A farewell salute to SH3

[Ducimus]

As i sit here, contemplating to rush out to the store again and see if a copy of that other sub sim is in; and knowing myself, once i have it in my hands, i won't look any other direction. So i thought maybe it was time i give a little credit to where it was due, and Silent Hunter 3 as a game, and as community, certainly deserves alot of praise.

Now, playing games on PC's has been a hobby of mine for many years. Rarely does a single game hold my interest for more then a month or three. Not so with Silent Hunter 3. It has held my intrest (admittidly off and on) since.. well.. ive honestly lost count of the time. Im guessing i picked it up, about 1 patch later after its initial release.

I think one of my favorite memories of SH3, was before i learned much about it. Trying to sneak into scapa flow in a type VIIB in 1940, on a clear calm day. And later wondering how in the hell that destroy found me. Needless to say it wasnt a pretty moment, more of a "WTF?!" moment. But memorable none the less. I think it sticks in my mind, because of how little i understood back then.

Then i discovered the mods for this game, and if i had any addiction before that point, it was magnfied 10fold. SH3 by itself was a great sub game. Not perfect, but damn better then anything that i ever saw before it. Flashbacks of Aces of the deep, only better danced through my head. But all the mods for sh3, it only got better.

The mod community, as an entity, as a commnity, deserves the upmost praise. It has not only fixed the quirks of SH3 that were left by ubi, but perhaps even modernized the game to make SH3 last a bit longer then some of us would have played. For proof of this, all one has to do is look at a screenshot of stock, and then one of the latest supermod with all the extra's. The difference is like night and day.

Silent hunter 3, was also something that, got me off an MMO addiction. And im sure anyone who's played MMO's knows what im talking about. But more then that, Silent hunter 3 became a history lesson. The more i played, the more i wanted to know, "what really happened out there?" , "what was it really like?", "who were these men?". To that end, along the way from then and now, i ended up devouring all the scraps of information i could find about individual uboats, their captains, the triumphs and their tragety's. I read about Gunther Prien, about Eitel Kentrat, Fritz Steinhoff, and a number of others. Not to mention a handful of books written by the men who were there. In the end i developed a sense of admiration for the dedication and preserverance of the men who were there. And when i see pictures of a modern german sub commander donning his white peak capped, i beleive i see the signficance, and understand the history, and the honor it must be to wear that hat - to carry on the traditions that, that mans forebearors have layed before him. Quite signficiant indeed.

So, in the end, i must say, that Silent hunter 3 has been one helluva ride, it deserves all the praises one could bestow upon it; and i know it will be here for a long time to come, and rightfully so.

[NipplesTheCat]

I feel so left behind.

[Dowly]

I keep one seat reserved for you at the SHIV forums.

[NipplesTheCat]

Im going to have to just spend the $50 to try the game....and a new PCIe video card...and a board that has a PCIe slot...and a new processor for that board....and some ram....and a new power supply to replace my proprietary one....and a new case to put the non dell componets into.

[GoldenRivet]

well said.

Though i have had an interest in naval sims for quite some time, SH3 is what really inspired me to read books like

Shadow Divers
Torpedo Junction
Steel Boat Iron Hearts

[NipplesTheCat]

We all know your preferred boat type in SH3. Figured out what your new baby is going to be in SH4?

[Aimbot]

SHIII got me into sub sims. Can't say enough about it. SHIV is installing though, so I doubt I'll play it for a while.

[Keelbuster]

Wait - does this mean you're getting SHIV, or quitting subsims altogether? I missed that. Hopefully the former, eh, afficienado?

[Sailor Steve]

I'm an American boat addict, I admit, but that's mainly the fault of the original Silent Hunter. I'm sure I will love SH4, but I intend to keep playing SH3 as well until its replacement comes along. I hope that's soon, because I'd love to see the new effects applied to my favorite u-boat sim, but I'll keep playing this one until that day.

So, no farewells for me.

[Dowly]

Originally Posted by Keelbuster

Wait - does this mean you're getting SHIV, or quitting subsims altogether? I missed that. Hopefully the former, eh, afficienado?

As i sit here, contemplating to rush out to the store again and see if a copy of that other sub sim is in; and knowing myself, once i have it in my hands, i won't look any other direction.

Changing to SHIV.

[stabiz]

I have finally fixed what stopped me from playing SH4. (it turned out to be a dual core issue)

So now I am leaving you guys too. I am off to learn what the Yanks were up to in the Pacific.

Kind of sad, but I knew it would happen.

Initially I was really mad when I tried SH4, but then I remembered that SH3 was my first subsim, and that I didnt know what to be annoyed about when I first started. That way I was following the gradual improvements until it became the gem it is now with GWX. Because of this SH4 seems VERY unfinished. (You are right, Duci, and I was upset and not thinking clearly. Sorry)

Now I look forward to follow SH4 and see how far it will go.

(This doesnt mean I will stop dead, I am still curious to see whats gonna happen tp this greatest of all games, and the u-boats are clearly cooler than the submarines anyway. But SH4 has a more interesting dynamic campaign, and other immersive strong points. The only really bad thing is the washed out graphics)

PS: I hope rob and the others keep the video-thread alive!

[bookworm_020]

I'm going to keep playing both. SH4 may get more of a work out in the near future, but I'll still play SH3, as it's still the best Atlantic sub game around, when you add GWX!!

Thanks to all the modders and hope to see more of your work in the near future.

[P_Funk]

Oh gosh I'm getting all choked up.

Its so weird to think that I've not barely gone into SH3 as far as some of us, like our beloved retiree here, but there are already people moving on. I know its only a game and this loose association we have that we call a community is hardly worth anything compared to our so called real lives (as if, HA!). But still I feel a bit of ennui now. First its Ducimus, now stabiz, who next? Slowly the SH3 ranks will thin and the SH4 boards will be bursting with noobs being corralled by the same fellows that bellowed the same silly nonsense back when they were the noobs. I know that its not like you're all moving to another country. Hell you're 2 clicks away. But SH3 won't be quite the same. Call it silly sentimentality. This is the best online community I've ever been in. I've tried a few out. Midtown Madness was a real mess by the end. And I hit up Total Annihilation way too late. Naw SH3 is the first game I ever saw through its cycle and was a part of. Of course I didn't really do much other than make stupid remarks at the REAL modders. Though I once made a slight, barely significant mod that I never released cause my computer crashed before I had a backup (that pissed me off). But still I've enjoyed being here. Hell I was a beta tester for GWX. Never been one of them before. That was the best part really. That a guy with basically no qualifications compared to some guys could get in on the ground floor of that!

So whats my point? No, its not that I'm going to cry. Its that this silly little end of cyber space means a strange something to me and I'll miss it when it truly changes.

Alright! NOBODY MOVE! That means you Ducimus. Same with you Stabiz. Before you ship out to the Pacific for semi-good, lets all have one great big SH3 bear hug while we're all still here!

[Ducimus]

Honestly i would keep playing both, but i have absoutly played SH3 into the ground. Theres a certain level of magic that for me is gone, and won't ever return. Maybe its because im all to familiar with how the game works. Maybe i spent too much time tweaking it. I dunno. But There just comes a time when its time to say, "You know its awesome, but ive done it enough times now" and move on to something new.

Im excited to see a new subsim. Im excited to revist my first interest in Sub sims (gato), and im excited to see what sort of mods can be made for it.

ON a side note, damn stores still don't have it, bah

On another side note, while ive visited the USS Drum (a us fleet boat), sometime in my life, i MUST visit U-505, and im taking my copy of "Steel boat, Iron hearts", and a digital camera with me when i do.

[poor sailor]

What will be with your mods for GWX when new updates come?