Silent hunter 4 Mod's commented on Finnish game mag "Pelit"

[Torps]

Originally Posted by kriller2

Nice and I see Dave's name in the article, If he knew what we started together he would be proud, looking forward to be able to read what it says about ROW

Indeed , This is definately nice to say the least, especially about Dave being menitioned. I cant wait for the full translation!

[W4lt3r]

Ok, now that i got junkload of time, here's the translation:
"Silent Hunter 4, Born as a Wolf.

One of the biggest advantages of PC scene are the modders, who sacrifice
their time to fix promising, but unfinished games. A good example of these
kind of games is Silent Hunter 4 - Only one of it's kind and abandoned by
the Devs.

Silent Hunter 3 revived an rarely seen genre, WWII Submarine war simulations,
and it did it with a bang. Beautiful graphics, combined with detailed and
complex simulation with a good game engine charmed not only the subnuts,
but also the landcrabs. Tho, it needed few patches and Grey Wolves mod
collection (reviewed on Pelit 8/2006, 4 stars).

The expected follower, Silent Hunter 4 was based on the Pacific war theather where american subskippers we're stalking japanese convoys. It wasn't suprise to anyone but the game was again released as undone. But even after 1.4-patch, the sun wasn't shining on the Pacific Ocean. War feeling missing skipper was left with lame game-experience, like cargowater in the tropic, more accurate simulation searching captain will become more confused, the deeper you dive. Silent Hunter 4 is beautiful, but still bad.

Fixing the holes on the simulation, there is open for hundreds of free modifications that spread-along on the small and one big thing, or partial area modifications, as well as wide-spread modcollections. Mods can be activated several ones at a time, as long as you do it in the correct order and choosing always the version that is compabilitble with the others. Code is quite understandable, for example ROW for RFB or stock, means outlook improving Reflections on Water - mod version, that is fitted along with mod that fines the game mechanics Real Fleet Boats-collection, but still works with standard game (stock).

Almost everything can be had at the same time, but only the most important supermods, wich means Trigger maru and Real Fleet Boats, you have to choose between these two. My own choice was Trigger Maru.

Trigger Maru (TM)

In the standard third game veteran starts quickly to get tired of several, perhaps small things. Solely they'd be sustainable but with all together, the pressure of the problems crush the player like an eggshell. Torpedo-tubes can only be held one at a time, planes are just a joke that is still annoyingly often repeated, the deck gun is so over-powered, that you can just leave the torpedoes at the harbor, you cannot accuratedly measure the speed of the targets and so forth.

After Trigger Maru, you can instantly notice that annoying air strikes are coming to an end, but at the sime time they turn more durable, can spot the sub underwater and bombs will hit and do effect, unless you react correctly from the start. You can raise the radar warning system from under water to listen for possible plane radars and for this there has been added a new depth, radar depth. Even with this, boring travel turns into an intresting pieces of choice, and along with the other lines on Trigger Maru, similar fixes have been made.

Trigger Maru adds to the right corner of the map a 3-part scale, that is called the nomograph. With it you can measure the speed accuratedly the speed of the targets that appear on the map from time to time, wich is very important if you want to hit with torpedoes to something. Milesystem is the base of the mod, but in MODS\TMO\Support folder you can install the standard metricsystem based scale.

The interiors of the submarine, gauges, sounds and activity of the crew has been improvied. Known from the GW-mod, the shortcut keys on opening torpedo-tubes, choosing and closing works as they should be. The AI pushes on harder, submarines and weapons work more realistic and everything has more sense and challenge.
Trigger Maru is always installed first.

Real Fleet Boats (RFB)

RFB is a supermod that repairs same things as Trigger Maru, but on different values. Try if something is bugging you on TM. Userbar's panels hurt my eyes, although the shortcut keys are maybe better then in Trigger Maru. Always install first.

(Manual Targeting) Ship Centered Accuracy Fix (SCAF)

SCAF is for myself, the most useful mod of them all. Accurate hand count torpedofire was unexplainably hard, until it was discovered that the range measuring didn't work, thanks to small little error. Into the crosshair programmed ship mast heights wasn't accurate at all. The problem was made into worse that the rangemeter, or so called "stadimeter" range measure point was chosen the highest part of the ship. The thin mast top cant be seen in fog, rain or 7 bottles of whiskey sailing man. SCAF changes the range measure pointo to the top part of the chimney/funnel, flight deck or other, better sightable spot and again an steel sausage is snapped.

Run Silent, Run Deep: The Campaing (RSRD)

Stock game's campaings most frustrating part was useless traveling and searching of targets in mission given area. RSRD makes full-sized rework on teh campaing. Everything works dynamically. Goodbye unrealistic, in the wrong place or wrong year place taken missions. Sayonara one by one happened clonemissions! Without this mod it's not even worthy to play Silent Hunter 4. RSRD Only changes the campaing, so it is compabilitble with just about everything. RSRD is installed after TM or RFB, because it overwrites several of their mission related files.

Reflections on Water (ROW)

Silent Hunter 4's only sales ace was better graphics then Silent hunter 3, but even in the eye candy there was lot of space for improvements. Mod offering's bling-bling is in charge the ROW-project. Exeption on the other mods, chrome is always installed in parts, wich might even be over 20 different. If you take it all, frame-rates can drop with 3 year old PC to unplayable. New sunlight / light rays freezes the most but it can be turned off from games own options (Light Shafts), so you can still enjoy of other graphical changes.
I myself respect most the camera mod and torpedo-sight limiter ROW Realistic Camera 2c and also the boat's swim-animation improving ROW Pich and Roll-mod. It is worth to try what looks good for you'r own eye.

ROW is istalled after TM or RFB adn before RSRD. Row is developed on Nvidia graphic driver, so all effects might not look the same on Ati drivers. After Dave "LeoVampire" Bunnel passed away due the cause of a cardiac arrest the project is going on with name Pacific Enviroments (PE).


I'll start writing on the NSM part, so i'll let you guys now read the first page and part of the second page.

[W4lt3r]

Natural Sinking Mechanics (NSM) Classic or Light.

Best is always installed the last: NSM Is one man, Werner Soben's giant project, that creates real physics based damage modeling. In the stock game, ships are flooded with water through the holes and they tilt right but the water only has cosmetic effect. Sinking is resulted with massive amount of hitpoints, that every shot reduces a certain amount.

Instead, in NSM ship's floating and balance change by the effects on the water, ships swim, capsize or sink only on the water held sections based on the remaining floating capacity. This has huge meaning in gameplay wise, because now you can finally use tactic. Penetrate as many watertight compartments or try capsizing the ship? Where the compartments are located and can they be damaged from this angle?

As a sugar on the bottom, there is third method, keel-damage, that is the NSM:s fourth version's novelty and my own personal favorite. There where original game clearly makes an guess, does the ship snap or not, in NSM4, exactly to the middle and properly setted torpedo snaps the ship into two equally sized parts every single time. Nothing isn't more rewarding than seeing through you'r own periscope, how the crash of explosion bubble (implosion) first "crushes" the ship and then the pieces of ship get thrown up from the water by the pressure wave. Incredible, that the Ubisoft made the visual effects this beatiful but left under the engine only hitpoints and dice throwing.

NSM also alters the torpedoes, so that they now act more intellectly with the new damage modeling. Now wisely attacking skipper can survive with less shots then before, maybe even with one, as long as can take advantage of the new damage modeling and knowing how to minimize the effects of torpedo malfunctions. Modeling historical malfuctions have been made good solutions on the limitations with game-engine. Different malfuctions follow the gameplay changes along the campaing, because it is necessary from time to time change the tactic. It is absolutely necessary to read in \MODS\NSM4\Support-folder "NsM4.pdf" file, wich helps out to the start of this completely new, more smart way of gameplay.

If the Game starts feeling too easy, the same producer has also made Realistic Torpedoes-mod that should ensure satisfyingly bad firing results. Even with freakism has it's limits, for me that mod goes between NSM and that huge-mod.
Instead the MaxOptics from the same person helps out the gameplay by increasing the zoom levels on the periscope.

So NSM is always installed the last. NSM Light is by the way the same, but ship's lose their floating ability 30% faster.
Thanks to the active community, Silent Hunter 4 changes from beautiful, but not built to the fruitation and bit "dummed" game into an first class submarine warfare game experience. In the question there isn't fining small parts of the game, but big gameplay and useability improvements.

By Tuomas Seijavuori"

Im sorry if there is some translation errors but i did my best on translating this whole 2 pages of text.

[Carotio]

Originally Posted by W4lt3r

Im sorry if there is some translation errors but i did my best on translating this whole 2 pages of text.

I don't understand Finnish, but your translated text was fine.
Thanks

[Fincuan]

Good job with that, translating is sometimes a royal pain in the ass

Here's something that'll help you relax: http://www.iltasanomat.fi/uutiset/ko...asp?id=1525494

[Sailor Steve]

Thanks for the translation, both Dowly and W4lt3r. Nice to see Dave get credit.

Also, Ducimus should feel proud (or at least vindicated): TM is the first mod link listed. Well, JSGME is first, but it's not really an SH4 mod.

All-in-all, it's good to be noticed.

[CapnScurvy]

The author must have been drinking those 7 bottles of whiskey he mentioned in the article to have included anything I've put together. I'm just as "gitty as a school girl" to have been included!!!! Thanks W4lt3r for the translation, I'm going to use this to show my wife what a Finnish rock star I've become!!!! :rotfl:

[Ducimus]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

Also, Ducimus should feel proud (or at least vindicated):

Meh.