SH3 fans opinion on SH4

[walsh2509]

I will keep plugging away at SH4, I've done 6 missions on 73% that's Lock scope and contact updates and have sunk over 250,000tns and have a Purple Heart , Silver Star, 2 MOH and a Navy Cross and nearly all my crew are promoted.


Sinkings, Large Oil Tanker. well it was 2 of them 20 toprs to put them down, last partrol I found 3 in a convoy. I sat mid lanes and gave all 6 to the Large Oil Tanker on my bow and 4 to the one on my stern, both sank. I went after the 3rd and when I had 1 torp reloaded I though about using it on a smaller ship in the convoy but then thought what the and was on her 90 close in and fired it. Splash, boom! some smoke then fire and a few seconds later BOOM hugh fireball and the 10,000tn Tanker was gone in 1 torp.

So its varied. As with the Japanese DD's which if we are truely play it as a sim then they are about correct for the date. As I have said in another post(s), it was not until a Congressman called May let it slip to reporter in mid 43 that the Japanese DDs were not that good at hunting US subs and not only that there DC were set way to low. The Japanese from day 1 until mid 43 were setting there DCs to 100ft, thinking that US subs were something like there own and could not dive below 100/150ft.

That said, I was sitting at the bottom of an approach to a japanese harbour, when 3 DD leading a convoy out past over me. About 3hrs later while I was still waiting for night fall and sitting at 36mts 1mts off the bottom, 2 DD came right up to my position and started to DC me and they killed me .. I tried the mission again, same again 1st set of DD didn't even know I was down there (engines off silent )again another 2 came along later and killed me again...

So will some complain about japanese DDs I think the devs have got them near as was for that period of the war.


/Might seem like shooting fish in a barrel compared to SH3 and GWX1.03 but on the whole it was not far off that, and when the did find you, they never put there DC any lower than 100ft..

This call for ultra sensitive DDs I think as in GWX will make it harder, that was not the way it was, and as we are supposed to be playing a sim of the sub war, then ultra sensitive DD and others is not right..


Out of the box SH4 is not that bad, its playable! OK we all know about the bug and the bug that 1.1 brought with it ...

But its still very playable.

So my fellings have not been tainted by these bugs, SH3 v SH4 both out of box comparison's.


In SH3 (no add ons) I was in Das boot, I had a crew "around" me they were part of me and I was part of them. I was in a steel tube under the waves and it felt like it. I was there! Sitting by the light off my screen with my headphones on, I was a Uboat commander.


SH4, in an out of box comparision v SH3 the same, does not come close. I am not in a sub when I am sitting by the light of my screen with my headphones on. I am in front of a monitor pressing buttons to make thing happen on the screen in front of me. I am alone, I have no crew (ok they are there but) I am not one of them and they are not with me.

Forget the bug the graphics , bottom line you take SH3 out of its box and load it into your PC and play, you are in a uboat and you are the commander and you are a part of the crew and they are part of you. If feels right! It just has that feel, bugs buttons graphics have nothing to do with it.. It just feels as thought you are there..

I don't get that with SH4, as I said forgetting the bugs and all for a moment, that feel is not there..

I will keep playing SH4 but the feeling I get and its just my opinion, but both straight out of box without add on or patches, SH3 I am at war in a uboat, SH4 I am pressing buttons. As I have said this is not about bugs, its a feeling and SH4 does not give me that..

Unless the devs find a way to give it that feel, be it the crew or whatever, no amount of patches or bug fixes will fix that..

[Front Runner]

Originally Posted by con20or

Results are pretty decisive...do any of the nays want to elaborate?

Or the yay's tell me their favourite features?

The graphics are among my favorite features but the lack of FSAA is a very unfavorite graphic element.

I like the damage graphics, when you can see holes in the ship you've just torpedoed, that's a good thing.

In the Sub School mission, when you sink the cruiser, if you watch the action through the periscope, you can see the scout planes get blown off the back of the cruiser into the water, pretty cool

If you are into sub sims SH4 is a definite buy. It does have some faults listed all over the forum pages so I won't go into them here. I think the potential of SH4 as a modern 2007 Subsim outweighs the negatives, most of which (hopefully) will be eliminated when the patch series arrives.

[Iron Budokan]

I voted Nay because imo SH4 at current is a buggy POS with severe playability and gaming issues. Then again, to be fair, so was SH3 when it came out, imo, which is why I didn't play it, either, until it was fixed.

Which is why I still believe SH4, once corrected, will not only outshine SH3 it will ROCK.

But until that day comes (and I fully expect it to) I'll stick with SH3 for the nonce...

[Skweetis]

Originally Posted by con20or

any reason to use your radio in SH4?

Didnt read the entire thread, so sorry if somebody already answered.

In short, yes. In my experience so far, when you complete a mission, you have to send a status report to get the next one. Convoy reports will result in orders from BdU... err... COMSUBPAC... which, if ordered to attack, will add a new objective to your mission list. Sometimes they will tell you not to engage, that they will send other assets to handle the convoy.

I'm hoping they add a "rescue me" option to the radio messages, and make use of the US Sub Tender ships.

Other than that, I have found the radio actuall usefull this time around.

Much more life, I don't feel so alone at sea anymore.

but as always, remember:

"Be More Aggressive!"

[CybrSlydr]

I'm a Nay.

Why not to go for SH4 over SH3?

-Twin 20mm AA clip
-Campaign dates (Japanese Midway fleet, etc)
-Crush Depth computation
-Various bugs
-No Anti-Aliasing (soooo many jaggies)
-No true resolutions above 1024x768
-Being courts-martialed after you're already dead...
-Etc.

SH3 with GWX is a much more complete experience and, even though it's not as pretty, a more enjoyable experience.

Thankfully though, most of those above have been fixed with community mods. Brings it closer to a Yay for me.

But... My main complaints can't be community fixed - I.E. the AA and higher resolutions.

Have to wait for patches for those.

Once patched up and all, SH4 will be the premier subsim.

[DeePsix501]

In any game, you will always find a group of hardcore enthusiasts that love the original and dont play the sequals/expansions. It's just a fact a life. SH4 is a great game, and the devs did a fabulous job on it despite time constraints and money issues. As they patch the game's major problems, and we mod the minor problems, the game will only continue to get better!

[Snakeeyes]

It depends on if you are one of three kinds of people.

Type A. The noob or casual subber. Yes. Get it. Help support our community. Remember the old Doritos ad with Jay Leno when the catch phrase was "Crunch all you want... we'll make more!" Well there's nothing wrong with an increasing sim community. It's still buggy but you won't mind it much. The game was released early for you guys.

Type B. The Vet Subber who expects high quality (the spoiled brat heh heh ). Yes, get it... in a year. This game is NOT finished. It was shipped way too beta. Stick with GWX for now. This is me BTW. Played it a few times but the graphics gave me a headache. Waiting for patch 1.2. If it doesn't make the graphics flow better I will shelve it until I have an Uber system. I justify my feelings about the graphics by saying that I sim to escape reality. I want the feeling of having "been there." I can't do it with jaggies, missing torpedoes, weird airborne AI... etc., etc., etc...............

Type C. The Purist. What? Why are you bitching about graphics problems?! I've been playing wargames on boards WITHOUT graphics for years! These are the people who mod and fix our problems. They see this a great raw material (which is what it is! ) Yes - get it.

[Grothesj2]

New ocean, new ships, better graphics, big GAPING holes in ships when you nail them, more varied missions, actual radio traffic and still lots of room for the modders to mod to thier hearts content. Definitely a Yay vote form me.

[NefariousKoel]

Originally Posted by TDK1044

Should you get SH4? Yes. Absolutely. Don't compare it to a fully patched and modded SH3 though, because SH4 is not yet fully patched or modded. When it is, it will be a better sim in my view because it offers a greater variety of gameplay elements and has superior graphics.

Short but sweet and very true.

I'd also like to add... I absolutely love the TDC setup for manual shots.

[con20or]

thanks everyone for the replies. Cant wait to get it now, even though the nays made a bit of a comeback in the polls.

Quick question, saw this pic on the ubi screen shot competition

what is the green jizz?? is algae modeled in the game!!!???!!!!

[con20or]

this game really is beautiful.

[AVGWarhawk]

Originally Posted by con20or

thanks everyone for the replies. Cant wait to get it now, even though the nays made a bit of a comeback in the polls.

Quick question, saw this pic on the ubi screen shot competition

what is the green jizz?? is algae modeled in the game!!!???!!!!

That is alge in the water. It is done very well. If your scope is at 0 degrees it comes at the scope and if you are at 180 degrees with your scope you can see the alge going away from the scope. Little things like this that really add to the game.

[con20or]

Agreed! I'm very impressed by this too, rocks/weed etc.

Can you collide with rocks?

[AVGWarhawk]

Unfortunate you can not collide with the rocks. Perhaps a modders new trick down the road.

[con20or]

The boat doesnt just go through them does it