Greetings, skippers! (Kan, Rheinmetall, Stevie).
http://silenthunter4.uk.ubi.com/features.php

Though it's not been publicised particularyl well, Silent Hunter IV comes out this week, and I can hardly wait! I've already pre-ordered my special edition from amazon.

There are a number of essential changes from Silent Hunter III:

-The setting. Unlike Silent Hunter III, and II, where you play a German Kaleun fighting the Brits and Yanks, iot's back to Silent Hunter I, here you play a Yankee skipper, trying to put a great big hole in the Japs' tonnage.
-Radio-there will be a real radio system, where your surfaced sub can pick up transmissions from land, with news reports, propaganda from Tokyo Rose, and all the days' greatest hits!
-Online adversarial gaming, and Ubi have said they're considering creating a surface ship addon!
-New time compression up to 8 times faster than Silent Hunter IV, to lose all those annoying "half an hour of real time sailing to come across a fishing boat" games.
-6 Ameircan boats with their very own systems, including (I think) the American stereoscopic periscope where you have to try to superimpose two images of the ship to try to calculate the range
-80 classes of ships
-Crewmembers will bail out of sinking ships, and crashing aircraft, and you'll be able to collect friendly pilots landing in the drink!
-And the best I've left 'till last, you'll be able to take part in real-life scripted events based on some of the large naval battles of the pacific!

It looks awesome, and I can't wait.

I'll leave you with some eye-candy
http://resources.ubi.com/resources/61/61141-SH4_screen_p2_0.jpg
http://resources.ubi.com/resources/61/61151-Sh4_screen_p3_3.jpg
http://resources.ubi.com/resources/61/61157-Sh4_screen_p3_9.jpg
http://resources.ubi.com/resources/61/61148-Sh4_screen_p3_2.jpg

Squee! But why did it have to come out on the same date as STALKER :cry: And any idea on the specs though?

Regardless, I'll no doubt be getting it the day it comes out, and of course -good hunting to similar minded commanders.

Squee! But why did it have to come out on the same date as STALKER :cry: And any idea on the specs though?

Regardless, I'll no doubt be getting it the day it comes out, and of course -good hunting to similar minded commanders.

Specs are, IIRC, at a min, 2ghz P4, 128mb graphics, 1 gig ram.
http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/765/765173/silent-hunter-wolves-of-the-pacific-20070215022036718.jpg


Happy hunting!

Looks like the games are slowly catching up on this old box, may be time for an upgrade soon. But not yet :D

Most interested in some of the changes from SH3, which was mostly what I wanted. In-mission objectives sound fun

New career objectives

Unlike its prequel, which had every mission revolve around reaching a specific area and patrolling it for 24 hours, Silent Hunter 4 will have the player carry out special missions. These include photo reconnaissance, pilot rescue, life-guard duty, and commando insertion, and are dependent on events within missions and on the player's performance. For example, if a US aircraft happens to go down near the player's position, HQ may order the player to rescue the survivors.

Details on these special missions are as of yet sketchy. It is, for example, not known how the commandos will behave when having disembarked the submarine, or if they will be able to defend themselves if faced with danger.

Rescuing/leaving survivors in the water also sounds interesting, be interested in how it's implemented, and the repercussions of your actions involving them.

I. CAN'T. WAIT.

One question; will it too have starforce?

From what I know, Ubisoft dropped Starforce altogether, so it shouldn't be on this :)

YES YES YES! I'm buying it. Not right away but maybe next month? Or maybe for my birthday in June since I did just buy the total war series.

Most interested in some of the changes from SH3, which was mostly what I wanted. In-mission objectives sound fun
Exactly. Though Silent Hunter III had the sort of monotonous gritty identicality of lessons down to a tee, they didn't have special events, or as much excitement. This should be a huge improvement.

Rescuing/leaving survivors in the water also sounds interesting, be interested in how it's implemented, and the repercussions of your actions involving them.
It does, and it's quite a U-turn for Ubi who said they were never going to implement survivors because of "moral reasons", in other words retards who would gun them down in the water (a pretty rare occurence in any case).
I wonder if this is implemented too, or if it would be like the SHIII shore guys, who are effectively animations (yep, as soon as I set off on the first mission, I manned the flak guns, and tried to gun down the German brass band :p).

From what I understood, I think each Jap crewmember will have some very basic AI that will allow it to be a character more than an animation.


One thing I also find great is the new damage model-wheras in SHIII when a torpedo hit, you got a bit of a charring effect, there was no actual visible damage.
In this, from the movie I saw, you will be ableto blow gaping holes in the hull of the ship, and see right into the compartments.

If it will have screwed up graphics like SH3 on my Nvidia it can go to hell.

(yep, as soon as I set off on the first mission, I manned the flak guns, and tried to gun down the German brass band :p).

:lol: I never even considered doing that.

One thing I also find great is the new damage model-wheras in SHIII when a torpedo hit, you got a bit of a charring effect, there was no actual visible damage.
In this, from the movie I saw, you will be ableto blow gaping holes in the hull of the ship, and see right into the compartments.

Nice, very nice. Be interested in the sinking physics as well, I got annoyed with ships splitting in two everytime, so downloaded a mod to lessen the chances.

If it will have screwed up graphics like SH3 on my Nvidia it can go to hell.

What problems is that? The only problem I had with my Nvidia was white flare on my periscope or binoculars when moving at speed. All that was needed was to update my drivers and all was well.

Nice, very nice. Be interested in the sinking physics as well, I got annoyed with ships splitting in two everytime, so downloaded a mod to lessen the chances.

Yeah, the whole torpedo-hit-broadside-split-right-down-the-middle got a bit tiresome.

They've drasically reduced that, I think, to simulate the occasional "critical hit" on the fuel bunker.

Preview video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksjHYlZeueo


There are Junk sailing ships! For me to machinegun and ram!

What problems is that? The only problem I had with my Nvidia was white flare on my periscope or binoculars when moving at speed. All that was needed was to update my drivers and all was well.
I think there was a problem where sea-spray would completely block the periscope and UZO to form a mist, and slow the computer down.

I have it preorderd, the shop i orderd it from sent it yesterday, so if im lucky il have it tomorrow, if not then Thursday. And i feel a cold comming on, so i might have to stay home a few days :D

It does, and it's quite a U-turn for Ubi who said they were never going to implement survivors because of "moral reasons", in other words retards who would gun them down in the water (a pretty rare occurence in any case).
I wonder if this is implemented too, or if it would be like the SHIII shore guys, who are effectively animations (yep, as soon as I set off on the first mission, I manned the flak guns, and tried to gun down the German brass band :p).

I would totaly gun down survivors if I was feelnig like being evil, but not often, only if I got bored. In real life I would not gun down servivors of course.

Man, it'd be sweet if you could sneak up on a ship, like a carrier, when the crew is assembled on deck... aim the flak guns (and be the right distance away) so that is explodes among or just above the crew. Eeeeeek! Imagine how nasty that'd be! BUt it'd reduce the ship's reaction time.

Good luck finding a carrier without any screening vessels that would gun you to the bottom faster then you could say "cheesecake" if you surfaced ;)

Preview video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksjHYlZeueo

Nice, though I see in that video the flags still don't 'work right' as the boat sinks :mischief:

Good luck finding a carrier without any screening vessels that would gun you to the bottom faster then you could say "cheesecake" if you surfaced

While I agree that it's going to be unlikely you're going to sink any Carriers, if you can participate in the major battles (NonCon mentioned in in the opening post) then there may yet be a chance for some crazy manoeuvre's.

I also managed a few port raids in SH3 - IIRC at the start of the campaign there was an opportunity to sink a British battleship (I forget where and which ship), but maybe it means there's a chance of such missions in this game :)

This is the problem, jaggies burn my eyes:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v396/SAABaero/crap.jpg

Man, it'd be sweet if you could sneak up on a ship, like a carrier, when the crew is assembled on deck... aim the flak guns (and be the right distance away) so that is explodes among or just above the crew. Eeeeeek! Imagine how nasty that'd be! BUt it'd reduce the ship's reaction time.
Scamp, if a carrier let you sneak up on it, without noticing you, with its crew all on deck, then, quite frankly, they'd deserve to jst abandon ship and shoot themselves just for being so stupid.

More eye-candy:
http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/795/cscreensh47da5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img111.imageshack.us/img111/7250/cscreensh48xc1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

According to wiki:
Perhaps the largest controversy around the game is Ubisoft's decision to implement shipwrecked survivors from destroyed planes and ships. Proponents of this feature point to its historical accuracy, while opponents point out moral dilemmas faced by players who are presented with survivors, and scenarios in which players massacre survivors for fun. A poll at the fan-site Subsim.com showed that if this would be possible, roughly 1/3 of the participants said they would indeed "MG the survivors", although some of the people said they would limit this behavior to killing only the shipwrecked of warships and/or troop transports [2].

Computer gamers are idiots :shake:

There were only very very few instances of this sort of behaviour.

Yeah, it's frowned upon to mow down survivors. Perhaps if you do it too often your superiors should get mad at you.

Yeah, it's frowned upon to mow down survivors. Perhaps if you do it too often your superiors should get mad at you.

That sounds very likely, especially considering Ubisoft have been a bit squeamish about survivors until now, I find it unlikely they'll let you gun down folk in lifeboats now without repercussions.

I'd like to see options on how to react with survivors - friend or foe. Something along the lines of...


Flee, Saving your ship but not earning any points
Rescue survivors, earning points but risking the ship by staying at a killzone
Send a distress message, alerting other ships to perform a rescue while allowing you to escape. Risks detection?
Shoot survivors. if it's in, will likely result in the end of your career if discovered.

Once if you shoot survivors you will get punished, if you do it again once your fame rises or often than obviously your career is gone. This is the US Navy and they are (or were) suppsoed to be a bit honourable and I can't see them letting survivor killings pass by lightly.

I've kept an eye on this game but still it manages to sneak up on me. My timing on the computer upgrade was perfect. Stalker and SH4. Looks like I need to quit my job to have more time to play. :)

That sounds very likely, especially considering Ubisoft have been a bit squeamish about survivors until now, I find it unlikely they'll let you gun down folk in lifeboats now without repercussions.

I'd like to see options on how to react with survivors - friend or foe. Something along the lines of...


Flee, Saving your ship but not earning any points
Rescue survivors, earning points but risking the ship by staying at a killzone
Send a distress message, alerting other ships to perform a rescue while allowing you to escape. Risks detection?
Shoot survivors. if it's in, will likely result in the end of your career if discovered.


Actually, a sub picking up survivors, especially in the pacific, was pretty rare, and was reserved fore VIP officers and such.

This is the US Navy and they are (or were) suppsoed to be a bit honourable and I can't see them letting survivor killings pass by lightly.

A bit idealistic.
There was a recordd instance of a German U-boat captain gunning down survivors, and he was shot after the war by the allies.
However, an American captain machine gunned Japanese survivors down, I can't remember if it was an isolated incident or if he did it repeatedly, but he admiralty ignored the matter.

Hence the supposed. Cause that's the image that holywood puts out. Which I ingest only with a bucket of salt.

ANywyas, yeah, subs generaly don't stay around long enough to deal with survivors.

ANywyas, yeah, subs generaly don't stay around long enough to deal with survivors.
Well, you'd be surprised. In the early days of the war, the (German) sub would usually surface, help survivors set their lifeboats up, give them directions to land, give them food, water, and sometimes alcohol, and even rarely radio the position over open airwaves so friendly ships could collect them.

There's also the case of Wernher Hartenstein (google him if you're interested), who picked up every single survivor from the ship Laconia, to escort them to dry land, but was attacked by a US aircraft despite having a large red cross flag, which led to the "Laconia Order" forbidding the captain from assisting the survivors.

In the pacific, however, the goalposts were moved a lot, and it was pretty savage, especially considering the presence of sharks.
For example, survivors from the USS Arizona were many when they went into the water, but the majority of them (who spent several days in the water)were eaten by sharks.

There's incidentally also a case of an unarmed US ship sinking a Japanese submarine using potatos :)

There's incidentally also a case of an unarmed US ship sinking a Japanese submarine using potatos :)

Cool. Thanks for the info.

Tell me more about this potato attack.

Cheers for info Noncon - I knew of all the Atlantic stuff, I'm just pretty blank when it comes to things involving the Pacific War. I didn't even think of unrestricted submarine warfare being used in the region until I heard of this game :crazyeye:

Looks pretty cool.

Scamp; Check out this link:

http://www.destroyerhistory.org/fletcherclass/ussobannon/first_person.html

:D

:lol: That's a good one. Though I do feel sorry for the Japenese submariners. Ick, death sucks.

Erk-correction, I've realsied I made a terrible error in my last post.

The ship sunk with the crew eaten by sharks wasn't the Arizona-the Arizona was a battleship sunk as Pearl Harbor. The ship I meant was the USS Indianapolis, which was carrying the nuclear bomb on a top-secret mission, which is why the sailors weren't rescued.

So there's a nuclear bomb sitting in the Pacific ocean!?

IIRC the ship sank on its return trip after making its delivery ;)

IIRC the ship sank on its return trip after making its delivery ;)

Correct, and it was the bomb, that was droppe don Hiroshima (it might have been Nagasaki).

Since it was a top secret mission, no SOS was sent out, so the sailors floated around in the ocean for several days, while sharks would attack in the morning and evening. Most of them were eaten before a US plane spotted the survivors and rescued them.

If you've ever seen Jaws, or want to watch it, then there's a scene on the boat where Robert Shaw, playing Quint, improvised a monologue about how he was aboard the Indianapolis when it was sunk.
Harrowing stuff.

It's D-Day :yeah:

Though Amazon hasnb't delivered my game yet :cry:

I'm off into town! On the hunt, so to speak.

(chuckle chuckle)

Got it and Stalker. And they both have maps! :D

Should also be noted, there's already a patch out for Silent Hunter IV.

Ouch. I only got stalker and I don't have time to try it until tomorrow.

Hah! I've had SH4 since Wednesday! THe lovely store i preorderd it from actually shipped it out monday :D

So far its actually been harder for me then SH3, i have a nasty habit of getting sent to the bottom.

Yeah, I saw your 'hint' in another thread and ignored it. Out of spite!

New interface system is taking a bit of work to get used to. But all is running well :)

Yeah they switched around some buttons, that takes time to get used to now. I keep pressing F3 when i want to go to my periscope view

There are Junk sailing ships! For me to machinegun and ram!

:mischief:

http://img112.imageshack.us/img112/3006/sh402yg7.jpg
http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/5185/sh403mk8.jpg
http://img111.imageshack.us/img111/5568/sg404qe1.jpg

Impressive! Must havre taken some manoeuvering though!

It was in one of the training missions, I happened to see it and thought of you.

Actually aiming for it wasn't so bad until the end, due to it weaving. I actually scraped the port side the first time, stopped, then went full speed after it.

Now I'm wasting my time testing how deep this submarine can go, before I relearn how to shoot torpedoes.

Have they fixed the minor annoyances in the UI. In SH3 you need to click the navigation officer and then reports and then weather. I'd like to have access to that information within a single click or have it displayed all the time. I don't like the UI hiding important info behind several steps.

I don't even know where the weather report is yet...:crazyeye:

From what I can gather, it's a two-click method on gathering information, though I haven't quite worked out the interface yet. Spent ages finding the button for 'depth below keel,' before realising it was in the first group. Not good when I was trying to sneak into Hiroshima!

Yay! They delivered my special edition, so I'm gomng to download the patch, and fire the game up :yeah:

I have an important question.

Does the cd/dvd have an actualy case or is it yet another sleeve?

I have an important question.

Does the cd/dvd have an actualy case or is it yet another sleeve?

By case, I assume you mean one of these:
http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/1769/dvd6casewk6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

In which case the one I ordered off of Amazon did, though it was actually inside a cardboard box containing a load of extra goodies :D

RATS! I meant the jewel case. I prefer those. Sleeves are just unacceptable lazyness on the company's part. For Medieval II Total War it has a case like the one above, but thicker, like, an inch or almost an inch thick. Not something I like having to take the CD in and out of regualralaly.

Same thing with the rest of the Total War series I have, they are in this fold out cardboard thing which is at least well sized (it's only slightly thicker than a jewel case) but inconvienient for getting a DVD in and out of.

/end rant

I need to buy a pack of 10 jewel cases soon. (And this game sometime).

Yeah, I'm not happy with these new packagings the past year or so, I'm so sick of sleeves, I've got a whole pile about 4 inches thick of the stupid sleeves and discs.

Anyway, have they released a demo? Planning too? I wanted to get SH3 but I didn't because of Starforce, now this one looks like it'd be too high requirements for my comp, and I don't think the Pacific seems like a good choice for submarine warfare, U boats were much more interesting.

I think I'd ecommend getting the patch!

NEW FEATURES

New in game voices.
New stern and bow wave effects.
Added End Game movies - available only for campaign end of war.
Option to change the interface using Miles instead of KM.
Night filters for interface.
Added torpedo planes in the game.
Added, medals, calendar, New papers, Hall Of fame and End campaign screens in Career Mode.
Added a "death camera"
Added the S-42 class to the game,

GAMEPLAY CHANGES
Patrol date is adapted to flotilla transfer date.
Tuning in efficicency mechanics.
Sensors tuning.
Tuning in submarine structure.
Added new orders in HUD.
Improvements to subsystem, crew and torpedo management screens.
Improved interface for rescue survivors interface.
Added tooltips on interface.
Added new Historical battles during campaign.
Added more Harbor traffic.
Added more "life" in frendly harbors.
Added more special units to enemy harbors and locations.
Added more abjectives in campaign.
Improved AI for merchant.
Corrected plane rosters for Japanese airbases and aircraft carriers.
Made the Radar Station inaccessible when the Surface Search Radar is not present onboard.

BUG FIXES
Menus tuning
Removed the AI bugs from the game.
End of War bug fixed.
Removed bugs regarding save/load/replay.
Removed Multiplayer connections bugs.
Fixed randomly crashes during the game play, save and load.

And unortunately it doesn't look like theres a demo :(

Theres no demo, and it kinda annoys me when they release a game thats so bugged the patch gets out the next day.

But so far the game has worked out well for me, some of the ships seem to take an insane amounts of torps to go down tough, i hit one of those composite medium freighter thingis with 5 torpedoes and it was still sailing. And it was in the middle of a convoy so i couldnt exactly surface and gun down the thing.

Ever tried sending out an agent on a little raft when your subs still doig 20 knots? Apparently its hard to get on then....So much for topptrained :p

hmm, too bad they decided to become Americans, its always more fun to be doing something agianst your own country

except for the fact i never got past mission 1

But so far the game has worked out well for me, some of the ships seem to take an insane amounts of torps to go down tough, i hit one of those composite medium freighter thingis with 5 torpedoes and it was still sailing. And it was in the middle of a convoy so i couldnt exactly surface and gun down the thing.

Took two torps for me this morning. Though it really should have sank with the first one - the water was just touching the deck. One small wave would have taken it out! Should have nudged it with the sub :p

Also, back to Junk Ships again. They don't sink when torpedoed, they vaporise.

Had a funny moment yesterday, 2 junk ships where out in a pair. I was gonna leave them alone but then i realised we would meet, so i went with full under water, surfaced like right in front of them. I would have loved seen their faces when suddenly in the middle of the night a submarine jumps out right in front of you :D

My most recent exploits in SH3 include sneaking into capetown harbor at night and torpedoing three ships. I'm going to buy the IV in the coming week.

Just came from the city. Got my copy now and of course I had to spend the extra 5€ for the collectors edition. :D

Took two torps for me this morning. Though it really should have sank with the first one - the water was just touching the deck. One small wave would have taken it out! Should have nudged it with the sub :p

Also, back to Junk Ships again. They don't sink when torpedoed, they vaporise.
Junk ships set off torpedos? That is....illogical.

Why? You can set the torpedos to impact detonation.

Why? You can set the torpedos to impact detonation.

That's true, and I'm wondering whether the "whiskers" on the sub would stop for long enough to detonate it, or would a huge, speeding tube of metal jsut smash its way through the wood?

In any case, a ton of amatol wouldn't do it much good.

I'd believe those junk ships are built pretty tough since they're ocean going vessels, so the impact detonator would work. Did you know the old chinese wooden ships were much better than their european conterparts in the age of sail? Those things had water tight compartments meaning that even flooding of one or two might not sink the ship.

I'm getting choppy sounds for some reason. Especially if I'm using the external cameras... This game seems to like memory, I need to upgrade to 2GB as soon as possible.

Multiplayer missions anyone? Who's got speedy DSL and fast machine?

If y'all get into multiplayer missions, I might well go out and pick up a copy... :)

You need to change your avater IglooDude! ;)

I have the game but I'm still getting to grips with it. Stalking ships and launching torpedoes is fun, but time compression above x3000 or so seems to really bog down my computer, which is annoying. :ack:

When the time compression turns choppy there's no point increasing it. The time actually passes slower if you set it higher than what your computer can handle. My limit goes somewhere around 5-6000. But it's better than SH3 x1024. Sailing across atlantic took more than half hour and it WAS boring and a waste of time.

There's still bugs in the game. It's impossible to manually shoot anything with the AA cannon of Gato. The walls of the submarine come into the way when you try to aim to the sides. Very annoying. That reminds me of a feat I pulled one time when I was out of AA gun ammo. I managed to hit a plane with the deck gun. The weird thing was that the hit didn't destroy the plane. Hitting a plane with a 3" HE shell should rip it to pieces!

If y'all get into multiplayer missions, I might well go out and pick up a copy... :)

I've never played a multiplayer game of SH, and I'm still coming to grips with this new one. That said, I do like the idea of having one player control the convoy escorts. Makes it more challenging for the subs :evil:

When the time compression turns choppy there's no point increasing it. The time actually passes slower if you set it higher than what your computer can handle. My limit goes somewhere around 5-6000. But it's better than SH3 x1024. Sailing across atlantic took more than half hour and it WAS boring and a waste of time.

Good heavens yes, though there were mods to increase the compression. Getting a mission to patrol the east coast of America always resulted in disgruntled groans, however.

Having the compression speed increase in IV is a godsend. However, it does seem there are still bugs in that - I went up to a high timespeed on a return journey, only to find several crew members and half the ship announced dead when I slowed it down. Rather annoying.

I figured that - even keeping it at x2000 it took me 20ish minutes to cross the Pacific, which is a complete bore.

But still the good bits of the game are very good - getting up close to a convoy, avoiding the escorts and trying to sinking afew ships is very tense and exciting! :D

Best memory of SH3 is lying terrified as destroyers pass overhead, hoping beyond hope you don't get a call of 'depth charges in the water.'

I'd be willing to run a server when I get more memory for my computer.

Cool, I might be up for a little bit of multiplayer if you did so. :)

I've never played a multiplayer game of SH, and I'm still coming to grips with this new one. That said, I do like the idea of having one player control the convoy escorts. Makes it more challenging for the subs :evil:

I'd happily volunteer to play as the convoy escorts. Y'all can see how you'd do against the varsity instead of AI players. :D

I'd happily volunteer to play as the convoy escorts. Y'all can see how you'd do against the varsity instead of AI players. :D

Watch this guy. He used to sink subs for a living.

Watch this guy. He used to sink subs for a living.

Well, to be fair, I was only allowed to pretend to sink them, being as how no one we've been at war with lately has ones I could sink for real. :mischief:

Well, technically speaking, you'll only be pretending to sink submarines in an online game of SH as well :sad:

Well, technically speaking, you'll only be pretending to sink submarines in an online game of SH as well :sad:

True enough. I'm guessing that SH4 doesn't have audio command capability, though, unlike NAVSURFPAC (http://www.surfpac.navy.mil/), Enigma: RisingTide (http://www.warfleet.net/index2.htm) or Dangerous Waters (http://www.scs-dangerouswaters.com/features.html). Bummer that, but based on the comments in this thread I'll get SH4.

But anyway, I'll pick up the game this weekend and give it a go. :)

Upgraded to 2GB. I'll need to configure my firewall.

I picked up the game... and apparently damaged my motherboard. :( (I'm not accusing the game of doing it directly, but it did so indirectly through an overheating problem, I think).

Anyway, I should be up and playing by this weekend. Hopefully in a couple weeks or so I'll be familiar enough with the controls to be able to depthcharge the lot of you to oblivion. :p

I made a printable recognition manual of sorts for my own use. Maybe someone here might find it useful.

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/SH4REC/Yamato.jpg

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/SH4REC/Ise.jpg

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/SH4REC/Ise_C.jpg

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/SH4REC/Kongo.jpg

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/SH4REC/Fuso.jpg

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/SH4REC/Taiho.jpg

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/SH4REC/Shokaku.jpg

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/SH4REC/Taiyo.jpg

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/SH4REC/Akitsu_Maru.jpg

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/SH4REC/Hiryu.jpg

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/SH4REC/Maya.jpg

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/SH4REC/Takao.jpg

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/SH4REC/Furutaka.jpg

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/SH4REC/Mogami.jpg

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/SH4REC/Agano.jpg

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/SH4REC/Naka.jpg

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/SH4REC/Kuma.jpg

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/SH4REC/Chitose.jpg

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/SH4REC/Okinoshima.jpg

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/SH4REC/No13.jpg

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/SH4REC/Asashio.jpg

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/SH4REC/Fubuki.jpg

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/SH4REC/Minekaze.jpg

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/SH4REC/Shiratsuyu.jpg

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/SH4REC/Conte_Verde.jpg

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/SH4REC/Kiturin_Maru.jpg

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/SH4REC/Horai_Maru.jpg

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/SH4REC/Tyohei_Maru.jpg

I assume you play on the highest difficulty settings?

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/SH4REC/Akita_Maru.jpg

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/SH4REC/Biyo_Maru.jpg

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/SH4REC/Buzyun_Maru.jpg

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/SH4REC/Hakusika_Maru.jpg

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/SH4REC/Haruna_Maru.jpg

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/SH4REC/Heito_Maru.jpg

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/SH4REC/Kasagisan_Maru.jpg

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/SH4REC/Kinposan_Maru.jpg

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/SH4REC/Nagara_Maru.jpg

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/SH4REC/Nippon_Maru.jpg

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/SH4REC/Taihosan_Maru.jpg

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/SH4REC/Zinbu_Maru.jpg

Rhein, you put the Mayo description on the Takao picutre, and vice versa.

Wow, the Fuso has a tall bridge O_O

Oh, and what is up with those wires that go between stacks and masts?

No they are just reminders on both pictures not to forget to check the number of turrets.

Has anyone spotted any weaknesses on the freighters? If so, I'd like to share information about the weak spots.


http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/Screens/SH4_criticalhit.jpg
The large tanker (Nippon) is usually really hard to take down, but I managed to get lucky here. Just one torpedo and it split in two. The torpedo seems to have hit right behind the bridge section but I stupidly forgot how deep it was.

Also has anyone else scored critical hits on Kinposan? From what I've gathered, the sweet spot is under the bridge. It leaks fuel from there.

Patch 1.2 details:

http://forums.ubi.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/6421019045/m/2931092055

################################################## ##############################

4. Changes in Patches

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HARD DRIVE SPACE

Windows will require additional free hard drive space for its operating system
(virtual memory). If you encounter the following message in an error dialog:
"Ran out of virtual memory", free up some more hard drive space.

To install Silent Hunter 4 - Wolves of the Pacific - Patch V 1.2 you will need approximately 200 MB free hard disk space for the full patch.


NEW FEATURES

1. Modified the game rendering to accept FSAA and fixed high resolution rendering.
2. Added "Volumetric Fog" as a stand alone option, no longer member of the "Environmental Effects".
3. Added a new sound volume option, "Radio Volume", that controls the Radio and Gramophone volume.

GAMEPLAY CHANGES

1. Tuned the submarines efficiency mechanics
2. Fixed the damage model for the Kinposan Maru/Medium Modern Split Superstructure Freighter
3. Tuned the malfunction rates for torpedoes. Mk 10 Torpedoes will be more reliable now, as per historical data. Go Sugar boats!
4. Improved the Periscope/TBT torpedo status panel by making only the currently loading tube blink, instead of all that are in the queue
5. Tuned the submarines damage model
6. Added a new tuning option for the radio news/music volume ratio


BUG FIXES

1. Fixed a sound volume issue where some sound volumes were ignored in the game.
2. Removed crashes in replay and multiplayer.
3. Fixed a bug where refit in friendly harbors would not refit the cannon ammunition.
4. The "Maintain Current Depth" command (letter 'A') crash was fixed.
5. Position Keeper for negative bearings fix.
6. Fixed a bug where explosions were played in the scene after a load or a replay even if the explosion took place a long time ago.
7. Fixed the 'invisible monolith' that, if looking at it, will greatly reduce FPS.
8. Fixed a bug where the difficulty settings of the game were ignored in multiplayer. The game now starts with the selected settings from the session page.
9. Fixed a bug where, sometimes, if pressing the Stadimeter button the game would crash.
10. Fixed a bug where, When hovering over highlatable objects in 3d career room, the texture would dissapear.
11. Fixed a bug where, when pressing SHIFT+F2 in any 2d page the game would crash.
12. Fixed the bug in adversarial where the Escort Commander could see your submarine on the navigation map even if the sub was underwater.
13. Fixed a bug where the name on the captain's watch appears to be "Stevens". Nah, just kidding
14. Fixed the SD Air Search radar so that it no longer detects ships.
15. Fixed the Torpedo drag model. Now high speed torpedoes will hit fine.

The refit bug especially was especially annoying. Thanks for the heads up.

How do the survivors in the game act? Can anyone take a pic?

Can you indeed machine gun them?

Haven't tried. The AA gun ammo is too valuable to waste on survivors if you're sailing in hostile waters and hitting such small targets with the deck gun is next to impossible.

Can you pick them up?

From what I gather you can only pick up friendly pilots and such.

The patch cometh: http://forums.ubi.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/6421019045/m/1801097155

Happy hunting!

Excellent. I've got my PC going, so if I can just having power failures and virus outbreaks at work, I can install the 1.2 patch and get up to speed in the game.

Anyone up for a trial run at convoy-vs-sub (by which I mean not an extremely competitive game, more trying out controls and tactics)?

Excellent. I've got my PC going, so if I can just having power failures and virus outbreaks at work, I can install the 1.2 patch and get up to speed in the game.

Anyone up for a trial run at convoy-vs-sub (by which I mean not an extremely competitive game, more trying out controls and tactics)?

I'd be ready to try it next weekend. I assume we'll need some time to iron out the possible connection problems. Need to punch some holes into my firewall too.

The time compression is really killing this game for me. Everything just takes so damn long, especially when the game pulls you down to x1 compression every minute and a half or so becuase there is yet another Jap plane on the horizon. Ugh. This game could really use a teleport system, realism be damned.

The time compression is really killing this game for me. Everything just takes so damn long, especially when the game pulls you down to x1 compression every minute and a half or so becuase there is yet another Jap plane on the horizon. Ugh. This game could really use a teleport system, realism be damned.

you should have played the original, the maximum time compression was 2048. Sailing any further than the north of Ireland was time to bring out the newspaper.

Share thy critical hits. (1 hit kills)

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/SH4REC/Critical/C_Kinposan_Maru.jpg
Somewhere around 4m deep. Explosion after the initial impact.

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/SH4REC/Critical/C_Mogami.jpg
3,5 - 5m deep. Series of explosions after the initial impact from the first turret to the front edge of the plane deck.

I've got my UBI.com account set up and can host a game now. The crucial part is however, will any of you be able to connect to my games. I did my best to setup my DSL modem, but since I'm pretty green with these things I'm not sure if it will work.

I'm not gonna try. The game runs so slowly on my PC anyways, to join up on multiplayer would be killing any gameplay. Sorry.

You prolly can't use time compression in multiplayer, and if the number of units is kept in check, It shouldn't be too heavy.

You prolly can't use time compression in multiplayer, and if the number of units is kept in check, It shouldn't be too heavy.

Nah, I esperience pretty high choppiness jsut playing regularly :(

So the multiplayer idea has died and buried...

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jatt/d_1280x1024.png
Just for the heck of it. A touched up screenshot for wallpaper.

i think a multiplayer idea would be great so long as everybody isnt a dang sub :crazyeye: i mean there would be 2 fleets and everybody would command one ship in the fleet and they would duke it out :D

I've been too busy with drawing-based stuff to have anything other than relaxing games on (Sims and Civ4), so I haven't had a chance to get to grips with SH4 yet. So no multiplayer from me for a while.

Hullo! :wavey:

I've been interested in starting a Silent Hunter AAR (after action report) for some time now. Like my previous stories, it would mean writing a story based on my gaming adventures, but with willing members of CFC thrown in to boot.

Question being - is the interest there in current Silent Hunter fans? I'll probably start such a story regardless, but there are some questions I would like to ask to fans of the series first :)

You're not the only one with that idea. I've also thought about starting an SH4 AAR. I almost started one with SH3 after my AOTD AAR failed.

Yeah, it certainly seems like a good game to write about, problem being how to make it non-repetitive, and I'm stuck wondering if I should use III or IV. The first is my favourite, but IV puts you right into the action.

Attack task forces or sneak into harbors. Should make interesting reading.

Hullo! :wavey:

I've been interested in starting a Silent Hunter AAR (after action report) for some time now. Like my previous stories, it would mean writing a story based on my gaming adventures, but with willing members of CFC thrown in to boot.

Question being - is the interest there in current Silent Hunter fans? I'll probably start such a story regardless, but there are some questions I would like to ask to fans of the series first :)

Chief Machinist noncon reporting for duty :salute:

use silent hunter III...... Germans are always more interesting

Welcome aboard, NonCon :salute:

Captain: I'm thinking Silent Hunter 3 as well, more established, and the Battle of the Atlantic interests me more than the Pacific.

Does anyone know of any good mods for the game? In my last install I had a dozen or so separate mods that I had downloaded, but I'm going to do a fresh install soon. A recommended 'all-in-one' mod would be grand to look into.

I'd definatley be interested in a Silent Hunter AAR, Kan. :)

Do you mean mods for SH III or IV? The two biggest ones for IV seem to be 'Real Fleet Boat' and 'Flavoured to Taste', though I haven't played either of them. http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=108964

Also, there is a patch 1.3 on the way. http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=115309

BTW Rheinmetall, that image is my new wallpaper! :D

I mean SH3, though thanks for the heads up on those SH4 patches :goodjob:

actually i'd be interested to see someone try SH III.... I liked the game but never passed the first level due to being unable to dock the sub :p

You get close to the docks, then hit 'escape' and click the 'end mission' button (it could be 'dock at port x). Mission is over and you get a month's leave :)

yeah...see my problem was I went into the pens, nothing, backed out, rammed the docks, took massive damage, sunk, no survivors

Does anyone know of any good mods for the game? In my last install I had a dozen or so separate mods that I had downloaded, but I'm going to do a fresh install soon. A recommended 'all-in-one' mod would be grand to look into.

Grey Wolves Supermod essentially makes SHIII a new game from what I've read (I've never downloaded it), with more realism, new units, new damage models, and the best part, it institutes real life task-forces and sucjh in the historical setting to coincide with real operations and naval battles.
http://www.subsim.com/~subsim_mods/downloads_greywolves.php

An impressive amount of downloading to go with it too - will check it out in the morning, and cheers :)

So far this mod is fantastic. The manual itself is a joy to read through, just to see all the new features.

By far the greatest thing I've come across is the Kiel Canal - no more navigating through those pesky Danish islands :D

Hullo! :wavey:

I've been interested in starting a Silent Hunter AAR (after action report) for some time now. Like my previous stories, it would mean writing a story based on my gaming adventures, but with willing members of CFC thrown in to boot.

Question being - is the interest there in current Silent Hunter fans? I'll probably start such a story regardless, but there are some questions I would like to ask to fans of the series first :)

First Officer Raisin Bran reporting for duty! :salute:

What is our first mission? Who is our enemy? Why do I have no pants on?

Why do I have no pants on?

Crabs exam, No. 1.

Somewone with a peepee as small as yours, they'll eat it right off.

Why do I have no pants on?

you have pants on.... emperors new clothes type thing going on here

Navigation Officer reporting for duty. I'll navigate us where ever you want. Where are we now?

I'll probably start the AAR in a separate thread in a week or two - I'm going to spend that time getting to grips with the mod and the game again. I'll have the story start around the beginning of the invasion of France, with the pretence that a fresh crew has come aboard to my U-Boat after I've been fighting since September '39. From a gaming perspective, that'll be fairly accurate, as I expect one of these games I'm starting now to eventually become the AAR.

In the meantime, I'm trying to work out how to tell the story - I'll try a variety of captain's logs, newspaper-style entries, maybe just standard storytelling to have some diversity in what could be a long war for us. I'm also working on a model kit of the Bismarck, so the Kriegsmarine spirit will be with me for the meantime :)

you could always alternate depending on mood....

dont paint yourself into a corner, thats what happened with my scottish AAR...doing the same stuff over and over agian....

however I hope that doesnt happen to my new AAR *hint hint*

Sign me up for that AAR in advance! Gunner of somekind, perhaps the deck guns.

I'll sign up for navigation... its the only thing i'm actually good at :p

I shall expect a more than liberal use of screenshots from Das Boot.

I use a variety of different media for my AAR reports, and given that Das Boot shall be watched a few times before I start, I think I can safely say it shall be used ;)

woot! I propose singing its a long way to tipperary!

I can provide the genuine German accent and operate the engine, i reckon. (Unless that spot has been taken already!)

Nonconformist took the engineering job, but I've given you second watch officer position.

Officers:

Captain - Kan' Sharuminar
First Watch Officer - Raisin Bran
Second Watch Officer - Till

Engineer - NonConformist
Navigator - Rheinmetall
Chief Deck Gunner - PrinceScamp

Bridge Crew - Captain2


Not quite sure how a U-Boat crew is set out, but that's a basic draft.

In addition, I've been playing Grey Wolves a lot, and it's lethal. Fantastically lethal. Like got killed on my third patrol lethal. Should make for an interesting story, I hope. And I hope to begin it next week.

^Argh, crosspost; usually, a Chief Engineer spent his tiem in the command room, rather than the engine rooms, delegating the tast of looking fter the engines instead to a warrant officer, the Chief Machinist.

Weapons Officer!

^Argh, crosspost; usually, a Chief Engineer spent his tiem in the command room, rather than the engine rooms, delegating the tast of looking fter the engines instead to a warrant officer, the Chief Machinist.

Actually, if you happen to have any links to websites about the general command structure of a U-Boat, or even books, I would be very much interested.

That said, I'm hardly going to be going for total historical accuracy here. Story comes first :)

Weapons Officer!

About time you showed up.

hmm.... would be interesting for you to write it in the same world as your written by the victors :p

this time I have no jeep to crash!

Actually, if you happen to have any links to websites about the general command structure of a U-Boat, or even books, I would be very much interested.

I've tried to find my copy of Das Boot, seeing as the prelogue comes with a list of all the characters encountered, but I can't seem to find it (great book, btw, I thoroughly recocmmend it).

But going off my memory, it goes somewhat like this:

Officers
Kaleun-master of the boat
1st Oficer-2nd in command, doubles up as Attacking Officer on surface
2nd Officer-3rd in command, doubles up as watch officer
Chief Engineer-Though he's not actually on the list of command, this guy basically runs the boat, especially when submerged.
You'd occasionally get a surgeon too, who would be of fairly high rank, and if the captian were to die/become incapacitated, it would sometimes be he who took over.

Petty Officers:
-Navigator
-Bosun/Boatswain
-Carpenter (I think)
-Cook
-Radio man
-Sonar man

That's a good list as it is - I'll add and adapt to that. Cheers!

No sign of Das Boot in Waterstones, but I did find Iron Coffins by Herbert A. Werner, which is about his experience as a U-Boat commander.

I like the surface attacking officer thigny!

Can I be trigger happy?

http://uboat.net/men/crew/

Try this for a crew list. Uboat.net is invaluable for Kriegsmarine info.

This is more dertailed though, and it seems I was fairly accurate ^^
http://www.uboataces.com/ref-crew.shtml

I like the surface attacking officer thigny!

Can I be trigger happy?

You're excitable enough without putting a deck gun under your control :p

http://uboat.net/men/crew/

Try this for a crew list. Uboat.net is invaluable for Kriegsmarine info.

This is more dertailed though, and it seems I was fairly accurate ^^
http://www.uboataces.com/ref-crew.shtml

UBoat.net I have already - when I first got SH3 I was interested in seeing what happened to my ship in history, and that website is pretty fantastic for finding out. Don't know why I never thought to look into it for crew stuff.

Thanks for the links, very helpful.

Edit: Ah, the second one I did come across through searching, and used it as my original guide.

Rivet counters! :p

I'll be happy to take whatever position is still free, Kan. :salute:

It's a long way to Tipperary, it's a long way to home...!

My apologies for the delay - I intended this to start this weekend, but the reading of Iron Coffins took up the bulk of my time this week. As I say, I'm going to be starting the story around May 1940, but I'm currently at the beginning of February in-game. I have a title, a crew and the ideas for a first post, just need to get the damn ship up to date.

What I would like to know from our SH veterans, is some good destroyer dodging techniques - particularly after being detected.

Roll over and play dead.

That is, dive deep as you can, engage silent running, come to a complete stop and find a novel to read until they got away.

Wait until they drop some charges. The moment they hit the water, fire off a decoy, go flank speed, and get your Chief Engineer to knuckle the boat.
When the DD drops charges, you'll be in his baffles; that's his blind spot, there's no ASDIC there, and the hydrophone is useless.
I think proper water conditions have been simulated, so depth charges render the ASDIC useless for thirty seconds to a minute; valuable time.
only use this if they know your approximate position. Dropping BOLD and running at flank spee dwill just home them in on you if they're in the wrong place.

Also, always show your smallest profile to the DDs, that is your stern or your bow. Use your map, and zoomed in, you can see the direction of hostile sound contacts. While in silent running, keep your stern facing those contacts, so they can't get a strong image.

That's great stuff, Noncon - I never thought of the smallest profile, and I didn't know we had decoys. Manoeuvring during depth charge runs I do, as well as 'playing dead' afterwards. From the stuff I've read in Iron Coffins, I would love something where you could release a lot of air/oil without surfacing to make it seem they got the hit, but alas.

That's great stuff, Noncon - I never thought of the smallest profile, and I didn't know we had decoys. Manoeuvring during depth charge runs I do, as well as 'playing dead' afterwards. From the stuff I've read in Iron Coffins, I would love something where you could release a lot of air/oil without surfacing to make it seem they got the hit, but alas.

Decoys (better know as BOLD), which basically make sound and provide a profile to the ASDIC to distract the DDs are only available later in the war, when the Allies start getting tough, 1941 onwards, I think.

Also, I suggest getting the ASDIC foiling hull coating if you can, also late war, since it basically absorbs a lot of teh sonar ping, leaving the DD with little to go on.

Another question - do you upgrade to the new type IX's when you get a chance, or do you stick with the VII's?

Who needs upgrades!!!!!

We are Germans and we are driving a U-Boat.
The finest thing underwater!

I suck at silent hunter.....

7 patrols, not a single enemy ship sunk, hell of allot fired at though


however its amazing how well you learn to escape when you cant sink things

Another question - do you upgrade to the new type IX's when you get a chance, or do you stick with the VII's?

I'd upgrade to the IX; greater speed, greater torpedo loadout, and schnorkel for the win.

I remember the IX's had slower dive-times than the VII's, but it's barely much longer.

Regardless renown seems to come in a lot slower in Grey Wolves than in vanilla SH3, so we'll probably not be getting a new sub for at least another year.

I remember the IX's had slower dive-times than the VII's, but it's barely much longer.

It depends on the model of VII, but a couple of seconds isn't gonna be the difference between a catastrophic kill and a clean getaway.

The IX's curse is it's poor manouverability. VII turns on a dime compared to the IX class. For decoy usage I fire the decoy prior to diving. If the decoy cathes the enemy attention while you dive deep, it gives you a better chance to get away.

Can we sink something yet???? :mad:

Heh, I'll be starting this tonight or tommorow - finished a most epic patrol off the east coast of Britain (a remarkably short one too) to bring us up to date :)

Time for Appell I think.

Here we go chaps:

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=226848

I almost bought SH4 today, but, on the box it had the same little text box that it has on SH3 and other games that contain starforce, is there starforce in this game?

As far as I know SH4 doesn't have Starforce - Ubisoft stopped using it with all its products a while back :)

SH4 doesn't have Starforce, Scamp.

BTW, I have been using a radio mod for SH4, called 'Captain Midnight's CBS News Mod'. It adds a load of news bulletins to the Sub's radio which you can listen to as you cruise around, looking for your next target. Very cool. Linkage: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=108756

Huh, cause it has the EXACT SAME warning label.

Well, I'll get it eventualy.

Hwh, all this time I was cautious abotu Starforce, and it's already on my computer from Xpand Rally (the game came with my graphics card).

finally found my copy of Das Boot, and th author outlines the following crew roles:
Officers:
-Commander
-1WO
-2WO
-Chief
-Second Engineer
-War Correspondant

Petty Officers:
-Bosun
-Ensign
-Chief Mechanicx2
-Sound Man
-Radio Man
-Cook

Seamen:
-Diesel stokers
-Control Room assitants
-Bosun's Mates
-Torpedo Men
-E-stoker
-Mechanic's Mate
-Seamen

Thanks very much, though I think we have the bulk of the crew now.

I assume War Correspondent is an optional role (and sort of pointless, as I'm technically the correspondent :p

I assume War Correspondent is an optional role (and sort of pointless, as I'm technically the correspondent :p

Yeah, there wern't a whole lot in the U-boat fleet, considering it's mortality rate...

has anyone else happened upon the expansion?

I was looking through steam and apparently it adds new U-boat missions taking place in the Indian Ocean, for those who prefer being German :p

This has probably happened but I ask anyway. Has anyone sunk a ship, but the ship sinks on top of the sub? I have only played once or twice so I don't have the experience to know.