Little Review - SH4 "imworsements"???

AS · 03-22-07, 07:36 AM

Hi all,

SH4 has just been released in Germany and the computer stores even have a huge SH4 display selling both the normal and the special edition including a sticker, ship ID, map and manual.

After a comparatively short loading time SH4 starts without any problems on my 3 year old rig.

What you get to see brings you down to earth immediately. The sub´s inside DOES look better than in SH3, and yet there´s no real "Wow" effect since the colours are all a bit faint and you feel very stationary: you cannot interact with the crew, you cannot change your position or take the crew´s positions, and the guy at the map table doesn´t move at all, I don´t know what he´s there for.

In short: it´s like being glued to the bottom of a wax museum.

The bridge: all has been said before. A useless watch officer who is somewhat transparent. Many blind spots due to the US sub design (tower and masts just blocks your view). Lack of FSAA makes deck-banister blocky and jagged.

Free cam: Either you have to search for your sub in an awkward way and get the camera right, OR you hit ".", the problem is, while you are getting a view of your sub you are way too far away, when you zoom in, you´ll notice that you cannot get close enough to your sub to see any details - so again, your view is rather limited for no good reason at all.

Another drawback: due to the dark paint job I feel my sub looks like a whale in the night even at bright daylight.

Steering and command interface: Most obviously your view is limited by unnecessarily huge interfaces. The text message field kills all immersion, first thing I did was hide it behind the huge command bar. The design is somewhat stiff and blocky. No real gauge for fuel, CO2 etc. If you click the bottons, your mouse cursor hides the actual "gauge". Getting to stations means double-clicking the icons unless you use the keyboard anyway.

In short: my first impression is, SH4 feels sterile and somewhat indirect in terms of view, interaction and commanding. In German we have a fun word for making things worse instead of improving them: "verschlimmbessern". In English it would be "Imworsement" (pun on "Improvement")

I don´t know about gameplay, but I know there will be alot to do for those great modders out there.

My two cents,

Cheers, AS

03-22-07, 07:36 AM	#1
AS 中国水兵 Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Germany Posts: 275 Downloads: 135 Uploads: 0	Little Review - SH4 "imworsements"??? Hi all, SH4 has just been released in Germany and the computer stores even have a huge SH4 display selling both the normal and the special edition including a sticker, ship ID, map and manual. After a comparatively short loading time SH4 starts without any problems on my 3 year old rig. What you get to see brings you down to earth immediately. The sub´s inside DOES look better than in SH3, and yet there´s no real "Wow" effect since the colours are all a bit faint and you feel very stationary: you cannot interact with the crew, you cannot change your position or take the crew´s positions, and the guy at the map table doesn´t move at all, I don´t know what he´s there for. In short: it´s like being glued to the bottom of a wax museum. The bridge: all has been said before. A useless watch officer who is somewhat transparent. Many blind spots due to the US sub design (tower and masts just blocks your view). Lack of FSAA makes deck-banister blocky and jagged. Free cam: Either you have to search for your sub in an awkward way and get the camera right, OR you hit ".", the problem is, while you are getting a view of your sub you are way too far away, when you zoom in, you´ll notice that you cannot get close enough to your sub to see any details - so again, your view is rather limited for no good reason at all. Another drawback: due to the dark paint job I feel my sub looks like a whale in the night even at bright daylight. Steering and command interface: Most obviously your view is limited by unnecessarily huge interfaces. The text message field kills all immersion, first thing I did was hide it behind the huge command bar. The design is somewhat stiff and blocky. No real gauge for fuel, CO2 etc. If you click the bottons, your mouse cursor hides the actual "gauge". Getting to stations means double-clicking the icons unless you use the keyboard anyway. In short: my first impression is, SH4 feels sterile and somewhat indirect in terms of view, interaction and commanding. In German we have a fun word for making things worse instead of improving them: "verschlimmbessern". In English it would be "Imworsement" (pun on "Improvement") I don´t know about gameplay, but I know there will be alot to do for those great modders out there. My two cents, Cheers, AS __________________ Whenever people agree with me I always feel I must be wrong. (Oscar Wilde)