Silent Hunter
DOS - 1996
Description of Silent Hunter
Silent Hunter is a classic WWII submarine simulation that today remains one of the few titles that could give Dynamix' Aces of The Deep a run for its money.
Before the game's release, the best sub simulation that deals with Pacific theater in WWII was MicroProse's aging Silent Service II. Silent Hunter ups the ante in submarine simulations with great SVGA graphics, strong realism, and excellent gameplay.
As with AOTD, the heart and soul of Silent Hunter is the career mode. If you start your career early in the war, you will be assigned a S-Class sub with limited torpedoes, speed and depth. Surviving a few patrols in this submarine is a real challenge. If you do survive, you will be assigned new subs and equipment as they become available. If you are very lucky, you can play through to the end of the war, an unrealistic, but appreciated option.
If a career doesn't appeal to you, Silent Hunter allows you to generate your own missions. The mission generator lets you set the date, time, crew quality, convoy size, warship type, escort size, air cover, and weather. You can also set various realism levels such as limited fuel, battery life, ammo, visibility, and depth data, as well as dud torpedoes, realistic torpedo reloads, ship vulnerability, running aground, realistic charts and combat experience level. The variations here are enough to give the game almost limitless replayability. The mission generator is also very useful for setting up practice scenarios to develop the skills necessary to survive a career.
With outstanding SVGA graphics (although with arguably less realistic weather effects than AOTD), strong gameplay, and no compromise on realism, Silent Hunter is a must-have for every armchair naval commander. Two thumbs up!
Review By HOTUD
External links
Captures and Snapshots
Comments and reviews
Heartc 2024-04-12 0 point
BTW, here is a cool docudrama series to watch while playing Silent Hunter:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fn5100e9Drg&list=PLGs_qYQjdXLVcM9vpVhUAsFOmQrxIyIC6
This link is the same deal, but has better video quality while having less audio quality, so choose your preference:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1nESHgqAnY&list=PL9pHeMcRCDHti0wUGlF5lM6NDLD6y-yKv
And I agree with what Sveindenonde wrote - in my opinion Silent Hunter (1) is indeed the best sub simulator made to this day. Silent Hunter II was disappointing for not featuring a dynamic campaign - which imho is fundamental to a submarine simulator - and the later Silent Hunter games, developed by completely different people, fell short in a number of areas:
1. They immediately required community mods to get the AI up to speed. While the destroyer AI in both Command: Aces of the Deep and Silent Hunter 1 was awesome and you had to use real world tactics to have a hope of throwing them off (like, presenting your bow / stern to the incoming active sonar in order to be a smaller sonar target), the destroyer AI in both Silent Hunter 3 and 4 stock was pretty much retarded and not a challenge at all.
2. The radar screen and various other stations suffered severely from the move to 3d. 3d graphics at the time were still relatively low res / low texture size, so when it came to close up, minute details (like you have on radar or sonar readouts for example) those stations were basically useless, while in Silent Hunter 1, you could develop real fire solutions / intercept courses from the readouts on those screens.
3. Silent Hunter 1 was the first sub / - U Boat sim that allowed you to have full manual torpedo targeting, if you so wished. It had a fully simulated TDC (Torpedo Data Computer), and again, every dial on that thing was fully readable, unlike the disaster that was the TDC in Silent Hunter IV. Not only was the latter not fully manual, and you had to play round with using some of the gamey aspects to enter data, which actually made it harder to use than it was in real life, in Silent Hunter 1, you could just enter all the data you wished into the TDC, like it was in real life.
The only downside to manual targeting in Silent Hunter 1 was that - owing to the 2d graphics - the angle on the bow of the enemy ships was hard to determine, because the 2d / pseudo 3d shapes of the ships moved in something like 5 or 10 degrees increments. However, that downside was alleviated a bit by the fact that the closer you get to the target, the less an angle on the bow (course) error mattered, and more importantly, because the TDC was fully simulated, you could compare the relative target bearing the TDC gave you - after activating the position keeper - to the actual bearing through the scope, and if those stayed aligned or closely aligned over a period of time, you knew the quality of your fire solution was high, and let the fish go (basically, the TDC / position keeper shows you where it thinks the target is, in real time, based on your previous data entry, and looking through the scope shows you where it actually is). If the position keeper was running away, you could decrease the entry for the target speed, or if it was lagging behind, increase it, until both the computed and actual bearings met, and you would very likely score a hit.
BTW, you cannot enter Angle on the Bow (AOB) into the TDC from what I remember, only target course, so you have to derive target course from the AOB you see through the scope, and ownship course. That may be the one downfall of the TDC in Silent Hunter 1, because I think you could enter AOB in the real TDC, to skip that mental exercise.
4. You could actually do manual navigation in Silent Hunter 1 right out of the box, no nonsense approach. Because it didn't simulate course deviations from wave action / wind - which are pointless in the later Silent Hunter games, because the AI navigator immediately corrects for them - you could go and print out the patrol maps (which were offered on subsim.com) and then manually plot your course through your patrol area on a literal map table, by using dead reckoning (bearing, distance, time). All you needed to do was fully zoom in on the nav map, so that you would not actually see your relative position in the patrol area, and then you could still use time compression from that map screen, while doing all the plotting on your real life navigation (kitchen) table. You can't do that in SH III or SH IV, because the wind / wave action will throw you off course, so the only way to navigate is the standard plotting of course on the in-game nav map and have the AI do the navigation. There may be some mods on subsim.com which enable some sort of manual navigation, but unless they fixed the issue with holding set course vs wind and waves, it is ass-backwards and harder than in real life - unless you want to do the journey in real time while manually correcting the rudder to stay on set course.
I used to go all-in on Silent Hunter 1 and back in the day, subsim.com also offered a print out of a slide rule that you could then assemble and with that be able to read the distance to a ship you sighted through the scope (masthead height vs tick marks on the scope). Not sure if they still offer that download, it was way back in 2005. Without it, you will have to do it via trigonometry and trying to figure out what degrees / mils you are looking at with the tick marks on the scope. But you will probably also be able to work around that a bit by looking at your map / range scale or using your radar, in fact (the Japanese passive radar homing capability wasn't anywhere near as good as the British one was, so using your radar in Silent Hunter 1 (Pacific Theater) isn't anywhere near as suicidal as using it on a U-Boat in the Atlantic.
All in all, you could play Silent Hunter 1 on a very high realism level and it was a joy to use in that, unlike the later Silent Hunter games which were a pain in the ass if you wanted to go realistic, because the gamey and gimmicky features they added actually made the interface harder and less flexible to use than either Silent Hunter 1 or real life, besides the disaster that were the basically unreadable "3d" stations.
The Duggler 2024-01-20 0 point
@HeartC YES! finally someone who agrees, yeah it's like wtf. You took the words right out of my mouth.
sveindenonde 2023-05-13 1 point
I really need this, never has there been made a better uboat simulator. Here's to hoping it actually will turn up on GOG or Steam.
inteltium 2022-11-29 0 point
@HEARTC Yes, I've been scrolling through hundreds of games on this website looking for good ones, and I've noticed many of the higher quality more interesting games that used to be free now have price tags slapped on by GOG or Steam. I do love the way that some of my favorite games from the old days are easy to play on moderns computers because of GOG, but those games were never free.
Opie Teller 2021-09-19 3 points
This is the third of the warship simulators I've seen with no download link. It's like it's reserved for military use only XD
heartc 2021-05-07 11 points
"No file available as requester by the IP owner. Stay tuned for a Steam or GOG realease!"
I don't even know why people like GOG so much. I never understood that. All that GOG did was picking up old games which were available on the net for free for years (many even DECADES) at that point, probably by d/ling them from Abandonware sites themselves, and then asking money for them while at the same time attacking the Abandonware sites. And I don't care whether they struck a deal with all those "IP holders", few if any had anything left to do with the original developers, most of them instead being some develish corporation instead that does nothing other than gaining money from other people's work. Fact of the matter is all those games were freely available to people for decades before GOG decided to come up with their parasitic scheme. That they include some extras with the games (such as pdf manuals) doesn't really change a lot, because most of those were also usually found on the net.
GOG is in fact nothing other than a perfect example of the commercialization and thus ruin of the Internet. It also works in conjunction with the masses getting more retarded every day though, or the new generation not knowing how to use a computer, so they are happy to pay a corp for 20+ year old games which were available for free before.
I say fuck them all.
Gunny 2021-02-05 -1 point
Yes Steve Hoyland and Gurgle Gurgle there is no Download Button..
"No file available as requester by the IP owner. Stay tuned for a Steam or GOG realease! "
I would'nt hold my breath for either Steam or GOG to release a version of this game. After all its 25 years old right.. They should bring life back to games such as this one. Maybe find the Commander Version of the game someplace..
Steve Hoyland 2021-02-01 -1 point
There's no download button and no 'play in browser' button. Anyone else got this problem?
Gurgle Gurgle 2021-01-14 1 point
Is it just me, or is the download button missing? Same with the commander's edition. All other games on this website seem fine.
Nick 2021-01-13 1 point
... sound problem, yeah ! ... But don't forget, this is Silent Hunter, huh ? ...
Big J 2020-10-24 0 point
The one you want is the Commanders Addition (available here). It has all three expansions, 45 new scenarios, six additional patrol zones (Sulu Sea, Malaysia, Hong Kong, "Vietnam" (should be Indochina to be historically accurate), Java Sea, and Aleutian Islands). Have a couple bad patrols and watch as Admiral Lockwood exiles you to Dutch Harbor. Several bug fixes, lifeguard missions, photo recon missions, improved convoy AI, night time red lighting, the ability to launch debris to fool the ASW vessels, and ability to man the AA guns. I found it very satisfying when my crew shot down a Betty just before he bombed us straight to Davy Jones' locker.
This is simply the best US Pacific theatre Sub Sim out there. SH IV is much prettier, much more realism (you have to take stadimeter readings to get the range at full realism) but unfortunately it is bug ridden with annoying CTD faults that can crop up after working on a convoy for half an hour or more.
So glad you guys are keeping this classic available here.
Loved this game! 2020-10-04 0 point
I remember playing this game in highschool all the time, the best sub game of the 90s! I was addicted to it. So realistic, too. And when the Japanese destroyers would depth charge with the sonar pings pinpointing the subs position, while the sub running deep and silent, with red lights in the control room, it was really a thrill ride!
Caesar Augustus 2020-04-27 2 points
To hammy and anyone with the no sound problem (thanks to arnman and leofender!):
1) Download the game zip archive.
2) Extract the zip to your DOS games folder (e.g. "C:\dosgames" on windows). You may need 7-Zip or winrar to extract it. So now you have the game folder "silenthunter" (e.g. "C:\dosgames\silenthunter" on windows).
3) Navigate to the newly "silenthunter" folder.
4) Create a new folder: right-click "new folder". Name this folder "INSTALL" (without quotes).
5) Run DOSBox. Type (without quotes):
"mount d c:\dosgames\silenthunter\INSTALL -t cdrom" [ENTER] (on windows)
"mount d ~/dosgames/silenthunter/INSTALL -t cdrom" [ENTER] (on Linux)
(Substitute "c:\dosgames...INSTALL" with your actual path. The spaces in the command must be respected, so you have spaces before and after "d" and "-t" . This will mount a virtual cdrom drive as the "INSTALL" folder, you may type "intro cdrom" for details.)
"mount c c:\dosgames\silenthunter" [ENTER] (on windows)
(Substitute "c:\dos..." with your path.)
"c:" [ENTER]
"sh" [ENTER]
6) Enjoy the game with sound!
If you wish to automate the process so you don't have to type every time you play the game, you can create a desktop shortcut as one alternative (others being creating a batch file, or a ".desktop" file or a shell script on Linux):
1) Navigate to your DOSBox config file folder (e.g. on windows it may be "C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\DOSBox", on Linux it may be "~/.dosbox", hidden in the "home" folder).
Note: On windows the "AppData" folder may be hidden so you have to configure windows to show hidden folders.
2) Copy and paste "dosbox-0.74-3.conf" file into the "silenthunter" folder.
3) Open the new config file with a text editor ("notepad" on windows).
4) Erase every command line below the "[autoexec]" section that may be present and add the following line (substitute "c:\dos..." with your path):
mount d c:\dosgames\silenthunter\INSTALL -t cdrom
5) Save and close it.
6) Navigate to your DOSBox executable folder. (e.g. on windows it may be "C:\Program Files (x86)\DOSBox-0.74-3")
7) Right-click "DOSBox.exe" , "create shortcut". Move the shortcut to the desktop.
8) Right-click the shortcut, "properties", "shortcut" tab. In "target", type (WITH quotes):
"C:\Program Files (x86)\DOSBox-0.74-3\DOSBox.exe" -conf "C:\dosgames\silenthunter\dosbox-0.74-3.conf" "C:\dosgames\silenthunter\SH.EXE" -fullscreen -exit
(Substitute the paths with your actual paths.)
"-conf" tells DOSBox to load the "silenthunter" folder's config file (with the command to mount the virtual cdrom drive).
"-fullscreen" is optional. It loads DOSBox directly in fullscreen.
"-exit" is optional. Exit DOSBox after you quit the game.
9) Hit "apply" then "OK".
10) Rename the shortcut with "Silent Hunter" or whatever you want.
11) Done. This will make the game run with sound in no time!
hammy 2020-04-09 0 point
To: leofender
cc: Arnman
Trying my best to achieve sound. Having a really hard time following those instructions.
Could we have a more detailed description or perhaps a video? Thank you.
leofender 2020-01-21 1 point
For sound, I created a folder called INSTALL in de the root folder of the game. (Thanks ARNMAN for the tip!!)
I then created a .BAT file with following contents. I'm on Ubuntu:
mount d ./INSTALL -t cdrom
SH.EXE
If you're on Windows, it should probably be:
mount d .\INSTALL -t cdrom
SH.EXE
Now it runs perfectly.
LG 2018-10-08 -1 point
Hello for some reason , I always thought that this game was called Silent Service. Just in case anyone is interested I have the original manual for Silent Service
MaddMaxx 2017-10-05 2 points
Hi folks,
Here is a link for a working SH I
with DosBox interated:
http://www.monkeygames.uz/game/silent-hunter
Best regards and good hunting
M.M.
Arnman 2017-04-13 2 points
For sound
create an empty folder called 'INSTALL' that you can mount in DOSbox
then call
mount d INSTALL -t cdrom
Then run game
In Ubuntu I had to put the empty INSTALL folder in HOME
dvdn 2017-02-02 0 point
make another shortcut of your shortcut icon in the SH folder. and then move it to the DT.
Skipper 2015-11-14 1 point
I like it, except for the lack of sound and the inability to jettison debris. This was the first computer game I ever owned, it was put on by the friend who gave us the computer, and you could rig for red, jettison debris, and order the crew to man the AA guns. Perhaps someone could enlighten me there? I have not really done much with the other SH games, especially the ones where you are an Axis commander, I typically don't play where I fight America.
Captain Mack 2014-08-26 0 point DOS version
My favorouite game, although new model games ara current, I never change my choice
Meta 2013-11-19 1 point DOS version
I had this game years ago. Fantastic game, great memories. Now going to try installing it with DBGL and running it in DOSBOX....hope it works...
subsimcrazy 2013-11-18 1 point DOS version
you have to install dosbox then install game from a dos prompt on full screen then actually search for install instructions on web it would take to long to explain it
me 2013-07-22 0 point DOS version
If you cant run the game its because you forgot to read http://www.myabandonware.com/howto/
simply extracting to your desktop will not magically create an icon and make a dos game run in windows.
gamer 2013-03-09 -3 points DOS version
i have download silent hunter 1 than 1 extract to desktop
why after i extract to desktop , there is no icon to play Silent hunter 1 ?
can you help me ? to make silent hunter 1 can run?
Alexander 2012-11-26 1 point DOS version
Does anyone know any way to make the sound work? Thanks
ESwann 2012-07-06 0 point DOS version
My sound was working at first, then it just quit. No idea why. Any ideas?
Write a comment
Share your gamer memories, help others to run the game or comment anything you'd like. If you have trouble to run Silent Hunter, read the abandonware guide first!
Download Silent Hunter
No file available as requested by the IP owner. Stay tuned for a Steam or GOG release - can take years though.
Similar games
Fellow retro gamers also downloaded these games:
