[K-61]

I am an old GWX veteran who hadn't played for several years and just recently got back into the game. I am using LSH2015 and enjoying it very much.

There is much more "eye candy" [that will hit your frame rates for sure if you are using old equipment] not just in harbours, but also at sea. For example, on a recent patrol I saw French patrol planes flying over the North Sea, or perhaps Dutch, but the point is, new plane and ship types. Also, an LSH-specific version of SH3 Commander.

This super-mod does have higher system requirements. Be very careful to read these. I am running on a three year old gaming notebook that has 8 GB of RAM and a high-end [at the date of manufacture] dedicated graphics processor with 1 GB of RAM, but it recommends 2 GB. I have done okay so far, no drastic hits to frame rates, but I have not enabled the highest possible memory-demanding damage models with super-duper explosions, etc. Still, the game looks sweet enough to me with what I would call "medium" settings. I still get to see the miserable looks on the faces of the lifeboat users after I evict them at sea, taking away their home away from home. There's one thing I notice, more debris in the water and pieces flying off of ships as I hit them with the AA and deck guns... even individual men in the water wearing flotation rings. If you free-view close enough or come close enough with your sub you will also hear them shouting for help.

Graphic mods that make the game play in wide screen format [I was never able to get GWX to display wide screen due to the amount of "farting about" with files and key changes that I was reluctant to undertake], several GUIs, realism tweaks, such as making the player endure the misery the real life U-boat men had with their unreliable torpedoes early in the way. It is no longer a slaughter festival where you can rack up really high tonnage scores with uber-reliable fish. Now, you have to worry if your fish will work in rough weather [I have had miserable experiences if you read some of my posts.] But I don't mind, that's what happened; now you can't simply set your torpedoes shallow with impact pistols and expect almost every hit to go boom.

Changes to the air war... your radio will get you killed eventually, or at least cause you to bring extra skivvies to sea. And one feature I haven't had yet, since I am still early war... wolf packs. I have not yet witnessed it, but BdU will give you orders to shadow convoys and a pack is likely or possible to form.

As well, there is a "proving flotilla" which you have to transfer into in order to get your next U-boat command. Flotilla changes have been made, changes to the renown system... too many for me to even think of remembering them all. Ah, yes, one more before I close this post... you have to be careful now how long you are under water; oxygen is now a very critical component in the game system and you will have to keep an eye on it. Basically, you have free-air oxygen that is replenished indefinitely at sea, but a limited supply in tanks that gets drawn upon if you are down for prolonged periods. This does not get replenished at sea [but I think it may be if you dock at a milk cow, if I am correct in my assumption. Again, haven't used a milk cow yet] so you have to think more strategically; if you use up a lot of your supply, you have to be very careful in any further engagements as your ability to stay down for a long time will be hampered and may cause you to think about an earlier return to base. It hasn't affected my career yet, as I have not been put under and kept there for a long time yet [my career is still early war] but I imagine later in the war, with Support Groups and more numerous and capable ASW by the Allies, the game will get interesting.

I say, give it a go, but you may wish to keep multiple clean installs of the game in separate directories. And there is a new program to help with that, too, but I have not yet used it.

Very important: if you want to install LSH2015, make sure you read and follow to the letter the installation instructions or it is just about guaranteed you will not have a joyous experience. I used to be very good at installing and modding a few years ago, but LSH is not like your usual mod. It has very particular requirements for downloading and installing. I have a few posts wherein I recount my experience, but eventual success, with the generous help of forum members. If you decide to try it, do not give up if you have difficulty. Just ask for help and read the sticky threads.

Good luck and good hunting, kamerad.