SILENT HUNTER 4: WOLVES OF THE PACIFIC – PIG BOAT PATROL

[Onkel Neal]

Article by Erik "EINSTEINEP" Pierce on Mudspike

Nice flashback article about SH4, with a thoughtful shoutout to you and Subsim. I love articles that examine a game made in the past. Good job, Erik. Enjoy!

SILENT HUNTER 4: WOLVES OF THE PACIFIC – PIG BOAT PATROL

The visuals in Silent Hunter 4 are very good, especially considering the game was released in 2007. While the number of polygons on the submarines and ships is certainly at 2007-era levels, the water – a key aspect of the submarine environment – is done superbly, even by today’s standards. The wave models are quite believable and the way transparency is handled is amazing – difficult to capture in pictures and even harder to describe in words, the water is just done right. Reflections of ships, smoke, the sun and moon feel natural and ship hulls gradually disappear from view in the deeper water. Bow waves, water spray and foam, and propeller cavitation effects are blocky and primitive, but quite reasonable considering how difficult it was for any graphics engine to do particles in 2007.