[Beery]

Don't give up on RUb. It's still a major mod. I wouldn't say there were three major mods. There are at least four. RUb is as much a player as any of the others, and it still has features that the others don't have (RUb has some realistic but unpopular mods that I'm fairly sure the others will be missing because RUb is not geared for casual players - i.e. the deck gun reload time and the fatigue mod). RUb, when used in conjunction with SH3 Commander) also has its own milk cow mod, less flashy than the others but just as realistic in terms of its effect, and it's easier to use, and without the problems inherent in placing an invisible port at sea (which is how the other milk cow mod works). This is, in my opinion, the biggest drawback of all other mods that incorporate milk cows.

Also, I've found that some other mods have tended to go for style over substance to some extent, with excitement being a major consideration at the expense of true realism. RUb also has a lot of historical campaigns in it - boats get sent to the US coast in early-mid 1942, the invasion of Norway is featured, etc., etc. We also spent a lot of time balancing the game so that it's more realistic in terms of survivability and balancing the probabilities of being sunk by ships/aircraft, etc. I doubt that any other mod has given much thought to these realism aspects of the game. There's nothing outdated in it, and I reckon it's still the most realistic mod (but then I would, wouldn't I, since I'm the guy who assembled it, LOL). Also, a new version is in the works, with the most advanced version of the Kiel Canal mod (I just added more functionality to it last night), and other updates.