I've noticed a disturbing trend here
 

I've noticed a disturbing trend here in the SH5 modding forum. Take a look. I noticed that most of the threads getting 5 stars and much higher numbers of posts are graphics improvement mods (eye candy). And most of the game play improvement mods (such as Ducimus' and Bigboywooly's mod threads) are only getting 0, 1, or 2 stars, and much fewer posts or attention. And yes, Ducimus and Bigboywooly (and others here) are practically legends in the Silent Hunter modding community. I think this says a lot about the people who are playing SH5. SH3 and SH4 players have also always liked eye candy, but just as important was realism or game play improvement mods. I don't think this is the case for many SH5 players. Perhaps a different breed? Younger ages? Does realism even matter any more? It seems as if Ubisoft has accomplished their goal by targeting the console generation with a *ahem* simplified and pretty SH5. I think perhaps this is also the trend in movies and television these days, too. Maybe just a sign of the times. :-? *shrugs*

I think the real problem is that there are more (kinda) graphics mods then the ones that actually improve gameplay. :hmmm:

Perhaps modders are waiting until all patches are out before investing loads of time and effort bringing out big gameplay mods (even though there are some awesome ones already) and are concentrating on eye-candy instead.....

Personally I rate all mods no matter how small or big. I think the modders are turning SHV in to a seriously great sim

Yep :yep: all the major modders are awaiting FINAL patch of SH5 before putting the effort in I suspect.

At least the minor folk are doing their best. :roll:

Think the first supermod is underway/in preperation already. :hmmm:

Good points everyone. I also agree that many modders are holding back on releasing serious game play mods. :D

Critical hits 1.1 Torpedos
dials_briklebritt
DiveDepthFix_by_coasterdigi
Free Cam Tweak 1.1 - Regular
MightyFine Crew Mod 1.0
MoraleMod
CompassByTheDarkWraith
No Damn Bubbles, No Damn Halo Mod
Lite Campaign LC 1.1
Church's SHV 1.01 Keyboard Commands v1.1
Grossdeutscher Rundfunk
Old Style Explosions V1.1
ImprovedWaves_Improved Pitch&Roll
BARF 1.0 full
BARF 1.0 HP balance
U Boat killer AI mod


Not too much in the way of eye candy there..

I do realize that some game play mods are being released for SH5. My point was that the eye candy mods are getting much more attention and higher ratings compared to most of the game play mods.

Ahh I see:oops: Sorry matey.

I think us seasoned subsimmers will always go gameplay over eyecandy, especially when you consider the 100% realisim guys - who virtually never see the outside of their sub.

When (if) a supermod comes out - just watch the rush to download lol

I didn't really notice any real difference until the 1.2 patch was announced. Since then most of the mods coming out have been eye candy in nature I suspect because these are far less likely to be affected by the new patch.

Also I think fixing the gameplay simply takes longer due to the coding involved and is far more complicated than most of the eye candy mods we are seeing.

Its just a combination of factors which has led to more eye candy being released for the moment. I'm sure we'll see plenty of gameplay fixes in the days ahead.

Bigboywooly has one thread started (releasing a mod) in SH5's modshop, about resupply. A mod that improves the reality of a limited feature that's already in game.

Ducimus has one thread started (releasing a mod) in SH5's modshop, about AI tweaks. The tweaks were so ridiculous that he pulled the mod since it was so out of whack.

That said, both have made some incredibly helpful posts in other threads and sparked discussions that have led to learning new things about how SH5 works. But to claim that those two are specifically being targeted by graphics-only one star demons as a trend is just not true. They haven't had enough original threads in the SH5 mod shop to even come close to claiming that.

I think you're putting too much emphasis on star ratings really. From many years on forums I, and I'm sure others, have come to realize that ratings on forums are often complete nonsense.

They might even be broken, since occasionally I've tried to rate threads and been told "you've already voted" when I know I hadn't.

Heh I had a curious thought...

Maybe the patchers are waiting on the modders and the modders are waiting on the patchers :haha:

You cant tell me they (the patchers) dont look at the mods and see how / what was done.;)

Yes, I think the star rating system here should be completely tossed. It doesn't even seem to work properly. :06:

Never really taken any notice of the star rating so bothers me none
I do thank you though for the kind words :oops:
Any help I can give along the way I always will
I think most aspire to that way of thinking

Graphic mods are a plenty and much of that was down to the dismal UI on release
Was one of the simpler things to change using the new menu editor
I have no doubt without that tool the UI would have changed anyway only taken longer

Tis true patches are always in mind when thinking about mods
SH3 had 4 SH4 had 4 plus the addon which included patch 5 so maybe we have a lil way to go yet till we are fully patched
Or maybe not

There are many campaign elements that bug the @ss off me but not a lot of point taking them on as yet
Lack of units for one thing - hopefully that will change after patch 2 - and second guessing the devs
I did start to alter the port traffic but the patch looks like taken care of that issue so stopped
Will see though :har:

The RFB team are working on RuB for SH5 so there is one super mod in progress plus the AOTD team have already released their RDA mod
But these things all take time and nothing worse than spending weeks working on something only for the next patch to either include it or whack the files you worked on

I fully expect a rash of graphic updates after the patch as the devs had added depth under keel and return to course back in
And if the patch does allow simple import of SH3\4 units then things will really take off

Voting is broken, it seems only one vote is registered per thread and it says that YOU voted for it. I don't even think the vote is tied to the right thread. For example, someone started a thread to say that someone was in hospital and it got a one star rating. The vote option told me I had voted, but I hadn't and who would vote a thread like that at one star? Must be the SQL database smoking crack again.

EDIT: Oh yeah and even when votes did work, they were pointless. :-)