Silent Hunter, The Perfect Sim?

[goose814]

Is it just me or has anyone else had the same thought, that the more I keep reading about what's wrong with SH4 or what needs to be added or changed, or this doesn't work and that doesn't work, or if it only did this or do that, etc., etc., etc., the more I keep thinking that the original Silent Hunter seems to have been close to perfect. I mean many features that people are looking for in SH4 were already in SH, and they worked. It seems that if you take SH and add SH4's eye candy (graphics), change or add a few gameplay issues, then you would have the perfect sim. I don't know, maybe it's just me.

Gus

[Monica Lewinsky]

Goose,

I removed all the mods the day of the 1.3 patch release. Installed it and LUV it big time. You wish for the good old days when PCs where CRAP. Original Sub game of mine was Gato on a 8088 processor - no graphics - was just "lines" on the green monochrome screen. Let go, them days are over with even though them games were high class and good in game accuracy.

This game compared to 1983 computer features .... Awesome.

Let go, move on. Stop living in the PAST.

I LOVE THE 1.3 PATCH

[edjcox]

Fixed a bug where the name on the captain's watch appears to be "Stevens"


Everyone know 's that the Steven's Timepiece was a major muck up and caused many a commander to miscalculate his postion and Torpedoe track...

STEVENS name brand for watch movements were removed from the inventory of all US Naval Vessels and were thereafter all junked and shredded....

It was found that STEVENS movements were a secret Japanese invention and that the Jewel movements within were deliberatly crude and eccentric to cause the watches to run randomly in time.

Skippers are flustered at the apparent ability of the STEVENS to appear on battle maps and charts at ill timed momements obscuring the maps and utilizing CPU resources to no good end....

If you have a STEVENS throw it overboard... It'll do you no good.....


:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

:p

[goose814]

Don't get me wrong. I've been playing SH4 with RFB 1.2 for a while now, and have 1.3 installed now. There is no comparison between the two in regards to graphics. All I'm saying is that many of the bugs and features that are lacking in SH4 were not present in SH. Every time I read about a feature or bug in SH4, I keep thinking that SH had that feature and it worked as it should have.

For instance, in SH both SD and SJ radars operated without any issues and both were present in the game. Just look at all the issues with radar in SH4 that have finally now been resolved, and it doesn't even have an SD station you can view.

With 1.3, they finally got the merchant ships to take notice of you and evade when they became aware of you. In SH, that's exactly what they did, they would all alter their course, with some of them going in different directions, and you would have the destroyers come barrelling down on you.

SH4 is a great sim and it's all I've been playing, however I keep asking myself, if it wasn't for the excellent graphics, how great would it be? If you could take SH and update it to SH4's graphic standards, wouldnt it be a better sim. Even better, if we could only take SH4 and make it work as well as SH, then that would be the perfect sim.

Gus

[Rockin Robbins]

The problem is that much of SH worked in your imagination, which is far superior to even today's computers. Since it's yours, you find no fault with it. SH4 has made the game much more concrete, removing large aspects from your imagination and putting them on the screen. This involves changing the way basic features themselves work. And it takes much more work to get the eye candy work than to make basic gameplay features. There is also much interaction between gameplay and eye candy. The eye candy features actually alter the gameplay aspect, sometimes for the worse.

However, all the old authors had to work on was basic gameplay features. Naturally, they had that right, because the graphix (old Apple /// spelling there) were lousy. I would argue that even the gameplay has subtleties that the old games did not have. Also, memory plays tricks. What we remember as excellent could be much less so, were we to play that game today. We have also learned a lot more about computers, submarines, tactics and life. Our standards by which we judge the game have upgraded as well.

I know not what choice others may take, but as for me, give me Silent Hunter 3 and 4 or give me death!

[DS]

Sh1 was a great game. It is what got me into sub sims to begin with (even though I was into subs before SH1).

That said, there is more depth to SH4 than there was to SH1.

You have to deal with transits and fuel management now.

You have to deal with crew performance management.

The systems are more complex - manual tubes doors with corresponding firing delays, manual plotting tools for the map, more complex radio comms, the ability to use the stadimeter for range estimates, both active and passive sonar with TDC integration, and much much more. Just compare the command list between the two games.

The environment is more complex tactically (sub nets, shore gun emplacements, currents, etc)

In short, SH1 was a simpler game both in terms of graphics, as well as modelled systems, which made it easier to produce bug free. 1.3 has corrected all the issues I had with the game (none of which stopped me from enjoying it prior to 1.3).

For me, SH4 is now a fully worthy successor to SH1.

[minsc_tdp]

Originally Posted by Monica Lewinsky

You wish for the good old days when PCs where CRAP

No, I know what he's really talking about. He wishes for the day PCs weren't connected to the Internet. As soon as that became widespread, the "we can patch it later" mentality started to creep into product development and push games out the door way too early. When your product has ZERO chance of being updated once it's out the door, there is a true fear of getting anything wrong. These days, bugs are not something to be feared, since it can just be patched later. Then they ship and don't follow through on the maintenance once the money starts pouring in.

If PCs advanced along the same path they did to today, but without Internet, SH4 would have the stability and quality as SH1 and earlier sub sims.

I'm not bashing SH4 specifically, since this is really an epidemic that affects all PC games. This kind of crap is what drives people to consoles, but even that is changing - most nexgen console owners are online, and I've heard of games getting patched through XBox Live. There's still a long-held mentality in the console dev business of "get it right the first time" but I see it changing.

[orangenee]

Especially since the advent of broadband are we getting the rush job/get it sold technique becoming more common, now the console market's mostly online that too will eventually go the same way.

[GT182]

A pc sim should only be considered perfect if it runs as it's supposed to as advertised right out of the box, and doesn't need patches to correct bugs or whatever doesn't work. I doubt there will ever be a sim like that to come anytime soon. Sure SH4 looks good and is more advanced in certain respects than SHIII was, and certainly more so tha SH 1 from what I read long ago. So Goose is right in a way, but things coming out today are more complex, you can't compare apples to oranges. Games publishers have to live up to the fact that they must finish any game/sim they put out to the specs and play they advertise. If not the public will will get fed up and quit buying.

We've all fallen into the hype and trap that "we gotta have it, it's so cool" but when it's found out that it's not up to par, then the crap hits the fan. That goes for any game/sim made today, not just SHIII and 4. And everyone here that buys into it and then complains is just guilty as I am. I never got into sub sims until SHIII and I was just as disappointed as everyone else that felt the same way. Thank God the Devs listen and correct things, and there are those that can and do make mods. Be thankful they all listen and give what's asked for..... the Devs the fixes and the mod makers their mods.... for free. Without either we'd really be in a fine kettle of fish. They are the ones that keep us going and the games/sims enjoyable.

We are a lucky bunch if you really stop and think about it. And you best be thankful Neal puts up with it all too. LOL

That's enough from me..... So "what's in yer wallet?"

[donut]

Originally Posted by goose814

Is it just me or has anyone else had the same thought, that the more I keep reading about what's wrong with SH4 or what needs to be added or changed, or this doesn't work and that doesn't work, or if it only did this or do that, etc., etc., etc., the more I keep thinking that the original Silent Hunter seems to have been close to perfect. I mean many features that people are looking for in SH4 were already in SH, and they worked. It seems that if you take SH and add SH4's eye candy (graphics), change or add a few game play issues, then you would have the perfect Sim. I don't know, maybe it's just me.

Gus

>>>It seems like preaching to the choir,what goes around,comes full circle,in time. The boob tube generation upgraded to computers. There is more to life than SHIV,& Monitors.

[GT182]

Originally Posted by donut

>>>It seems like preaching to the quire,what goes around,comes full circle,in time. The boob tube generation upgraded to computers. There is more to life than SHIV,& Monitors.

All too true. There's wind and rain...... and lotsa sand in NM. :rotfl: I've been there quite a few times. Just kidding Donut, but you are absolutely right. It seems at times we make our toys more important than real life.

[Sailor Steve]

And it's "choir".

[SteamWake]

Once they get the screws to turn the right way itll be perfect !

[wetwarev7]

I don't think there is such a thing as perfect for computer games/sims. Alot of it has to do with personal preferences. Some prefer realism, some prefer gameplay, some prefer a good(for them) mix of the two. Some might find that filing a bunch of paperwork at the end of a patrol would make it a perfect sim, whereas others prefer to zoom around in super subs.

The best thing to ever happen to PC gaming is modding. It's the only way to get the closest to what each of us want in our games. This is only bested by a game going open source.

[The General]

Silent Hunter 5: Battle for the Atlantic, will be the perfect sim.