State of SH 5

[Bubblehead1980]

Hello all.

Always been a fleet boat guy , love the PTO. However, interested u boats(always have been) and I have had a copy of SH 5 for years, never ran it but few times and was disappointed, very disappointed. . Been a while, just wondering what would say is the state of SH 5? Excellent now that have mods? Thinking about loading it up. Suggestions?

[GrenSo]

Hi Bubblehead1980


if you want to give SH5 a new chance, then with the mod The Wolves of Steel you can find here https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/dow...o=file&id=4861

[kapuhy]

SH5 with TWoS mod installed is a stable and very enjoyable game to play. Whether is better or worse than modded SH3 is ultimately personal preference (each game has its stronger anw weaker points), but it certainly is worth giving a try.

As for the theatre of operations, playing for the "bad guys" has (for me) better difficulty progression curve - in a game, you want to have easiest part in the beginning, then as you gain experience with the game and learn new tricks, the game should ideally ramp up the challenge to keep you interested. If one wants to keep his game historically accurate (and mods tend to), this fits Atlantic theatre situation very well, with game becoming progressively more and more difficult until even returning alive to port is an achievement. In the Pacific, it's the other way around - the beginning is hardest with faulty torpedoes, obsolete S-class boats and Japanese air and naval superiority, and late part of the game when Japanese naval power has eroded over time is actually easier.

[Bubblehead1980]

Originally Posted by GrenSo

Hi Bubblehead1980


if you want to give SH5 a new chance, then with the mod The Wolves of Steel you can find here https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/dow...o=file&id=4861

Thank you for the suggestion. Will check it out.

[Bubblehead1980]

Originally Posted by kapuhy

SH5 with TWoS mod installed is a stable and very enjoyable game to play. Whether is better or worse than modded SH3 is ultimately personal preference (each game has its stronger anw weaker points), but it certainly is worth giving a try.

As for the theatre of operations, playing for the "bad guys" has (for me) better difficulty progression curve - in a game, you want to have easiest part in the beginning, then as you gain experience with the game and learn new tricks, the game should ideally ramp up the challenge to keep you interested. If one wants to keep his game historically accurate (and mods tend to), this fits Atlantic theatre situation very well, with game becoming progressively more and more difficult until even returning alive to port is an achievement. In the Pacific, it's the other way around - the beginning is hardest with faulty torpedoes, obsolete S-class boats and Japanese air and naval superiority, and late part of the game when Japanese naval power has eroded over time is actually easier.

I have my SH 4 install (TMO mod with various custom mods, revised traffic) fitted to a pretty historically accurate(within parameters of SH 4) sim. Start of war is difficult, primarily due to faulty torpedoes lack of radar until mid 1942, but is easier in some ways. Run into a lot unescorted traffic first year or so of war. Allied subs in PTO faced increasingly better ASW as war went on(hence more losses in later years) and more powerful depth charges(but never something like Hedgehog) but Japanese never fully got their act together on ASW. In my install, when they fully institute convoy system in 44 and 45, have better sonar, dedicated ASW vessels, radar equipped escorts(then again, radar was never quality as as Allied, so can still get away with a lot) so no cake walk. In real life, US lost a lot of their boats in later years due to all around improved ASW effort of Japanese, but again was never on par with Allies.

U boat experience, happy time for a large part of war then in face of highly competent ASW doctrine, struggled to survive.

I don't see running uboats as playing "the bad guys", , they were just regular people doing their duty. I believe the challenge of uboats, especially as wade into 1943 when Allied ASW began to turn the tide, will be interesting. I was really disappointed in Sh 5 when came out but was with SH 4 as well and the community have made it an excellent sim. I assume same has occurred for Uboats. Thanks for response, sure I will post as I begin patrols in ATO.