Thank you, Ijnfleetadmiral!
OK, I'll tell you a bit about my SH5 experiences. Silent Hunter 5 is the first subsim I've got into. Up until now, I've always been into serious driving sims, particularly the daddy of them all, Grand Prix Legends. I definitely regard myself as a simmer rather than a gamer, I like the experience to be as realistic as possible. I'm also rather into Rise of Flight and, before that, First Eagles. Flight sims are another long-standing passion with me, going right back to Battle of Britain, then BoB2 then IL2.
So, recently I came across a video on youtube of SH5, and I was hooked. I watched my way through all of the "Lets Play" series very helpfully posted about SH5 by an American guy, then ordered the game. Since when, I've installed it, allowed it to auto-patch (handy feature that, helped me overcome my unease at having to go in through uPlay) and installed several mods: Silentwraith's UI, Naight's sub-interior, Open Horizons II and dynamic weather, among a few others. I more or less followed the mod-soup recipes I found over on Subsim.com, which has been an amazingly helpful site. And it all runs smoothly, no fps issues on my Dell Alienware machine, no ctd's yet.
My impressions of the sim: let me say first off that military history is a huge hobby of mine, so authenticity is huge thing with me. Having said that, there are periods and services I know a lot more about than the Kriegsmarine in WW2, and I was coming at subsims as a complete newb, unlike many SH5 fans who've progressed, if I can say that, from SH3 and 4. OK, once I'd got everything up and running, I was amazed. The graphics are absolutely superb with the mods currently in existence, and to my eyes, have the capacity for further improvement, as the modders build on their work.
The visual experience is highly immersive, and really "puts you there", and with the Das Boot sound mod, I have the sounds to match. Of course, I'm running the German language pack too, so the whole thing feels very authentic, with a beautifully detailed sub to wander about, 1940's German voices everywhere, and shifting seas and weather conditions.
The user interface is a little clunky, I downloaded the multiple UI mod, but didn't manage to figure out how to install the dials, so haven't got those yet. From what I've read the three dials system is more manageable and feels better. I think I've figured out how to get the dials from the mod to work, but they have to be installed before the mod itself, so that's going to involve removing all the subsequent mods with JGSME (very handy utility, that!), removing the UI mod, installing my choice of dials, then re-installing the whole lot all over again. A PITA, but I've only got myself to blame for that one. Always read the "readme" first!!!!
Gameplay: this has been a steep learning curve for me, being entirely new to any kind of naval sims. The menu tells me I'm playing at 61% realism, haven't gone to manual targeting yet. I've been killed about half a dozen times so far, but have now started to get a grip on it. Killed by collisions with merchant ships and running aground, both while in time-compression mode. I've learnt to pretty much avoid the "travel" mode while in time-compression as a result of that. And once killed by hanging around a destroyer I'd damaged in the hope that she would sink, getting all target-focussed and having another destroyer creep up on me in the meantime. Classic newbie error, I'd never get that target-focussed in a flightsim, situational awareness is everything!!! Anyway, I now seem to have got past all of that, and am starting to mount up the tonnage in the Baltic patrol mission. I'd have to say I haven't fully got my head around torpedo targeting yet, but, hey, I've only had the game four days! I'll get there.
All in all, a fantastic sim, and a fantastic introduction to naval simming in general, and subsims in particular, because the main thing is I'm enjoying it tremendously. Not exactly sure what sort of contribution I'm likely to make to the subsim community,but you may rest assured I already love SH5. I actually like the fact that the sim initially lulled me into making basic errors, and that I have to work to get to grips with things, its almost like Kriegsmarine OTC in that respect, ensures that the sim will always be challenging, and that and a vivid sense of historical immersion are the hallmarks of a great sim, in my book. I'm also getting very into the more thoughtful, cerebral pace of the sim: flight sims and driving sims are very immediate, not a whole lot of time to think, and while one has to think quickly in SH5, the action has a different pace, but against that there's more to consider, more to go wrong, more controls to master. Its just as visceral as other sims, but perhaps a little more cerebral too. I like that a lot.
I watched a youtube video recently of a guy explaining manual targeting in SH5, now that's the level I want to get to!!! Anyway, hope you've found my initial impressions of interest, and thanks for reading.
