SH4: Huge Dissappointment

Spearfish · 03-31-07, 07:26 AM

Hello,

This is my first post and I'm sorry in advance if it's not in the correct place, or has already been covered. But I just had to air my frustration with SH4.

I, like many of you have been waiting with baited breath for the better part of a year to get SH4. Based on the screenshots seen, it looked as if SH4 would truly surpass even the amazing SH3.

So, I paid my £25 and eagerly awaited SH4's arrival through my letterbox. Once it had arrived I wasted no time in installing it onto my PC.

Well, hmmm... first impressions were not good, not good at all. I had read about audio glitches in a recent review, but thought that they would be very minor and would not affect game play. After playing - or trying to for a short time the problems were just too distracting. So, I trawled around the Net for a patch and sure enough I found the 1.1 patch and thought "Great! everything will now be sorted." ... wrong! After downloading and installing the 200mb patch in some ways things were worse!

Audio glitches were still present, with audio sometimes even cutting out altogether. There's a ridiculous sounding voice that sounds a little like a young girl with a twang of New Jersey in his accent. They've now apparently corrected the depth readings which were in meters in the original release (although how this managed to get through in the first place amazes me). However, confirmations of commands are often repeated twice, Setting the rudder to the amidships position now results in the confirmation "Rudder." - And that's it! Rudder what?

Then I tried leveling off after my first dive by hitting the "A" key. Well, this just completely crashed the game!

I could go on and on, but I will spare all of you. Suffice to say that I simply cannot believe that something - even a patched something! - could be released into the commercial market with the kind of fundamental flaws that SH4 has! Any complex piece of software will have bugs, I know, I am a developer myself and have been for the past 20 years. I know that if I released something with such basic and obvious bugs as SH4 I would be fired!

No one can say that this was tested properly. I mean, pressing the "A" key causing the whole thing to go belly up is not something difficult or abstract to find in testing.

Oh, I almost forgot. It seems that after the patching process my engine commands have been screwed up. Pressing 1 now yields "Ahead one-third" and going up a level by pressing 2 now gives "Ahead slow". Just another example of sloppy and unprofessional approach.

At this moment in time it's going to take a significant patch - or rewrite to resolve these issues properly and until such time SH4 will be firmly "left on the shelf" by me. I dread to think that I also may have spent over £150 to upgrade my RAM and graphics card for this title.

This game has massive potential and it's a shame that it was released like this. I am looking forward to be able to play this game in the future, but for now, I will be quite content playing Sh3.

Thanks for reading.

Drebbel · 03-31-07, 07:36 AM

Please change the color of the white text. For many people using the Lazyblue theme (which has a light back ground) this text color is not visible. Thanks !

Drebbel (with my moderator hat on)

ReallyDedPoet · 03-31-07, 07:44 AM

Give it some time

Alot of people are frustrated, but it is still to early.

gonzlor · 03-31-07, 07:47 AM

I felt the same way with Silent Hunter III, I half expected SH4 to be in the same state on release, I actually think SH4 is worse, But I'm willing to give it a few months to patch up the holes in this sinking ship.

Help is on the way friend, hang in there.

Penelope_Grey · 03-31-07, 07:49 AM

I posted these on the SH3 board too. So I will post them here as well so people can see I am not some loon looking to whinge for the sake of it.

First image, damage control going and manned, no visible sign of flooding in the Sub.

Second image showing only damage to guns, yet sub sinks like a brick with no Electric motors on diving. Sinking stern first. I am very confused as to why. There doesn't seem to be any visible sign of flooding or of damage to the engines.

gonzlor · 03-31-07, 07:52 AM

Hey! I just had a patrol about 30 minutes ago where I'd sunk without any visable damage to the sub outside or in the damage control screen.

What may have happened though is it had been damaged previously and was repaired, I'd taken some hull damage and stopped a minor flooding rather quickly, The game clearly cleans it up in the damage control screen but obviously you are left with some problems that are not seen, As soon as I wen't to periscope depth (made the mistake of doing this at 64x time acceleration) I'd sunk with major flodding.

tommyk · 03-31-07, 08:02 AM

Hi and welcome Spearfish! I can understand how you feel about it. As I read you know the business very well and you can pretty well imagine how the devs may feel to have the product taken from their hands in such state...

I hope we see you around when the new patch is handed over to us all for shakedown.

Godalmighty83 · 03-31-07, 08:04 AM

i too sink like a rock if i come to a stop while submerged.

i agree the game is very dissapointing, features that worked perfectly in sh3 have just been cut and raft of dodgy decisions have come in.

Seminole · 03-31-07, 08:10 AM

We know there are flaws...just not sure why we need to be perpetually reminded of them. The same or at least similar things were said about SHIII. Go back and read the early remarks written just after release.

Now you know the rest of the story.

Sorry, Mr Harvey...

...just had to say that.

ReallyDedPoet · 03-31-07, 08:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Penelope_Grey

I posted these on the SH3 board too. So I will post them here as well so people can see I am not some loon looking to whinge for the sake of it.

First image, damage control going and manned, no visible sign of flooding in the Sub.

Second image showing only damage to guns, yet sub sinks like a brick with no Electric motors on diving. Sinking stern first. I am very confused as to why. There doesn't seem to be any visible sign of flooding or of damage to the engines.

Wait for future patches

SH3 was patched 4 times afterall.

AVGWarhawk · 03-31-07, 08:42 AM

Fear not Spear, patches are in the works and modders have created some fine changes that help make the game some what playable. Since we have a week or two ahead of you in this game, go to the sticky thread on bugs on this forum. "a" key is known CTD. You will find some others but not much that will keep you from playing the game. I have had my first successful patrol and I'm enjoying the heck out of this game. I have the utmost confidence the developers will clean up the glitches and we move on to wonder mods, etc.

Don't throw in the towel man because it is a very nice game. Read some posts on the forums because when you're in the "know" the game can be awesome!! BTW welcome aboard!

U-Bones · 03-31-07, 09:12 AM

This bug, sinking with no apparent damage, and damage control in general, are my biggest concerns with the game.

I will be playing around a bit, seeing if I can figure out how things work, but I really am expecting this to be adressed in a patch relatively soon. It really is not ready for a serious career, I have yet to get to Patrol 5 without reverting to saves because of career ending bugs.

Speaking of career ending bugs - the demotion to desk duty after going down with your sub is a classic. There really is a hell !

codmander · 03-31-07, 09:14 AM

Awesome game!!!! --------------

SH4 will need a patch? more like one of grandmas quilts patches galore

Snakeeyes · 03-31-07, 09:51 AM

Good first post mate! Welcome aboard formally!
I wish it was on a brighter note but I completely understand the need to express your disappointment. Don't chuck it away just yet. The sim community has had to take what we can get these last 8 years and mod it to our standards. I realize, a game with a patch right out of the box is rediculous but try to look at the bright side that they made the patch so fast.

I know.... glass half empty - glass half full.

I've uinstalled it and have it as a dust-gatherer until they fix 60% of things, THEN I'll allow it's electrons to grace the circuits of my "cyber hog."

Penelope_Grey · 03-31-07, 10:07 AM

It is kinda depressing the whole Silent hunter 4 situation but at least most of us have SH3 to tide us over.

There are a lot of bugs and as such does not make it worth carrying out a serious career.

03-31-07, 07:26 AM	#1
Spearfish Swabbie Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: London, UK Posts: 8 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	SH4: Huge Dissappointment Hello, This is my first post and I'm sorry in advance if it's not in the correct place, or has already been covered. But I just had to air my frustration with SH4. I, like many of you have been waiting with baited breath for the better part of a year to get SH4. Based on the screenshots seen, it looked as if SH4 would truly surpass even the amazing SH3. So, I paid my £25 and eagerly awaited SH4's arrival through my letterbox. Once it had arrived I wasted no time in installing it onto my PC. Well, hmmm... first impressions were not good, not good at all. I had read about audio glitches in a recent review, but thought that they would be very minor and would not affect game play. After playing - or trying to for a short time the problems were just too distracting. So, I trawled around the Net for a patch and sure enough I found the 1.1 patch and thought "Great! everything will now be sorted." ... wrong! After downloading and installing the 200mb patch in some ways things were worse! Audio glitches were still present, with audio sometimes even cutting out altogether. There's a ridiculous sounding voice that sounds a little like a young girl with a twang of New Jersey in his accent. They've now apparently corrected the depth readings which were in meters in the original release (although how this managed to get through in the first place amazes me). However, confirmations of commands are often repeated twice, Setting the rudder to the amidships position now results in the confirmation "Rudder." - And that's it! Rudder what? Then I tried leveling off after my first dive by hitting the "A" key. Well, this just completely crashed the game! I could go on and on, but I will spare all of you. Suffice to say that I simply cannot believe that something - even a patched something! - could be released into the commercial market with the kind of fundamental flaws that SH4 has! Any complex piece of software will have bugs, I know, I am a developer myself and have been for the past 20 years. I know that if I released something with such basic and obvious bugs as SH4 I would be fired! No one can say that this was tested properly. I mean, pressing the "A" key causing the whole thing to go belly up is not something difficult or abstract to find in testing. Oh, I almost forgot. It seems that after the patching process my engine commands have been screwed up. Pressing 1 now yields "Ahead one-third" and going up a level by pressing 2 now gives "Ahead slow". Just another example of sloppy and unprofessional approach. At this moment in time it's going to take a significant patch - or rewrite to resolve these issues properly and until such time SH4 will be firmly "left on the shelf" by me. I dread to think that I also may have spent over £150 to upgrade my RAM and graphics card for this title. This game has massive potential and it's a shame that it was released like this. I am looking forward to be able to play this game in the future, but for now, I will be quite content playing Sh3. Thanks for reading. Last edited by Gizzmoe; 04-01-07 at 08:04 AM. Reason: Changed text color

03-31-07, 07:44 AM	#3
ReallyDedPoet Canadian Wolf Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Canada. The one and only, East Coast Posts: 10,885 Downloads: 946 Uploads: 5	Give it some time Alot of people are frustrated, but it is still to early. __________________ Back in the Day

03-31-07, 07:49 AM	#5
Penelope_Grey Sea Lord Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: UK Posts: 1,893 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	I posted these on the SH3 board too. So I will post them here as well so people can see I am not some loon looking to whinge for the sake of it. First image, damage control going and manned, no visible sign of flooding in the Sub. Second image showing only damage to guns, yet sub sinks like a brick with no Electric motors on diving. Sinking stern first. I am very confused as to why. There doesn't seem to be any visible sign of flooding or of damage to the engines. __________________ I SURVIVED THE FIRST EVER SUBSIM WEREWOLF HUNT - and... I actually won the game for the humans too!

03-31-07, 08:02 AM	#7
tommyk Watch Officer Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Near U-995 (Kiel, Germany) Posts: 337 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	Hi and welcome Spearfish! I can understand how you feel about it. As I read you know the business very well and you can pretty well imagine how the devs may feel to have the product taken from their hands in such state... I hope we see you around when the new patch is handed over to us all for shakedown. __________________ Gute Jagd und fette Beute!

03-31-07, 08:04 AM	#8
Godalmighty83 Sonar Guy Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 398 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	i too sink like a rock if i come to a stop while submerged. i agree the game is very dissapointing, features that worked perfectly in sh3 have just been cut and raft of dodgy decisions have come in. __________________ Were there monkeys? Some terrifying space monkeys maybe got loose?

03-31-07, 07:36 AM	#2
Drebbel Dutch Sea Lord Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Almost at periscope death ! Posts: 1,665 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	Please change the color of the white text. For many people using the Lazyblue theme (which has a light back ground) this text color is not visible. Thanks ! Drebbel (with my moderator hat on)

03-31-07, 07:47 AM	#4
gonzlor Bosun Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 69 Downloads: 36 Uploads: 0	I felt the same way with Silent Hunter III, I half expected SH4 to be in the same state on release, I actually think SH4 is worse, But I'm willing to give it a few months to patch up the holes in this sinking ship. Help is on the way friend, hang in there.

03-31-07, 07:52 AM	#6
gonzlor Bosun Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 69 Downloads: 36 Uploads: 0	Hey! I just had a patrol about 30 minutes ago where I'd sunk without any visable damage to the sub outside or in the damage control screen. What may have happened though is it had been damaged previously and was repaired, I'd taken some hull damage and stopped a minor flooding rather quickly, The game clearly cleans it up in the damage control screen but obviously you are left with some problems that are not seen, As soon as I wen't to periscope depth (made the mistake of doing this at 64x time acceleration) I'd sunk with major flodding.

03-31-07, 08:10 AM	#9
Seminole Ace of the Deep Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Oregon Posts: 1,012 Downloads: 102 Uploads: 0	We know there are flaws...just not sure why we need to be perpetually reminded of them. The same or at least similar things were said about SHIII. Go back and read the early remarks written just after release. Now you know the rest of the story. Sorry, Mr Harvey... ...just had to say that.

03-31-07, 08:42 AM	#11
AVGWarhawk Lucky Jack Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: In a 1954 Buick. Posts: 28,253 Downloads: 90 Uploads: 0	Fear not Spear, patches are in the works and modders have created some fine changes that help make the game some what playable. Since we have a week or two ahead of you in this game, go to the sticky thread on bugs on this forum. "a" key is known CTD. You will find some others but not much that will keep you from playing the game. I have had my first successful patrol and I'm enjoying the heck out of this game. I have the utmost confidence the developers will clean up the glitches and we move on to wonder mods, etc. Don't throw in the towel man because it is a very nice game. Read some posts on the forums because when you're in the "know" the game can be awesome!! BTW welcome aboard! __________________ “You're painfully alive in a drugged and dying culture.” ― Richard Yates, Revolutionary Road

03-31-07, 09:12 AM	#12
U-Bones Grey Wolf Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Treading Water Posts: 847 Downloads: 56 Uploads: 0	This bug, sinking with no apparent damage, and damage control in general, are my biggest concerns with the game. I will be playing around a bit, seeing if I can figure out how things work, but I really am expecting this to be adressed in a patch relatively soon. It really is not ready for a serious career, I have yet to get to Patrol 5 without reverting to saves because of career ending bugs. Speaking of career ending bugs - the demotion to desk duty after going down with your sub is a classic. There really is a hell !

03-31-07, 09:14 AM	#13
codmander Seasoned Skipper Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: cape cod mass. Posts: 678 Downloads: 59 Uploads: 0	Awesome game!!!! -------------- SH4 will need a patch? more like one of grandmas quilts patches galore

03-31-07, 09:51 AM	#14
Snakeeyes Captain Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: trailing 1400 yards behind an Oscar-II with my outer doors open Posts: 488 Downloads: 54 Uploads: 0	Good first post mate! Welcome aboard formally! I wish it was on a brighter note but I completely understand the need to express your disappointment. Don't chuck it away just yet. The sim community has had to take what we can get these last 8 years and mod it to our standards. I realize, a game with a patch right out of the box is rediculous but try to look at the bright side that they made the patch so fast. I know.... glass half empty - glass half full. I've uinstalled it and have it as a dust-gatherer until they fix 60% of things, THEN I'll allow it's electrons to grace the circuits of my "cyber hog." __________________ -- "There's little room in Tupolev's heart for anyone but Tupolev."

03-31-07, 10:07 AM	#15
Penelope_Grey Sea Lord Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: UK Posts: 1,893 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	It is kinda depressing the whole Silent hunter 4 situation but at least most of us have SH3 to tide us over. There are a lot of bugs and as such does not make it worth carrying out a serious career. __________________ I SURVIVED THE FIRST EVER SUBSIM WEREWOLF HUNT - and... I actually won the game for the humans too!