Actually, I was getting to that, but I didn't want to bring it up right now.
This project is going to be commercial. Sorry guys, but there's no way I could motivate myself to finish and keep up to date otherwise. :/ I really want to support this for the long term and a small fee is the only way I can do that. Afterall, I also have a job and am a fulltime student. :/
It's going to be a nominal fee though, I'm thinking about $5, and there will be a free version that doesn't interact with Silent Hunter for release as a demo... So you'll know what your getting. You'll also get a lifetime of support. Payments will be made through paypal, and exceptions can be made for those who desperately want a copy but can't send me money via paypal for whatever reason (just don't abuse this).
I know, you're probably all skeptical right now, but when I release the first demo program and see my work I think you'll all agree it's worth it. Plus, it's DRM free, and the fee will give you a source code license for personal use! Try getting ubisoft to do that.
Right now, I have about 1000 lines of code from just last night. And that's just the incomplete demo! So I hope you can understand wanting to be reimbursed for my work somewhat.