[athenian]

Hello folks, I'm a new member and I figured I'll introduce myself. I've been playing SH III for a while and recently I was lured by the excellent graphics and the realism of being able to walk about a pretty accurate version of a U-boat in SH 5. The game is full of bugs and, as one thing led to the next, together with the home confinement due to the virus (I live in California, USA), I found my way to Subsim. It's going to be a hard and arduous way uphill but a modded SH 5 could simply be the best submarine game around so I think it's worth a go.
In SH 5 I am Hans Trembel (which is a bastardization of my last name), commander of U-28. In SH 3 I am Kurt Yogurt, commander of U-98. SH III is unfolding nicely, I am on my 6th patrol now and acquiring a better and more experienced crew. I also gave myself a promotion to Oberleutnant and have been awarded both First and Second Class Iron Cross. Not bad considering that on my first patrol I sank 1800 tons, and using the deck gun because I couldn't have torpedoed an island at 800 m at that point!
SH 5 is not so rosy but it's engaging enough to keep me coming back. The whole game interface is horrible and I wish they had kept the buttons, displays, and gauges from SH 3. I think some of the mods have brought those displays back in SH 5, which should help. I like the fact that in SH 5 you're only dealing with 11 of your crew, and they don't become tired and require replacement at the most critical time in the game! But having to physically get myself to the deck gun in order to fire...what happened to 'fire at will'? My first mission in SH 5 went great.....after a lot of re-starts, that is. I managed to sink 35,000 tons and made it back to Kiel with my hull at 28% integrity just to find out that I can't finish the mission and advance in the game. I discovered 'silent otto' and can go ahead and play all the missions but knowing that your captain and crew are not going to change from mission to mission is a killjoy for me.
Don't worry mate, you'll say, the mods will fix all that for you. Yes, one would hope. For what are we without hope. So I went ahead and downloaded JSGME and 7zip, which allows me to open up the file. Great, there's the file with all the mods, next step. Well, I don't think there's a directory for the games on my computer! I downloaded SH III from Amazon, and it left a shortcut on my desktop that looks like a blank page. Weird, but it plays the game no problem. However, I can't find anything relating to SH III on my hard drive! I got SH 5 from Steam with a proper shortcut (meaning there's an image) but it won't play the game. I can only play SH 5 through Uplay. The only thing I can find on my computer relating to SH is a folder titled 'Ubisoft' in my Program Files. I've attached a photo of what the meny looks like when you open it.
So my question is can I use mods at all under the present circumstances? I've been looking around for an actual disk of the game so I can have a physical location for it on my computer, but might as well be looking for an authentic Paleolithic stone ax. I can keep playing SH 5 as is, and/or go back to playing SH 3 neither of which is fully satisfactory. Any suggestions are much welcome. Stay healthy in those claustrophobic tin cans of yours as much as you can, and good hunting!