New to SH4

[floundericiousWA]

Hey all, I'm a journeyman SH3 cap'n and I just found SH4-UB-Gold for $6 at a used bookstore

I'm patrolling in a Tambor in December 1941 near the Japanese home islands on my first campaign.

What fuel level is my "bingo fuel"? In SH3, I ask the navigator range to empty and take care of it that way...am I in deep poo if I hit 25% diesel while near something like Naha?

I've got a task force in my sights (jeebus, it's impressive, two fusos, a kongo, three Mayas, two CLs, and about 10 DDs) but I don't want to run out of fuel (instant fail???) in the middle of the pacific.

What should I keep in mind about fuel consumption (is there a best speed? is there a way to identify range to empty?) when playing SH4? If you run out of fuel are you pretty much dead...exit to main menu, you die, thanks for all the fish?

Thanks

[SteamWake]

What I do although not very realistic is to make note of how much fuel it took to arrive on station. Typically around 1/4 tank or a little less. In other words 3/4 left.

I make sure to set off for home before I reach that 1/4 tank left.

It depends alot on what theater, and boat, and if there are ports nearby.

Some mods add the range at current speed button

[DigitalAura]

Welcome... you're obviously just runnin' stock... but if you go download Trigger Maru Overhaul (mod) then you'll have a nice lil icon you can click to tell you the range you can cover at the current speed.

[Distortion]

I use TMO, where you can ask the navigator what max range with the current speed is. Also, I use 10 knots almost everytime.

But again, I use TMO 1.7, not sure how this is with stock.

[Sailor Steve]

Excellent choice, excellent price! TMO and RFB are both great mods, and give OpsMonsun a try for a quick return to the U-boats. And don't forget RSRDC for a realistic campaign background.

@ SteamWake: Why would that be unrealistic? I would think that's the best way to do it, though I've never skippered a real submarine.

[floundericiousWA]

Thanks all, I'm getting the sense that Trigger Maru is the consummate mod for SH4 (for reference, I've got GWX's latest on SH3 and it's freaking balls-out AWESOME).

Can anyone answer that last question about running out of fuel...is that pretty much a "you die, game over" condition?

In SH3, you can still "return to port" from 340000km away LOL

That saved my career's bacon on my first convoy encounter in GWX...turns out it wasn't just tin-cans...they had a light cruiser in the middle of the convoy who promptly turned my uboat into swiss cheese as soon as I hit the first target. I barely survived that and the follow up "how's your father" from the DDs but with all fuel lost and batteries near dead......

[ETR3(SS)]

To answer your question about running out of fuel, it's game over pretty much. So keep an eye on that fuel gauge!

[SteamWake]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

@ SteamWake: Why would that be unrealistic? I would think that's the best way to do it, though I've never skippered a real submarine.

I've never skippered nor served aboard a submarine but being an old salt I can tell you most assuredly that time and energy spent getting to point a are not equal to time and energy spent returning

Winds, currrents, weather, temprature, hell even relative humidity all have effect.

But the game does not take these variables into account so a reasonable guess is good enough

[ETR3(SS)]

Case in point the Gulf Stream.

[floundericiousWA]

..or the California current, for those of us on this half of the civilized world



Thanks all, you guys rock!