Add ons

[papalazarou1977]

Me again!

What add ons would people recommend? Is there a bundle of good add ons in 1 handy download anyone could point me in the direction of please?

Many thanks,
Jamie.

[K-61]

I can't say how many, but I would venture to guess that most serious SH3 players do not long stick with the original out-of-the-box experience. If you play the original game with no modifications, you will soon see and experience things that will make you shake your head. Nonetheless, the out-of-the-box game is still a heck of a lot of fun, but modding [modifying] your game takes it way beyond "vanilla." Much more content is added, including graphics [widescreen resolution to make the game look good on modern screens] new ships, harbours brought to life as compared to the original game, more planes, different planes and ships, updates to game routines [how the enemy behaves] and much, much more.

Might I suggest that you play the unmodded game for a bit? That way, you can learn and have fun with a less intelligent enemy. Then, when you are ready, you can upgrade to a supermod with greater game challenges. I did not long play with the original game before going up to a supermod, but I am glad I had that original experience; it makes me appreciate the work of the modding community that much more.

The advantage of supermods is that there are many packed into one compatible package. You can also cherry pick individual mods, but a supermod is probably best for a new player. Some of the supermods I can recall off the top of my head are: Real U-boat, GWX Gold, which was originally know as Grey Wolves, and the latest one is Living Silent Hunter 2015, or LSH2015 for short.

GWX Gold is the most challenging of the supermods that I have played. I am currently enjoying LSH2015, but I will be going back to playing GWX Gold again. There are things in it that I miss in LSH2015, but they are both good.

How you mod your game will depend on your objectives: Do you want to make the game as challenging and historically accurate as you can, or do you want a bang, bang, shootem up experience? Both are possible. There is also music that you can add to your supermod, for your boat's gramophone. This does not break any features of a supermod. What you don't want to do is mix supermods, unless you really, really know what you are doing. Not recommended for a rookie. Because mods change the original game files, you can't really mix supermods, because each one modifies the same file sets. It has to be one or the other, not both at the same time. If you are really good at file operations, you can take pieces from various mods and stitch them together.

There are also add-ons that you can install alongside your game. The main one is called SH3 Commander. This great utility lets you customize even further how you play your game. You can more easily manage your crew and careers and customize features such as time compression, where your boat starts its patrol [in the port or outside the base, so you don't have to manually navigate the channels out from base, environmental factors, how the guns work, etc. Much, much more than the original game allows you to.

There are also utilities which make it easy for you to install multiple copies of the game on the same computer, so you can have differently customized games instead of constantly switching back and forth. As well, you can use a utility to customize your keyboard shortcuts. There are other utilities that I have not mentioned, but I believe these are the main ones. One other to mention: JSGME. This is an indispensable tool for installing and uninstalling mods. LSH2015 includes in its installation a special version of JSGME, for use with LSH2015 only.

Check out the sticky threads at the top of the forum. Most questions are already answered there and there are also guides and tips available. When all else fails, just ask a question in the forum.

If you are like most of us, you have a learning curve ahead of you, but it is not impossible to master. You are also in for a lot of fun. I kind of envy new players in way, because they are getting to fall in love for the first time with this game.

Welcome aboard!

[papalazarou1977]

Thank you for the comprehensive reply K-61! One of my questions was going to be around mixing mods, but it sounds like that is not recommended. I have actually got the GWX expansion already, my game came with it on Steam. I also notice on the stickies that there is S3F which allows you to install multiple versions of SH3 with different mods, so from this I can ascertain that it is generally not recommended to mix any mods, unless you know what you're doing (as you say) or were you just talking about the Super Mods?

It's funny, an old colleague told me about newer Silent Hunter's. I got addicted to Silent Hunter 2 many years ago and when he mentioned Silent Hunter 5 I knew I had some catching up to do. But he also tells me 3 is still considered to be the best gameplay wise, so I'm definitely looking forward to getting stuck in. Like you said, already the learning curve seems great.

I think I am going to take your advice and play on GWX without any other mods for now, to get used to things before I start looking into what I want to mod in the game. Although out of interest, could you let me know what mods you would recommend for adding realism please? I would much rather play an authentic u-boat game, I'm not into your "Call Of Duty" style shoot-em-up. I want realism! :)

Mnay thanks again,
Jamie.

[K-61]

You can mix standalone mods with the supermods, but I personally would never consider installing one supermod over another. For example, GWX over Real U-boat or something similar. There are just way too many critical files that each needs access to. If you use JSGME to install your mods [very highly recommended!] you occasionally get a warning that the new mod needs to overwrite certain files. If you know this is okay, then allow it. The program is playing it safe on your behalf. You don't always have to be concerned about such warnings, as the overwrite you are doing is for what you want. For example, if you install Das Boot officers, you will have to overwrite crew files.

The important thing when using this tool is to always install and uninstall mods in order. First one installed is last to be removed, last one installed is first to uninstall, if the mod you are working with has overwritten certain files. Some mods you might be able to get away with removing in the middle of the list, but it is best practice to think about the order in which you install or uninstall mods. The last one installed may overwrite anything else installed and will be the default setup when you run the game. If you install a skin on top of a previous skin, the last skin installed will be the one that gets activated in the game.

Don't let all of this intimidate you. It is really a very simple tool to use. Just think logically and you will be fine. It is also a very safe tool and I trust it explicitly. If you wish to manually go in and tweak stuff, best to make backup copies first, to save tears later.

You are quite welcome for the help. That's how I learned, with assistance from others. I am simply paying it forward like those before me. That's what makes this a great forum.

[GT182]

Best thing to do is open your JSGME, click on Tasks, and then Export activated mods list to a text file. That way you can keep track of your mods.

You can also save different mod profiles. When you want to change your mods, you can select a mod profile you saved and load the one you want. Comes in handy at times. I've done it with SH5, but it also works with SH3. But only do it when you're in Port. With some mods you might have to start a new career, so check first just to be safe.