New to SH IV - question about MODs

[z0ttel]

Hi everybody,

I'm new to SH IV - since yesterday SH IV Gold (SH IV + U-boats addOn patched to v1.5) is installed on my PC, and after playing some of the tutorial lessons, I have to say it's an awful good game (I think that's not new to you )..

On my search for some interesting MODs I got stuck on this great website ... now my problem is that I'm really confused about all that MODs that are available....

I tried to build my own opinion about which MODs could be useful and which are not and I learned that there are some MODs which don't work with others and so on.

So I would like to ask you which MODs are 'essential' from your point of view, I'm interested in adding more realism to and fixing [historical] bugs of the game, but if you can recommend some 'eyecandy'-MOD, please do it


Thanks in advance,
z0ttel

[neosnk35]

stick with the vanilla version for sometime... get the feel of the game... then feel where you needed the mods ... example you want an a vibrant environment then you should download a mod for the environment... hmm i think TMO and RSRD for realism.. but i may be wrong...

[tonschk]

Is just about to be released the "the real environment mod" , this is the union of two available environmental mods of SH4 , the stock ocean of SH4 is in my opinion dull matt and lifeless , and this mods correct this issue

[Platapus]

I think Neosnk had some good advice.

Play the stock game until you can decide, for yourself, what aspects of the original game you would like changed. Then you would be in a better position to review and evaluate which mods are good for YOU and your play style.

Just because some people like mod X does not mean that you would like it. Mod Z may be all that you want depending on your play style.

Don't play a mod just because "everyone else uses it" for they probably don't (many more people play SH4 who never post on this board

Play a mod because it enhances YOUR game experience. And only you can make that determination.

Good luck and good hunting

[tater]

I'd suggest the stock game with Run Silent, Run Deep Campaign to start.

The stock game is one thing, the campaign is another matter altogether. The stock campaign is terrible. It's not just the accuracy of it, it's BORING. They send you places they didn't bother to put ANY traffic, for example. When you do see traffic, they built the stock campaign with copy and paste. 6 merchants with 4 DDs escorting. All DDs set to be such a low AI, the real IJN wouldn't have let the crews run a garbage scow.

Do yourself a favor, don't play the stock campaign.

[Soundman]

Ditto Tater above. AND Welcome to the forums!

start off by going to my game fixes thread and get all the fixes first so your stock game works better.

rsrdc is a good fix for the stock campaign that many people feel it has way too many ships everywhere, but i would recommend waiting to use this mod until you have had time to sink many ships first so you get lots of practice sinking ships. after installing it you will need to follow historic ship traffic areas and dates to find the ships in the game.

the two main big mods are trigger maru overhauled and real fleet boat, tmo is not as strick on realism because they wanted it to be a hard to survive version of the game. with real fleet boat mod the game is still very hard but they are much more accurate about sticking to pure realism only.

we had two environmental mods that are just now being combined into one, usually environmental mods have minor issues they cause because of all the changes made so dont be shocked if you need to live with these minor issues to get a real life looking sea environment.

[Capt. Green]

This are silly questions, but...
- how exactly do mods work?
- how do mods get installed?
- where do I get these mods?

Thanks in advance

[Powerthighs]

- how exactly do mods work?

If you look at your SH4 directory, you will see there is a Data folder that contains tons of data files that provide graphics and all sorts of settings for the game. Mods work by changing these files to change the graphics, campaign, AI difficulty, almost anything you can think of.

- how do mods get installed?

Mods get installed by copying the modified versions of the data files over the original ones that are on your computer. Most people use a free program calle JSGME that will do this automatically for you and allow you to undo changes in the future.

- where do I get these mods?

If you look in the Sh4 Mods forum you will see threads about each Mod. The most popular mods are stickied at the top, others have titles that start with [REL] (for release), so you can search on that to see a comprehensive list. The first post in the thread will tell you where to download the mod from (usually a file hosting site like fileshare).


Regarding which mods to use, like others I advise to play the stock game for awhile. One nice thing about the stock game is you will come across lots of targets, and get good practice with the game. Later you may want to install some mods that increase realism, but be aware that that usually means far fewer targets and higher game difficulty. Many people desire that, but some do not.

In general, many people run either Trigger Maru Overhauled (TMO) or Real Fleet Boat (RFB) (they are mutually exclusive) as the base mod, then install Run Silent Run Deep (RSRD) to greatly increase the realism in the campagin layer. Those would be the first three to read about. All are stickied in the mods forum.

[Sailor Steve]

WELCOME ABOARD, Capt. Green!

I think Powerthighs did an excellent job of explaining, but it never hurts to have different versions of the same answer, so:

Originally Posted by Capt. Green

- how exactly do mods work?

They change things to make them do different things than the things they did before. Graphics mods make the game look different, gameplay mods change the way things happen, sound mods change the sounds (obviously, but you never know...). The person who created the mod will usually have a description and pictures so you can tell what each one does.

- how do mods get installed?

They usually come with instructions, but mostly you find out where the file you have is located and replace the original one with a new one. It's a good idea to first change the name on the old one so it doesn't get lost. That way you can put it back if you don't like the new one.

- where do I get these mods?

The best place is in the 'Mods' sections of this board - 'SH4 Mods Workshop', and its counterpart for SH3. The person posting the mod will include a link. Click on the link and it will take you to a page with another link. You click on that and a little dialogue box will appear, asking you if you want to save the mod. You then click 'Save' and then use the resultant directory to tell your computer where to put it. I have special sections in mine which say 'SH3', 'SH4' etc, and then more folders for each type of mod - 'Graphics', 'Gameplay', 'Campaigns' and whatever else I need.

More explanations as you have more questions. It's complicated at first, but soon it all falls into place.

[rubenandthejets]

Don't forget the wonderful "JONES SOFT GENERIC MOD ENABLER" aka JSGME. This wonderful piece of software install the mods, also checks if any mods comflict with each other etc. When you see "install with JSGME" it means this superb piece of handy, free software.