at all, its pretty decent now) but it still needs another 2 years of TLC from modders before it can truley shine.

05-25-11, 07:28 AM	#11
CCIP Navy Seal Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Waterloo, Canada Posts: 8,700 Downloads: 29 Uploads: 2	My own preference would be SHIV - doesn't have some of the bells and whistles of the more advanced SHIII mods, but it's solid, the major mods (whether you like playing Americans or Germans) are simple to install and rock solid, the game looks and performs much better than SHIII (much shorter loading times, much better graphics, much simpler to configure), crew management is much better implemented, and honestly if you choose RFB, TMO or OM mods - you get something that's pretty darn complete and good to play. It has the largest number of available subs to play, and the game's file structure has made it very easy to add playable ships if you feel like taking some big guns out for a whirl. I disagree with Steve that it's been 'ignored' by modders by the way - that's far from true and the amount of modding in SHIV can definitely stand up to the other two games, and much exceeds what's currently there in SH5 (but that's because it's been out longer). Still lots of good things being made for it. It seems to be the most overlooked of the three, whereas I personally think it's the most solid. Again, SHIII has had an additional 2 years of modding development and it shows, but it's also a much older platform. And if you're starting out, you might not even appreciate all the bells and whistles immediately, but you will probably appreciate the ease of install, nicer graphics and performance (compared to SH3), and relative lack of major problems (compared to SH5). __________________ There are only forty people in the world and five of them are hamburgers. -Don Van Vliet (aka Captain Beefheart)

05-25-11, 10:34 AM	#12
hocking Sparky Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 154 Downloads: 156 Uploads: 0	First, let me say that I am a huge SHIII/GWX fan, preferring the Atlantic for my sub-simming theater of operation. I am just now making the SH5 plunge myself after waiting the last 15 months since its release to give modders the chance to make the game decent. I have not actually played it yet, but look forward to trying out in the next few weeks. I was hoping that a mega-mod would have been released by now that would be similar to the GWX mod for SH3. Who knows, maybe one is being worked on that we don't know about. Anyway, I really wanted to ease your mind as to which one you should purchase during STEAM's sale. It appears as if UBISoft's DRM idea has worked as far as stopping pirated copies of the game from circulating. The game is currently listed at Amazon.com at a regular price of $4.60 for the DVD version of the game. Who would go through the trouble of downloading a pirated copy of SH5 when you could simply buy the game (DVD) for $4.60 at Amazon. And, it only took 15 months since SH5 was released to reach this low price. And we thought UBI didn't know what they were doing with there DRM strategy!!! It actually does work!!! No pirated copy for me, me get $4.60 DVD instead!!!!! It is actually sad to see. I really do like the Silent Hunter series but I am afraid that it is going to be yet another "Simulator Series" that dies. UBI won't see the error in their ways, and will instead blame the poor sales due to the series itself. With that said, I believe that SH5 will be it for a long time to come, so that mega mod will probably come out within the next two years. If I were you, I would get the DVD version of SH5 from Amazon for $4.60 before it isn't even available anymore, and also get SHIII however you want to. I would then start playing the SHIII first to get my sub wet. Before you begin playing SH3, install the GWX mod and other popular mods that are compatible with GWX. This will give you the best possible Sub-Sim experience as far as game play is concerned. Yes, the graphics won't be as good, but they will be pretty darn good to say the least. Then, when you have exhausted all the possibilities in SH3/GWX, you can move over to SH5. Hopefully by that time there will be a GWX-similar mode available for SH5 that you can jump into. Basically, treat SH5 like a game that is in "late Alpha-early Beta" stage that won't be released for another 12 to 18 months. There isn't anything coming out after SH5 for a really long time if ever, so why rush to SH5 now.

05-25-11, 02:25 PM	#13
Puppetbro Swabbie Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 6 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	Wow, that deal on Amazon is perfect, plus I just realized steam is doing a 3 pack for SH3, 4 and the U-boat expansion for like 20 bucks(which might go a lot lower some time during the week). Looks like I'm going to be getting all three of them for sure then, I'll just wait until the end of the week in case that pack goes on a mega sale. I'll do like you guys suggest and start by playing SH3 first and work my way up. Hopefully that will mean I won't be spoiled by good graphics when I get to SH5 and I'll get to see the series at its most stable first. Thanks again everyone, perhaps I'll see you guys around!

05-25-11, 04:16 PM	#15
Puppetbro Swabbie Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 6 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	Ah, just when I thought I was done asking questions in this thread. I was going to get 3, 4 and the expansion from Steam because of the price, but after you mentioned the thing about Starforce and 1.4, I decided to look into what the steam version had. I can't tell whether or not it has Starforce, but it looks like it is only patched to 1.3. Does anyone who has experience with the Steam version know if this is an easy fix, or should I just not bother getting it through Steam? I found a couple of threads talking about using a no-cd workaround for it but I'm not sure how reliable that will be. Do the other games have problems with the Steam version too?