Things you like or don't like about SH4

[yellbird]

I don’t know but it seems this game was put together as an after thought. You would think they could improve on some things as well as include what the modders did on SH3. As far as I am concerned they took a good game (SH3) and just slapped this together to get it on the market. Damage Control worked fine before how could they mess that up? Missions are a mess, Manual doesn’t explain enough and I have a e6600 Geforce 8800 gts with 4 G’s of memory and it will bring it to it’s knees at times.
What a shame
Whats with all the life rafts? The nav-map is almost useless if you sink alot of ships as you spend all your time sorting them out.

[davejb]

UPS:
(1) Nice graphics, be even better when they stop locking the resolution and AA.

(2) A popular theatre of war, great fun if done well

(3) It's a sub sim - what else needs saying?

DOWNS:
(1) The devs have 'skinned' SH3, and the longer I play this (crashes allowing) the more I find wrong with it. I started out thinking what nice guys the devs were and how they'd get it fixed. It's obvious now that this is little more than a graphics update to SH3. The numerous items in German, and references to U-boats in the files show that this is an SH3 mod, not a new program.

(2) God how I LOVE trekking across the entire Pacific at 2/3 speed in 4096 Jerk-O-Vision. really makes my day....and most of the night as well.

(3) The game is playable, exclusively thanks to the modding community on here. Well done guys, thanks for all the new cfgs that make this game less frustrating, keep it up! (I say exclusively as UBI has done **** all, other than to put some seriously whacky values into some of those files - eg the average transitting sub 500 miles SE of Wake Island sees more Jap aircraft overhead than spectators at the Tokyo airshow 1941.)

(4) Immersion - two dimensional at best. Upgrade everything pretty much by patrol 2 - inlcuding the crew - no significantly obvious change in how things work on your sub. The gun upgrade, for example... what's the difference, apart from you can bow mount it (losing the gun crew's ability to man it in exchange... see point 5!)

(5) Completely pathetic QA of the finished (hah!) product. So many things in this program (1.1) are obviously wrong that it was either not play tested at all, or they gave it to Tommy to check. (WHO reference).

(6) The manual sucks big time, I'd have preferred a DC Comic - they did one about a PT Boat skipper with a wooden leg I used to like, I'd settle for the one about the German WW1 fighter pilot or a Sgt Rock of Easy company at a push. Granted the comic wouldn't have helped work anything out in the game, but then neither does the manual.

[Iron Budokan]

I used to read and collect Unknown Soldier. That was my favorite war comic!

[Ducimus]

Arguably its probably too early to write any "fair" review until the next patch, but im at a point where i think ive about formulated my 2 cents worth on this game, so i may as well spell it out. Im focusing primarly on the design of the game, or the implentation as i see it, as opposed to the bugs, and to that end sh4 is quite the mixed bag. Some things i like, some things i don't like, so its hard to know where to start. So i guess ill start with the negatives first, rather then end this post on an unhappy note.


My list of negatives:
1.) Lack of crew interaction. I really miss being able to interact directly with the crew. (IE, sonar man, cheif enginer (OOD), radar operator, watch officer, etc). Like when in SH3, you could click on one, and he would look at you with an expression of, "your next order is?"

2.) About half of the UI i dont like. The part i don't like is related the point number 1 listed above this one. In a away is suppose this UI makes more sense, seeings how your not tapping your crewman on the shoulder anymore, but given the choice, i much preffered having my station icons like in Sh3. I do however, like the implentation of the 3 gauges on the right of the UI. If the game could have had interaction with the crewman, with the station icons on the bottom left from SH3, i think the UI would have been near perfect.

3.) Lack of sea squares. While i cant find a chart as an example, patrolling historically asigned areas like "area 6" or even "area 7" would have been a nice touch.

4.) Lack of sub emblems. Probably fluff, but it helps with game emersion.

5.) my list of bugs ( http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...&postcount=684 )


My list of Positives:

1.)The game engine itself. Without going into too many details, Its much quicker loading, higher time compressions possible with less ingame lag then in Sh3, many more advanced graphics options are available, and is as mod friendly as SH3, if not moreso. You don't really realzie some of this until you start digging around the game files, but many of their redesigning in the file structure itself, deserves a big A+ and 10 out of 5 star's to boot. Campaign scripters rejoice, this is game is a dream come true.


2.)Implentation of torpedo troubles. This is .. well, to put it bluntly, im just ****ing impressed all to hell with torpedo's. Again, this isnt somethign you realize until you start looking at the associated files themselves. Normally, something like increasing dud rates, or deep runing torpedo's or whatever other historical problems that existed.. recreating that is usually by mod, and the mod is often nothing more then a "hack" for want of a better term. Not so here. There are real settings for this, and are intrisnicly supported. Deep running torpedo's, dud rate, prematures, and even Looping torpedo's. All that's needed here is the soundman calling out "torpedo running hot straigt and normal" when it is, and a cry of terror when it isnt.

3.) Crew management and the crew.
Here the dev's most certainly listened to us. Crew managment here is a dream come true. Without getting into too many details, they've made it important, and yet, not a source of constant aggrivation. The crew itself feels like a living crew to some degree. They go about their buisness and occasinally if your not in TC mode, you will hear the change of watch, which is a nice touch. It's a pitty that we can't interact with them. (see negative point 1.). But one last item of note here, nice touch on the daamge control team, and even the T shirts coming off the planesman because their wet, or hot. (although i think that graphic would have been better served by the use of silent running when all the fans were shut off, as opposed to when the boat is flooding)

4.) The career campaign.
While it might have a few quirks, for the most part its done really well. Gone are the days when all you did was go to a grid and sit there for 24 hours for no other reason then obtaining renown. The way good performance is rewarded, and bad performace punished ( i think, i usually do well so this isnt a problem), varying missions, and how the player is drawn into the battle in the pacific during a campaign game is all a really nice touch, and you don't have the impression of being by yourself all the time as in SH3. In sh4, you more or less feel like your part of the conflict and contributing to the effort to win it. (example: Dropping off a spec ops agent on a remote shore, you did your part to get him there, now he's got to do his part, as you watch him paddle off into the darkness for the shore )


5.) Realistic damage, realistic repairs, and the damage mangement system.
Theres a bit of controversy around this (not to mention at least one bug that ive seen), but i believe i see what the intent was. In real life, if a sub's pressure hull had a hole in it, it couldn't dive. In Sh4, this is indeed the case. If your bulkhead (pressurehull) gets a hole blown into it, as in real life, diving is simply out of the question. And i most certainly think twice before popping the hatch and engaging with the deck gun.

Realistic repair times are just that. Realistic. If you have a diesal damaged, it could take all day to fix that thing as the mechanics have to take it part, which is not a quick job. Take any car to a mechanic, with engine trouble and it will be there all day. So is the same with Sh4. Clicking realistic repair times means something in SH4, and isnt just someting you'd click in sh3 that didnt really do much except contribute to how much renown youd be awarded for a sinking.

The management system takes a bit of getting used to, but overall it feels much more interactive then in SH3. In SH3, you basically clicked on an area, it woudl list what was damged or destroyed, and told the damage control crew to go to work on a certain area. In SH4, its much more flexible then that. It feels much more interactive in that you can prioritize repairs base on what you feel is more important. For example, lets sayf your main pump was inoperative, along with some other items in the control room, and your aft batteries, were also damged. In Sh3, you'd tell the damage control crew to fix the control room, and then the aft quarters. In SH4, you can tell tell the crew to fix the main pump, ignoring the other damged parts in control room for the time being, and then proceed directly to the aft battery.

Thats about all i got i think.

[Ping Jockey]

Don't like to have to return to home port in order to end patrol.

[Marko_Ramius]

I complete first entire patrol yesterday, and i saw really good things on the graphic part of the game :

Wheather effect, the wind on the surface of the sea ; In rough sea, the effect is awesome. There's some wall of water who get high, low ... Amazing.

The sunrise, sunset, all this is very good. Please, devs : Make the filters of graphic cards able to be on use cause, for sure, SH4 will rock with this.


Crew management is really better than before. The battle station order is great. I wonder if we would have more motion and noise from the crew at this moment.


Into this patrol (part of a begining carreer), the ennemy was really stupid ; Don't know if it was the level of the difficulty i choose ( normal), but they were blind, and could not hear me even at 500 meters away from them. I could surface and shot with deck gun at a little convoy with 3 escort ships. Not a gun shot on me. Must be an issue, i guess.

I don't like at all the screen just before to go into the sub, in carreer mode (the office).


But i really more enjoyed what i have saw despite my first look. I really hope things will be good on patching and modding, cause it's a great potential that we got there.

[SKurj]

Just played the Midway quick mission.

I love how the Japanese aircraft all swarm after me, and bomb their own dd's trying to hit me!

:rotfl:

[flyingdane]

Sure wish my gunners had helmets like in sh3.

[aurgolo]

Something I really hate: the tube doors seem to close again each time you choose another tube. I do not know if it is related to historical accuracy according to different US subs models in WWII.....
Anyway in SH3 I could use the 3d-switches in conning tower to keep the doors open, in SH4 there aren't any anymore...the conning tower seems a christmas tree and you never know if a tube is open or not before firing.........this generates a less accurate hit........I HATE THIS.......!!!! DO SOMETHING.....!!!

[aurgolo]

Something I really hate: the tube doors seem to close again each time you choose another tube. I do not know if it is related to historical accuracy according to different US subs models in WWII.....
Anyway in SH3 I could use the 3d-switches in conning tower to keep the doors open, in SH4 there aren't any anymore...the conning tower seems a christmas tree and you never know if a tube is open or not before firing.........this generates a less accurate hit........I HATE THIS.......!!!! DO SOMETHING.....!!!

[ScottD]

I had high hopes for the program when I got it, but like many other people here, it seems just like a SH3 reskin with many of the same bugs! I enjoyed SH3 (so far) more then SH4..

A couple annoyances:

Time compression is still jerky as hell

Hitting the A key during navgation causes a crash to desktop

Getting the same mission during my campain 3 times in a row made me put it away till the next patch.

Getting asked to retire because my sub was banged up, after sinking a Kongo class BB and Fleet CV on the way out to my mission! You'd think they would have given me at least a Silver Star or CMH...ugh

The game has alot of potential, but right now its a mess and I'm disapointed since Pacific theater Sub Sims are near and dear to my heart since the very first computer game I played was Silent Service on the Commodore 64.

Oh well lets see what 1.2 Patch can do to fix these problems.

[U-Bones]

The career after death messages are insane. Two I have encountered that totally kill any immersion are...

1. Demotion /desk job etc

2. Assignment of a new sub if you want it / or retire

Also, the career feeling has been killed by everything after New Career becoming Save or Load, and after a while a loading a standalone patrol is no different than loading a career patrol.

[tater]

^^^ yeah, career UI should bring you to a list of careers, when you pick one you should default to last save in that career. The ability to delete them (entire careers) would be nice as well.

Unrelated to that, I wish that the path of your ship, and the observed path of ebemy ships was drawn on the map. Ie: you make observations on enemy shipping, and it gets plotted to your map.

[davejb]

On a happier note....
my comments relate to 1.1. Obviously there is a lot of potential here if they sort some of the screwy bits out - with a lot of feedback on the silly things that are seen future patches could turn this into a good game. I'm very pleased that the files etc suit the modders - I'm playing with some of the files myself, but programming etc time is limited these days so doubt I'll produce anything earth shattering.

[High Command]

"Things i dont like with SHIV"

Well thats a easy anwser, its an extremly unrealistic game.

The only hope for this game is somone to Mod it!
Ubisoft cant imporve the Realism, because thay need to have the game extremly noob fraindly or thay wont sell to thair profit goal.

However somone can mod it, that may save it..