Veteran SH3 Player Just Bought SH4

[Sheldon]

Ahoy everyone!

I have been playing SH3 for years but recently was persuaded to try my skippering in the Pacific theatre. I have a few questions based on my first voyage and am wondering if any of you old salts can advise.

1. Patches - I bought the game from Direct2Drive. Played a night then decided I should check for patches. Here in the SubSim site I see an official 1.4 patch but in the forum posts I have seen reference to a 1.5 patch. The 1.4 patch instructions say to uninstall then re-install then apply the patch. That's kind of a pain. Is that really necessary? What happens if I have already started a campaign?

2. Widescreen - I recently bought a 24" widescreen with a native 1920 x 1080 and have searched for a method to make SH3 and SH4 look good but the games just display stretched wide. My solution is ... to just use my old monitor when sub simming. Is there a better option?

3. Salvo - Wow ... looks like the US torpedoes suck compared to the German ones. I cannot for the life of me figure out how to fire a salvo. The 'S' button on the tube selection panel doesn't seem to do it.

4. First Sub - I realize I know little about American submarines. There are a few types to choose from and the differences seems to do with range and number of torpedoes. As someone who is used to a VIIb, these American boats seem HUGE! I think I will stick with 1941 Pearl Harbour as a base. Any recommendations for what type of sub I should captain?

5. Function Keys - It seems like most of the F key functions are still there ... they've just been re-assigned to other F keys. Why would they do that?

6. Running Depth - This sim has much better visual effects than SH3 for water murkiness and such ... but now I notice I can see my sub when at periscope depth. 25 metres seems to be the magic spot to avoid being spotted. Am I just being paranoid or will aircraft/ships spot me at periscope depth?

7. Targets - There seems to be fewer big merchants and more military targets and smaller transports. Is that about right?

8. Local Time - My clock seems to be broken. I am cruising off Hokkaido and the sub's clock says it is 14:00 local time (2 pm) yet it looks more like 2 am ... pitch black with a starry sky? Do I misunderstand what local time means? It seems like my clock is off by 12 hours.

Any other advice for transitioning from SH3 to SH4?

Thanks in advance.