Silent Hunter 4: Aircraft overkill

Lord Igor · 12-30-2009, 04:49 PM

When playing any sort of career game (either US or German), Silent Hunter 4 becomes completely unplayable due to enormous numbers of enemy aircraft showing up. Every few seconds (real time) a bunch will appear on a dead set collision course with my sub. This forces me to dive or fight them and bumps time acceleration back to 1x. It now takes 40 minutes in real time to traverse the open seas between Pearl Harbor and the assigned hunting grounds (main land Japan).

This ruins the whole game; all you're doing is slamming the 'p', 's' and '+' keys just evade the aircraft, return to the surface and keep on moving. Am I the only one with this problem? Is it some kind of game setting I can't find?

FalseLion · 12-30-2009, 08:54 PM

in other words you got spotted?

Lord Igor · 12-31-2009, 05:18 AM

Yes, I got spotted. By roughly 150+ planes a day AND at night AND always by planes heading straight for me. In short:

- it is impossible to have that many aircraft out looking for one sub
- it is impossible for so many aircraft to be that far from land
- it is impossible for them to always be on the most exact interception course possible
- it is impossible for them to find the sub at night as easily as by day

FalseLion · 12-31-2009, 05:43 AM

well...then don't get spotted in the first place.

Lord Igor · 12-31-2009, 09:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FalseLion

well...then don't get spotted in the first place.

If you've got nothing useful to say, please don't say anything.

01-03-2010, 09:10 AM

Thing I believe is you got spotted so they are sending search planes on you. If u wanna get out of the area fast, dive to periscope depth, but do not extend your periscope. by doing that, your radar cant detect the planes (underwater) and you cant visually detect the planes (Periscope down).
Run at 2/3 speed and accelerate time to full. Wait for night to recharge your batts.

BIG R · 01-03-2010, 12:00 PM

Lerlo's advice was good.

If I might add, often in that situation I also change course somewhat.

Chortles · 01-17-2010, 05:08 PM

Lerlo12, isn't that a case of "la-la-la-I can't see you so you can't see me"? Or is going only that far enough to break their ability to track you?

01-19-2010, 10:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chortles

Lerlo12, isn't that a case of "la-la-la-I can't see you so you can't see me"? Or is going only that far enough to break their ability to track you?

They would be searching in the vicinity...and sometimes, I get bombed even at periscope depth.. so I guess if you retract the periscope and go as far as 2/3 on batts can take you, most of the time u will be out of the area of their recon.

starfleetau · 02-15-2010, 02:11 AM

this is a chuckle.. to read no offence to the OP but what do you expect? SH3 and SH4 both modeled the fact that from the air you can still be seen even when submerged at periscope level if the seas are clear enough, also if your scope has been seen.

The whole aim of the scouts where to 'spot' your sub, then they would send out planes along it's last known bearing.. if one got a possible contact.. they'd attack and search along that section. The Japanese where especailly very methodical in this regard.

Same goes for destroyers hunting Subs, look at Midway for an example.

it's not a game fault.. it's a your not dodging fault.

willbilly · 02-22-2010, 02:44 PM

I don't know if it will work on SH4 because I haven't had problems with aircraft but on SH3 my standard plan when being chased by aircraft (assuming that diving/changing course didn't get rid of them) was to increase to Flank (while on the surface) and zig-zag.

I don't think that is the most historically accurate way of doing it but it worked for destroyers during WW2 and a sub is a much smaller target!
As I say, I don't know if it will work on SH4 but on SH3 I didn't take a single hit while doing that!

aydensims · 02-23-2010, 11:33 AM

SH4 is pretty poo anyway. I would just get SH5 on 4th March and play that instead....problem solved!

Bishop7 · 03-04-2010, 06:06 AM

SH4's connection was poo.
The game it's self was far from poo.
Once those of us who were smart enough and willing to put in the work solved the connection problems, we had a sizable community going on.
We still do.

I call sh5 poo, it lacks any American ships or a wolfpack.
That is poo..

If I can't bring my wolfpack and ships into sh5, I won't even play it.

Station409 · 05-09-2010, 12:40 AM

I've noticed this as well. After sinking a couple of ships (I tend to do surface attacks with the deck gun on lone vessels) there will be unending hordes of aircraft flying out (I dive to avoid them, they don't see me) and then back (I dive to avoid them, they don't see me)

The flights end at night, and then begin again at daybreak. It doesn't matter if you change course or speed.

But I've only ever encountered it when near land (I figure some of them are search flights, some are bombing raids, and some are just ferry flights etc) or near enemy task forces. You can use them to your advantage sometimes though. I followed the flight paths of some enemy aircraft back to a task group containing two fleet carriers and an escort carrier.

Six torpedoes later, 1 fleet carrier has capsized and sunk. 1 escort carrier is crippled and burning and got abandoned by the rest of the task group. I avoided depth charge attacks for a few hours, and JUST when I was about to run out of oxygen, they destroyers left. I surfaced, sunk the escort carrier, and breathed the fresh air.

TheKritsTheyKil · 05-31-2010, 01:35 PM

Question/Solutions:

Quote:

- it is impossible to have that many aircraft out looking for one sub

True if it was just a recon run, however I have heard of such random chances when a sub is spotted during say, a bombing run.

Its basically just very bad luck :P

Quote:

- it is impossible for so many aircraft to be that far from land

Not true entirely, aircraft carriers during WW2 carried hundreds of planes tightly compacted together on the deck and inside the repair bays of aircraft carriers. However having all of them take off in a single run, generally was done for raids.

Quote:

- it is impossible for them to always be on the most exact interception course possible

This I can see, unless of course you were spotted by a recon plane or by a traveling ship. With the addition of radar, they would have a very guess as to where you are. I always dive when spotted in SH3 unless its a single aircraft, then I try to knock it down.

Quote:

- it is impossible for them to find the sub at night as easily as by day

Radar, remeber that. The time during SH4, radar was much more advanced than in SH3 and allowed ships/subs/planes to navigate much more efficently no matter the weather or time of day. However if this is a constant thing, it either is #1 you are very bad not being spotted. #2 It is a bug in the game that needs a patch.

Those are my best guesses.

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12-30-2009, 04:49 PM	#1
Lord Igor Join Date: Nov 2009 Reputation: 0 Posts: 41	Silent Hunter 4: Aircraft overkill When playing any sort of career game (either US or German), Silent Hunter 4 becomes completely unplayable due to enormous numbers of enemy aircraft showing up. Every few seconds (real time) a bunch will appear on a dead set collision course with my sub. This forces me to dive or fight them and bumps time acceleration back to 1x. It now takes 40 minutes in real time to traverse the open seas between Pearl Harbor and the assigned hunting grounds (main land Japan). This ruins the whole game; all you're doing is slamming the 'p', 's' and '+' keys just evade the aircraft, return to the surface and keep on moving. Am I the only one with this problem? Is it some kind of game setting I can't find?

12-30-2009, 08:54 PM	#2
FalseLion Join Date: Jul 2007 Reputation: 37 Posts: 530	in other words you got spotted?

12-31-2009, 05:18 AM	#3
Lord Igor Join Date: Nov 2009 Reputation: 0 Posts: 41	Yes, I got spotted. By roughly 150+ planes a day AND at night AND always by planes heading straight for me. In short: - it is impossible to have that many aircraft out looking for one sub - it is impossible for so many aircraft to be that far from land - it is impossible for them to always be on the most exact interception course possible - it is impossible for them to find the sub at night as easily as by day

12-31-2009, 05:43 AM	#4
FalseLion Join Date: Jul 2007 Reputation: 37 Posts: 530	well...then don't get spotted in the first place.

01-03-2010, 09:10 AM	#6
Lerlo12 Guest Posts: n/a	Thing I believe is you got spotted so they are sending search planes on you. If u wanna get out of the area fast, dive to periscope depth, but do not extend your periscope. by doing that, your radar cant detect the planes (underwater) and you cant visually detect the planes (Periscope down). Run at 2/3 speed and accelerate time to full. Wait for night to recharge your batts.

01-03-2010, 12:00 PM	#7
BIG R Join Date: Nov 2007 Reputation: 25 Posts: 1,080	Lerlo's advice was good. If I might add, often in that situation I also change course somewhat.

01-17-2010, 05:08 PM	#8
Chortles Join Date: Dec 2009 Reputation: 0 Posts: 54	Lerlo12, isn't that a case of "la-la-la-I can't see you so you can't see me"? Or is going only that far enough to break their ability to track you?

02-15-2010, 02:11 AM	#10
starfleetau Join Date: Feb 2009 Reputation: 3 Posts: 19	this is a chuckle.. to read no offence to the OP but what do you expect? SH3 and SH4 both modeled the fact that from the air you can still be seen even when submerged at periscope level if the seas are clear enough, also if your scope has been seen. The whole aim of the scouts where to 'spot' your sub, then they would send out planes along it's last known bearing.. if one got a possible contact.. they'd attack and search along that section. The Japanese where especailly very methodical in this regard. Same goes for destroyers hunting Subs, look at Midway for an example. it's not a game fault.. it's a your not dodging fault.

02-22-2010, 02:44 PM	#11
willbilly Join Date: Jan 2010 Reputation: 5 Posts: 50	I don't know if it will work on SH4 because I haven't had problems with aircraft but on SH3 my standard plan when being chased by aircraft (assuming that diving/changing course didn't get rid of them) was to increase to Flank (while on the surface) and zig-zag. I don't think that is the most historically accurate way of doing it but it worked for destroyers during WW2 and a sub is a much smaller target! As I say, I don't know if it will work on SH4 but on SH3 I didn't take a single hit while doing that!

02-23-2010, 11:33 AM	#12
aydensims Join Date: Jun 2009 Reputation: 0 Posts: 30	SH4 is pretty poo anyway. I would just get SH5 on 4th March and play that instead....problem solved!

03-04-2010, 06:06 AM	#13
Bishop7 Banned Join Date: Sep 2008 Reputation: 11 Posts: 736	SH4's connection was poo. The game it's self was far from poo. Once those of us who were smart enough and willing to put in the work solved the connection problems, we had a sizable community going on. We still do. I call sh5 poo, it lacks any American ships or a wolfpack. That is poo.. If I can't bring my wolfpack and ships into sh5, I won't even play it.

05-09-2010, 12:40 AM	#14
Station409 Banned Join Date: Feb 2010 Reputation: 158 Posts: 237	I've noticed this as well. After sinking a couple of ships (I tend to do surface attacks with the deck gun on lone vessels) there will be unending hordes of aircraft flying out (I dive to avoid them, they don't see me) and then back (I dive to avoid them, they don't see me) The flights end at night, and then begin again at daybreak. It doesn't matter if you change course or speed. But I've only ever encountered it when near land (I figure some of them are search flights, some are bombing raids, and some are just ferry flights etc) or near enemy task forces. You can use them to your advantage sometimes though. I followed the flight paths of some enemy aircraft back to a task group containing two fleet carriers and an escort carrier. Six torpedoes later, 1 fleet carrier has capsized and sunk. 1 escort carrier is crippled and burning and got abandoned by the rest of the task group. I avoided depth charge attacks for a few hours, and JUST when I was about to run out of oxygen, they destroyers left. I surfaced, sunk the escort carrier, and breathed the fresh air.