Deimos01... On behalf of the GW team, thank you for the kind words. Our guys pour their heart and soul into what we do... For some of us it really has become a second job... only without pay. We work our guts out, trying not to think of all the rocks in the road... and how far we think we have to go... Sometimes that distance is deceptive and those who can't stick it out fall by the wayside. (with no shame)
I'm sure it is the same on both sides of the table.
We do have divergent approaches to the same goal as you say... and that is just how it is now... but Ducimus is right... it pushes things to an entirely new level... but at the cost of the forum brainstorms that I miss too. Now, the downside to some of those braistorms is that they often lead down the wrong track... or lead to nowhere after weeks of discussion. (very depressing sometimes)
HOWEVER, ya can't forget that debates were often just as heated then as they have been here somewhat lately. We also had a flaw to deal with... a "major modder" who was a moderator. Big conflict of interests there... which precipitated quiet conversations more than a year ago...
"Let's do it on our own... I'm sick of the politics and all the crap."
"I don't know man. Be careful what you wish for... You might get it!"
"Well, either someone does it... or we settle for the status quo."
"Yeah... I see what you mean."
"Doenitz called his men 'The Grey Wolves' Let's name our work after them."
"Very cool... Let's do it!"
Neither "Big Mod" could exist without this community though.
Within the SH3 engine we are somewhat limited with some of the things that can and cannot be modded... we are ALL getting much better at finding silver bullets... and finding "absolute boundaries." These things have been and continue to be hashed out by this community!
The real winner here is the player in the end. If you have a favorite mod... GREAT! If you can't decide... YOU HAVE VARIETY AND CHOICES... GREAT ALSO!
You will always have that choice.
Capt USA is right though... there are more than two great mods... Here and now I will say that the U-boat War Ace mod appears to be really good. Heck, I wish the interface was ours just for starters! Furthermore, HanSolo78 was nice enough to create a GW compatible version of his mod. In my book HanSolo78 is a top man!
So there isn't going to be a merged mod... GET OVER IT!!! Go sink something! What are ya hangin' 'round here for!
Tired of sailing? BUILD SOMETHING!!! Can't build anything? Well PAINT SOMETHING!!! Can't paint stuff? WELL YOU CAN CODE STUFF!!!
BE MORE AGGRESSIVE!!! Get a hammer and nails and ATTACK the parts of this game that haven't been fixed yet.
There is a wealth of information here at Subsim, from all who have come before you and had to find things out the hard way.
What have you got in your U-boat?
Now... back to the workshop with me...
[edit] ... Now about this "Who's better looking thing.......... "