OK... i gave SH5 a fair shot, post patch review

[GoldenRivet]

As a flight instructor, every day i critique people.

I give them the good, the bad the ugly.

evaluating the whole based upon the smaller parts is after all, what a fair amount of my job is about.

so... I gave SH5 a few days, patched her up and i now have the following to say.

======================

DRM / OSP WHATCHAMACALLIT

The DRM OSP in SH5 is a total failure. Ubisoft's approach here is like sending every citizen in a small town to jail to stop crime from occurring in the city.

Throughout most of today, "5%" or so of the playing community has been unable to connect.

based on comments i have read on Subsim.com and on the SH5 forum... ubisoft's figure of 5% was off by a margin of about 90 percentage points.

for most of the day, i was unable to enjoy a single player game because of the product's requirement that i be constantly connected to the internet. And, just as we had all suspected... the connection problems and stability issues would not be on the end user's side of the cable.

For the DRM...

I give SH5 0.0 points out of 10.0 possible points :nope:

============================

CREW MANAGEMENT / INTERACTION / MORALE ETC

Silent Hunter 5's crew management is one place where the game really shines... you are no longer a solitary soul aboard a roaming sub with zombie-like crewmen aboard the craft blindly following your commands.

Though the morale system takes a little getting used to... when played out properly the campaign offers a couple of interesting things i LOVE.

1. You really get the sensation that you are with a green crew. they lack various capabilities and experience, they dont have the tactical know how yet... they really are not sure what to expect from one another or from you for that matter. as the campaign progresses, the character development, and the maturing of your crew feels quite natural. Where i had originally complained about the "incomplete" feel of the crew dialogue / interactions... after playing through several missions... i am beginning to understand where the dev team is coming from here. you cannot look at the individual parts here... what i mean is, it doesnt matter that the dialogue might not change over the course of one mission... but over the course of say - 3 missions - you get the completed whole from those seemingly incomplete parts.

2. Story line... What every Silent Hunter has been missing (for the most part) is the substance of some sort of story line. Silent Hunter 5 firmly fixes this. Silent Hunter 5 is not the same old "lurk in the Atlantic and sink stuff" game. it has grown... mutated... evolved into something more. Now, Silent Hunter is a lurk, sink, and live out a story type of game. Each individual crewman brings the story to life... some of them dislike one another and voice this to you, some of them are scared, cocky, funny... i'll stop short of saying you bond with the crew because i have not played the entire campaign through to the end yet... but you - appreciate them more in SH5 than in any previous release. of all the elements of war, and especially world war 2 that the previous releases have left out... the human element is the most riveting - and Silent Hunter brings this to the table big time.

while some might not really like the morale system, it has grown on me... through trial and error i have learned to use it, and use it well in the right situations.

as of writing this i have been enjoying the little interactions with the crew... and i cant wait to see what they have to say on the next mission.

for the crew interaction / dialogue / managment system

I give SH5 8.5 out of 10 points:up:

============================

FULL ON 3D INTERIOR

First off... to the dev team members in charge of the interior 3D modeling... lets get one thing out of the way here...

:salute:

well done, the detail is increadible, especially when i consider this (http://www.deutscher-marinebund.de/02_U-Boot-Maschine_max.swf)

now, rivet counting aside... they really have done an incredible job at building us a U-boat. :yep:

I really cant find much wrong about the interior other than it really seems to be missing two things a lot of players really think should be in there... the "wardroom" (http://www.adjunct.diodon349.com/Uboats/U2540photos/U2540_ward_room.jpg) and an abundance of crew creating that crowded feeling.

in the final score, those two things detract heavily from the 3D interior score. If the game says "Your U-boat with 52 crew" yadda yadda... well, a head count should reveal 52 men aboard the boat.

to be perfectly honest, i think that about 15 - 20 feet of U-boat interior space forward of the sonar shack was edited out.

for the 3D interior i give SH5 7.0 out of 10.0 Points

(include the wardroom and the packed in crew... this would have been a 10 score)

============================

INTERFACE

i have one good thing and one bad thing to say about interface.

GOOD: I understand why the team went "minimalist" here. There is so much to the game now in the way of crew interaction, 3D interior, storyline, drama etc that by packing in a Dial and Gauge heavy GUI... the player would probably miss out on a lot of the other segments of the game.

BAD: The team probably - err... definitely - went too minimalist in this regard. for those of us used to looking at realistic dials and gauges... we were accustomed to a rather industrial and nautical feel to the series... now it is a massive departure from what we are used to and everyone is - understanably - up in armes over it.

in the end, the team had their reasons for doing it the way they did... i think they were right to make the choice to go minimalist, but i think they were wrong with the final look and feel of the GUI.

the GUI in SH5 gets 5.0 out of 10.0 points... after all... it doesnt look like a submarine control panel of sorts, but it is functional even if it lacks a certain charm and satisfaction.

=====================

WATCH CREW

Im happy to report, that after patching to the latest version... the watch crew is doing their jobs well and is contributing to a great deal of success.

unfortunately they still have been unable to kick that LSD problem.

My U-boat, though fully functional now is still being swarmed by invisible flying unicorn people.

Im still disappointed that they dont dress appropriately for the weather conditions.

there we are in the north atlantic shelling ships covered in ice with freezing rain and my gunner is wearing shorts? :shifty:

lets at least get something done about this

(see crew rating way up above)

============================

In conclusion

overall, having learned the key commands and morale system... i give SH5 7.5 out of 10 stars.

kick that DRM's ass out the door and we would be talking a full point increase minimum.

Silent Hunter 5 still has it's bugs... and the DRM issue is ruining it for many players.

but i strongly feel that SH5... though she is currently all freckles, knees and elbows, is going to grow up to be a fine young lady; perhaps the finest in the series. :up:

[Schunken]

you tell what you find and why you like it (or do not).

A nice review :salute:

I also think with get rid of DRM and a "Super-Mod" like in SH3 will make the game shining bright.

Until this, we only can listen to Yoda: "Patience, young Padawan" ;)

Andreas

[Athlonic]

GoldenRivet : That's what I call a nice review !

I thought I was the only one enjoying this game :DL

Within a few updates and mods this game will be a blast !
And in no way I can pull back on either SH IV nor SH III now !

Long life to SH V !

:woot:

[JScones]

Always good to read something considered, rather than just "SH5 suxxors" or "SH5 rulz". :up:

[Falkirion]

A very well balanced review. Great work GR. I'm holding out for a while until I get more details and some modding gets done.

[Bubblehead1980]

great review, although every bug and issue i hear , esp with DRM is a dealbreaker for me, thus why I have not purchased it and will not for a while.DRM is biggest issue, the sob's just had to do it. :damn:

[jwilliams]

Great review.:up:

7.5 Sounds fair.

Seams SH5 take alittle getting used to and im looking forward to pick up a copy next week. I just hope Ubi sort out there DRM (OSP) with a removal patch or fix their servers before then.

The future of this game is looking very good.:yeah:

Thanks for your review :salute:

[himlaviz]

Nice review, made me tempted to give it another run before the next patch. Can always practice stuff and maybe mod in a key or two that I need. Funny, SH5 made more tempted to play SH3/GW3 though, but there is potential in SH5 so I haven't given up on it :)

[sav112]

I just think how can you give it a decent score on the state the game is right now. Yes it might be patched up as it will and mods will kick in. But seriously reading the Bugs forum some of the nuts and bolts of the game is reading as extremely poor.:damn:



Fair enough its your own experience and some will enjoy the eye candy while others will want a challenge. Walking about the sub for me would add a nice touch, the water and environment looking great would add again but being able to kill an entire British fleet and a few CV to boot with out so much as hassle embarrassing in my view. :oops:

If I sink a ship I’d like to be proud of the fact and have no doubts that it was skill rather than what it looks like “early learning” for ages 6 and above sub shooter.

But respect for a good attempt at a balanced review, be interested if you feel the same after the loss of saved game data or a few of the major bugs or that bored you can kill anything easy and what’s the fun in that.:zzz:

[sharkbit]

.... Now, Silent Hunter is a lurk, sink, and live out a story type of game. Each individual crewman brings the story to life... some of them dislike one another and voice this to you, some of them are scared, cocky, funny... i'll stop short of saying you bond with the crew because i have not played the entire campaign through to the end yet... but you - appreciate them more in SH5 than in any previous release. of all the elements of war, and especially world war 2 that the previous releases have left out... the human element is the most riveting - and Silent Hunter brings this to the table big time.


Do you think there will be some good re-playability with this? Or do you think the story lines will get old after a couple of careers?

:)

[Onkel Neal]

So, you grew to like it a little, eh? :D That's why I resist posting my review until I have put in about 60 hours with a game. First impressions can be a beech--everything's new, don't know how stuff works (which a stunningly bad manual does not help), and each and every bug jumps out at you with glaring detail. After a week or so of nightly playing, I can establish a balanced perspective, and usually I either like it more than when I started, or I judge the game to be only a momentary diversion.

[Lanzfeld]

Flight instructor eh? I did that gig for awhile. No doubt you are a working man. You earn all your pay in those last 10 feet! :salute:

Nice review. If they drop DRM then I will try it. Until then no way Jose.

[Curval]

Finally a non rant review!!!!

Credit given where due and crap given where due.

Well done.

[les green01]

thanks for your review everytime i see it at wal mart i fight the urge to buy it althrough i know my x1200 video card wont run it and i have to go somewhere with a internet conection to play it

[AVGWarhawk]

I have put about 5-6 hours into it. Personally I think it is very good and find your 7.5 a fair accessment at this point. She does need a patch or two. Overall, it is a wonderful game IMO. :up:

[PyRRhUs]

Great review! :yeah: Can´t wait to try the game out myself.

[robbo180265]

That really is a nice review matey - well done.

I would love to buy the game but the DRM is a real dealbreaker, there have been times in the past when I have lived without the internet (and there may be times ahead when I can't afford it) To pay for a game that I may not be able to play..... Well that's just stupid isn't it?

Get rid of the DRM and I will happily buy it. I've seen what the mods have done with the other SH's and I know that they will work wonders with this one too, also there is bound to be a few patches as well down the line.

I just can't bring myself to buy a game that I may not be able to play....

[pythos]

So nice to get a review to follow up on Neal's review of the beta.

I am happy to hear from a mind I know may be a little odd, but is definitely one notch above the rest (flight instructors...and pilots are crazy, we hop into these crates and expect to put them on the ground in one piece, and somehow do :)), so your review I find very helpful

I was thinking I bought a piece of junk when reading some of the ranting.

Hopefully within the month the DRM will go away. Allowing this phoenix to rise.

[Oscarkeeper]

Thanks for the well thought-out review. I have been unable to play very much due to the DRM nightmare, but it's nice to see that there is some decent game play awaiting me, once I can actually get the thing to run.

[ReFaN]

i forgot to rate the game in my [Points] post, but id gladly give it 4 out of 5 toasters.

[GoldenRivet]

If I sink a ship I’d like to be proud of the fact and have no doubts that it was skill rather than what it looks like “early learning” for ages 6 and above sub shooter.

first off... i doubt that anyone could call it an ages 6 and above shooter.

the interface and intricacies of the game took me hours to learn and im 30 years old.:D

though you are no longer turning all the dials of the TDC yourself in SHV like you did in SH3 - the captain didnt do this himself anyhow.

the commander of the boat made observations through the scope, and relayed his observations to subordinates who would input the data.

this is EXACTLY the way it works in SH5 - to date... no other silent hunter game has managed to do it right except for SH5.

be interested if you feel the same after the loss of saved game data or a few of the major bugs or that bored you can kill anything easy and what’s the fun in that.:zzz:

see some of my other posts. (specifically my pre-patch review)

dealing with the black flicker of death for the better part of a day was awesome :nope:

also, the connection issues which plagued most of the first 12 hours of March 8th.

havnt lost any save games yet... have you? save games are on YOUR MACHINE... so i dont see why you would be losing them. thus far i have had NO issues with save games knock on wood.

Do you think there will be some good re-playability with this? Or do you think the story lines will get old after a couple of careers?

:)

I do. and i dont.

This stock campaign would get old after you already know the story line.

but at this point - i have read that the characters etc are all moddable.

also at this point i dont know what that means... and i dont know how much of it is speculation. but if we can mod the characters and story line... there are as many story variations - theoretically - as there are modders.

thanks for all the comments.

like i said, she is not without her bugs and needs some polishing in spots, but really has the potential to be the best in the series.

opinion? of course

educated opinion? :smug: Hell yes :haha:

[609_Avatar]

Nice review and thanks for posting it. I hope to some day give it a shot but won't, like others, until the OSP thing is dropped.

I also a little skeptical of the chosen game play, due mainly to my own style of playing. Being able to walk around the sub has never been a big deal to me. I'm sure I'll enjoy it the first few times I do it based on the wonderful screen shots I've seen but after that I doubt I'll do it unless I have to. I'm still on the fence about how much I may or may not like the morale system. I can see its merits but reading that the crew refuses to dive a sub when under attack because their pissed off at you or just plain in the dumps makes me scratch my head. Yes, have it affect things but not make the crew suicidal!

Again, thanks for sharing your opinion on it.

[sav112]

first off... i doubt that anyone could call it an ages 6 and above shooter.

the interface and intricacies of the game took me hours to learn and im 30 years old.:D

though you are no longer turning all the dials of the TDC yourself in SHV like you did in SH3 - the captain didnt do this himself anyhow.


havnt lost any save games yet... have you? save games are on YOUR MACHINE... so i dont see why you would be losing them. thus far i have had NO issues with save games knock on wood.


I was not really talking about the actual mechanics of shooting and targeting, In truth I never got round to doing it all manual on SHIII. But I’m more concerned about the intelligence of the ships and how they react. If you blow one out the water do they hit each other, take actions to be a harder target or do they just casual carry on and slow down even. Do destroyers try and hunt you down realistically or is it a duck shoot.


As for the saved game, players have damaged four or five ships say in heavy rain and had to save only to return to see that all the ships are like brand new and sailing away at speed and its now a sunny day.

[Noren]

I for one, would quickly get bored asking the same questions most of the time, to raise the moral.

Nice review!
A sim needs a thorough trial, as its supposed to be more than eyecandy.

[Sailor Steve]

Thanks for a great review, GR!:rock:

Amazingly you opinions after having played it for awhile mirror what I was thinking even before it was released. It sounds good overall.

I'm not sure I like the whole 'storyline' idea, but I'll have to wait until I can try it to be sure. Then again, perhaps one of the future options will be to mod it out, or at least make it less dominant.

[Faamecanic]

I was going to hold out buying SH5 until I saw more patches (I REFUSE to buy a game based on MODS making it better... there is no reason a game shouldnt be good Vanilla and tired of seeing game makers depend on FREE MODS to make thier game worth buying).

But.......my wife got it for me for my birthday.

Very glad to see this HONEST review by a subsim vet... maybe SH5 will be worth it afterall..

[Brag]

Good job, Rivet!

If the cretins at Ubi remove the DRM, I'll buy SHV

[Egan]

I agree with Steve in that I'm not overly keen on the 'storyline' concept for the campaign - in fact, I haven't been keen on very much I've heard about the campaign at all so far - but as I've been advocating a 'command' sim for years now, your review kinda makes me feel I should probably put my money where my mouth is. I guess it probably should be possible to mod a total SH3/SH4 type campaign but we shall see.

As soon as they ditch the ball-and-chain DRM, that is.

[Egan]

I was going to hold out buying SH5 until I saw more patches (I REFUSE to buy a game based on MODS making it better... there is no reason a game shouldnt be good Vanilla and tired of seeing game makers depend on FREE MODS to make thier game worth buying).

This is something I agree with so much. Good mods are no substitute for the game done right first time out. Every mod needed to bring it up to standard is another mod further away from making it fly.

But.......my wife got it for me for my birthday.

Lol! You're about the tenth person I've seen saying that over the last few days....An awful lot of devoted wives suddenly remembering that Sh5 coming out at birthday time if you ask me! :03: :O:

[Faamecanic]

Lol! You're about the tenth person I've seen saying that over the last few days....An awful lot of devoted wives suddenly remembering that Sh5 coming out at birthday time if you ask me! :03: :O:


Oh I was reminding her all month long it was coming out and didnt tell her I had changed my mind (she expects me to read her mind, I thought she could at least do the same) :) ..... just was discouraged by all the negative posts I have seen, and getting burned by SH4 .....

But who am I to argue with the wife :haha:

[Alfred Keitzer]

Very well written and a very good assessment. Having played Silent Hunter for more years than I care to count, I was very skeptical of this version; especially the DRM, which like everyone else I agree is the worst idea yet for a gaming company. And I truly sympathize with those who have had connection problems because of this – especially it seems a lot of people in the UK.

For the first six days after release I watched this board closely and read most of the posts. But after playing SH for so many years and being a gluten for punishment, I couldn’t stand it anymore and had to see for myself. So Saturday night I went out and bought a copy. Didn’t buy the gold or collector’s copy, just the vanilla version to give it a try.

Well the install went fine and the upgrade did too. I looked at the manual and fumbled through the training mission – the first thing I dumped was those aiming dots. I got back to base feeling like I didn’t know a thing – and I didn’t – and the next thing I know is I’m made the captain and sent out on my first patrol.

During my second hour of play, I hit something on the keyboard, and I was sent to the desktop – that was unpleasant. Got back in the game and everything was fine – an auto save had occurred a short while before. The rest of my play on Saturday and Sunday was fine. The one thing I did do is hit that little gear on the launcher program and “disable online saves” – that eliminates the synchronization and saves a lot of time in loading. The only other issue I’ve had is today, the Launcher updated itself, then restarted and kind of sat there for a long time. I finally killed it in the task manager and restarted it and again everything was fine.

So, in a way I started off playing this game with an advantage – after reading all the posts here and at silenthunter5.com, I went into this with very low expectations. So I took my time, taking a leisurely trip down the Kaiser Wilhelm Kanal while I figured out what I could and couldn’t do. I cursed the keyboard layout as many times as all of you who have played SH5. I’ve changed course and speed a thousand times and still curse the “WASD” keys today. But I kept on going trying different things and I haven’t put it down yet after about 8 hours of play.

So I continue to press on knowing that I’m not in Kansas anymore and this ain’t your old Silent Hunter format; and maybe the huge differences in format and not knowing what to expect in this version is what keeps me going.

 Yes, the whole DRM thing sucks!
 Yes, the manual sucks!
 Yes, the crew can’t do squat, but I think gaining points from missions and using them to improve your crews’ abilities has a lot to do with the whole new crew management function. Right now they’re green and not very functional.
 Yes, the enemy can’t do squat, but I think that’s on purpose – remember, we are in the “phony war” portion of WWII – England wasn’t ready for war; had no procedures; and was flailing around just like the rest of the world. I strongly suspect that the enemy planes and destroyers will not remain shy for long, and that their aggressive abilities will improve just as your crew’s abilities will.
 Yes, some things are broken
 Yes, we all would like to see some things added
 Yes, the graphics are truly awesome. As mentioned above, the ocean, the sky, the fog, the U-Boat’s interior, the people, the landscape – were all done extremely well.

Bottom line is if you can put SH1 through SH4 aside, take your time, and roll with the new format, I think it does grow on you.

Things will get fixed and things will get added and DRM will still suck!


GoldenRivet -- very nice review !!!


By the way …


Originally posted by Eoweth at silenthunter5.com regarding aircraft AI ignoring you ...
AI has 5 levels of skill. Once you're past level 2 it ramps up QUICKLY. The higher levels of AI skill basically make combat near impossible.


They didn't call the first three months of the war "the phony war" for nothing. England was totally unprepared for war when she declared it on 3 September 1939. Initially, pilots probably didn't know the difference between a U-Boat and their own submarines, and weren't about to strafe one of their own. Half the aircraft flying during the first few months were probably training flights and didn't even have ammunition onboard.

The enemy at the beginning of the war is just as green as your crew is ... give it time.

There is one person in his third mission who claims he was jumped by several aircraft in a flight that inflicted heavy damage on his U-Boat.

[GoldenRivet]

The enemy at the beginning of the war is just as green as your crew is ... give it time.

Decided i would get cute in August 1940... 2 DDs escorting a large convoy of tankers mostly.

stalked around and sunk one DD and evaded the other.

stalked around and sunk the other DD.

Got myself into firing position... expended all the torpedoes i had remaining.

here is where your quote above comes into play.

knowing that these ships are unescorted, i surface at dawn to have a field day with the deck gun.

BIG MISTAKE

these merchants - some of them - are armed with cannons (not known to me at the time) and these guns are manned by trained gunners it would seem.

they were splashing down very effective fire from outwards of 2KM all around my boat.

they inflicted heavy damage, and i limped away like a wolf with it's tail between its legs, returning to base with one diesel inoperative.

the enemy gets cut-throat after the first year or so.


On another note... this was funny.

after running down the hatch as fast as a stripe-ed assed ape i jumped into the command room into ankle deep water.

damage reports were coming in and all commands and reports were being shouted loudly as we cleared periscope depth, but my chief didnt have enough morale points ( :shifty: ) to expedite repairs...

so i rush to the cook to whip up his special u-boat cocktail to add morale points.

i click on the cook

he yells at me with this sarcastic tone

"So, are we in battle yet!?"

:har:

i swear i yelled at the monitor "Just fire up the gadamned grill cookie!"

[Faamecanic]

You two guys have given me great hope for SH5....

While it seems markedly different than previous SH's .....different isnt always bad. But as a general rule people do not like change.

Also the fact that you two have been regulars, and not new posters, gives credibitly to your reviews.

Thanks for the objective review Guys.... now I look forward to SH5. :salute:

[pythos]

I got the game yesterday.

Installed it and the patch, and changed the engine sounds.

This is just a preliminary review.

Most everything Goden Rivet has stated I can confirm. The sim is good.

Let me say though the machine I am running on is 4 years old, it was optimized for midrange performance of SH4. Aside from painfully slow cut scene and weird behaving explosions, smoke, and mist. the sim runs better than sh4. In a populated harbor Sh4 would bring my comp to its knees (despite the fact I had a machine designed to run the sim) Sh5 runs surprisingly smooth despite the increase in traffic.

I am also running on a single core machine (which is to be updated soon).

I have all the graphic features lowered to the lowest setting possible, and what I am seeing is gorgeous.

I can live with the interface, after all I am captain, and as captain I would not have nice round gauges to click. I would instead call out the command, and it would be followed.

Now, something I don't like about the interface, NOT ONE KIND OF DIRECTION INDICATOR!! It would be nice to know what compass heading my boat is on.

The stock engine and motor sounds stink. I quickly replaced them with more fitting sounds. I also did away with that...noise that runs through out the boat as it is underway. It was deafening. Now it is a fine balance of finding the right volume level for a sound of the boat moving through the water.

I would like the Torpedo Computer back. I am not a fan of the current set up that much. The unlit bearing indicators on the scopes is just a bad oversight that needs to be fixed, and bad.

Hopefully soon my machine will be up to where I can see the real beauty of this simulator.

I think it has much hope, especially when a certain intrusive thing goes the was of the Do Do.

[Turm]

Great review, GR.

Good to see SH5 getting fair praise, as well as fair criticism. I have very similar feelings to you, except I can't speak of the campaign/story progression yet (being only on my first patrol still).

However, I have some questions based on your experiences described in the review.

You mentioned the morale system in a generally positive fashion, yet ... it basically doesn't work? At least, for a user who cannot sit at the game for many hours a day, and rely on loading up saved games, the morale is always at zero. Big problem for progression! Your comments are probably based on getting through one complete patrol in one non-stop session? If so, I can perhaps understand :)

Likewise, you commented on the watch crew:
Im happy to report, that after patching to the latest version... the watch crew is doing their jobs well and is contributing to a great deal of success.I didn't have SH5 before the first and only patch was out (we had a later release date in the UK), but my watch crew are a dismal failure. They spot ships that are way over the horizon, and consequently don't tell me when they do actually come into visual range later on (in the case of DDs, the first I know of them approaching is when the shell hits).

In short - if my copy of SH5 v1.1 worked as you describe your copy, with regard to the morale system and watch crew, I would have a reasonably playable game that could keep me mostly happy. As it is, I'm having quite a torrid time trying to make progress. :shifty:

On all other points I agree with you and find the game fairly acceptable, but on those two points it sounds like we are playing different games altogether. So, I'm jealous! :DL

I know you said you patched the game - does that happen to include the community mod 'fixes' for these problems, per chance? (I didn't try them yet, as an official patch can't be far away). What's your secret? ;) Thanks for any advice.

[GoldenRivet]

Turm,

indeed the morale system is not without its bugs that still need to be fixed, but here is how i have managed it.

On my first patrol out i spent almost all of my moral points on the cook and the bosun.

they are - as far as i know - the only two crew members who can do things to increase morale of the rest of the crew.

One big bug that is killing the morale system is the "loss of morale on resuming save game bug"

you know the one :shifty: lol

if this morale loss happens, and i get myself into a situation that requires a morale boost i will have the cook fire up a "special meal" (which is a little stupid by the way)

then i will have the bosun use an ability to increase morale like "propaganda" for example.

this gives an extra hand full of morale points right when i need them.

that said... the morale system doesnt "work" per say, but there are ways around that (like i have described above)

on the other hand... basic commands like "Rig for silent running" shouldnt require morale points at all.

EDIT:

my game is patched and unmodded, i dont know where your watch crew problems are coming from. so far i have not encountered those issues post-patch