Silent Hunter 3 vs. 5 (with mods)
 

So I've been playing SH3 since it was released, mainly with the GWX mod and I love it. I heard a lot of bad reviews of SH5 when it was released, so I avoided it. But seeing how it's been almost a decade and there has been a lot of modding work done since then, how would you compare the two nowadays?

Let me start off by saying immersion and gameplay matter more to me than graphics. I don't mind that SH3 looks a little dated now. The experience of playing the gramophone with the freedom to sail around the Atlantic and see different ships and ports is what I enjoy the most.

I know SH5 lets you walk around the boat and has upgraded eye candy, but does 5 (TWOS) beat 3 (GWX) in any other area besides graphics? I'll probably pick it up just because it's so cheap on sale right now ($2.49 on Steam) but I wanted to hear from you guys which game you think has stood the test of time better (or maybe Aces of the Deep beats them all! :haha:). Thanks!

Real navigation mod (included in TWoS). Not knowing the exact position of my boat was a real game changer for me. (all old tactics, interception and attack methods that relied on using your position as refrence point go right out the porthole) and this alone is worth trying sh5.

It does.

watching water flood the boat watching the men load the tubes even watching the engines work and change pace when you change speed

Another, it does. :D

:agree::sign_yeah:

You certainly cannot go wrong either way... but I definitely feel that despite the drawbacks (to me mainly lack of other model Uboats) SH5 with TWOS is the better, more immersive option at this point. If you've already played a lot of SH3, i'd say definitely give it a go. But never without TWOS.

I'd say whatever SH5 lacks in way of some modding is the GR2 file that scared away a lot of Modding people from SH3/SH4.

It taken some really dedicated people to bring SH5 to where it is today as most of them started from scratch and are self taught the HARD way!

My hat is off to All of them!
:salute:

I miss the clunky MKII and it'd be great to get some late war model boats. But, like you I played SH3 for years and finally downloaded SH5. It's a very beautiful game and I found the relative cartoonyness of SH3 impossible to go back to. I upgraded my PC to accomodate SH5 eventually. But it's quite funny that 90 percent of my in game time is spent staring at icons on the nav map.

However, every now and then I take a stroll through the boat or go and stand on the prow and watch the foam or the ocean or the sunset and it's well worth it.

Another thing I'd love to have from SH3 is repair management and crew management. Both are very vague in SH5. You're never quite clear what repairs (if any) are going on and the crew are anonymous except for the unchanging officers.

The stock game sucks, TWOs is an infinite world of detail if you want it.:Kaleun_Salute:

I love the ambiance and immersion if SH5.

The sunrises and sunsets... the sea spray, and sounds.

SH5 with TWoS is truly the best experience to date.

And not to toot my own horn, but I got a few good radio station mods to add to that!

to be honest i only play sh5 now i try going back to sh4 and 3 cant do it

I couldn't care less about the crew interaction or being able to virtually walk through compartments, nor do I like the feeling of being railroaded to complete your missions in SH5. I prefer the open-ended nature in SH3 of being able to complete a patrol in assigned grid or deciding to patrol elsewhere without having to worry that I won't be able to advance the campaign.

I do like the real navigation in TWoS, the use of ENIGMA, and the scripting to allow automation of things I'd have to do on my own - taking nav fixes, diving and taking a sound sweep every couple of hours, etc.

What would be ideal is a combination of SH3's open-ended gameplay with SH5's graphics, TWoS' real nav mod, built-in ENIGMA, and scripting, the Merchant Fleet Mod, GWX, and add on the ability to actually engage in Prize Regulation methods - being able to stop suspected ships and then let them go if they're clean or sink them and tow the lifeboat... And then later on sinking neutrals in allied convoys without losing renown.

Just wanted to thank all of you for the replies!

I've been playing SH5 with TWOS for a few weeks now and I think it is growing on me to the point where I give it a slight edge over SH3, even though the ideal, of course, would be to combine the best aspects of both.

While the graphics are an obvious advantage of SH5, I love that feeling when diving to evade a destroyer and being able to walk around the boat, checking on my crew, with that scary yet exciting feeling of being trapped in this iron coffin with them. That key feature accounts for a lot of the "immersion" factor and makes the experience feel more real.

And hats off to the modders for making SH5 a contender! :Kaleun_Salute:

SH5 was a bit of a let down when it first came out in terms of graphics. Yes, I still played and enjoyed the game, but then began modding with single JGSME files, one by one. Finally, this time around I installed after my own fumbling through the directions (they are written well, I just cant read well lol ) and I can say SH5 with the TWoS mod is quite amazing, and how the game should have been released. I played SH3 and other subsims as available before that, I remember Silent Service.

The Only Officer in SH5 hiding somewhere on the Boat is the Weps...lol Where he go?