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?