why do you like sh3 so much

[flag4]

hi hunters

i was wondering why i like sh3 so much - as i was getting battered the other night off the north west coast of ireland.
i felt, what i only can describe as, real concern for my virtual crew. does this make sense or am i, as my friend described me, a sad bast*%#
i dont know and care even less. and yet there it was - real concern for a virtual fictional crew .

i have read over the years plenty on the u-boat war, watched doco's on telly, dvd's too bought and borrowed. recorded things from the radio and telly, followed websites, watched, the other night, 'u-boots westwards' on google. not forgetting the unputdownable 'shadow divers.'
i supose with hindsight, the war in the atlantic was doomed from the begining - even with the patriotic cammoraderie of the crews and those who helped them. i dont think they really stood a chance. clay blairs two volume history expalins that very well.

so, for me, maybe something of the doomed heroism these men displayed - the enevitable tragedy of it all: they didnt really get the support they deserved.
but all this still does'nt expalin why i like it so much.
it takes hours and days to play, it gives me a bad back, i squint at the screen to see, i lean in to the hydrophones to listen at "All Stop."
i ignore callls of "dont forget to bring the washing in when it rains !!"
" can i have some help in the kitchen ?"
" your children are on the road !!"

it goes on.
i'm still not that good at it. can't do manual mapping and torpedo's and stuff, take risks when i'm tired and get blown to hell, drink too much coffee on a sunday when it's an 'all-dayer'
dont have a shower 'till 4 in the afternoon.....

it goes on.

so, i was just wondering what it ist like for others, who are quietly obsessed...

any thoughts are welcome

flag4

[Iron Budokan]

It's the immersion and the gameplay for me that keeps this one front and center.

[Slang]

I suppose its for the realism and the challenge that it brings. Achieving goals and doing things the way they were really done in real life. I've never been too big on any game that wasn't at least based in reality.

Now with all the mods out SH3 can really shine.

I think alot of people feel that SH3 simulates them being the captain of the boat and thats it. I tend to think that it lets me simulate being a whole bunch of different crew members on the U-boat. I can play as the deck gun crew, the AA gunner, the weapons officer, and hydrophone operator. Just the other day I finally got around to modding my game files so I can't see my boat on the nav chart. Now I get to play as the navigator too. Figuring out were we are and having a margin of error increases the challenge even more.

I think everybody should play SH3 in the way that brings the most enjoyment for them. But for me a successful 30k ton patrol on high realism is much more satisfying than a 90k ton patrol on arcade settings.

Thats why I like SH3.

[Sailor Steve]

I grew up in the 1950s, when the war was still fresh in everybody's minds. I saw the movies and read the books, and played the board games from an early age.

I've loved WW2 subsims from the beginning. I don't care what country it is, I just like the boats. Played Silent Service, Aces Of the Deep and Silent Hunter. For me SH3 is only better than its predecessors in one respect: the immersion. Having a 3D interior and crew surrounding me makes it feel more real, otherwise I'd just stick to the old sims. Oh, and having new, realistic looking ships come along all the time doesn't hurt, either.

[Bismarck]

I just keep trying to look after my virtual crew. If one sailor dies i am grieved.

[STEED]

You tell me.

[Chock]

I think there are a lot of reasons. I like all sub sims, but the German subs of WW2 are a particular interest, as are Cold War Russian subs, so I think that might mean that, like in movies, I find the 'bad guys' more interesting (that's not meant to be an insult to Russians by the way, or Germans for that matter, I just mean in terms of having grown up in the post WW2 Cold War and having that point of view rammed down my throat for years).

Also like in the movies, the bad guys tend to have all the cool looking stuff, and ironically enough, that seems to be the case with both the Germans and the Russians. I think the German WW2 subs just look a lot better and had some more interesting weaponry and defensive conceptual stuff such as radar absorbent covering material and programmable torpedoes etc.

That goes for the land forces and air forces too - a Spitfire is a pretty aeroplane, but a Ju-87 Stuka looks like it would kick your dog to death and laugh afterwards, it looks like a warplane with its angular shape and jagged camouflage. The Tiger and Panther tanks had all that anti-magnetic zimmerit paste on them and interesting paint schemes in comparison to allied stuff with a quick spray of olive drab. That's the case with Russian subs too, I mean we all know the LA Class sub is great, but the Akula and Alpha look a lot more groovy and mean.

Compare it to a sci-fi concept if you like, the X-Wing is okay, but the TIE fighter looks waaaay cooler and has that mean howl, not unlike a Stuka's siren (incidentally fact fans, the TIE fighter noise is in fact an elephant 's call slowed down and messed about with).

I like the bad guy's stuff.

Chock

[Samwolf]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

I grew up in the 1950s, when the war was still fresh in everybody's minds. I saw the movies and read the books, and played the board games from an early age.

OMG!! We're living parallel lives!! Did you build models too?

[von hally]

well, well ,well

its good to know there are other sad b****** out there just like me !!

ive played many wwII games on the pc....but nothing like this!
i too know the feeling of the sore back, eyes and eventually ears (as my girlfriend reminds me ive been here for the last four hours) but man its worth it. theres no other game that keeps me coming back for more than silent hunter....i know that illusion is the key ingredient in any sim but i have to admit that i fall for it in sh3....that swaying ocean around my boat really gives me the felling of a mutch larger world, while i know in reality im fast forwarding time till a contact is made and i let it pass my scope and attack, but its everything else that goes with it thats amazing...the growing realisation that the game was deeper than i ever imagined possible was brilliant..even in stock sh3....i happened to give my sonar man a radio qualification and seen his efficiency treble!!!. that among other things is when i began to notice how very good this sim was... this was before i even knew about this great community here and the supreme grey wolves mod, which by the way has opened up a whole new game for me....just as i was getting a little tired of stock sh3. i too dont use the manuall targeting option, but i know when i do eventually get round to learning it...a whole new chapter in sh3 will begin...it doesnt get any better than this!!
i myself cant find the same passion for sh4 ( i havent bought it)....maybe as u said, its the doomed heroism, the eventual historic outcome of this conflict and the knowlege ure ze enemy that keeps me inthralled!
basically i could go on all day...but probably wont find the words to exactly encapture the reason sh3 will be running silent and deep on my pc for a long time yet
p.s big thanx to all the guys who add these mods, there work is amazing!!1

[Rykaird]

For me, SH3 isn't a sub sim, it's an RPG.

From the photo I use in SH3 Commander, to knowing the names of my crewmen, to swearing "Verdamnt!" under my breath when a wave goes over the periscope right when I'm going to shoot, the immersive elements of the game make playing SH3 as an RPG very easy.

That's why I like the Captain's Cabin - I lay there at 128TC, listening to old German music from the 30's and 40's on the grammophone, waiting for my sonarman to shout out a contact. It just feels right.

And as in any RPG, the character you play must be interesting. And what could be more fun than RPing a U-Boat Captain? You know you're doomed, you and your crew are mostly likely going to die, your leaders are madmen - but you're a soldier, your homeland is being bombed to bits, and so you carry on, despite the horror, the death, the stink, the fear.

It is this last element - the U-Boat skipper element of the RPG - that keeps me in SH3 and not in SH4. Nothing wrong with that game, and this isn't a comment on the valour or contribution of real US skippers, but for me a U-boat captain is just more interesting to roleplay. Probably the doom factor, plus the shades of grey in the morality.

[Jimbuna]

SH3 (with GWX) of course, is the best sub sim I've played

I hope I can say that of SH4 as well in the not too distant future

[U49]

I can still remember the day of Red storm rising on my C64.... fascinating... I spend whole days in fromt of it.... yeees....
Ans suddenly I had this feeling with Aces of the deep , whow!
And now I have SH3

Is it the mercyless cold stormy brutal dark ..blabla..polemic...blabla north atlantic?

The storyline, the atmosphere and the point that it is new, everytime I play it,...maybe that are the fascinating items.

See my signature for my favorite add-ons to make it more entertaining

[Torplexed]

Why do I like Sh3....or 4 for that matter?

Because this was the state of the art subsim I grew up with as a kid. Getting DCed by your kid sister makes frame rate issues seem like a trival pusuit. :p

[Rykaird]

Originally Posted by Torplexed

Why do I like Sh3....or 4 for that matter?

Because this was the state of the art subsim I grew up with as a kid. Getting DCed by your kid sister makes frame rate issues seem like a trival pusuit. :p

Oh, man, I had forgotten all about this game. I had it also. Thanks for reviving those long lost, martini soaked brain cells.

[Torplexed]

Originally Posted by Rykaird

Oh, man, I had forgotten all about this game. I had it also. Thanks for reviving those long lost, martini soaked brain cells.

I think what I hated most about that game most was that yellow plastic spinner shaped like a torpedo that you used to determine hits. It always missed. Musta been based on the USN Mark 14 circa 1942.