Wow... how did i miss out on this game for so long?

[Akula4745]

Well gents... this is one helluva game you got here! Wow. And that is on my OLD machine... the gameplay is fantastic!! Had the typical (I imagine) hard time remembering where some of the more important buttons were located, and learned severals lessons about handling the crew... but wow. Loved it. Cannot believe I had never tried it or really heard anything much about till recently... amazing. I'm hooked.

On my second go-round with the convoy mission (once I figured a few things out) I had 3 kills and 1 damaged... and shelled the last kill at sunset after I waited out the escort. Allow me to share a snapshot of that balmy evening in the Pacific with you:



One question tho - when targeting through the attack scope you get a little triangle which changes color - what is the optimum color for a shot? Red or green? Yellow seems to lead to more misses than hits.

Thanks all... and thanks for the warm welcome too. Nothing but good folks here!!

[steinbeck]

Originally Posted by Akula4745

Well gents... this is one helluva game you got here! Wow. And that is on my OLD machine... the gameplay is fantastic!! Had the typical (I imagine) hard time remembering where some of the more important buttons were located, and learned severals lessons about handling the crew... but wow. Loved it. Cannot believe I had never tried it or really heard anything much about till recently... amazing. I'm hooked.

On my second go-round with the convoy mission (once I figured a few things out) I had 3 kills and 1 damaged... and shelled the last kill at sunset after I waited out the escort. Allow me to share a snapshot of that balmy evening in the Pacific with you:



One question tho - when targeting through the attack scope you get a little triangle which changes color - what is the optimum color for a shot? Red or green? Yellow seems to lead to more misses than hits.

Thanks all... and thanks for the warm welcome too. Nothing but good folks here!!

Like always 'I think' green is 'GO' Like traffic lights I guess!

steinbeck

[Torplexed]

Yeah, submarine simulations are addictive for some of us. Not as fast or reactive as a flight sim, but you usually get the benefit of a little time to plan things out.

We get a lot of wrangling sometimes over which theater is the better game play, the Atlantic or Pacific but to me it's all good. It least they're still making subsims.

Cheers!...and sink them all.

[SteamWake]

Since it seems your using auto target, green is the best angle. But really the best indicator is the TDO.

Its a slide out tab on the uper left of the periscope screen. There are two pages. One sets depth and speed, the other is for setting AOB and apparent bearing. With auto targeting the latter (the PK) is set for you automagically, however you can watch it to see how big an angle the torp would have to veer to hit its target.

Anything within 15 degrees to port or starbort off you bow or stern (depending which tubes are selected) you should be fine.

Here is a pick its the dial at the bottom in this case the target is about 5 degrees off to port an acceptable angle.

[MonTana_Prussian]

Yeah,it can be very addicting,but enjoyable! I remember the first day I had the game installed,played about 6-7 hours straight.....

[Sailor Steve]

I've been addicted to sub sims since I played Silent Service back in 1986. I've been putting off playing SH4 since I'm still working on stuff for SH3, and still enjoying playing it; also because my computer runs it very poorly.

Still, just the other day I wanted to work on some SH4 stuff, and I'm having a hard time making myself stop playing long enough to actually get anything done.

Yes, it's addictive. Welcome to the drug den.:rotfl:

[Akula4745]

Originally Posted by SteamWake

Since it seems your using auto target, green is the best angle. But really the best indicator is the TDO.

Anything within 15 degrees to port or starbort off you bow or stern (depending which tubes are selected) you should be fine.

Yessir SW, I had to start out using the auto targeting... too many other buttons to learn and locate on my first mission. But I have snagged every tutorial I have seen available regarding manual targeting and hope to give it a whirl as soon as I am comfortable with basic game knowledge...

So having the bow (and tubes) pointing directly at the target is not the best approach? I should work to have to target slightly off-center of my tubes? Last night I was 90 degrees off a merchant about 800-900 yards away... and couldn't even hit the dang thing with 2 fish. So I know I've got some learning to do.

[peabody]

Originally Posted by Akula4745

Yessir SW, I had to start out using the auto targeting... too many other buttons to learn and locate on my first mission. But I have snagged every tutorial I have seen available regarding manual targeting and hope to give it a whirl as soon as I am comfortable with basic game knowledge...

So having the bow (and tubes) pointing directly at the target is not the best approach? I should work to have to target slightly off-center of my tubes? Last night I was 90 degrees off a merchant about 800-900 yards away... and couldn't even hit the dang thing with 2 fish. So I know I've got some learning to do.

Are you sure you missed? There are duds programmed into the game. 800 yds sounds hard to miss.

Peabody

[Akula4745]

Originally Posted by Torplexed

We get a lot of wrangling sometimes over which theater is the better game play, the Atlantic or Pacific but to me it's all good.

Ah, interesting Torp... I hadn't thought about the Atlantic. Does the SH4 U-boat add-on include the Atlantic also? Or would that have been in SH3 - or maybe a mod?

Yeehaw... even more ships to sink!

[Torplexed]

Originally Posted by Akula4745

Ah, interesting Torp... I hadn't thought about the Atlantic. Does the SH4 U-boat add-on include the Atlantic also? Or would that have been in SH3 - or maybe a mod?

Yeehaw... even more ships to sink!

The SH4 U-Boat add-on only covers Indian Ocean and Pacific operations by U-Boats. The Operation Monsun mod does far more I understand, although I've yet to download it.

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=134922

[XonE:32]

Originally Posted by Akula4745

LOL XonE - my first was an IBM PS2... and I am still not sure it even had any RAM!

This is not a hijack Akula, just thought your comment above was hilarious. But I started to wonder and did some checking because I had friends with IBM systems and always drooled over them as they're were virtually NO games for the Apple II+. Not only that, the II Plus was discontinued in '82 and yer sys was around in 87. So you're right! My 48MB comment was a huge typo on my part (granted I was going back over 25 years).
But apparently my old II Plus had 48K of memory LOL!

With regard to your initial post:

What lessons did you find out about with the crew management? (you mentioned it first post). I only bring it up because I still don't know what the hell I'm doin' on that screen.

Also, if and when you're ready for Manual TDC (trust me, it'll take less time than you probably think), I found these helpful if you don't already have them:

Props to CapnScurvy for this one:
http://forums.ubi.com/eve/forums/a/t...5/m/4351025226

Props to Werner Sobe and RockinRobbins for this little (50MB-7:28min) vid download:
http://files.filefront.com/SH4+Compl.../fileinfo.html

[Akula4745]

Ok, did much better on my shooting last night... 12 torpedo loadout = 4 merchants... but I did have to shell the last one till it sank. <G> I will eventually figure out all the details... but at least now I know I am moving in the right direction. Discovered how to select a target for range findings and PK and much more last night... a rather productive evening.



As far as details about the crew management - I figured out you can select a crew member for duty (either in the torp rooms or damage control) and drag n' drop him where you want - obviously the more skilled men have the higher rating (look for highest first number/100 when you cursor over the man) - and will perform better so tasks get done more quickly. I definitely went to full compliment of men in both torpedo rooms - removing those I added once the last load was in the tubes or all torps had been expended. IMHO I also think it is a good call to have a damage control team in place when in action... I have been using the conning tower crew as my skilled pool along with select others who had high ratings - and the deck watch as my unskilled pool. The conning tower crew have generally higher ratings than the deck watch guys...

This is about all I have figured out so far - anyone have anything to add? I would certainly be interested in deeper crew mgmnt info myself - just kinda guessing my way through what the manual, documentation, and clips don't cover.

Happy hunting my friends!
Jim

[mheil]

I usually hit the "B" key right before the action starts - this will call the crew to battle stations and improve you efficiency and put the boys at damage control. I also will quicky cycle through the front torps with the "W" key, pressing "Q" to open the door for ech tube. For the Stern torps you have to mouse over each tube button and then hit "Q". It's easy to forget to open the tubes in the heat of the moment!
Good Luck and Good Hunting!

[Akula4745]

Hmmmm... that makes me wonder if going to Battle stations brings damage control crews into action by itself. I assumed (and possibly quite wrongly) we had to actually move men into the damage control positions... and battle stations is just a natural for action maneuvering.

Well at least that is what I have been doing. Right or wrong. I think it is a question for the experts if any are still checking this thread.

[Frame57]

Akula, if you are using point an shoot targeting make sure you have a green triangle indicator on your scope. If you have not been seen and are at about 1000 yards. You should hit everytime. Also for your damage control party. Next time you are in port, you can select crew members from the roster on the far left. You do not need to use your existing crew for this. So you can have a complete DC party ready to roll.