Should I get SH4?

[Howard313]

Well I got it up and running and I have to say, I see potential. Not that it doesn't have it's issues but there are some things about this one I can really get into.

For one I love how instead of them just giving you a designated sector and telling you to blow things up that you actually can have specific objectives, snapping photos, delivering secret agents, I like the variety.

I'm also enjoying the Allied submarines and their differences from my usual German U-boats, it's a very unique experience being able to get a vague idea on both sides of the war. They have a whole skillset to their own with their own strengths and weaknesses and I'm practically a rookie again (Which is something I wasn't expecting, I was assuming it would be the same old stuff in a shiny new package.)

Of course it's not all great, performance has taken a bit of a hit since SH3, it runs sure...... but at about 15-20fps. Ugh, disappointing but not exactly unexpected. Time to get the monkey wrench and see what kind of boosters I can put on this thing.

The graphics seem kinda choppy, even more-so than SH3's relatively low Screen resolution, but I'm willing to believe my video card is to blame for this and not the game itself, if some of the pictures I've seen on this site hold any merit, this game can be very beautiful to look at when you have the proper stuff to run it.

My final complaint is the controls, yeah I liked SH3's better, probably because I've had time to get used to them, I'm sure they'll grow on me, but as for right now....meh.

All-in-all?


Oh and any tips to boost my FPS would be great guys, I'm working with an old dinosaur of a PC here.

[Ducimus]

Originally Posted by Howard313

The graphics seem kinda choppy, even more-so than SH3's relatively low Screen resolution, but I'm willing to believe my video card is to blame for this and not the game itself, if some of the pictures I've seen on this site hold any merit, this game can be very beautiful to look at when you have the proper stuff to run it.

It might be hardware, driver, or something in vanilla that was fixed awhile ago. The game doesn't seem all that choppy to me and does look pretty sweet with the right stuff done to it.

I like this movie for a few reasons:


- First part of the movie is the mod earlier in development, with the second part of the movie showing the mod later in development after more environmental work was done to it. So in an odd way it kind of showcases some of what the game can do graphically, and how its improved over time.

- user created dramatic submarine youtube movies are almost always cool to watch, and the movie maker used TMO which put a silly grin on my fugly mug.

My final complaint is the controls, yeah I liked SH3's better, probably because I've had time to get used to them, I'm sure they'll grow on me, but as for right now....meh.

Yeah I can relate. The VERY first thing i did when SH4 was launched was to reconfigure the controls to SH3's. Which sort of bleed over into the TMO supermod, so in an odd sense, every user of TMO is using a SH3-esque keyboard layout.

Oh and any tips to boost my FPS would be great guys, I'm working with an old dinosaur of a PC here.

Try enabeling only volumentric fog and not enabeling environmental effects. What your really doing is preventing the ghostlike transparent crew from appearing when its foggy, while retaining the transparent water. What you lose is the cloud shadowing effect on the water.

[Howard313]

So I just updated my video card drivers lets see if that makes it run or look any better.






Uhh, I think it was better BEFORE I updated my drivers.

I just hope that didn't do the same thing to my other games.

[shrapnle90]

Nope.avi

[shrapnle90]

Unless you are trying to create a new neon stealth Submarine

[Rockin Robbins]

Originally Posted by Ducimus

The VERY first thing i did when SH4 was launched was to reconfigure the controls to SH3's. Which sort of bleed over into the TMO supermod, so in an odd sense, every user of TMO is using a SH3-esque keyboard layout.

So true, to the point of using the SH3 keyboard card as your TMO key chart in the Documentation directory of TMO. Check this over and tell me if it needs any changes. Then you can use it if you wish.



For accelerating operation of SH4 I recommend IoBit's Gamebooster 3.1. This program shuts down unnecessary processes. It can actually look them all up, tell you if they're needed, let you choose which ones to shut down and remember that. When you launch a game from their Game Box (part of the program) it automatically shuts down the processes and starts your game. When you quit, Game Booster 3 automatically restarts all the processes! AND you can tweak machine settings during the boost, like increasing priority of foreground processes. I picked 40% (from 28%) and it made a huge difference. When you quit the game everything goes back to the condition of before you ran the game.

In the bad old days and until several weeks ago I used EndItAll. That was a model T. I'm driving a Ferrari now!

[Howard313]

Performance has greatly been improved! (A little over 20fps on medium quality) And we are looking pretty good too. (Well at least the submarine is fully visible and not neon-green this time.)

One of the things that always bothered me about SH3 was the water surface, it's like a big blanket that you can't see through, as you can tell I'm liking this one just for it's water effects.

[Flaxpants]

Originally Posted by Rockin Robbins

For accelerating operation of SH4 I recommend IoBit's Gamebooster 3.1. This program shuts down unnecessary processes. It can actually look them all up, tell you if they're needed, let you choose which ones to shut down and remember that. When you launch a game from their Game Box (part of the program) it automatically shuts down the processes and starts your game. When you quit, Game Booster 3 automatically restarts all the processes! AND you can tweak machine settings during the boost, like increasing priority of foreground processes. I picked 40% (from 28%) and it made a huge difference. When you quit the game everything goes back to the condition of before you ran the game.

In the bad old days and until several weeks ago I used EndItAll. That was a model T. I'm driving a Ferrari now!

I'm another fan of that Game Booster, I notice you've plugged it a couple of times now RR- do you work for Iobit? Does wonders for me too_ If you combine it with their advanced system care 'turbo mode' which shuts off even more stuff, then you can get a great performance increase. Been using it for years.

[Rockin Robbins]

Nope, no connection. By the way, they just upgraded to 3.1 and if you haven't it's twice as good as I described. It now has more customization than EndItAll, plus analytic ability and it will defrag your game directory. Defragging gave me a big boost in Unreal Tournament 3 yesterday. SH4 is similarly resource hogging, so it's worth a try.

Hey, I discover stuff, and if it works, I talk about it.

[Flaxpants]

Just downloaded it right now!

[joea]

Gamebooster? Oh I'm going to download that little proggie as well.

You should absolutely get it,
I was hesitant at first too, but If you liked III, You'll Love IV, I'd avoid V for a while, but that's just personal preference.

[Gerald]

[kylania]

Originally Posted by Montray

You should absolutely get it,
I was hesitant at first too, but If you liked III, You'll Love IV, I'd avoid V for a while, but that's just personal preference.

Silent Hunter 5 is $6 from Amazon, so no reason not to get it. With the mods you can download from this website (for the German side at least) I'd say it's a far superior game compared to SH4, in my personal preference that is.