I think things are progressing quite nicely and a kind of momentum is building so that soon SH5 will be where it should have been when released.

Most of the obvious broken stuff is fixed (hydrophone operation esp.)
-Enemy AI is much improved and now playable.

-Some good options on the UI, I no longer feel like I am adjusting settings on my c1988 Nakamichi stereo system.

I am looking forward towards getting the rest of the crew onboard, and eventually getting them to respond to action appropriately. Getting the rest of the tower crew in SH4 was a huge boost and Im sure it will be even better in SH5.

Definitely need more ships.

From my experience, i have two thoughts:

Thought 1:
I personally think it's better to work on the things that the player has the most immediate and direct interaction with first; and then work outwards from there to the things they see the least and have indirect interaction with.

Thought 2:
When you have a lot on your plate, It is better and more time efficient to work on one or two smaller items you KNOW you can fix, as opposed to spending time on an item you THINK you can fix.

With 100% realism and real navigation enabled this sim is getting dark and even scary, a feeling that I never felt in any other game.

The full 3D environment, the wild and unpredictable AI, the strong feeling that you are all alone in the middle of nowhere where none can help you is so strong that makes you feel very uncomfortable, most of the times when me sub is under heavy dc session I just quit the game.. I feel that I cannot take it anymore. It really makes you feel what those guys felt at that time.

SH5 changed dramatically after his first year and is the result of the hard work of those moders who believed in SH5, of those who never backed off when they encountered problems that seemed to be unsolvable.

And the main engine was TDW, he always believed in SH5 and pushed things forward constantly, even when more experienced moders said that there is nothing to do.. this game is a waste of time.

My sincere respect and appreciation to TDW and all the moders who pushed things so far.

/bow

I subscribe at this and i agree 100%:salute:

^^
This.

:salute:

Well, the way I'm seeing this, modders are in general working alone, doing there own little things. This way, a lot of mods are created, different visions are shared and that create in the end a lot of variety and choices for the end users.

But all that come to a price. Plenty of choices, while been a positive thing, might overwelm users (findind the mods themselves, finding the most recent and/or working version of mods, the number of mods available, similar mods, install order, etc.) Sure, since the appearance of JSGME, it greatly helped the users in the task of installing mods. Nobody can't deny that. But even so, that mods installation software did bring (at least more clearly) conflicts when installing mods.

Let's take me for example. I know my way around computer pretty much, software or hardware wise. I played with SH3 when it was released. Of I'm by no mean a talented sub simulator captain. No, I was and still are a newbie to this. I havent played much too, but always like the game. So recently I've decided to buy SH5, for a cheap price and hence my return to Subsim after a long while.

And here my vision and tough about my return, mods looking and such :

First, I install the came. Easy part. Same for updating the game with the official patch.

Started to play with the tutorial mission a bit. Wow, something wrong. It as been years since I haven't played SH3, but I feel, without knowing what at first, that there is a lot missing. Dorp by to Subsim to search a little, and of course, I understood that some functions are disabled at the beginning, while others are completely missing from the release and patched version of the game. Im' surprised. Shocked actually, to see the the game was released in this state, and the final patches didn't even corrected or added those issues.

Let's face it, a lot of people didn't buy the game because of the DRM scheme, and in the end it might have contributed the obvious unfinished state of the game and the lack of support of Ubisoft after the release if the game.

So everybody turn to the very talented and very active Subsim's Modders to save the day, and make the best of SH5. But all of that as taken time. A lot have been made, but there's still a lot to be done. All in good time.

So to continue with myself, I wanted to mod the game to have a better gameplay experience. Where to start? Mmmm..

1- Oh look, a Downloads Now Open button! Seems to be the most obvious place! So I take a look. There is an appreciable list of mods there, all categorized. I'm reading and taking notes.

2- Came back to the SHV modding section. Oh look, a sticky with Populars mods. Again, I'm reading and taking notes. Is that all now?

3- Off course not. There is a lot of other REL or WIP mods in the modding forums. I dig trought 20 pages, trying to find what's available. A lot to say the least. I then compile my notes and make myself a list of mods that I would like to install.

But first I have to look at something. The so-called "supermods". What are they. Oh! A mix of mods all together, so it can be enabled in a easy way. Nice. But I'm reluctant a bit. I don't install anything and everything in my computer OS, and I feel the same about supermods. But then again I don't know much about them. After all, why would I wnat to install mods from a supermod the I might no want to use. Seems to me that least is better, conflicting and performance wise.

But, as soon that I've stard to install individual mods, reading about the best version number to install, reading and trying to have the right installation order, reading about tweaking, moving or deleting files prior mods activation, while all of this is not THAT complicated, it become clear to me why supermods existed in the first place : a modder wanted users to have a easy way to install mods, and a better play experience, to his own vision.

Which bring me to my point. All of this make me rethink about mods and the Oblivion community. I just don't know exactly how and why, but they created an Unofficial Oblivion Patch. One that fixes the obvious bugs and errors, one that made the game playable and enjoyable.

I don't know if there is a lot of Naval sims forums, Subsim is the first I've found a couple of years ago and I always been happy here, but FOCUS WISE, I think it might be the time for Subsim's Modders and Owners to collaborate together to decide what would be and jointly create a kind of supermod, or as I would prefer to call it the "Subsim's Unofficial Patch for SH5".

While modders would still continue work their own mods as they see fit, in their own time, maybe some, with Subsim Leaders should start to think about obvious mods, mods that are widely used, mods that have a general consensus that they are indispensable to a solid gameplay, mods that are adding important functionnalities that are wrongly missing from the stock game, etc. and jointly decide to combine them in one patch, or supermod.

Since the price drops and since the annoncement of Ubisoft concerning the "supposed" change in the constant Internet connection DRM scheme, there might be a recrudescence of submariners coming to Subsim. New comers, but also people like me that have waited for a "right" moment to come back.

What I would like for them, is to start enjoying the game to it's best potential, and because we can't just do that with the officially patched version of the game, they might be able to just do that with the help of an Unofficial patch from Subsim, since such a patch would bring a better gameplay experience.

They way I see it is like this :

- Installation of the game itself
- Installation of the official patch
- Installation of the Subsim's Unofficial Patch
- Installation of other player choice mods, optional
- Play and enjoy the game at it's full potential

Well, sorry for this long post, but that was feelings about my coming back to the subsim, stock game appreciation, it's mods searching, understanding and installation, and my take on what, but mainly how, a part of the focus should be directed at!

My 0,02¢ only! :salute: