New to SH IV - question about MODs

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.