New Player, Need help

[LogicalLobster]

Hello, I have just purchased Silent Hunter 4 and Im looking forward to sinking some ships! But I have heard that there are a lot of bugs and issues with this game so could someone please help me with what patches and mods I need to download to make the game run as well as possible? Im not worried about any flashy new things like new ships or skins, just the stuff that makes the game work the way it should.

Any help is appreciated

[Kloef]

You can patch to 1.4,which is pretty stable or buy the add-on U boat missions which gets you to version 1.5,you dont have to worry about it the game is now as stable as the next..

Welcome to subsim!

Btw have a look at the mods..

[DarkFish]

yep that's true, if you only want most bugs fixed patch 1.4 or even better 1.5 would be enough for you. If you've got 1.5 you can also download GFO (Game Fixes Only) to fix most bugs that are still there.
But you really should take a look at the mods here, most are not just 'flashy new things like new ships or skins'. RSRDC for example completely rewrites the campaign to make it much more historical and fun to play. And RFB and TMO both make the game more challenging, RFB going for maximum realism whereas TMO takes some creative license.

And of course welcome aboard!

[Rockin Robbins]

Actually any of the supermods fix many of the problems that remain. None of the supermods, including Game Fixes Only, fix them all, heck, they haven't all been found yet!

SH4 is a great game because we have several healthy, co-equal competing/cooperating supermods: Trigger Maru Overhauled, Real Fleet Boat, Game Fixes Only, Fall of the Rising Sun, Run Silent Run Deep, Operation Monsun. They are all installable and uninstallable using the Jonesoft Generic Mod Enabler (JSGME), so you can try them all out without big problems and even switch back and forth at will. None of them insist on taking over your game and locking the others out.

I would proceed as follows: first install the game and patch it to 1.4 or 1.5 SH4UBM. Install JSGME into the Wolves of the Pacific directory. Run it once and immediately exit without doing anything. This creates the MODS directory in the correct place for future use. That is where you'll copy mods to later.

Now before you even play the game, copy the entire Wolves of the Pacific directory structure to a new directory. I call mine SH4 Pristeen. When you initially copy it Windows will name it Copy of Wolves... Just rename it when you're done, then write protect the whole shooting match, directories and files. This way you won't accidentally alter them later. This installation is never to be played, and in fact cannot be. It's strictly a toy box to take uncorrupted files from when you find yourself with mod soup (thank you Kapt Lehmann for the best phrase on Subsim).

In case of mod soup (you'll know when the game CTDs or starts acting squirrelly), you can just uninstall all your mods, delete all the contents of Wolves of the Pacific except for your MODS folder, copy everything from SH4 Pristeen to Wolves of the Pacific, write enable everything there, reinstall all your mods and start playing as if nothing had ever gone wrong.

All your settings and saved games are elsewhere, so they will still be there. Now you will never have to reinstall again!

[SteamWake]

Im always supprised when the first advice given a new player is "Go get mods".

Good lord let him get it installed, patched, and working first

I highly recommend getting the uboat mission addittion if you did not get the gold version. It includes inclusive cumulative patches to version 1.5.

Good luck.

[Rockin Robbins]

Good point! I recommend playing the game for awhile with no mods whatever so you have a base reference. How could you possibly know if you like the changes a mod makes if you unfamiliar with what it changed FROM?

The unmodded game is quite good, certainly undeserving of those who say it's terrible. As usual, SteamWake, you make an excellent point.

In the case of my post, just do what it says but initially don't install any mods. You can copy all the mods you want into the MODS subdirectory without changing the game. Only after they are installed with JSGME do they have any influence.