Another newcomer to SH4!

TinderStick · 05-13-08, 11:21 AM

Hey everyone,

I have just bought Silent Hunter 4 (it has been 3-4 days since the installation) and I have managed to play it only for a few hours -- and so far, so good. It looks immersive enough (even though ubisoft's screenshots on numerous gaming websites are obviously photoshoped...), but as is always the case in a serious simulation (be it an airplane or a train, etc), the sheer amount of information that you have to absorb is -- for a newcomer, in any event -- suffocating. In other words, the learning curve seems to be a bit too steep here.

Now the manual that comes with the game itself is woefully inadequate, and although I can easily find plenty of info about how a WW2 American submarine and its rather sophisticated systems function through simple googling, I'd rather let you veterans point me in the right direction and at least give me a link or two about how SH4 should be played. Calculating firing solutions, using the active/passive sonar, and so on. Perhaps, a comprehensive silent hunter 4 wiki, or an online strategy guide/walkthrough/FAQ/whatever (apart from searching for what I want in the subsim forums, of course), if you'd be so kind. I tried the Internet myself, but to no avail for some reason.

And I have a question, too: SH4's widescreen support is... well, bull****, isn' it? As far as I'm concerned, once I select the native resolution for my widescreen LCD, the only thing that changes is the resolution of the game-interface, not the 3d models, the environment, etc. On top of that, antialiasing can't even be enabled in the game, and the disabled AA can't be overridden from, say, Nvidia control panel, can it? Normally, eye-candy in PC games isn't all that important to me, compared to gameplay or plot, but all these jagged edges are a bit disturbing.

On a side note, I've also decided to finish the vanilla version of the game as best as I can first, before trying any user-created mods or buying the U-Boat Missions expansion, regardless of its still-lingering-despite-the-patches bugs and quirks.

Hail victory and happy hunting!

T.

P.S. Another tiny question: are flickering stars at night (not all the stars, but some of them) and blinking red-and-green instrument panel lights normal? Or known issues? They aren't, are they? Again, these little glitches aren't so important, but... Yes, yes, the game is patched to 1.4. I've read that 1.5 is in U-Boat Missions only (for now).

05-13-08, 11:21 AM	#1
TinderStick Swabbie Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 5 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Another newcomer to SH4! Hey everyone, I have just bought Silent Hunter 4 (it has been 3-4 days since the installation) and I have managed to play it only for a few hours -- and so far, so good. It looks immersive enough (even though ubisoft's screenshots on numerous gaming websites are obviously photoshoped...), but as is always the case in a serious simulation (be it an airplane or a train, etc), the sheer amount of information that you have to absorb is -- for a newcomer, in any event -- suffocating. In other words, the learning curve seems to be a bit too steep here. Now the manual that comes with the game itself is woefully inadequate, and although I can easily find plenty of info about how a WW2 American submarine and its rather sophisticated systems function through simple googling, I'd rather let you veterans point me in the right direction and at least give me a link or two about how SH4 should be played. Calculating firing solutions, using the active/passive sonar, and so on. Perhaps, a comprehensive silent hunter 4 wiki, or an online strategy guide/walkthrough/FAQ/whatever (apart from searching for what I want in the subsim forums, of course), if you'd be so kind. I tried the Internet myself, but to no avail for some reason. And I have a question, too: SH4's widescreen support is... well, bull****, isn' it? As far as I'm concerned, once I select the native resolution for my widescreen LCD, the only thing that changes is the resolution of the game-interface, not the 3d models, the environment, etc. On top of that, antialiasing can't even be enabled in the game, and the disabled AA can't be overridden from, say, Nvidia control panel, can it? Normally, eye-candy in PC games isn't all that important to me, compared to gameplay or plot, but all these jagged edges are a bit disturbing. On a side note, I've also decided to finish the vanilla version of the game as best as I can first, before trying any user-created mods or buying the U-Boat Missions expansion, regardless of its still-lingering-despite-the-patches bugs and quirks. Hail victory and happy hunting! T. P.S. Another tiny question: are flickering stars at night (not all the stars, but some of them) and blinking red-and-green instrument panel lights normal? Or known issues? They aren't, are they? Again, these little glitches aren't so important, but... Yes, yes, the game is patched to 1.4. I've read that 1.5 is in U-Boat Missions only (for now).