Which Supermod?

the.terrabyte.pirate · 05-21-12, 10:39 PM

Hi all. Apologies, probably been discussed before.

After my installation of SHIII with GWX and assorted other mods crashed on me last week, I decided to install a recently purchased copy of SHIV + U boat addon.

Are there any supermods out there for SHIV equivalent to SHIII GWX (updating or improving Traffic, skins, sinking times, gameplay, accuracy, environments etc), or should I be looking at installing smaller individual mods to update each aspect.

I'm aware of RFB, TMO and OM mods, but I'm having difficulty understanding what changes they make to the game or gameplay.

Can anyone advise of the major differences between RFB and TMO?

Does OM only affect the Uboat missions, or the US campaign as well?

Does anyone have any recommendations or advice?

Thanks,

Sailor Steve · 05-21-12, 10:53 PM

RFB: Aims at making everything as historically accurate as possible.
The good: Sometimes being more accurate actually means being easier. Also it's the only mod that makes Midway look like it really does.
The bad: If you know the parameters it becomes predictable.

TMO: Aims at making things a little harder than they really were and thus a little less accurate.
The good: This is intentional. Real life was never predictable. TMO keeps you on your toes and encourages more realistic efforts from the player.
The Bad: Not much really.

OM is indeed just for u-boats. I recommend that you get MultiSH4, which makes it easy to manage multiple installations and run all three, plus keeping a stock version in reserve in case you need the files.

the.terrabyte.pirate · 05-22-12, 01:09 AM

Do any of them change the GUI?

I was a little shocked when I fired up SHIV. It looks a little cartoony.

Sailor Steve · 05-22-12, 07:56 AM

Really? I don't see it as being any worse than SH3, just different. In SH3 I use a mod that has no GUI at all. Everything is a slide-out. I wish there was such a mod for SH4.

germannoob · 05-22-12, 08:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

RFB: Aims at making everything as historically accurate as possible.
The good: Sometimes being more accurate actually means being easier. Also it's the only mod that makes Midway look like it really does.
The bad: If you know the parameters it becomes predictable.

TMO: Aims at making things a little harder than they really were and thus a little less accurate.
The good: This is intentional. Real life was never predictable. TMO keeps you on your toes and encourages more realistic efforts from the player.
The Bad: Not much really.

Can you please explain which things of the game are more easy with rfb, and which ones are harder with tmo? I'm also searching the optimal mod for me.

Currently I'm using TMO because I thought the mod intend was to make the game much more playable. Seems I was wrong.

Sailor Steve · 05-22-12, 09:13 AM

RFB makes it so you can take a depth-charge pounding for hours and still survive. TMO may do the same, I don't play it. There are others I've forgotten over the years.

TMO has very tough destroyers, especially Bungo Pete. TMO airplanes are also very nasty, and can see you well below the surface.

Other than that I only know what I've heard, which is the general description I gave you. Ducimus has pointed out that even with TMO you can figure out the patterns and sink a lot more tonnage than any real-life skipper ever did.

Hylander_1314 · 05-22-12, 09:36 AM

From TMO 2.2 on, Ducimus adjusted the planes, so that in the early part of the war, they can't spot you too well if you take the boat deep.

Later in the war, ........................ well, lets just say, they will harass the snot outta you if they know your general location. Especially in 1945. I shoot down as many planes per patrol as ships I sink, just because of their incessant doggedness of keeping you bottled up. And they are just as obnoxious at night as they are in the day. In fact, I have had more aircraft problems in the later war years from night air attacks, than daylight attacks. So I tend to change my strategy to more daylight ops than night ops.

One thing that I have heard, but can't confirm it, is that RFB keeps to the stock thing of your boat getting destroyed if you go passed test depth redlines. Not sure if that was ever dealt with, but TMO, you can really take the Gato and Balao boats down deep. Will they crush? Sure. At what depth? Well, just like the real boats, if you find out your crush depth, you won't be going back to base to brag how deep you were able to take the boat.

As far as I know, TMO is the only mod that incorporates this. If I am mistaken, my apologies to the modders for a misconception, in advance.

And yes, the DDs are a bit tougher in TMO than other mods, and one well placed DC, will really ruin your day! So be ready to run really deep! And really silent! But knowing how the escorts operate, is a big plus. Are they listening, or actively pinging? They can only do one or the other. Not both. So get to knowing how to counter both, and you can lots of fun! Spent 4 hours last night getting DCed. Lots of fun that was!

the.terrabyte.pirate · 05-22-12, 07:09 PM

So both RFB and TMO change aspects of the gameplay, destroyers and crush debt etc, and realism in SHIV. Do either of them include graphical improvements like skins, environments etc?

I know it's probably unfair to compare anything to GWX, but I guess I'm looking for the best bang for my buck, so to speak.

On second thought, can anyone provide the details of exactly what RFB and TMO change to the stock SHIV game? Are there changelogs or a manual anywhere?

germannoob · 05-25-12, 07:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hylander_1314

[...]But knowing how the escorts operate, is a big plus. Are they listening, or actively pinging? They can only do one or the other. Not both. So get to knowing how to counter both, and you can lots of fun! Spent 4 hours last night getting DCed. Lots of fun that was!

Wow! So it sounds, TMO has adressed some more parts of the gameplay?

Just some questions:
1. I read some old books (anno 1951-1956) from my grandpa. There is a story, where english DD's got a really good strategy to sink boats: 1 was listening and directing another one to above the submarine. So there was no asdic blackout for the dd which throwed the dc's. Was this also a tactic japanese did? If so, is this simulated within a supermod?

2. Can you explain or giving some links on how to counter the both operations? How do I escape if they listening? How to escape while pinging? Are they switching between these 2 modes? Leave charges bubbles in the water? (I know, that after an attack you can not hear anymore the submarine for about up to 30 seconds even if it was running full flank)

And does anyone has a plain explanation for FOTRS which aspects are adressed and maybe are better in this mod?

Thanks in advanced. Learned much here.

05-21-12, 10:39 PM	#1
the.terrabyte.pirate Navy Dude Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 176 Downloads: 52 Uploads: 0	Which Supermod? Hi all. Apologies, probably been discussed before. After my installation of SHIII with GWX and assorted other mods crashed on me last week, I decided to install a recently purchased copy of SHIV + U boat addon. Are there any supermods out there for SHIV equivalent to SHIII GWX (updating or improving Traffic, skins, sinking times, gameplay, accuracy, environments etc), or should I be looking at installing smaller individual mods to update each aspect. I'm aware of RFB, TMO and OM mods, but I'm having difficulty understanding what changes they make to the game or gameplay. Can anyone advise of the major differences between RFB and TMO? Does OM only affect the Uboat missions, or the US campaign as well? Does anyone have any recommendations or advice? Thanks, __________________ A kings ransom, or a stove boat.

05-21-12, 10:53 PM	#2
Sailor Steve Eternal Patrol Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: High in the mountains of Utah Posts: 50,369 Downloads: 745 Uploads: 249	RFB: Aims at making everything as historically accurate as possible. The good: Sometimes being more accurate actually means being easier. Also it's the only mod that makes Midway look like it really does. The bad: If you know the parameters it becomes predictable. TMO: Aims at making things a little harder than they really were and thus a little less accurate. The good: This is intentional. Real life was never predictable. TMO keeps you on your toes and encourages more realistic efforts from the player. The Bad: Not much really. OM is indeed just for u-boats. I recommend that you get MultiSH4, which makes it easy to manage multiple installations and run all three, plus keeping a stock version in reserve in case you need the files. __________________ “Never do anything you can't take back.” —Rocky Russo

05-22-12, 01:09 AM	#3
the.terrabyte.pirate Navy Dude Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 176 Downloads: 52 Uploads: 0	Do any of them change the GUI? I was a little shocked when I fired up SHIV. It looks a little cartoony. __________________ A kings ransom, or a stove boat.

05-22-12, 07:56 AM	#4
Sailor Steve Eternal Patrol Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: High in the mountains of Utah Posts: 50,369 Downloads: 745 Uploads: 249	Really? I don't see it as being any worse than SH3, just different. In SH3 I use a mod that has no GUI at all. Everything is a slide-out. I wish there was such a mod for SH4. __________________ “Never do anything you can't take back.” —Rocky Russo

05-22-12, 09:13 AM	#6
Sailor Steve Eternal Patrol Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: High in the mountains of Utah Posts: 50,369 Downloads: 745 Uploads: 249	RFB makes it so you can take a depth-charge pounding for hours and still survive. TMO may do the same, I don't play it. There are others I've forgotten over the years. TMO has very tough destroyers, especially Bungo Pete. TMO airplanes are also very nasty, and can see you well below the surface. Other than that I only know what I've heard, which is the general description I gave you. Ducimus has pointed out that even with TMO you can figure out the patterns and sink a lot more tonnage than any real-life skipper ever did. __________________ “Never do anything you can't take back.” —Rocky Russo

05-22-12, 09:36 AM	#7
Hylander_1314 Sea Lord Join Date: May 2006 Location: 5 Miles Inland West Of Lake Huron Posts: 1,936 Downloads: 139 Uploads: 0	From TMO 2.2 on, Ducimus adjusted the planes, so that in the early part of the war, they can't spot you too well if you take the boat deep. Later in the war, ........................ well, lets just say, they will harass the snot outta you if they know your general location. Especially in 1945. I shoot down as many planes per patrol as ships I sink, just because of their incessant doggedness of keeping you bottled up. And they are just as obnoxious at night as they are in the day. In fact, I have had more aircraft problems in the later war years from night air attacks, than daylight attacks. So I tend to change my strategy to more daylight ops than night ops. One thing that I have heard, but can't confirm it, is that RFB keeps to the stock thing of your boat getting destroyed if you go passed test depth redlines. Not sure if that was ever dealt with, but TMO, you can really take the Gato and Balao boats down deep. Will they crush? Sure. At what depth? Well, just like the real boats, if you find out your crush depth, you won't be going back to base to brag how deep you were able to take the boat. As far as I know, TMO is the only mod that incorporates this. If I am mistaken, my apologies to the modders for a misconception, in advance. And yes, the DDs are a bit tougher in TMO than other mods, and one well placed DC, will really ruin your day! So be ready to run really deep! And really silent! But knowing how the escorts operate, is a big plus. Are they listening, or actively pinging? They can only do one or the other. Not both. So get to knowing how to counter both, and you can lots of fun! Spent 4 hours last night getting DCed. Lots of fun that was! __________________ A legislative act contrary to the Constitution is not law. -John Marshall Chief Justice of the Supreme Court ---------------------

05-22-12, 07:09 PM	#8
the.terrabyte.pirate Navy Dude Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 176 Downloads: 52 Uploads: 0	So both RFB and TMO change aspects of the gameplay, destroyers and crush debt etc, and realism in SHIV. Do either of them include graphical improvements like skins, environments etc? I know it's probably unfair to compare anything to GWX, but I guess I'm looking for the best bang for my buck, so to speak. On second thought, can anyone provide the details of exactly what RFB and TMO change to the stock SHIV game? Are there changelogs or a manual anywhere? __________________ A kings ransom, or a stove boat.