Silent Hunter 4 'Add On' Info

[tater]

How do you alter the terrain files?

tater

[THE_MASK]

"global sim" My computer can hardly handle two sampans and a slight breeze , but anyway bring it on .

[THE_MASK]

Originally Posted by tater

How do you alter the terrain files?

tater

For the love of god please tell Tater how too alter terrain files . He is using sub nets as pseudo reefs and i cannot take much more of the sudden screeching noises .

[tater]

Tell me about it. I tested spawning in a few thousand yards from all of them. the blood still drips from my ears.



tater

[Steeltrap]

Originally Posted by Rockin Robbins

Anyway, I'd wait until I see what we get before passing judgement. Remember all the grousing about patch 1.3? Remember how they exceeded all our expectations upon release? It's not time to panic. The world is not ending, it is just changing for the better. Whatever is released, looks like the GWX team is excited and good things happen when they are!

With all due respect, 1.3 may have exceeded your expectations, but it sure didn't exceed mine.

I have no intention of giving Ubi a single $ before they give me a sim that doesn't have so many obvious flaws. Am I being hyper-critical? Well, here's a list of some of my complaints:

* SD radar was A-scope only. It never gave a bearing, only range. To represent it accurately you should get a crew alert "SD radar contact, range xx yards, closing". Anything other than that is bunkum, and smells of them trying to fit SD radar into a platform that doesn't handle it correctly. Without map contacts ON, you can't even check what is going on as there is no screen to look at for SD radar. This really ticks me off as it is so blindingly obviously wrong!!

* Being able to use scopes at night/twilight/dusk in conditions where it is a clearly established fact this was not possible. Again, simply crap in something claiming to be a simulation.

* Not being able to conduct night surface attacks without being spotted (well, that's my experience). People have spoken about 'decks awash' as a "solution", but the simple fact is USA subs attacked at night in normal surface trim. Decks awash is a rationalisation to cover a problem with the sim's sensor system (a carry over from SHIII, although NYGM certainly fixed it and I assume GWX did, too - I've not used GWX, not because I have a problem with it, simply due to d/l restrictions).

* The spotting problems mentioned above somewhat force the ability to use periscopes when you shouldn't be able to. It's a bit like "you can't attack on the surface without being seen, even though you should be able to, so we'll let you use your periscopes in any visibility, even though you shouldn't be able to".

* Horrendous AI. DDs that sink themselves with their own DCs - or sink other DDs with them. Convoys that stop when ambushed. Task forces that travel at 12kts. Etc etc....

* Perverse levels of aircraft. Reading Wahoo and Clear the Bridge make it clear how wrong the current aircraft encounters are.

* Troubles with save games (the "everyone is asleep" upon loading a save is one of my favourites).

* Crew troubles - ending up with a sub full of CPOs and officers, vanishing crew positions for guns etc (I will say I think the rotating watch system is great, a vast improvement over SHIII).

* Sub motion physics. Depth changes are screwy. You can go up and down like an elevator without using compressed air, and forward motion is completely irrelevant. This is a huge problem IMO, as it means you can evade DDs with ease by dropping below the layer in seconds at silent speed, let them rush by, then pop up and blitz a convoy/TF. Any deep dive meant you had a long task getting back to periscope depth without using a lot of compressed air - see the case in Wahoo on the 2nd patrol when they were approaching an important target (Morton was the PCO at that time).

I could continue, although this list contains the "highlights". For anyone who has done much reading on submarine warfare in WWII these issues are manifest and significant. The fact people accept them is due to the relief of having a sim at all. OK, I can accept they feel that way, but I'm of the view that a buggy, error-riddled sim is buggy and error-riddled, no matter how much people try to convince me otherwise. I suspect I'd be better off if I were completely ignorant of WWII sub warfare.

So.....I will not spend $0.01 when I've already spent $99.95 on a sim with these flaws remaining after 3 patches.

Cheers all!

[joea]

Uhhhh....fair enough Steeltrap in fact some of the problems were there in SH3 too, but unless I'm missing something this addon is free isn't it?

[rascal101]

I second everything IBL says, he's hit the nail on the head especially his last paragraph.

R

Originally Posted by iambecomelife

I have mixed feelings about this. Some of the people at the Ubi forum are understandably upset that U-Boats are going to be modeled i/s of Japanese subs and/or several important American classes.

The implication that Japanese subs did not really have an impact on the war is strange, and slightly offensive IMO. The Japanese fought bravely under a faulty tactical doctrine, and I am sure the survivors of the "Juneau", "Wasp", and "Indianapolis" would have some pretty strong opinions of their own about the Japanese's effectiveness.

I do appreciate that they are still willing to provide support for the game at this late date, especially since many people consider simulations to be a money losing proposition.

My main hope is that by concentrating on the most important aspects of porting over U-Boats and a Kriegsmarine career, the developers will enable modders from "Atlantic Sharks" and maybe some people from the GWX team to create a fully functional U-Boat campaign using SH4. The main concerns would be adding more Atlantic shipping lanes (easy), porting AI vessels & aircraft (fairly easy), adding any U-Boats and weaponry not included in this upcoming add-on (hard) and making appropriate career/interface screens (fairly hard).

[danlisa]

Originally Posted by tater

How do you alter the terrain files?

tater

Sir, you have a PM.

[kiwi_2005]

Originally Posted by mrbeast

Actually I'm a little disappointed that they chose to go with U boats in the Indian Ocean and not Japanese subs. Would have added a massive new dimension to the game. I've read quite a few accounts of encounters with japanese subs and seem to have been a fairly common occurance, plus the threat of enemy units lurking unseen outside US bases would inject a little excitement to some of the more mundane parts of the game.

Yeah, Japanese subs would better in SH4, who needs Uboats, just go load up SH3 for that.

[sergbuto]

Originally Posted by tater

How do you alter the terrain files?

tater

There is a program created by ref to do that. Do not remember the details. You need to search SH3 forums for that.

[ref]

Originally Posted by sergbuto

There is a program created by ref to do that. Do not remember the details. You need to search SH3 forums for that.

The structure of the terrain files have been changed slightly from sh3, once we finish with the work on GWX I'll make the modifications to the terrain extractor to handle SH4 terrain files.

Ref

[AVGWarhawk]

Originally Posted by Rockin Robbins

I'm ready!

Now imagine sub vs Uboat! All of sudden, I want British boats in the game

[Weather-guesser]

After expecting nothing new for SH4, let alone another patch, I will gladly appreciate more put into the game. Thanks DEVS!

[tomoose]

I couldn't care less whether or not there are U-boats patrolling the same waters as my fleet boat. I don't care if I can choose to play germans or americans.

What I care about is the sim getting what it deserves and that is propper programing so all the intended features WORK!!!!!

Bingo! Let's fix the original before adding all the bells and whistles.....and u-boats! i.e. Not much point in adding an expensive stereo to your car if the engine is busted!!

[jdkbph]

Originally Posted by joea

Uhhhh....fair enough Steeltrap in fact some of the problems were there in SH3 too, but unless I'm missing something this addon is free isn't it?

Hmmm....

Traditionally, the term "add-on", when used by a publisher, denotes $$

Aside from semantics however, my guess is that they (UBI) are at a point where they don't feel it's economically feasible to address the remaining issues with a free patch. Continuing to pour development resources into a product that's nearing the end of it's retail shelf life is bad for the quarterly bottom line.

But OTOH, they really don't want to listen to us bitch and moan, or have us running around the internet bad-mouthing their product. Not to mention that many of the remaining defects after 1.3 are quite obvious even without our "help", pointing them out to new customers.

And finally they are well aware how bad the initial release was... and probably have considered the fact that a large percentage of buyers will never hear about or care that they released patches... but simply dismiss them and their products, including future products, as dreck (or schlock... take your pick).

My guess is that they're going to release this last fix as part of a low cost (ie, < $20 US.) "expansion", then repackage SH4 as a "Gold Edition" or something for their next production run.

This is smart because:

a. the original buyers still hanging with the game (ie, us) will be paying for the fix.

b. the new packaging will get them a retail shelf life extension

c. new buyers will be getting a fully patched and (hopefully... finally!!) ready for prime time product.

The rest of the initial buyers... the ones with no patches and intention of buying the add-on?.... already lost. No need worrying about spilt milk.

Yeah, OK... so that's a very cynical view. But I've been buying, playing, and whinging about the state of computer games for 25 years now, and this is what they've done to me!

I hope I'm wrong.

JD