I run MFM full on the following:
XP Home SP3 32Bit
AMD Athlon 5600+ Dual Core
2x 1Gig Crucial Ballistix 800mhz RAM (2Gig total)
ASUS M2A-VM moby (really not suited to hardcore gaming and budget by all means, but it does the job).
ASUS 9800GT 1 GB GPU
Seagate Barracuda 80Gig SATA Drive for OS & Apps
Seagate Barracuda 160Gig SATA Drive for games and other tidbits.
Some fancy blue lights on the front. (Essential...)
Now, when I say I run MFM full on this rig, here's the tradeoffs:
I know I'm at the very limit of what my system and the game engine will allow me to get away with, teetering would be a good expression to use. As such, there are certain things that I have to abide by and procedures to follow when I fancy taking a trip to blow stuff up. Firstly, mods. I installed MFM just after I was moved to Lorient, a harbor that hasn't received any real updating from stock. I also have the Wilhelmshaven & St Nazaire addons installed but as I've only done 3 patrols with MFM I've not tried loading up in Wilhelmshaven with MFM enabled. A bridge too far maybe? Possibly, and something I'll get around to testing eventually. Also, I did have issues with the Interiors mod and Kernel.dll CTD's which led me to enable the /3GB switch and apply the 4 GB patch that solved the problem 80% of the time, but did not eradicate it. I'm pretty certain I'd have a lower success rate if I enabled MFM with the Interiors mod and I doubt I'll ever sail it out of Wilhelmshaven.
It all comes down to resources I guess, supply and demand. The game demands it and eventually the system just says 'No, sorry, but no'. With that in mind I know I have to free up as many resources as possible before starting the game, so I do a fresh restart into my /3GB switch OS, let it load up fully then run Gamebooster to close programs and free up RAM. Then I open Task Manager and make sure there's nothing running I can do without. I often disable my internet too, but not always (I forget that bit) in case my programs think during that long load cycle of SH3 is the best time to download an update or five.
The way I see it, at the moment I'm driving an IXB and will be running out of Lorient for a long time to come (or not if the RN have their way...), so I don't need the Interiors, and I don't have to worry about the extra drain of the updated harbors. In the past I've spent so much time rearranging, adding, tweaking/merging mods I just want to sit back and enjoy the game so I've forbidden myself from any more adding or tinkering so I can concentrate on getting past '42, which is something I've not managed before, not because I'm a bad Kaleun, but because I can't resist that extra little thing here, or that new UI there etc, etc. As I've said before, it's this mod soup phenomenon that draws me to SH3 and the stirling work of those that make it possible, but it doesn't make for a relaxing, hassle free gaming experience unless I put the brakes on and settle for what I have right now.
Eventually, I will either die or sail up the Thames and win the war with a deck gun barrage to Winston himself and then my problems will start over, where I have to compromise my mod list to allow me to sail from Wilhelmshaven, or have somewhere to sit and eat my salami inside my VII, or have lots of varied ships to sling hot lead at. I won't be able to do all of the above until I get W7 64bit and the ability to add more RAM, but for now I have my IXB and my French mistresses as well as lots of lovely ships to look at before I realise I should be sinkin 'em. Although I'm limited in as far as what I can do in game, it doesn't change the game for the worse for me, it's still as immersive and dark as it ever was, just now I can actually play quite happily within the confines of my 'happy medium', which is something I haven't done before.
There will come a time as I said that I'll have to strip it back and start again, but as I seem to have less time to play games nowadays, I'm pretty confident the next time I do a reinstall, it'll be on a new W7 system that is looking very likely not so far in the future. The main point is, everybody has a different mod list and a different spec. There is NO hard and fast rule as to what works and what doesn't, you just have to put in the time to work out what you can get away with and what you have to sacrifice in order to finally sit back and enjoy the game. It's taken me about a year to reach this point, but the knowledge I've gained and the respect I have for the modders and all those that fill these threads has made every minute worthwhile.
It might also be the reason why I decided yesterday to take a punt on SH5 in the hope that it too receives the kind of loving touches SH3 has over the years. After trying a few mods and reading the '5 forums, I'm optimistic that this will indeed be the case (it already is tbh) but the decision to pick up the game and then swap hard earned currency for it (much to the obvious dismay of my girlfriend...), was only because of Subsim and those that work to add the finishing touches that modern day game developers are either unwilling to, or forced not to themselves.
I just wish I was 16 again so I could get away with lazing around the house in my underwear playing computer games all day, but alas, I can't. Kids got it good nowadays...
