How is it?

[kholdstayr]

I've been thinking about getting SH IV and I am wondering how the game plays now that there are some patches released for it? I was going to buy it when it first came out but I decided not to when I read how buggy it was.

Another question I have is about the convoy density. In SH III I was kind of disappointed because finding convoys was very difficult and there were tons of single merchant ships to hunt but a convoy was difficult to meet up with. Does SH IV still have the single merchant ship problem? I know that there are mods and stuff for SH III, several of which greatly improved the convoy situation and reduced the single merchant ships but it would be nice if I didn't have to mod SH IV just to be able to get something to hunt.

One more question. I remember that I used to play SH III with a mod (can't remember the name now) that would use the game's ship compartment feature to fill the ship with water and allow it to sink somewhat realistically. The original SH III unmodded had the ship compartment setup but the developers never used it to its full potential. I remember that in original SH III usually you would kill a ship by causing more damage than it had damage points, but with this mod the ships were quite tough and you couldn't usually do enough damage to take the ship out that way. Instead you had to fill it with water and make it sink by using the compartment feature. Did the SH IV developers finally use this feature or are ships still killed by doing damage points on them?

Thanks.

[Mush Martin]

question three first there are Natural Sinking Mechanic's mods (NSM)

I find SHIV totally playable but each game has its critics.

in the pacific Japanese shipping tends to follow fairly well
documented routes, with regularity. most of the routes
along the asian coastline end up going through a choke point
somewhere.

there are open ocean intercepts but inspite of less volumous
shipping hunting in the pacific is somewhat easier than in mid
atlantic.

M

[raymond6751]

It depends on your style of play. If you like playing at 1X real time, be prepared for LONG distances of open ocean.

I am on a third patrol (campaign) and had just one encounter, in a fog of course.

I have yet to see any aircraft, but the crew have sighted a few.

Watch out for shallow water around islands.

[LeeVanSpliff]

I haven't experienced any crashes yet in SH4 1.4 - game runs really well imo.

I have a much easier time finding and hunting convoys than I had in SH3. I think the islands and the need to transport stuff to particular islands is all the difference from SH3 and the Atlantic.

If you liked SH3 and have no particular dislike for sailing in the Pacific theater I would definitely recommend SH4.

[Rockin Robbins]

Originally Posted by kholdstayr

I've been thinking about getting SH IV and I am wondering how the game plays now that there are some patches released for it? I was going to buy it when it first came out but I decided not to when I read how buggy it was.

The game has played very well since patch 1.3, a long time ago. It is much more stable than SH3 and doesn't share SH3's nasty habits, like trashing save games when you save underwater, in sensor range of other ships, within a certain distance of shore or when not facing Mecca. OK, I made up the last one, but sometimes it seems like SH3 is about as friendly as a cat whose tail has just been run over by your rocking chair. It will wring the graphics card out a bit, so make sure you have 2 gig memory and a graphics card as good or better than nVidia 7600GT.

Originally Posted by kholdstayr

Another question I have is about the convoy density. In SH III I was kind of disappointed because finding convoys was very difficult and there were tons of single merchant ships to hunt but a convoy was difficult to meet up with. Does SH IV still have the single merchant ship problem? I know that there are mods and stuff for SH III, several of which greatly improved the convoy situation and reduced the single merchant ships but it would be nice if I didn't have to mod SH IV just to be able to get something to hunt.

These are simulations, not games. If it was difficult for the real submarines to find convoys, and it was, it will be difficult for you. The mods available tend to favor realism and if anything they will decrease the number of contacts, including convoys, that you encounter. As others have said, if you hunt properly, you should have no difficulty finding targets and tormentors. Unlike SH3, SH4 is a mission-based game. I have never deviated from my course to and from the assigned mission in order to find targets enough to use up all my torpedoes. I think you'll like SH4.

Originally Posted by kholdstayr

One more question. I remember that I used to play SH III with a mod (can't remember the name now) that would use the game's ship compartment feature to fill the ship with water and allow it to sink somewhat realistically. The original SH III unmodded had the ship compartment setup but the developers never used it to its full potential. I remember that in original SH III usually you would kill a ship by causing more damage than it had damage points, but with this mod the ships were quite tough and you couldn't usually do enough damage to take the ship out that way. Instead you had to fill it with water and make it sink by using the compartment feature. Did the SH IV developers finally use this feature or are ships still killed by doing damage points on them?

Right now we're in flux, caused by the release of SH4UBM and the scarcity of WernerSobe, the author of Natural Sinking Mechanics, which works as you are looking for. It is still possible to use NSM, but if you encounter a ship type not covered by that mod, it will sink in the old way. The Real Fleet Boat team is now working on a replacement for Natural Sinking Mechanics that will improve on the mod and apply to all SH4 shipping.

Try it, you'll like it!

Not facing Mecca....

I haven't laughed that hard in a very long time.....

[kholdstayr]

Actually, SH IV is more appealing to me than SH III because I like the whole Pacific operations setup more. I still occasionally play the original Silent Hunter and the Super Nintendo game Pacific Theater of Operations II which is a naval strategy game and have a lot of fun with that kind of stuff. I understand that SH III and other sub games attempt to be simulations but really, if you can spend a couple of hours of real life running into nothing but single freighters like you can in SH III unmodded that kind of ruins things for me. Maybe I am just used to the density of convoys in the original Silent Hunter or something. I do try to play the games in a somewhat hardcore fashion though, when I was playing SH III before I always played with manual TDC, and the same goes for the original Silent Hunter. I don't always do the best but I have a blast with manual TDC and any kill you get with manual TDC just feels awesome.

However, now I just realized that to get SH IV I am going to have to build a new computer. My desktop is kind of right at the low end of the specs for SH IV which I didn't realize before. Oh well, I guess it's not a bad time to upgrade since besides SH IV I could actually try the new MS FlightSim X now with new computer.

[RickC Sniper]

If your pc handled SHIII with mods then it should run SH4.


You'll find convoys in SHIV. If lone ship encounters annoy you, I suggest ignoring them.

There ARE mods here that reduce their frequency, but you can also just use mental discipline.

[kholdstayr]

Originally Posted by RickC Sniper

If your pc handled SHIII with mods then it should run SH4.


You'll find convoys in SHIV. If lone ship encounters annoy you, I suggest ignoring them.

There ARE mods here that reduce their frequency, but you can also just use mental discipline.

Well, I have a 2 Ghz system with a fairly crappy video card which was fairly playable with SH III but not great by any standard. I read that the minimum standard for SH IV is a 2 Ghz CPU, so that is what makes me wonder if my computer can handle it.

[AVGWarhawk]

Originally Posted by kholdstayr

Well, I have a 2 Ghz system with a fairly crappy video card which was fairly playable with SH III but not great by any standard. I read that the minimum standard for SH IV is a 2 Ghz CPU, so that is what makes me wonder if my computer can handle it.

I run it on a 2.2 CPU. 7800GS card and 2 gig DDR 400. Runs and looks good.

[Fearless]

Running well as per my specs (in my sig).