I mean I like using the actual dials on board to get information. Unfortunately I haven't found one for battery level or fuel level.

Stop trying to reverse engineer it and hack out parts you want. Don't fight it go with it. You can use the user option file to turn everything off other then those parts you want. For example the free cam is accessed by icons on top of the screen. Well I turn those off unless I mouse over them. If I never want to use them I never see them. I think there is key command for them too. The one thing I haven't figured out how to turn off is the digital clock. But it disappears too with the upper right HUD when not on use. I set everything to only appear on mouse over with a 5 second delay and vanish again.

I've never played the other SH sims, so my opinion is not fully informed, but personally I love SHV.

I do agree that some mods are necessary to properly enjoy the game, however. Right now I'm running about a dozen of them, most of them minor tweaks (like adding torpedo critical hits), but a few are major improvements.

- TDW's new UI mod, discussed previously in this thread, is a godsend. I personally enjoy the ability to issue orders by clicking on icons representing the officers, and it adds a plethora of other commands normally inaccessible.

- TDW's IRAI, also previously mentioned, is also a great mod and makes for an actual challenge. I've got it toned down to 0.85 sensor effectiveness, and so far it's provided a very good challenge. I'll probably increase it as the war goes on, but for now it feels appropriate. I can still survive major actions (like kicking a hornet's nest by sinking a carrier and battleship *grin*) by staying ultra silent and very deep, but even then it took an hour of playtime for them to give up (and I did take some damage, but fortunately it did not mess up depth control and I was able to maintain depth without engine power - but it was a close thing).

- I don't remember the name, but someone has a mod that adds hundreds of songs to the gramophone. Coupled with the new UI, I just love it. I frequently fire up the sim just to read while listening to the music.

- Lite Campaign mod. Basically cuts the tonnage objectives in half. Much more realistic (though the missions still expect you to be the top u-boat ace *grin*).

But my point is: don't give up on the sim due to its rough edges. Mods really do fix up the game, and makes for a brilliant experience. Learn how the mod manager works, and experiment.

Itkovian

Nicely put.

Do yourself a favor and pick up SH3 and 4. They should be dirt cheap and are both great sims with tons of mods :yep:

I dunno. I am having a good experinece with SHV, which I paid for... and quite frankly I enjoy the "captain simulator" aspect of this sim.

Indeed, it's the primary reason I picked up SHV in the first place (instead of the previous ones). It's really one of the things I am hoping to see more of in simulators.

I want flight sims to do the same thing: I want to be able to climb out of my Spitfire and walk back to dispersal, the officer's mess, the barracks. I want to be able to pop over to the local pub with the rest of the boys and go out to the ball with that cute WAAF who works in sector ops. :)

And then the next morning I want to be able to read the newspaper while sitting at dispersal, the gramophone playing as we wait for the call for scramble. :)

Well, maybe I can't do that yet, but I can walk about my boat and chat with the crew, then go and lie down on my cot and pick up a good book while listening to Lili Marlene. And sometimes I can climb on deck with my book and enjoy the sweet Breton air.

Now all I need to get are some period books and newspapers. And learn to read in German. :)

Itkovian

If SH5 could be somehow merged with Mafia 2, then we could go out in the town and do stuff after a long patrol. That would be just awesome :P

People like you and me should be making these games! I have the exact same "dreams"! I want the full simulation, not just simulation of a few tasks. I hoped for a little bit more flexibility and diverseness, for three patrols straight, I've only been able to say the same things to my crew. I'd like to be able to say some comforting words during times of distress, to have the dialog affected by the events taking place. To me, it seems that the ppl making up the conversations were in a huge lack of imagination!

Personally, the two bad thing about this game is that:
1. If you have a nVidea card it will run slowly.
2. The campaign is pretty boring because the objectives are all the same

In short, I want a simulator role-playing game. :)

As for Mafia 2, yes, something like that might work *grin*. Or maybe more SHV merged with The Saboteur. Only problem is any leave to Paris becomes an extremely hazardous endeavour. :)

Itkovian

In the end, there is only one goal: To sink as much as possible, as quickly as you can. U-boat commanders did not get much missions which differs from 'Patrol grid xx'. So you can't really create groundbreaking missions for subsim without falling away from reality.

have to disagree there. Running an nVidia GTX480 and it screams. I have v-sync on to lock the framerate to max of 60fps. Rarely do I ever drop below that 60fps and that's running the game in windowed mode @ 1920 X 1200 with everything maxed out running MO :yep:

Sounds more like you have a system problem possibly a CPU/MB bottleneck. I run an AMD 965 BE quad-core OC'd to 3.8GHz on an Asus Crosshair Formula 3 MB with 8GB ram on Win7 64 bit.

This, and this. 'Nuff said.

I only bought it 2 weeks ago, since I heard that you don't have to be able to be connected to the internet the whole time, and it´s true, only when you launch the game you'll have to connect.

Furthermore, there are now plenty of mods who make the game awesome. It's not SH3 but I enjoy it.

http://cdn.wolfire.com/blog/internet...rm-analogy.gif



... On a more serious note, i am actually really enjoying the game.

To be bluntly honest, and not criticising the ideas or wishes of the above but, i for one enjoy this game for what it is, a subsim, not Silent Hunter 5 meets Sims, with trips to the local to enjoy a few drinks with your fellow Kaleuns and crew mates, all the while concentrating on wether or not it's likely that you will pick up that female singer up on stage.....
Sure, a sim should have an immersion factor to it, and of course a hands-on role to it, otherwise it's not a sim.
Discredit Ubisoft all you like, at the end of the day they have created subsims with the focus on you being on the seas, 'collecting' tonnage, roaming the seas for prey, and so forth.
When the mission ends, if i need downtime, or time away from my boot, i'll log off and go and have a cigarette irl, i think the focus of these games Ubisoft has got absolutely right.
And that was always their mission, if you will, to focus on time at sea.
To adress the OP's question:
Do the good outweigh the bad? Yes!
Ie, get in your U-boot and get out there :salute:

Feuer Frei!: It not so much discrediting as it is dreaming. I think Ubisoft gets all the discredit they need for screwing up the things they did intend to include ;)

Having played SH5 fully modded and it really isn´t an option going back to the previous games. I tried with SH3 and was chocked with the difference in graphic and all around atmosphere.

And i was very critic at this game in the beginning. So, if you enjoys naval sims and sub sims, go for this.

I bought when it first came out, put it away after a few months and recently came back. I only use a few mods, since I am probably one of the few who like the new interface.

In terms of immersiveness, it is the best in actual convoy/ship attacks, but in terms of the overall experience, I would say SH4 with the RFB mod is still better.


I use Arclight's periscope mod and estimate the range based on visual sighting, method is discussed in this thread:

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...=165408&page=5

(mostly at page 5)

works out pretty good once you get the hang of it:

http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/2828/pq17007.jpg
Uploaded with ImageShack.us

DRM aside, i think the worst thing about SH5, the absolute worst thing, is the need to fix the exact same crap all over again!! This "fun" is also compounded by new crap to fix. My heart goes out to any modder working on SH5.

It really does boggle my mind how Ubisoft couldn't be bothered to fix the code base to provide a solid platform (you know..... the crap they should have patched to begin with), before they went to adding new code ,and therego new bugs, to the mix.

http://www.martinusborne.com/blogimages/Image/turd.jpg

No doubt, but since UBI has finally abandoned the franchise once and for all, the only choice is to play SH5, warts and all or play some other subsim/game. It is pretty clear there will never be a SH6.

Continuing to harp on what UBI should have done is really beating a dead horse.

I enjoy too these little bits of roleplaying in the sim! I'm relying to the great modders who make the game realistic as it can be and stay close to the facts, but sometimes it's so nice to stop time scaling, send a patrol report and walk around the sub talking to people and going to bed to sleep and so on. I think the new bunker is a swell place too and it could be improved in some way. Like some other guy to talk to who gives you a summary of your previous patrol and the renow you gathered. I hope that someday these "not so important" aspects could be modded too. Like adding new dialogue (even without speech) to crew.

The worst thing for me is that the game suggest so much! It gives you a feeling that it can be the ONE game but sadly it seems that almost everything is unfinished and broken. I just hope that theres going to be new breakthroughs with modding that we can get icebergs, new animations to the crew, whales, more visual damage effects, airplanes that don't dissapear when destroyed and so on. The list is long. Still it's my number one game right now!