SH4 Got Good

Skubber · 09-11-09, 04:20 PM

I was one of those who was really unimpressed when SH4 was first released. If memory serves, I had pre-ordered (through subsim) and was eagerly awaiting Ubisoft’s foray back into fleet boat territory.

There were several attempts to make the game work. I wanted it to work, I suffered as the inevitable patches were released, patches which failed to fix the things that were broken.

And I was crushingly disappointed. “You really mean to tell me that lighthouses still ‘bleed’ through solid objects? And crew characters turn transparent in the fog? And the game churns to a standstill when a convoy is near? And there are even fewer fully rendered compartments than SHIII? And anti-aliasing isn’t supported? I mean, Ubisoft, come on!”

Bear in mind, a really fantastic Grey Wolves mod had just been released for Silent Hunter III. SHIII overall had been an extremely successful subsim. The atmospherics for SHIII were so bloody good, you sometimes felt like you had either traveled back in time, or were living through your own personal version of a Wolfgang Peterson sequel.

Expectations were, perhaps, unreasonably high.

And so, like many others, I put the game on the shelf. I went back to what is still a really fantastic subsim. (Will anything ever top SHIII?) I got into some other “immersive” games. (Red Orchestra was among the best of them.) I even stopped gaming for a while altogether.

And then some things happened. Everybody was going crazy about playing this thing called the Wii (there was a Christmas where you couldn’t buy one, at least not without donating a kidney first). President Obama got elected. The world’s financial system collapsed. And I got a computer with a recent generation graphics card.

On a whim, I recently reinstalled SH4, just to see how good a job my new graphics card did rendering the water effects. (I remembered the transparent water was oh so pretty.) And the water effects were still pretty. And hey, just for fun, I thought I might also install the latest patch. . . What! You mean to tell me there’s an IXD u-boat campaign?

One thing led to another, and I discovered that you modders (bless you, one and all!) have been slaving tirelessly to squeeze the potential out of this game. And lo and behold, the potential was there. Yes, many of you told us it was there from the beginning, but sadly so many of us didn’t believe you.

Among other things, Ubisoft continued to support the title – and while that doesn’t excuse them for originally releasing the game in a very un-ready state, they did make a credible effort to stand behind their product. Anti-aliasing was supported. The most glaring bugs got de-bugged. Yeah, the lighthouse thing is still an annoyance. And I had to scratch my head – or maybe bang my head on the desk – when I tried to manually enter the key code for the 1.5 expansion. Apparently you can’t do it. You can only register online using an arcane method requiring voodoo and ritual sacrifice. Ubisoft support won’t tell you anything. (Memories of StarForce anyone? Honestly I think someone at corporate needs to be shot ... or still needs to be shot, whereas the Romanian devs need to be given everything they ask for.)

Anyways, once you get it all working, once you get your favorite mod installed (mine is RFB) the game is quite simply amazing. I can’t believe what I have been missing all this time.

Things work. The sub doesn’t fly through the air. Stuff is cool. Ships get sunk. Destroyers are terrifying. You can resupply mid patrol! Damage happens, and gets resolved, in a manner that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Dud torpedoes make you cry out in despair – oh wait, that’s supposed to happen.

Did you know that you can learn to manually target without a periscope using sonar! (Yes, you can!) Things are so good, you sometimes even get to imagining someone will do a realistic American submarine movie, something that will put that pitiful Pearl Harbor movie to shame. Heck, who needs a movie, you’ve got SH4!

What’s that you say, SH5 is going to be released? Déjà vu, anyone? :rotfl:

Armistead · 09-11-09, 05:43 PM

Same for me to a degree. I played it for a few weeks and put it on the shelf. Came back later to all the mods and it's been my favorite game since.

ReallyDedPoet · 09-11-09, 06:18 PM

Played it from the beginning and stuck with it. Wanted to see what it would be like to go from launch to the game it is today, which is a great and still under appreciated sub-sim

sergei · 09-12-09, 04:23 AM

Played stock for a while when it first came out but was frustrated by it.
(Is it my imagination or did it only have an 8km environment before one of the early patches?)
Discovered mods whilst looking for a patch and never looked back.

DigitalAura · 09-12-09, 07:08 AM

Have to say, that coming from SHII I was nothing but IMPRESSED with SH4.
I skipped SH3 and stopped playing Silent Hunter for years until a few months ago when I had sought to re-install SH2 and wondered if there were sequels...I was pleasantly surprised that we were up to 4 and 5 was on the way!
And...I don't mind stock too much at all, granted...with Uboat expansions everything has been basically fixed.

09-11-09, 04:20 PM	#1
Skubber Officer Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Rochester, NY, USA Posts: 239 Downloads: 36 Uploads: 0	SH4 Got Good I was one of those who was really unimpressed when SH4 was first released. If memory serves, I had pre-ordered (through subsim) and was eagerly awaiting Ubisoft’s foray back into fleet boat territory. There were several attempts to make the game work. I wanted it to work, I suffered as the inevitable patches were released, patches which failed to fix the things that were broken. And I was crushingly disappointed. “You really mean to tell me that lighthouses still ‘bleed’ through solid objects? And crew characters turn transparent in the fog? And the game churns to a standstill when a convoy is near? And there are even fewer fully rendered compartments than SHIII? And anti-aliasing isn’t supported? I mean, Ubisoft, come on!” Bear in mind, a really fantastic Grey Wolves mod had just been released for Silent Hunter III. SHIII overall had been an extremely successful subsim. The atmospherics for SHIII were so bloody good, you sometimes felt like you had either traveled back in time, or were living through your own personal version of a Wolfgang Peterson sequel. Expectations were, perhaps, unreasonably high. And so, like many others, I put the game on the shelf. I went back to what is still a really fantastic subsim. (Will anything ever top SHIII?) I got into some other “immersive” games. (Red Orchestra was among the best of them.) I even stopped gaming for a while altogether. And then some things happened. Everybody was going crazy about playing this thing called the Wii (there was a Christmas where you couldn’t buy one, at least not without donating a kidney first). President Obama got elected. The world’s financial system collapsed. And I got a computer with a recent generation graphics card. On a whim, I recently reinstalled SH4, just to see how good a job my new graphics card did rendering the water effects. (I remembered the transparent water was oh so pretty.) And the water effects were still pretty. And hey, just for fun, I thought I might also install the latest patch. . . What! You mean to tell me there’s an IXD u-boat campaign? One thing led to another, and I discovered that you modders (bless you, one and all!) have been slaving tirelessly to squeeze the potential out of this game. And lo and behold, the potential was there. Yes, many of you told us it was there from the beginning, but sadly so many of us didn’t believe you. Among other things, Ubisoft continued to support the title – and while that doesn’t excuse them for originally releasing the game in a very un-ready state, they did make a credible effort to stand behind their product. Anti-aliasing was supported. The most glaring bugs got de-bugged. Yeah, the lighthouse thing is still an annoyance. And I had to scratch my head – or maybe bang my head on the desk – when I tried to manually enter the key code for the 1.5 expansion. Apparently you can’t do it. You can only register online using an arcane method requiring voodoo and ritual sacrifice. Ubisoft support won’t tell you anything. (Memories of StarForce anyone? Honestly I think someone at corporate needs to be shot ... or still needs to be shot, whereas the Romanian devs need to be given everything they ask for.) Anyways, once you get it all working, once you get your favorite mod installed (mine is RFB) the game is quite simply amazing. I can’t believe what I have been missing all this time. Things work. The sub doesn’t fly through the air. Stuff is cool. Ships get sunk. Destroyers are terrifying. You can resupply mid patrol! Damage happens, and gets resolved, in a manner that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Dud torpedoes make you cry out in despair – oh wait, that’s supposed to happen. Did you know that you can learn to manually target without a periscope using sonar! (Yes, you can!) Things are so good, you sometimes even get to imagining someone will do a realistic American submarine movie, something that will put that pitiful Pearl Harbor movie to shame. Heck, who needs a movie, you’ve got SH4! What’s that you say, SH5 is going to be released? Déjà vu, anyone? :rotfl: __________________ "I wish to have no Connection with any Ship that does not Sail fast for I intend to go in harm's way." - Captain John Paul Jones, 1778

09-11-09, 06:18 PM	#3
ReallyDedPoet Canadian Wolf Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Canada. The one and only, East Coast Posts: 10,884 Downloads: 946 Uploads: 5	Played it from the beginning and stuck with it. Wanted to see what it would be like to go from launch to the game it is today, which is a great and still under appreciated sub-sim __________________ Back in the Day

09-12-09, 07:08 AM	#5
DigitalAura Straight and True Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: CANADA Posts: 276 Downloads: 8 Uploads: 0	Have to say, that coming from SHII I was nothing but IMPRESSED with SH4. I skipped SH3 and stopped playing Silent Hunter for years until a few months ago when I had sought to re-install SH2 and wondered if there were sequels...I was pleasantly surprised that we were up to 4 and 5 was on the way! And...I don't mind stock too much at all, granted...with Uboat expansions everything has been basically fixed. __________________ ... ALL YOUR BEACH ARE BELONG TO US! ...

09-11-09, 05:43 PM	#2
Armistead Rear Admiral Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: on the Dan Posts: 10,880 Downloads: 364 Uploads: 0	Same for me to a degree. I played it for a few weeks and put it on the shelf. Came back later to all the mods and it's been my favorite game since.

09-12-09, 04:23 AM	#4
sergei Sea Lord Join Date: May 2008 Location: London UK Posts: 1,788 Downloads: 405 Uploads: 29	Played stock for a while when it first came out but was frustrated by it. (Is it my imagination or did it only have an 8km environment before one of the early patches?) Discovered mods whilst looking for a patch and never looked back.