Yes Jimbuna, it was the basis for my comment, couldn't remember who said it, but it is the best description for what a lot of us put ourselves through to achieve the perfect simulation (for us as individuals anyway, many flavors of soup...).
Now, theoretically speaking, let's say somebody or a group of somebodies decided it was time to throw together the 'best bits' of all the above mentioned mods, what would be the best flavor to base the mod on, and then what parts of the other mods would you shoehorn into that base? I know it's been discussed before with no-one taking the bull by the horns but indulge me here.
I speak from experience of a flight sim that I am a big fan of, Falcon 4. After a buggy release by Microprose the .exe was cracked and a number of indi developers started working on their own versions with varying success. Like SH3 it's rare for people to stick with the stock version (almost unheard of with Falcon 4), and due to incompatibilities between the various flavors the community has been split into three distinct camps; Freefalcon, Openfalcon and Falcon AF (a legal, licensed, commercial re-release). Again, like SH3, newcomers to the sim face confusion about what is the best one for them and the answer is the same, install them all.
SH3 is easier to work with than Falcon 4 due to it's file structure and unlike Falcon 4 is happy under DX9 (as opposed to DX7, a major thorn in the side of Falcon 4 future development). It would just be nice to see a bringing together of the various flavors as, unlike Falcon 4 where there is bitterness and competition between the developers, SH3 modders have a lot more respect for each other and are above all that 'my mod is better than your mod' mentality as far as I can see.
It might not ever happen, but I do believe those that could do it, would do it without stepping on anyones toes and in a way that benefits SH3, those that seek to improve it and it's loyal fanbase. I know I for one won't be going over to SH5 until it has the amount of goodies that match SH3, and that's a few years away yet.
But hey, I'm just thinking aloud, discuss if you want, or don't...
