Hi old timer,
I'm in the same boat as you.
Getting old, been absent for a while and now relearning the ropes of the game.
I ran GWX3 in the older days. Having a much better pc now, thought I'd give Living Silent Hunter III (LSH3) a try.
.................W O W..........................
It's a really nice mod package.
Good installation info.
Great layout for adding in the upgrades and mods.
Plays like GWX3 on steroids. Very graphically intensive, with lots of new harbour objects.
It uses the H.Sie patch which includes the4GB patch
.
Also includes loads of great extra corrections and mods, including the fix for the lazy WO.
see -
http://www.lsh3.com/dl/v15/LSH3-2015...E-V16B1_EN.pdf
You have numerous Gui's to pick from. I selected OLC's widescreen which fills the screen up perfectly on my normally
1680x1050 monitor
, without having any stretch or distortion.
I mentioned LSH3 as it answers most of your questions.
Regarding SH5, I just hate the modern/clean look it has with the GUI.
I prefer the old SH3 GUI graphics, you can nearly smell the diesel while looking at it.