Another option would be to get in bed with the devil and make a deal with Ubisoft. SH5 has everything we need to create a ultra-realistic subsim and it is always easier to build on existing code than start from scratch.
Say a new company employing talented modders enters into a joint venture with Ubi to turn SH5 into a more hardcore sim and sell it as a new product, with profits to be split.
That approach has been successful in the past with, for example, "Falcon 4: Allied Force" and "War in the Pacific: Admiral's edition". In both cases, modders who had been working on the games for free approached the software owner and worked out a deal.
I would have no problem forking over another $50 for SH5:Hardcore edition.
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