FAQ - Steam Version(s) of SH4

[hughesjr]

This took me a couple hours to figure out .. and probably cost me an extra $9.99 .. so here is the info so you might be able to figure it much faster.

Steam Version(s) of SH4

1. There are two versions of SH4 on Steam .. They are called:

A. Silent Hunter: Wolves of the Pacific : This is version 1.3.0.0 of the game .. This is NOT usable by the mods at subsim.

B. Silent Hunter: Wolves of the Pacific U-Boat Missions : This is version 1.5.0.0 of the game. This is the version you want to buy and use if you want to install subsim mods.

2. I bought BOTH versions of SH4 .. Steam put the 2nd version in the same directory as the first, in <Steam_Library>\steamapps\common\Silent Hunters Wolves of the Pacific. In my case, my steam library is in D:\SteamLibrary\ .. yours may be in a different place.

You can find it by right clicking on the game in your Steam Library app and picking Properties .. then clicking the Local Files and finally clicking the Browse button.

You MIGHT be able to just by the second game, Silent Hunter: Wolves of the Pacific U-Boat Missions, and not buying both. Or maybe not. I had already bought the first version when I realized I also needed the second.

3. All the mods on subsim.com require Silent Hunter: Wolves of the Pacific U-Boat Missions (game version 1.5.0.0) .. you can not install them on version 1.3.0 of the game.

4. There are mods / programs that make use of multiple installs of the game and create more than one copy of the game. If you are using the Silent Hunter: Wolves of the Pacific U-Boat Missions (game version 1.5.0.0) then you CAN make multiple copies of the game .. BUT .. You have to create the new directories inside the same steamapps folder as the original game.

What I would recommend is .. just go to the directory where your game is installed .. in my case .. <Steam_Library>\steamapps\common\ .. and select the game folder in Windows Explorer, right click and copy .. then paste it in the same directory. You will end up 2 directories beside each other.

Silent Hunters Wolves of the Pacific

Silent Hunters Wolves of the Pacific - Copy

I would change the Copy to a 3 digit code for the megamod you want to install .. for example, if you wanted to install THEBERBSTER megamod, I would rename the Copy to GFO.

And you would apply the mod files, as he describes in his post into the:

Silent Hunters Wolves of the Pacific - GFO

directory you just created. If you create a second (or more) directories for megamods .. make sure you download the MulitiSH4 by Potoroo, put the exe file in the 2nd directory and change the 3 character code from SH4 to something else to save player data for that game directory separately.

If you create multiple copies of the game .. you would start them by using the sh4.exe file inside the new directory and NOT starting them via the steam client app. I would create a second directory and never play the original directory .. instead just using the original install directory from steam as my unplayed master copy to make new directories as needed.

NOTE:
You can use the Steam Client to Create a New Steam Library [ Create Steam Library ] on a different drive. If you want to put your SH4 instances in a separate place, you can create a new library location to do this. You can only have one steam library on a given windows drive however .. so one on C: and one on D: etc. You will need to locate all your SH4 directories in the SAME library.

Found other links:

Steam : By propbeanie