My initial impressions.

Lawndart · 03-20-07, 12:26 PM

My fist impressions (8 hours)

First I need to go back to SH3, when I first got that I played it for awhile and put it down, but for the past several years I kept going back, new mods and the magic hit me.

Like games from long ago, you really could use a lot of imagination with SH3, the atmosphere and the relationships you form with your crew… IT all just started to feel like a really deep experience. In fact I was playing SH3 when I met my wife, but that’s another story.

Now I have SH4, initially I was pretty disappointed… The blurry look, no atmosphere compared to SH3, the home port office looked 1991, the clouds don’t even move and graphics are complete crap… but there is still magic this game because I want to play it now…

But that’s start with the critical stuff. I’m afraid most of the people complaining who have it are being very fair. There are blurry, scaled up graphics, the sound it missing in a lot of places, ships ground themselves all the time and re-spawn and do it over and over again…
The “office” is barely prototype quality. The lack of crew interaction really removes a lot of atmosphere, the repair screen and upgrades screens are missing a lot of content and descriptions are non existent. The crew on boats is neat if you’re up-close in the outside camera, but you never see them through the periscope because of the LOD. No AA… in fact you really don’t have any control over the graphics at all, just some filters. There are other nagging and glaring omissions but I want to move on. I really want the moders pay attention here…

Surprisingly most of the issues above can be corrected but the shear lack of content won’t come from UBI, it will come from the modders.
Unfortunately I don’t think moders can do much about the rendering but the rest of the game? It’s like open source, amazingly modable. The Devs did invest effort in making the whole world map… It’s also of interest that the dev would really like to release the source.

If you hold SH4 to Grey wolves or GXW standards you will be really upset, but if you hold it next to vanilla SH3, and the time it took to get used to that, it will grow on you in the exact same way. Sorry I didn't get into many specifics but most posting here have nailed the details pretty well. And I do want to get back to playing... (no time to figure out how to post the 100 screenshots I took)

So enjoy SH4 for what it is today, it has a bigger heart than SH3 so the potential is enormous.

The box contents are pretty nice, it really is a 2lbs box…

PS and a quastion I havent seen answered was where the life boats come from, they spawn behind the sinking ship so it's pretty convincing.

Spaxspore · 03-20-07, 12:28 PM

black text on dark grey makes it almost impossible to read unless highlighted...

Lawndart · 03-20-07, 12:40 PM

Sorry, was a cut and paste from word...

Payoff · 03-20-07, 12:47 PM

Thanks Lawndart, and welcome. At least the lifeboat spawning is a positive.

DaMaGe007 · 03-20-07, 12:48 PM

Can you shoot them with the AA gun and deckgun ? What happends ? (regarding lifeboats)

Lawndart · 03-20-07, 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaMaGe007

Can you shoot them with the AA gun and deckgun ? What happends ? (regarding lifeboats)

I didn't shoot at the life boats but I did shoot at pilots that bailed out. When you hit them, their shoots colaps for a few seconds but then redeploy. And I belive they live.

malkuth74 · 03-20-07, 01:12 PM

God, I was hoping the Resolution thing was a lie. But alas it doesnt look that way.

Have you guys tried to see if you can change it in the cfg file yet? Something has to be wrong because this can't be right.

DaMaGe007 · 03-20-07, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lawndart

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaMaGe007

Can you shoot them with the AA gun and deckgun ? What happends ? (regarding lifeboats)

I didn't shoot at the life boats but I did shoot at pilots that bailed out. When you hit them, their shoots colaps for a few seconds but then redeploy. And I belive they live.

Mabe he used a reserve did you try shooting him twice ?

The fact that his body doesnt decintergrate kinda answers my question tho, it doesnt sound like people in liferafts are going to act like a mouse in a blender.
I was hopeing they would fly off in all directions like the gunner crews in sh3 at least
bummer

flintlock · 03-20-07, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaMaGe007

like a mouse in a blender.

Not a pleasant image that.

Lawndart · 03-20-07, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaMaGe007

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lawndart

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaMaGe007

Can you shoot them with the AA gun and deckgun ? What happends ? (regarding lifeboats)

I didn't shoot at the life boats but I did shoot at pilots that bailed out. When you hit them, their shoots colaps for a few seconds but then redeploy. And I belive they live.

Mabe he used a reserve did you try shooting him twice ?

The fact that his body doesnt decintergrate kinda answers my question tho, it doesnt sound like people in liferafts are going to act like a mouse in a blender.
I was hopeing they would fly off in all directions like the gunner crews in sh3 at least
bummer

I did several times, they have many reserve shoots.

One thing about the graphics, if you get used to the post processing filter ( the grainy look) things really do look pretty cool... They did intend for us to play that way so sure.

DaMaGe007 · 03-20-07, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flintlock

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaMaGe007

like a mouse in a blender.

Not a pleasant image that.

yes I was playing with the disturbing side, hence I clarified it with the next line

flintlock · 03-20-07, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lawndart

One thing about the graphics, if you get used to the post processing filter ( the grainy look) things really do look pretty cool.

From the screens I've seen, I personally think the effect looks decent, almost period like. I don't have the game yet so can merely judge from a few of the good screenshots I've seen.

Hartmann · 03-20-07, 06:55 PM

I don´t have the game yet, but I´m very worried about blurry graphics ...:hmm:

it requires a lot more of hardware but graphics are not very clear ¿¿

very confused

AVGWarhawk · 03-20-07, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bratwurst

This strange scaled up kind of look is seriously hurting immersion and do not make SHIV graphics any justice. It is a beautiful game, really… but it will not show unless you have a killer system running in max resolution and with your hardware forced on maximum quality instead of performance. Even then, I do not think you will fully escape this odd blurriness.

Most likely, a problem related to the rendering method used. I am sure it can be solved by the devs in a patch or so. Do not judge the graphics too hard just yet. SHIV is easily the best looking naval game to date. Mods or no mods.

Updated my post with a few screens (scaled down from 1024x to 800x).
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=107970

My biggest concern now is the sound, or the complete lack of it in some departments. Silent Hunter IV is simply too silent

Nice pics for the system you are running it on. I feel better about my rig running int somewhat decent.

03-20-07, 12:26 PM	#1
Lawndart Bosun Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Vancouver BC Posts: 66 Downloads: 16 Uploads: 0	My initial impressions. My fist impressions (8 hours) First I need to go back to SH3, when I first got that I played it for awhile and put it down, but for the past several years I kept going back, new mods and the magic hit me. Like games from long ago, you really could use a lot of imagination with SH3, the atmosphere and the relationships you form with your crew… IT all just started to feel like a really deep experience. In fact I was playing SH3 when I met my wife, but that’s another story. Now I have SH4, initially I was pretty disappointed… The blurry look, no atmosphere compared to SH3, the home port office looked 1991, the clouds don’t even move and graphics are complete crap… but there is still magic this game because I want to play it now… But that’s start with the critical stuff. I’m afraid most of the people complaining who have it are being very fair. There are blurry, scaled up graphics, the sound it missing in a lot of places, ships ground themselves all the time and re-spawn and do it over and over again… The “office” is barely prototype quality. The lack of crew interaction really removes a lot of atmosphere, the repair screen and upgrades screens are missing a lot of content and descriptions are non existent. The crew on boats is neat if you’re up-close in the outside camera, but you never see them through the periscope because of the LOD. No AA… in fact you really don’t have any control over the graphics at all, just some filters. There are other nagging and glaring omissions but I want to move on. I really want the moders pay attention here… Surprisingly most of the issues above can be corrected but the shear lack of content won’t come from UBI, it will come from the modders. Unfortunately I don’t think moders can do much about the rendering but the rest of the game? It’s like open source, amazingly modable. The Devs did invest effort in making the whole world map… It’s also of interest that the dev would really like to release the source. If you hold SH4 to Grey wolves or GXW standards you will be really upset, but if you hold it next to vanilla SH3, and the time it took to get used to that, it will grow on you in the exact same way. Sorry I didn't get into many specifics but most posting here have nailed the details pretty well. And I do want to get back to playing... (no time to figure out how to post the 100 screenshots I took) So enjoy SH4 for what it is today, it has a bigger heart than SH3 so the potential is enormous. The box contents are pretty nice, it really is a 2lbs box… PS and a quastion I havent seen answered was where the life boats come from, they spawn behind the sinking ship so it's pretty convincing. Last edited by Gizzmoe; 03-20-07 at 01:03 PM. Reason: Changed text color

03-20-07, 12:28 PM	#2
Spaxspore Sonar Guy Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 399 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 0	black text on dark grey makes it almost impossible to read unless highlighted... __________________ Behold, the Glory of the Sh4 engine..... Morning strole off Tokyo Bay...

03-20-07, 12:47 PM	#4
Payoff Captain Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Nash Town, USA Posts: 525 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	Thanks Lawndart, and welcome. At least the lifeboat spawning is a positive. __________________ "Hit Shokaku class carrier with three out of six torpedos. Recieved 105 depth charges during three hour period. Heard four terrific explosions in the direction of target, two and one half hours after attack. Believe that baby sank!" Lieutenant Commander Herman Kossler USS Cavalla

03-20-07, 01:12 PM	#7
malkuth74 Sonar Guy Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 377 Downloads: 20 Uploads: 0	God, I was hoping the Resolution thing was a lie. But alas it doesnt look that way. Have you guys tried to see if you can change it in the cfg file yet? Something has to be wrong because this can't be right. __________________

03-20-07, 06:55 PM	#13
Hartmann Sea Lord Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Grid CH 26, Spain ,Barcelona Posts: 1,857 Downloads: 204 Uploads: 0	I don´t have the game yet, but I´m very worried about blurry graphics ...:hmm: it requires a lot more of hardware but graphics are not very clear ¿¿ very confused __________________ But this ship can't sink!... She is made of iron, sir. I assure you, she can. and she will. It is a mathematical certainty. Strength and honor

03-20-07, 12:40 PM	#3
Lawndart Bosun Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Vancouver BC Posts: 66 Downloads: 16 Uploads: 0	Sorry, was a cut and paste from word...

03-20-07, 12:48 PM	#5
DaMaGe007 Watch Officer Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 338 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Can you shoot them with the AA gun and deckgun ? What happends ? (regarding lifeboats)