What's so great?

[sergei]

Don't get me wrong.
I like flashy graphics as much as the next guy.

But the thing that will keep me playing a game, is the gameplay experience.

Which is not something you can easily judge from a quick video.

[flag4]

Originally Posted by ERPP8

I don't see why people love SHIII soooooo much.


The bad graphics and simplicity make it seem pretty boring.

for me, it isnt just the game. i like to go to the books, the history, the photographs - documentaries: but it is the books that do it for me. to read about the people who fought and died. the convoys of merchantmen the u boats and crews - their stories. THEN, i come to the game and immerse myself in the history a little more and its CHUFFIN' brilliant

SH5 can wait. i dont have the money to upgrade anyhow. and also there are some quite beautifull mods out there for SH3. they are simply brilliant pieces of work. Hell, i was reading about Carl Zeiss Lens's the other day, thanks to HITMANS optical mod-periscopethingy.

all the time and effort these Kaleuns put into their mods - they are artists!!!

so, if you cant find something of interest in SH3-World, then i guess it aint for you. but if you look below the surface there is a lot.

[tomfon]

Originally Posted by ERPP8

I've never played it, that's why I'm asking.

[STEED]

The GWX team made a good game into a bloody great game and for that I am pleased to play SH3, well done guys.

[Fozzy22]

Silent Hunter 3
http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/sim/silent...tabs%3Breviews
8.9/10
The Good

• Beautiful to behold
• Simulation elements complement gameplay
• Compelling dynamic campaign
• Packed with detail
• More games need a gramophone.

The Bad

• Higher resolutions would be nice
• Where are the wolf packs?
• Save-game system is annoying.

Silent Hunter 5 (Consider this is 4-5ish years after SH3)
http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/sim/silent...tabs%3Breviews
5.0/10

The Good (not a long list is it?)

• Deep, immersive sub sim (really?)
• Tense combat that can really suck you in. (If the aircraft or destroyers can be bothered as the AI is so bad)

The Bad (Note this list pretty much includes the core of the game)

• Packed with bugs and design flaws
• Worthless in-game tutorial and manual
• Sub captain interface is bothersome and tedious
• Performance hog that drags even the best systems to low frame rates
• Getting into online games is a significant challenge.

.....I rest my case!

[Platapus]

Originally Posted by ERPP8

I've never played it, that's why I'm asking.

Well we like SH3 because we have played it.

I can understand that if you have never played SH3, you don't have any experiences to base your opinion on.

SH3 is not for everyone. Especially on the harder realism settings.

I don't even think SH3 and SH5 are in competition with each other. There are so many differences between the game, one should not have to choose between them.

[KL-alfman]

Originally Posted by ERPP8

To me SHIII seems boring, SHIV WAS boring and SHV is the best game ever made!!!

if this is your opinion, I'm alright with it.
but don't expect too many people agreeing with you.

funny thing is, in the SH5-board many people refuse to compare SH5 with SH3 because "it seems unfair because SH3 has 5years of modding in it".

so pls tell me, ERPP, do you really like to get anwers or did you just stop here to provoke?


edit: congrats, Platapus, for your 5000th!!!!

[ERPP8]

Originally Posted by Fozzy22

Silent Hunter 3
http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/sim/silent...tabs%3Breviews
8.9/10
The Good

• Beautiful to behold
• Simulation elements complement gameplay
• Compelling dynamic campaign
• Packed with detail
• More games need a gramophone.

The Bad

• Higher resolutions would be nice
• Where are the wolf packs?
• Save-game system is annoying.

Silent Hunter 5 (Consider this is 4-5ish years after SH3)
http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/sim/silent...tabs%3Breviews
5.0/10

The Good (not a long list is it?)

• Deep, immersive sub sim (really?)
• Tense combat that can really suck you in. (If the aircraft or destroyers can be bothered as the AI is so bad)

The Bad (Note this list pretty much includes the core of the game)

• Packed with bugs and design flaws
• Worthless in-game tutorial and manual
• Sub captain interface is bothersome and tedious
• Performance hog that drags even the best systems to low frame rates
• Getting into online games is a significant challenge.

.....I rest my case!

I respect your opinion but here's my list


SHV
The good:
Addicting campaign
Great graphics
Amazing realism
Gets me to really understand what's happening unlike SHIV


The bad:
Several bugs but most are minor
Few U-Boat Models
Low (but avoidable) framerate

[Platapus]

Originally Posted by KL-alfman

i
edit: congrats, Platapus, for your 5000th!!!!

Holy crap! That's a lot of posts saying practically nothing!!

Ok, so now I have 5,000 posts, when do the chicks start likin me?

[ERPP8]

Originally Posted by KL-alfman

if this is your opinion, I'm alright with it.
but don't expect too many people agreeing with you.

funny thing is, in the SH5-board many people refuse to compare SH5 with SH3 because "it seems unfair because SH3 has 5years of modding in it".

so pls tell me, ERPP, do you really like to get anwers or did you just stop here to provoke?


edit: congrats, Platapus, for your 5000th!!!!

A little of both.

But what I'm seeing it that all people are doing is commenting on my opinion.
Nobody is giving a straight answer.

[Fozzy22]

Originally Posted by ERPP8

I respect your opinion but here's my list


SHV
The good:
Addicting campaign
Great graphics
Amazing realism
Gets me to really understand what's happening unlike SHIV


The bad:
Several bugs but most are minor
Few U-Boat Models
Low (but avoidable) framerate

Fair doo's. I do think SH5 has a lot of potential and I know the modders are hard at work and they can really work their magic. I own SH5 so in time will go back to see how they have made it playable. I also agree with the above comments about SH3 having many years of mods to make it even better so a comparison right now is certainly difficult. I'm going on it's state on release more than anything.

For me SH3 is a bit more realistic to how U-boat combat was and the dynamic campaign is more engaging. I never did understand why 5 went with "sink this many ships" to progress the story.

[KL-alfman]

Originally Posted by ERPP8

A little of both.

But what I'm seeing it that all people are doing is commenting on my opinion.
Nobody is giving a straight answer.

stock SH3: played the game for over a year, only then I found out of SubSim and mods and more
stock SH5: hasn't even a compass

nuff said?

[Exakt]

Here is my opinion:

SH3 is better than the current state that SH5 is;

Good points
SH3:
-Full war, 1939 to 1945
-A whole selection of boats.
-Far more mods right now available (such GWX3, which is a must have).
-Stock, SH3 feels more real than SH5
-"True" dynamic campaign.
-Even with a 5 yrs old engine, graphics are still on part of some newer titles (except for the stock resolution)
-Can work on almost any PC (I recently had to revert to an ATI X1650Pro and it can run this game with GWX with hardly a stutter).
-Digital copies without StarForce or other dreadful DRM.
-Good tutorials.

SH5:
-Nice graphic
-Able to walk the entire boat.

Now the bad:
SH3:
-Stock has bugs (most of them corrected with mods)
-If you have an original DVD, (just like me) you have to deal with StarForce, which can be circumvated.
-Graphics are starting to show their age.
-No Wolfpacks.

SH5:
-Interface is cumbersome and non-intuitive.
-Have to practically walk to each station to do something.
-Awful implementation of RPG-style gameplay
-A resource hog even on my previous video card.
-Awful DRM.
-Lots of bugs (such as if you encounter a friendly sub, their torpedoes will just get out of the sub and then sink to the bottom).
-Still no Wolfpacks.
-Campaign ends before the end of the war (watch for an expansion I'm sure).
-Useless tutorial.
-Limited to a boat (the VII series).
-AI is clueless.

Personally, I gave up on SH5 for all the bad points I have stated above.
SH3 is still keeping me hooked.

And just to tell you my story with SH3, I bought it about 4 years ago, installed it, played for about 20 mins and then shelved it for about 3.5 years. Reinstalled earlier this year (or late last year, can't really remember the exaKt date) and now I am deeply "committed" to it. The last few games that got me hook like this were the Pre-Vegas Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon (the first one plus its expansions, not the GRAW stuff), Dawn of War and its expansions and FreeSpace 2 (which the SDK has been released about a decade ago and now it could compete with a lot of space sim games of today).

[krashkart]

I think the main reason why there are so many SH3 fans is because of the maturity of the mods that have been released for it. It's like a good stew: tastes better after it's been in the fridge overnight because the flavors have had time to develop.

My personal take on SH3, primarily, is that it will actually run on the machine I own. SHIV's requirements would probably give me some serious migraines, and SHV? Forget it - there's no way my system could handle it.

Eye Candy rates at the bottom of my list, and seems to be all that SH5 offers, so it's SH3 for me.

PS
I love my IXB!
And the possability of the whole war.