My personal SH IV Gold reveiw

Freiwillige · 01-12-09, 05:16 AM

NOTE: This is just my take and mostly based on opinion.

System Specs:AMD Sempron 2.8+ runing at the default 1600Mhz.
GeForce 7300 GT AGP with 512megs
2048 gigs of DDR 3200 system memory
80 gigabyte WD ATA HD

The intro movie just blew me away and I had to watch it at least 3 times before proceeding!

Load times are much faster than with SHIII.

First Impression. Wow even know the charicters are much more advanced than it predissesor they do look cartoony. And something just seems odd about the water and I cant describe it. The color is okay but the texture and wave behavior is bizarre. Again dificult to describe at best. The training missions are devoid of any real hints and you just kind of have to figure it out a bit. The training missions ran good on my P.C. and better than I expected with graphics set on medium.

The outside veiw is great and the boats are much more detailed than in SHIII with crews walking around on deck oblivious to their impending destruction. Now if only I could figure out how to shoot a torpedo into them instead of lofting one in there general direction!

So far I am more impressed than I thought I would be.
After watching several youtube videos describing the correct procedure to torpedo the cruiser in training mission 3 I decided to try that next. And after only 12 failed attempts I finally a torpedo on target, Not just one, but all four! The cruiser rolled and sank in less than thirty seconds and the damage effects are far superior to SHIII's with the ability to see inside the holes you strategicaly placed there for the Japanese.

Another thing that struck me is how odd looking fleet boats are compared to German subs. No Teutonic engineering went into making these beautifull eyesores the U.S. feilded in WWII. No Instead of the streamlined towers of the U-boats you get these huge structures with odds and ends slapped on them and protruding in an most unweilding mannor. Still, functional is the opperative word here in the US navy and dont forgett that sailor! Well at least I have the Kreigsmarine to look into next with the U-boat missions add on that came with the sim.

So after AAA practice and deck gun and torpedo training I am sitting here with a grudging smile on my face. I must admit that I like it although I cannot shake that feeling that something is off somewhere. It just has not sucked me in like SHIII yet....

Okay training done its time to put to sea. Why not take the type IX U-boat out for a spin on this beautiful Pacific afternoon I thought. Load campaign and im in an office. Looks good to. Try a few upgrades and im off in some far east harbour.

First problem arises. My frame rates near a port are reduced to nill but I pull out anyways determined to stick it out. The crew speaks English!? No German voice overs this time but I suppose there is a mod.....Thank God for Modders!

Problem 2. Looking around inside my boat all my guages are blacked out. No deapth meter. the dials on the TDC are blacked out as well! Must be a bug!

This sim even at this late stage seems unpolished and buggy. Although SHIII had its issues as well in the beginning. Seems to be a Silent Hunter thing.

Well 48 hours into this crazy experiment I pull the plug. Do I like SH4? Yes I do and modded it should have the same ability to shine as SHIII does now. Will it replace SHIII? While it will stay on my hard drive and be played quite a bit as I discover new things over the coming weeks good and bad, It wont be replacing my SHIII anytime soon if ever. It just has a differant feel to it than SHIII. I would recommend buying it if your system can handle it and some of the new features are breathtaking like the ability to see your submarine through the water.

Its more complimetary to SHIII as opposed to an outright replacment of its big brother. Admitedly I have tried none of the Mods such as Trigger Maru or Environment 4 but I hear great things about them both and will probably be trying both soon.

So there you have it in a nutshell, Hopefuly some of the modders can get some bugs fixed that UBI left in and refine the engine a bit so your frame rates stop getting kicked in the....Well you get the idea.

gordonmull · 01-12-09, 02:45 PM

Quote:

And something just seems odd about the water and I cant describe it.

Yeah, there's just something not right, almost like it's just kind of playing on your subconcious.

Quote:

the damage effects are far superior to SHIII's with the ability to see inside the holes you strategicaly placed there for the Japanese.

Love this!!!

Quote:

Seems to be a Silent Hunter thing.

Oh yes!

Glad to hear you went for it, though. Like you say, in time and with the talents of the modders, this will be great a great game.

AVGWarhawk · 01-12-09, 02:52 PM

It will grow on you. Please, get PE4 and if you dig the Uboats, get Operation Monson (OM) in the SH4 U Mod Forums. You can sail the Atlantic now! Oh, get PE4 in the SH4 mod forums.

Marko_Ramius · 01-13-09, 12:39 PM

I agree with the "cartoonish looking" , so awful to my eyes ! But, yes, it's far way better with PE4.

Anyway, you did a good choice in getting a copy, cause one day, GWX team will make it shine in a great way

Pisces · 01-13-09, 03:40 PM

Ehm, didn't you put this in the wrong forum?

Freiwillige · 01-13-09, 04:42 PM

"Ehm, didn't you put this in the wrong forum?"-Peices

Nope, I thought I would share this experiance with others who like me have not experianced this sim yet. An honest opinion if you will.

PhantomLord · 01-14-09, 03:46 AM

Quote:

First problem arises. My frame rates near a port are reduced to nill but I pull out anyways determined to stick it out. The crew speaks English!? No German voice overs this time but I suppose there is a mod.....Thank God for Modders!

Problem 2. Looking around inside my boat all my guages are blacked out. No deapth meter. the dials on the TDC are blacked out as well! Must be a bug!

You should definitely upgrade your system for SH IV. 1.6GHz is far below the minimum requirements.

This will help a little bit against freezing frame rates near port. Blacked out gauges... this is no bug! Has something to do with your graphic card / drivers. I didn´t remember exactly how i solved this thing.
My rig:
AMD Athlon 2600+ (2,1GHz)
2Gigs RAM
Nvidia 7600GT AGP
Works fine around 25-30 FPS with graphic settings medium. Near port i´ve around 8 FPS.

Freiwillige · 01-14-09, 05:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhantomLord

Quote:

First problem arises. My frame rates near a port are reduced to nill but I pull out anyways determined to stick it out. The crew speaks English!? No German voice overs this time but I suppose there is a mod.....Thank God for Modders!

Problem 2. Looking around inside my boat all my guages are blacked out. No deapth meter. the dials on the TDC are blacked out as well! Must be a bug!

You should definitely upgrade your system for SH IV. 1.6GHz is far below the minimum requirements.

This will help a little bit against freezing frame rates near port. Blacked out gauges... this is no bug! Has something to do with your graphic card / drivers. I didn´t remember exactly how i solved this thing.
My rig:
AMD Athlon 2600+ (2,1GHz)
2Gigs RAM
Nvidia 7600GT AGP
Works fine around 25-30 FPS with graphic settings medium. Near port i´ve around 8 FPS.

Its An AMD thing. Its a 2.8+ Ghz Running at 1.6 Ghz. Confusing I know but thats how AMD lables them since it runs equivalent to a pentium 2.8. So technically it runs at 1.6 but performs as a 2.8

The black gauges cleared up on the very next loading of the game!:p

PhantomLord · 01-14-09, 06:34 AM

Yeah thats an AMD thing... but 1.6GHz will be 1.6GHz.
My old Volvo 440 would act like a Viper then.... i´ve the Viper nameplate on his frontend :rotfl:

No offense... i really think some more REAL megahertz will significantly affect the performance

01-12-09, 05:16 AM	#1
Freiwillige The Old Man Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Phx. Az Posts: 1,458 Downloads: 24 Uploads: 0	My personal SH IV Gold reveiw NOTE: This is just my take and mostly based on opinion. System Specs:AMD Sempron 2.8+ runing at the default 1600Mhz. GeForce 7300 GT AGP with 512megs 2048 gigs of DDR 3200 system memory 80 gigabyte WD ATA HD The intro movie just blew me away and I had to watch it at least 3 times before proceeding! Load times are much faster than with SHIII. First Impression. Wow even know the charicters are much more advanced than it predissesor they do look cartoony. And something just seems odd about the water and I cant describe it. The color is okay but the texture and wave behavior is bizarre. Again dificult to describe at best. The training missions are devoid of any real hints and you just kind of have to figure it out a bit. The training missions ran good on my P.C. and better than I expected with graphics set on medium. The outside veiw is great and the boats are much more detailed than in SHIII with crews walking around on deck oblivious to their impending destruction. Now if only I could figure out how to shoot a torpedo into them instead of lofting one in there general direction! So far I am more impressed than I thought I would be. After watching several youtube videos describing the correct procedure to torpedo the cruiser in training mission 3 I decided to try that next. And after only 12 failed attempts I finally a torpedo on target, Not just one, but all four! The cruiser rolled and sank in less than thirty seconds and the damage effects are far superior to SHIII's with the ability to see inside the holes you strategicaly placed there for the Japanese. Another thing that struck me is how odd looking fleet boats are compared to German subs. No Teutonic engineering went into making these beautifull eyesores the U.S. feilded in WWII. No Instead of the streamlined towers of the U-boats you get these huge structures with odds and ends slapped on them and protruding in an most unweilding mannor. Still, functional is the opperative word here in the US navy and dont forgett that sailor! Well at least I have the Kreigsmarine to look into next with the U-boat missions add on that came with the sim. So after AAA practice and deck gun and torpedo training I am sitting here with a grudging smile on my face. I must admit that I like it although I cannot shake that feeling that something is off somewhere. It just has not sucked me in like SHIII yet.... Okay training done its time to put to sea. Why not take the type IX U-boat out for a spin on this beautiful Pacific afternoon I thought. Load campaign and im in an office. Looks good to. Try a few upgrades and im off in some far east harbour. First problem arises. My frame rates near a port are reduced to nill but I pull out anyways determined to stick it out. The crew speaks English!? No German voice overs this time but I suppose there is a mod.....Thank God for Modders! Problem 2. Looking around inside my boat all my guages are blacked out. No deapth meter. the dials on the TDC are blacked out as well! Must be a bug! This sim even at this late stage seems unpolished and buggy. Although SHIII had its issues as well in the beginning. Seems to be a Silent Hunter thing. Well 48 hours into this crazy experiment I pull the plug. Do I like SH4? Yes I do and modded it should have the same ability to shine as SHIII does now. Will it replace SHIII? While it will stay on my hard drive and be played quite a bit as I discover new things over the coming weeks good and bad, It wont be replacing my SHIII anytime soon if ever. It just has a differant feel to it than SHIII. I would recommend buying it if your system can handle it and some of the new features are breathtaking like the ability to see your submarine through the water. Its more complimetary to SHIII as opposed to an outright replacment of its big brother. Admitedly I have tried none of the Mods such as Trigger Maru or Environment 4 but I hear great things about them both and will probably be trying both soon. So there you have it in a nutshell, Hopefuly some of the modders can get some bugs fixed that UBI left in and refine the engine a bit so your frame rates stop getting kicked in the....Well you get the idea.

01-12-09, 02:52 PM	#3
AVGWarhawk Lucky Jack Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: In a 1954 Buick. Posts: 28,253 Downloads: 90 Uploads: 0	It will grow on you. Please, get PE4 and if you dig the Uboats, get Operation Monson (OM) in the SH4 U Mod Forums. You can sail the Atlantic now! Oh, get PE4 in the SH4 mod forums. __________________ “You're painfully alive in a drugged and dying culture.” ― Richard Yates, Revolutionary Road

01-14-09, 06:34 AM	#9
PhantomLord XO Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Berlin, Germany Posts: 408 Downloads: 124 Uploads: 0	Yeah thats an AMD thing... but 1.6GHz will be 1.6GHz. My old Volvo 440 would act like a Viper then.... i´ve the Viper nameplate on his frontend :rotfl: No offense... i really think some more REAL megahertz will significantly affect the performance __________________ ~^~ War does not determine who is right - only who is left. ~^~

01-13-09, 12:39 PM	#4
Marko_Ramius Frogman Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Near Paris Posts: 303 Downloads: 113 Uploads: 0	I agree with the "cartoonish looking" , so awful to my eyes ! But, yes, it's far way better with PE4. Anyway, you did a good choice in getting a copy, cause one day, GWX team will make it shine in a great way

01-13-09, 03:40 PM	#5
Pisces Silent Hunter Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: AN9771 Posts: 4,904 Downloads: 304 Uploads: 0	Ehm, didn't you put this in the wrong forum?

01-13-09, 04:42 PM	#6
Freiwillige The Old Man Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Phx. Az Posts: 1,458 Downloads: 24 Uploads: 0	"Ehm, didn't you put this in the wrong forum?"-Peices Nope, I thought I would share this experiance with others who like me have not experianced this sim yet. An honest opinion if you will.