Although not directly relevant to the discussion I've been playing Silent Hunter series for 7 years now, SH5 and SH4 ATO but still come back to GWX time again, a great achievement, such gaming depth in the SH3 experience has been added.
One thing I have noticed though is that until about summer 43 getting below 140 metres will get you beyond asdic detection, don't think I've ever been pinged below 150! It seems to me that there should be more variability in escort ability to do this early on. Obviously, late war will be much more challenging with improved asdic but it would be nice if there was a small chance of being hounded and hunted for hours down to 200 metres and beyond say in 1940 not just in 44. Many of the best aces were lost early on, so going deep couldn't have been a guarantee of safety! I wonder if this could be modded into the game in the future.
Anyway, do not let these comments give the impresion of a negative overall evaluation of the game. Quite the contrary, I will be playing, thanks to all these fantastic modding efforts, for many years to come.
Good hunting
