Finally Ready To Play!

[Sailor Steve]

Well, I've been un-homeless and using my own computer for almost eight months now, and I still haven't played a game. I bought Sid Meier's Pirates and ran through it a few times; I've been working on a couple of projects of my own; I've been working on my own non-mod day and night; and I've been slowly building my personal setup to get the game I wanted to play.

I've played single scenarios and tested mods. I've sailed out of Kiel and Wilhelmshaven more times than I care to remember. I've sunk more ships in the 'Happy Times' scenario than I think they had ships. I've had crashes that had me going back to square one and starting over from scratch.

And now I'm ready.

I'm certainly no newcomer to SH3. I played Silent Service back in the day, Aces Of The Deep and Silent Hunter and had a ball with SHII and Destroyer Command multiplayer. And I've played SH3 for more than a year until I had to move out. Now I've got my mods adjusted to my liking.

First, I loaded GWX. Why GWX? Not because I think it is the be-all, end-all of SHIII gaming, or because I think it's "SHIII as it should have been!" I don't think those things. Every mod and every supermod has its selling points, and without the source code we can never fix some of the most glaring problems. And, there are things about every supermod that I don't like. But GWX is still the most intense version graphically, and for me it's not the eye-candy, but rather the feel. The visuals put me back in the harbors and back on the seas, and I like the travelling part.

So, I loaded up GWX 2.1, the 16km, the enhanced damage effects and the minor fixes. I loaded up AIL's Small Moon and Das Boot Officer Icons mods.



I loaded up the Assisted Plotting mod. Maybe twenty ships in the harbor and the only one showing is the one I locked onto and identified. And the Clean Nav Map.



I loaded up the Das Boot Clothes Mod.





I loaded up the Das Boot Sound Mod. Can't show a picture, obviously, but I like the fact that is sounds less stilted and 'automatic' than anything else. At least for me.

I loaded up English To German Names, by Phoenix3000. it doesn't show up in my screenshots because some other stuff I installed overwrote it and I haven't gone back and fixed it yet. But I will.

I loaded up Sergbuto's Free Cam mod.





I loaded up the Kiel Canal Locks mod, by Nautilus42.



I loaded up Lifeboats and Debris, by Rubini. The new version, with rowers.



I loaded up No Medals or Rank On Crew, by Dertien.

I loaded up the Open Hatch Mod on All Types, by Diving Duck.

I loaded up Port People, by Pascal. It puts pretty print dresses on the nurses, among other things.



I loaded up Radiolog Expanded, by IrishRed and Danurve, with some modifications of my own.

I loaded up Water Streams, by Rubini.