If GWX had been the original release of SH3...

[Caseck]

Can you imagine how well that game would have sold?

That struck me today while I was downloading 1.03 in anticipation for 1.04...

Can you imagine?

Sorry, just occurred to me.

[onelifecrisis]

GWX pushes up the required specs so that even the most bleeding edge machine at the time SH3 came out (which is exactly what I had and I've not upgraded since then) has a little trouble running it. I'm not trying to belittle GWX in any way at all, I'm just defending SH3 when I say that all games can be made better (in many cases with very little effort - again, a general comment, not one on GWX) if you up the system spec requirements.

My two cents.

[TheDarkWraith]

if that had happened then there would have been no fun in modding it.

[danlisa]

Originally Posted by onelifecrisis

GWX pushes up the required specs so that even the most bleeding edge machine at the time SH3 came out (which is exactly what I had and I've not upgraded since then) has a little trouble running it.

Actually, GWX is playable with SH3's original recommened requirements. It's been the main driving force of GWX to keep the game playable for people who only meet this requirement.

However, I suspect that if, during the developement of GWX, the Devs decided to keep the original file structures & formats, GWX would indeed be unplayable on the recommened specs.

[Venatore]

I dare say the GXW crew still would have gone deep into the catacombs to produce an elite package.

That GWX crew have set and maintained the standard. I can only stand in their shadow in awe and I salute them.

To put it simply they are the Jedi Sith Lord Modders and I am but a Padawan Modder.

The Venatore

[lutzow]

Originally Posted by Venatore

I dare say the GXW crew still would have gone deep into the catacombs to produce an elite package.

That GWX crew have set and maintained the standard. I can only stand in their shadow in awe and I salute them.

To put it simply they are the Jedi Sith Lord Modders and I am but a Padawan Modder.

The Venatore

And the POWER is incredibly strong in you.

[Herr_Pete]

Hey! i have a problem witht he grew wolves super mod. Silent hunter crashed when i try pass scapa flow or Dover everythin is properly installed! its fully patched.! i have no idea what wrong with it! i hae tried several thngs tht have been suggested but nothing has worked! any more suggestion would be appreciated! cheers

[Kaleu. Jochen Mohr]

you got GWX 1.03 ? :hmm:

[Herr_Pete]

lol, jst 1.1a gw! was tht a common problem or something? cood u possibly give me links to upgrades from 1.1a

[danlisa]

Originally Posted by Herr_Pete

lol, jst 1.1a gw! was tht a common problem or something? cood u possibly give me links to upgrades from 1.1a

See your other thread.

[Kpt. Lehmann]

Originally Posted by danlisa

Actually, GWX is playable with SH3's original recommened requirements. It's been the main driving force of GWX to keep the game playable for people who only meet this requirement.

However, I suspect that if, during the developement of GWX, the Devs decided to keep the original file structures & formats, GWX would indeed be unplayable on the recommened specs.

I think people often confuse loading time with "system requirement."

[onelifecrisis]

Originally Posted by Kpt. Lehmann

With the recomended requirements, yes. Not with the minumum. Rather than relate my own experiences, allow me to quote the GWX 1.03 Manual:

The Grey Wolves Expansion (GWX) team suggests your computer meet the recommended system configuration requirements for Silent Hunter III, and that you use the Silent Hunter III Detection Tool to determine whether your system meets these requirements. We have found that running with less than the recommended configuration can result in choppiness and low frame rates (frames per second), and can occasionally result in freezing or locking up your game.

Throw in the 16km mod (a requirement IMHO to fix the blind crew problem) and... well... shall I quote the manual again? I doubt I need to.

I think people often confuse loading time with "system requirement."

Please, give me a little credit... I'm a software developer myself.

As I already stated, I was stepping to the defense of SH3, not the attack of GWX.

[onelifecrisis]

I feel compelled to write more, as I feel I'm being misunderstood here.

As I said, I'm a software developer myself, and I know the restraints and pressures of developing in a money-driven industry (as opposed to modding for free). It seems to me that SH3 had a lot of love and effort put into it by its developers, and a little reading on the history of its development suggests that its shortcomings are attributable to money-motivated pressures i.e. difficult deadlines, which (thrown on top of all the other problems game developers have to deal with - such as getting the system specs right) resulted in a slightly unfinished game. The GWX developers, to their credit, have made GWX completely free, which is awesome! But it also means they do it as they want, when they want, and how they want. I'm inclined to believe that if the original SH3 developers had been given a similar amount of freedom then the end result would have been every bit as magnificent as GWX is today.

[Kpt. Lehmann]

Crimeny, my comment wasn't an attempt to single you out, onelifecrisis.

"Minimum" specs barely run SH3 to begin with. IMHO, maybe the SH3 devs should have posted the "recommended" specs as minimum to begin with.

The loading times in GWX are long, yes... due to what appears to be some sort of engine-based data transfer bottleneck. However, once it is loaded up, all is well... assuming you have the recommended specs.

Heck, I don't have a "bleeding leading edge" setup... same goes for much of the dev team and our testers. Besides, eventually PC's get upgraded by users anyway as a matter of course. Hardware fails and is replaced.

Any concern over system specs will decrease as time goes on.

Regarding the 16km sensor fix that you refer to... the need for it is questionable at best. It was constructed based on a strong opinon. (An opinion I respect, but do not subscribe to.)

SH3 running at high TC, has detection problems concerning all units both enemy and friendly. The fix you refer to primarily quickens the sweep times of various sensors and REINTRODUCES the vampire night vision bug, and causes more than one anomaly. There are equally strong opinions on both sides of the fence.
However, I can say definitively, that NOT using the fix you refer to... does not cause anything worse to happen than is already present as a problem in SH3.

[JU_88]

Originally Posted by Kpt. Lehmann

I think people often confuse loading time with "system requirement."

The Kpt is spot on! There are Some poeple who do get mixed up here.

Over stock, the only real toll on CPU/RAM/GFXcard in GWX is some larger convoys and harbour traffic. The busier campaign files make some difference to this too but not as much as you'd think!

The quanity of units and the much larger campaign files mostly effect loading times, which will take more or less the same amount time to load up on ANY spec providing the hard drive is a bog standard 7200rpm sata.
If you use Raid 0, 10k rpm Raptor drives or have some other fancy setup you will have better loading times, Cpu and Ram will make very little (if any) difference to this.

Encountering a convoy with the 16km mod enabled will hit your PC in the balls if you have much less than 1GB Ram and a GeForce 6600GT /6800.