What have I missed?

[Scurvy Dawg]

I have been playing sub games since 1991 with Silent Service II, Jane's 688i, Dangerous Waters, Silent Hunter 1,2,3,4 and finally 5. In fact it was my utter disappointment with SH5 that turned me off sub games for awhile (I even got the metal box edition!).
Anyway after recently reading "The Bravest Man: Richard O'Kane and the Amazing Submarine Adventures of the USS Tang" I have downloaded SH4 Gold (I couldn't be bothered to look for my Amazon exclusive Collectors Edition in the loft).
So I guess with a hiatus of 3 years what developments in subsims have there been? What are the best mods for SH4? And did the super modders ever make SH5 worth installing?

Cheers!

[in_vino_vomitus]

Welcome Aboard and good hunting.

[Bubblehead1980]

Originally Posted by Scurvy Dawg

I have been playing sub games since 1991 with Silent Service II, Jane's 688i, Dangerous Waters, Silent Hunter 1,2,3,4 and finally 5. In fact it was my utter disappointment with SH5 that turned me off sub games for awhile (I even got the metal box edition!).
Anyway after recently reading "The Bravest Man: Richard O'Kane and the Amazing Submarine Adventures of the USS Tang" I have downloaded SH4 Gold (I couldn't be bothered to look for my Amazon exclusive Collectors Edition in the loft).
So I guess with a hiatus of 3 years what developments in subsims have there been? What are the best mods for SH4? And did the super modders ever make SH5 worth installing?

Cheers!

I hear SH 5 has improved quite a bit.I have a copy myself, havent played it much, mainly as getting a new pc that will run it better but ive been in no hurry while letting time pass for the modders to do their magic to that horrendous stock game.Plus, I prefer US fleetboats. SH 4 with mods, is a great sim that just never gets old, it keeps improving

For SH 4 I would suggest run a few patrols on the stock version to get a feel for game and see what its lacking.Then patrol with some mods to see what a difference this sim is then.Two major mods are Trigger Maru Overhauled(TMO) and Real Fleet Boat(RFB). Both are excellent pieces of work.I tend to prefer TMO for among it's many improvements is the dreadfully dumb AI of stock game.TMO escorts and planes are vicious and force player to play in a more realistic manner and actually face risks when attacking.Real Fleet Boat addresses the sub itself more than anything. TMO has its own campaign but I feel it is incomplete without Run Silent Run Deep(RSRD) which is a campaign mod.This wonderful piece of work recreates japanese convoys throughout the war and takes their historical routes and their make ups are as historically accurate as possible in the game. IJN warships movements are recreated very well, can often find the Yamato for example at proper time, date, and location that it was spotted and attacked in some cases.Major battles and even minor ones are recreated as well.

Real Fleet boat used the stock campaign which is horrible and is meant to be used with RSRD. TMO has a decent campaign but like I said, I prefer it with RSRD for the many extra ships etc and historical ship movements.

Another mod is called Fall of The Rising sun which I am not that familiar with it but have heard good things.

These are the major mods and include many of the fixes released over years so reading up the readmes and changelogs included is a good idea. Otherwise once you find little things that bug you the major mods dont address, can search or always ask, quite possibly there is a fix for the issue.

SH 4 with mods is an amazing sim as mentioned, happy hunting.

[Scurvy Dawg]

Thanks for the replies! Downloaded TM2.5 , RSRD and improved stock environment. What a difference to the unmodded SH4! No more 100K ton patrols for starters! A combination of no Gods eye view on nav map, greater numbers of dud torpedoes and vastly superior AI means I am happy with 15K tons of sunken ships! Although ironically using manual TDC is now alot easier with no more flicking thru pages of shipping trying to ID the ship myself- something I always thought daft in the vanilla version!
Now my patrols are much more immersive, challenging and rewarding!

happy hunting!

[andycts]

Welcome Scurvy Dawg

SH4 is indeed a great sim with mods-enjoy.plus this community is the best,some very experienced people that don't seem to get tired of helping us noobs

good hunting

[fireftr18]

Welcome aboard Scurvy Dawg!!!

With your experience, I think you'll make a right nice boat's historian.

[Sailor Steve]

Welcome back to the fold. you Scurvy Dog you!

[TorpX]

Welcome aboard!

Always good when some old hands decide to re-enlist.