First Look! Silent Hunter 4

[Boris]

Originally Posted by Dowly

I noticed on one screenshot, that the ship farthest away is blurred. Neal, is this one of the new features? Things far away are blurry?

This´ what I´m talking about:
http://www.subsim.com/sh4/images/sh4asset1.jpg

The devs said they'd implement depth of field if they had time... looks like they had time

[Gizzmoe]

Originally Posted by Gizzmoe

So what does the damage control look like? We can have damage control teams and the´ll repair whatever they think need to be repaired first, or are they still ways to prioritíze repairs?

I´ve asked Neal. His reply: "The damage control station is not finished, but the version I saw did allow the player to set priorities and assign damage control teams, plus the AI will not wait for you to reassign the dc team when the complete a task, it will begin work on the next area in need."

He doesn´t recall any more specific details regarding damage control.

[don1reed]

...looking down from his office, the Admiral could see steely-eyed, determined, young men, locked in the sole purpose of readying their Subs for action against an unseen enemy. Oh how he longed to be at their side...

just like being there--the hurry up and waiting part, that is. (great teaser's ghost!)

[ReallyDedPoet]

IRONxMortlock

Nice bonnet:rotfl::rotfl:

[Iron Budokan]

It looks pretty good so far. I'm looking forward to it.

[mr chris]

Was not really that intrested in SH4 but that preview of yours just made me think again nice work Neal.
Am really thinking about picking the game up now when i comes out.

[CCIP]

Originally Posted by Gizzmoe

I´ve asked Neal. His reply: "The damage control station is not finished, but the version I saw did allow the player to set priorities and assign damage control teams, plus the AI will not wait for you to reassign the dc team when the complete a task, it will begin work on the next area in need."

He doesn´t recall any more specific details regarding damage control.

So that actually sounds like an improvement over the too-micromanaged (in my view) damage control station in SHIII. Presuming they can tweak out the damage itself in time, I really don't have that much concern over the damage control 'station'. The important thing is that there be damage and that damage be appropriately managed (and perhaps not with 5-second repairs, either). Personally, I think this will be better and bring in a little bit of 'fog of war' to the whole thing.

As for the radio room, I don't think I'll miss it much. In the end it did come down to just a little notepad, and that's precisely what we get in SHIV...

[Syxx_Killer]

Great first look, Neal! I loved your expression when they told you, you had training torpedoes. :rotfl: Reading this preview of sorts, I am looking forward to this sim more than ever. Finally, a sim that goes back to the Pacific. Sounds like a real winner. The last time I played a "sim" in the Pacific was Silent Service on the NES. I love the idea of special missions in the campaign. That's why SHIII got so dreadfully boring - it the same thing over and over.

[StandingCow]

Originally Posted by CCIP

So that actually sounds like an improvement over the too-micromanaged (in my view) damage control station in SHIII. Presuming they can tweak out the damage itself in time, I really don't have that much concern over the damage control 'station'. The important thing is that there be damage and that damage be appropriately managed (and perhaps not with 5-second repairs, either). Personally, I think this will be better and bring in a little bit of 'fog of war' to the whole thing.

As for the radio room, I don't think I'll miss it much. In the end it did come down to just a little notepad, and that's precisely what we get in SHIV...

I enjoyed it.. but my worry was not enough different sub systems taking damage. or how you would get a good overview of how injuired your sub is. Guess I will have to wait and see how this comes along, I am a bit less worried now that it has been explained somewhat.

[geetrue]

Originally Posted by CCIP

So that actually sounds like an improvement over the too-micromanaged (in my view) damage control station in SHIII. Presuming they can tweak out the damage itself in time, I really don't have that much concern over the damage control 'station'. The important thing is that there be damage and that damage be appropriately managed (and perhaps not with 5-second repairs, either). Personally, I think this will be better and bring in a little bit of 'fog of war' to the whole thing.

As for the radio room, I don't think I'll miss it much. In the end it did come down to just a little notepad, and that's precisely what we get in SHIV...

I just got here at 7:30 am pst and 85 viewers were already here ... spells lost of interest for SH4 ...

I think the key to damage control will be in not being so brave that you need DC ...

Those AI guys can hurt a charging skipper ...

Run silent run deep means just that, plus sneaky and always have a stern shot up your sleeve can save the day.

Thanks Neal ... I know you have more concern for love of the game than money and fame.

[Safe-Keeper]

Here's hoping for more radio traffic. I did not realize how much this really added before Falcon 4.0 introduced me to its splendid dynamic campaign. You hear constant radio messages from everyone, with mayday signals, spotted enemies, orders, requests, permissions, ATC chatter, and what-have-you.

Making radio traffic in SH4 dynamic (as was perhaps planned for SHIII) would improve the game so much. Imagine, for example, torpedoing a merchant and actually hearing its SSS signal, or being found by an aircraft and listening to the "U-boat spotted" message it sends in Japanese to its "Home Plate".

Also, if every radio message gets a .wav file associated to it, or if at least we can add something like that with modding... I'm in Heaven (although I guess that's too much to ask for).

[DanCanovas]

good work! cant wait

[Safe-Keeper]

You sent me to sea with training warheads?!

[AG124]

This is one of my favorite parts of the proeview:

The catalogue of ships and vessels has grown considerably since SH3. "We took a look at the ships we put into this game," Dan said. "I was just reading on the Subsim forums, they said, 'You know, for Silent Hunter III they only had the official commissioned type of ships.' So we took a very good look at Japanese ship designs and we wanted to provide a broad range of designs. Different company types, rakes, bows, superstructures, all vary according to time of the period. It's a broader range than Silent Hunter III." And the marus don't look all shiny and clean, rather like vessels in rough commerce duty.

:hmm:



Finally, generic merchants! No more C2s and C3s - not that the Japanese would have used those anyway. The only mass produced Japanese merchant that I can think of right now is the ugly "Standard Merchant" with the aft deckhouse, I wouldn't even mind if those were included (it is just one class out of an apparently large number of merchant classes). And the ones in those pictures = . Especially the two-funnelled transport.

And the S-Class Sub will be included after all - good to see that not only did the Dev Team include a historically important sub, but they took note of community opinions as well.

Definitely looking forward to the release of this game.

[Sailor Steve]

I see I got here a little late!

Originally Posted by hyperion2206

I was wondering as well what's wrong with the officer (?), I guess he's either dead, wounded or lost consciousness because they ran out off breathable air.:hmm:

Look again. There are several guys lying on the floor, not just the officer. A planesman is slumped in his chair and there are some feet off to the right.


Love the new screenshots: marines in a raft, great looking merchies. Increased radio traffic, multiple damage-control teams, off-duty sailors actually sleep when they need it (little 'Z's above their heads), S-boats!

This is looking good!

So, this may sound odd from someone who staunchly defends the Pacific campaign idea, but WHEN WILL WE SEE ALL THIS COOL STUFF IN AN SH3 UPGRADE?