Is this game salvageable?

[hotdog]

I used to play Silent Hunter III a lot back in the days and was looking forward to number 5 very much. I bought it and was so massively disapointed by all the bugs and annoying gameplay i uninstalled it and went on to strategy games and the likes. Never touched a subsim since.

Until now. A few days ago i saw a "lets play" on youtube with SH5 and felt a sting of nostalgia from my subsim days. Since my SH III disc is nowhere to be found i decided to download this piece of junk again to see if it was patched so i might be able to enjoyt it more.

It was still crap. I downloaded a heap of mods from the "newbie guide" in this forum but after 2 hours of testing and continous CTD:ing i gave up. Currently i have the german language mod and Open Horizons 2.5 installed. Those are the only two i got to work together.

I have played for a couple of hours yesturday and a few hours today and i am so close to quitting again but i thought i'd give it one last chance of redemption, with the help of mods.

My biggest problems with this game are so far:

Having to run around like a crazy person to issue commands. To order crew to the flak gun i have to climb the stairs and talk to the man on deck, then i want to order battle stations, i have to go down the stairs again to an officer in the navigation room, then i want to send a contact report but do it silently, i have to run to the radio guy and ask him to do it in a quiet manner. It's frustrating as hell and if this can't be fixed i won't be playing this game.

The AI is weird. I raided scapa flow and managed to sink one battleship, one battlecruiser and two merchants while the four destroyers that guarded my side of the bay was just sitting there. They didn't even move as the battleship blew up. As i get close to the english borders there are aircraft sightings about once every half an hour but the aircraft rarely attack.

Speaking of aircraft, why do i need to point my binoculars to an aircraft and "target" it before my crew opens fire? To make things worse the targeting of aircaft is so bugged i usually can't even target them until they are right above me and have already started firing/dropping bombs. Not that it matters anyway, the flak crew couldn't hit a battleship even if it was stationed four metres from my boat. Them shooting even remotely close to an aircraft is ridiculous. Why did i spend all those "experience points" in accuracy again? And what's the point of two AA guns if their shots are always hitting the exact same spot?

The straw that broke the camels back for me was when i, after weeks at sea FINALLY met a convoy. I was positioning myself for an attack and got spotted by the destroyers. Oh, well. I ordered crash dive and when reached a deapth of 70 metres rigged for silent running. "Cannot comply" was the response i got. I tried to level out with no effect. I started to furiously bash on the "periscope depth", "surface" and "dive" keys but my boat continued to crash dive. As i reached 200-something metres the screen faded to black and i got a screen summarizing my carreer.

Sorry for ranting but this game is so tragically bad it's almost laughable.
Is there ANY mods i can install to make it playable? I have no illusions i will get it as perfect as SHIII with GWX mod but i want to at least be able to enjoy it. Is it possible to enjoy this game?

[Defiance]

Hiya,

Without mods this sim is lacking

With the wrong mods or sequence installs it's lacking lol

Have a read here for the two guys mod configs, this will give you a very excellent idea of how to keep the mod install order

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=211804&highlight=Theberbster%27s+enabled+mods&page=3

There are several UI mods out there that save you running around like a headless chicken

I have used NewUI's by TDW from day 1 of him releasing them, i have also tried others and used to switch between several (that's just me though)

While you're squinting over that link, it should become apparent that you'll need to dl quite a few mods but it's well worth it

ps : the ui i mentioned gives several options as to your style of ui, so coming say from sh3, you can get right back into your usual feeling of things simply by choosing the sh3 ui ;) There are other ui's out there i'm not trying to push a certain one down your throat

I suggest you look over those pages, read up on tdw's generic patcher + options viewer

Take time and start afresh in your mind, ctd's just do a post, c++runtime errors well they've been covered and i've added to them recently (hehe)

The ai gunners etc, you need to read up IRAI (another tdw release)

If after the above you need mod advice just ask and plenty will answer i'm sure

But to get the ball rolling

Main gubbins ..........

Dynenv
FX update (special effects and addons too for torp failures etc)
NewUI's teleport to differing positions and command quickly with no hastle
IRAI Get rid of zombie AI period
Open Horizons 2.5 (plus grid request patch) better career from get-go)
Real U-boat performance
RSD
the list goes on and on, also sobers mods steelvikings mods, you really just have to start with a base config to your liking, and if it's realism you want well there's plenty now but some involve editing the Menu but well worth it

You need patience to get this game how you like, can't just fire it up and it's all hunky dory that's for sure

But get an environment mod and ui mod in and take it from there, honest it transforms the game

As i say any probs search or post :)

[hotdog]

Thanks for the info. The shear number of mods required to make this game good is daunting. I'm not sure i will have the time and energy to make this work, i will try next week when i have a little bit more free time on my hands.

Just one more question. I play the game trough steam, will some mods not work with steam?

[gap]

Both New UI's by TDW and CSP MaGui by DrJones add several new crew orders (including more flexible Flack/deck gun commands) wich are accessible at any station, and station-to-station teleport features.

Talking about u-boat gunners aiming skills, the problem is that the calibration of several flak guns is wrong. Spending experience point on your gunners won't make them any better, as they will still aim at the wrong spot. A while ago I and Volodya worked on a patch addressing the issue, and making guns overally more realistic. The link to our WIP mod should be somewhete in the SH5 mods workshop forum (try looking in Fifi's 'My mod list' first', under the name of Reworked U-boat guns' or something like that.

For better u-boat damage model and damage handling, you should try 'Reworked Submarine Damage' (RSD) by vdr1981.

Last: for improved AI you have no other chance than installing 'Intellligent Random AI' (IRAI) by TDw. Be ensured that by doing it you will make the game MUCH more challenging; especially at later war stages, when most aircraft and destroyers ares set by OHII to high veterancy levels.

[gap]

Thanks for the info. The shear number of mods required to make this game good is daunting. I'm not sure i will have the time and energy to make this work, i will try next week when i have a little bit more free time on my hands.

Just one more question. I play the game trough steam, will some mods not work with steam?

TDW' patchet doesn't work with the steam version of the game. It means that you loose quite a big number of important bug fixes and a bunch of awesome new features :-?

[Nufsed]

Just download the "Wolves Of Steel" mod...simples!:up:

[Sailor Steve]

From your second post you seem to be predisposed to dislike the game. My very old computer won't run it at all, but I can point to a great many threads by a great many people who swear by SH5 and thinks it's the best subsim ever. That should tell you that it is well worth playing.

You don't have to give it one more chance. If you can't get it to work to your liking there's nothing wrong with SH3 and SH4. From what I've seen from other posters I'll probably end up staying with those as well, even when I finally do have an up-to-date computer. SH5 is a much-praised game now, but there are options enough for all of us.

[THEBERBSTER]

If you had the dvd version you could enable the patch in TDW Generic File Patcher

Units have to use radio contact to contact other units in regards to contacts.

When a ship is under attack it will radio for help.

With TDW NewUI mod all this rushing around is totally unnecessary.

You can teleport to all the important stations.

An experienced Captain would not take on aircraft.

In Sh5 you can be machine gunned, bombed and torpedoed depending on the attacking aircraft.

See my Post #10 and Post #11 if using TDW New UI refers to the Deck Gun but the principal is the same.

Regarding mods see my Post #23 Post #35 and Post #38

Take your time and be patient you are a classic newbie trying to run before you can walk.

SH5 is the best it has ever been and should not be rubbished because of lack of experience.

There are plenty of people here that will help you so do not get frustrated.

There is a need for a thread for Steam users where they can find suitable mods


Link to my SH5 post:

STEP BY STEP TUTORIALS & HOW TO DO IT

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=211804 (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=211804)

[Jaystew]

Just download the "Wolves Of Steel" mod...simples!:up:

2nd this. Followed the 10-12 step dance and was very happy with the results. Very stable, very much improved rivals the realism of SH3, exceeds it visually and while content presentation is modernized the actual content, messages and framework of the game is stronger. There are actual objectives to complete at certain times during the war. Not so much randomness.