First Impressions - SB Pro PE

[zzodr]

Hi All,

New member here, hi to all.
Just installed SB Pro PE patched etc.. works great.

Thought I would share my first impressions, it's awesome!
Did the M2 tutorials, then took the M2 out for a spin and played with
infantry squads a bit. Won't comment on the infantry graphics because I see it has been mentioned enough and I think a update may be in the works for that.

The big maps and ability to have lots of units running around is great. I have downloaded custom skins and effects which are great too. In my first engagement, (M2) I was in a hull-down position lining up two BMPs when one fired a ATGM :eek2: (black swerving dot getting bigger in TI = bad) at me, I quickly reversed and and turned right at the last moment and the missile sailed over my turret with a WHOOOSSSH!! It was VERY LOUD on the headphones, kinda one of those whoa! moments in gaming. After destroying the first with some 25mm AP, the second fired a ATGM and I thought, do I backup? or try and kill him while the missile is in flight? I managed to lay the gun on him with the mouse (I find joystick a bit difficult with the gun) and kill him and the missile nose dived into the ground.
I guess the gunner must have fallen forward on his fire control yoke or something (like in the movies)

I took a platoon of Leo 1A4s out (I have a soft spot for them since I'm in Australia, saw quite a bit of them when I was younger on open days etc - they have been replaced with M1A1's here though) and got my ass handed to me by the AI in T72s so more practice reqd.

So other things which were a bit strange.. why does the driver swerve at random when you are driving manually down a road in external view? Also I noticed the stone bridge walls you can pass right through and fall in the river.. I was expected to collide off them with the sound of scraping metal.
Was also looking forward to using the .50cal over open sights in TC unbuttoned view.. but I read you can't.. oh well.

Have played a lot of M1TP 1 (C64) & 2 (PC) - didn't everybody? and Steel Panthers and WINSPMBT (updated version) which is great, but SB is obviously a lot more immersive and a LOT more realistic - like getting killed and not even knowing where it came from. Spotting the enemy just became a whole lot harder.

Unfortunately, work gets in the way too much so can't spend as much time on it as I would like.

Happy tanking!
zzodr

[Ratguts]

Welcome to this great sim and this awsome community! I too am quite new to SB Pro, and so far I am loving it. I am slowly getting the courage up to try out some multiplayer sometime soon. The best advice I have seen so far is to pick a vehicle and stick with it until you are comfortable with all the controls.

[ChuikovChambered]

Hi All,

New member here, hi to all.
Just installed SB Pro PE patched etc.. works great.

Thought I would share my first impressions, it's awesome!
Did the M2 tutorials, then took the M2 out for a spin and played with
infantry squads a bit. Won't comment on the infantry graphics because I see it has been mentioned enough and I think a update may be in the works for that.

The big maps and ability to have lots of units running around is great. I have downloaded custom skins and effects which are great too. In my first engagement, (M2) I was in a hull-down position lining up two BMPs when one fired a ATGM :eek2: (black swerving dot getting bigger in TI = bad) at me, I quickly reversed and and turned right at the last moment and the missile sailed over my turret with a WHOOOSSSH!! It was VERY LOUD on the headphones, kinda one of those whoa! moments in gaming. After destroying the first with some 25mm AP, the second fired a ATGM and I thought, do I backup? or try and kill him while the missile is in flight? I managed to lay the gun on him with the mouse (I find joystick a bit difficult with the gun) and kill him and the missile nose dived into the ground.
I guess the gunner must have fallen forward on his fire control yoke or something (like in the movies)

I took a platoon of Leo 1A4s out (I have a soft spot for them since I'm in Australia, saw quite a bit of them when I was younger on open days etc - they have been replaced with M1A1's here though) and got my ass handed to me by the AI in T72s so more practice reqd.

So other things which were a bit strange.. why does the driver swerve at random when you are driving manually down a road in external view? Also I noticed the stone bridge walls you can pass right through and fall in the river.. I was expected to collide off them with the sound of scraping metal.
Was also looking forward to using the .50cal over open sights in TC unbuttoned view.. but I read you can't.. oh well.

Have played a lot of M1TP 1 (C64) & 2 (PC) - didn't everybody? and Steel Panthers and WINSPMBT (updated version) which is great, but SB is obviously a lot more immersive and a LOT more realistic - like getting killed and not even knowing where it came from. Spotting the enemy just became a whole lot harder.

Unfortunately, work gets in the way too much so can't spend as much time on it as I would like.

Happy tanking!
zzodr

Yes, you do have to watch out for ATGMs on Soviet PCs and choppers. What you should do when one comes for you is to do one or more of these things:

Kill the launching vehicle first (which you did);
Reverse behind terrain (which you did);
Pop smoke

Feel free to ask us anything more, or join us on TS. I suggest you try the CV90, Leo 1, and Leo 2 tutorials next. The CV90 is a mini tank, and you'll love the raw firepower it's got. You've already talked about your love for the Leo 1 series, and you should try the Leo 2 series, it's awesome.

[Mogwa]

zzodr,
The AI wants to drive on the right side of a road and if you drive it on the left side it will change lanes, however it will change lanes to the left to pass a vehicle. If a different type of unit intermingles with your own, or even if it gets fairly close, the faster unit may speed up or slow down as the two units move along. No real rhyme or reason to it that I have seen.
As for bridges, I can only recomend caution.You will get a feel for things i time, but dont depend on the walls of bridges to keep you safe. Also, water id the biggest killer in the game. It has a 100 % kill ratio and the AI has a strange fascination for it. Turn your back on the AI and it will go swimming.
I want to welcome you (and all who havent already) to join the community multiplayer session which occurs on friday nights at 2100 hrs (9:00 PM) Central standard time US. See this link for the few details you need to know. http://www.steelbeasts.com/sbforums/showthread.php?t=11821

Mog

[Ssnake]

So other things which were a bit strange.. why does the driver swerve at random when you are driving manually down a road in external view?
It depends. If no waypoint has been set, he's just trying to drive on the right side of the road, not the wrong side as apparently everybody in Oz, UK, and Japan seems to be doing. Must be an Island thing, I guess. ;)

If there still is a route active and the tank is single or part of a column formation it will follow the road until the direction to the next waypoint is off by 30° or more.

Finally it may be a part of the obstacle avoidance routine.

Also I noticed the stone bridge walls you can pass right through and fall in the river..
Yes... it was intended to be temporary artwork, to be replaced as soon as possible. Then life interfered.

[zzodr]

Hey, thanks for all the tips & answers.
The AI driving on the right and changing lanes actually never occurred to me,
I just thought it was like "I'm a tank, I will drive where the hell I want" sort of thing.

I did the bridgelayer and breach tutorial, that was pretty cool, I don't remember ever playing a sim that had bridgelayers in it you could drive.

I would not like to be driving a MICLIC in a combat zone towing all that C-4 around either...

From wiki: (in case the charge does not go off)
Due to the inherent dangers of entering a live minefield to manually arm the backup fuses on a charge that could still detonate at any moment, possibly while under enemy fire as well, the act is jokingly referred to as the "Medal of Honor run". :cul:

[Steel_Hamster]

Hello there new guy!

[andym]

Welcome,i have only been using the sim since December and the only nights i havent played it were when i was away on Conference!I also had the bridge issue.The only fool proof way is to detatch units and drive them over manually then reattach afterwards.Bit slow but you do keep your vehicles nice and dry.one of my fave missions is the "Sandpoint" mission,you only get 2 tanks to play with but it has plenty of scope to hone your gunnery and vehicle handling skills.

[Bulletstop]

Welcome to an awesome sim.
I to am new but have been playing it steadily since I have purchased it.
I have to admit the AI can not seem to stay away from the rivers and streams and i have learned to put my vehicles at least a km away from a body of water and a km from them when changing formations to go across a bridge, also make sure you have one unit go at a time, I tried having a m1a1 platoon and m2a2 platoon go about the same time, I lost half the platoons,lol.
Yes I have learned hard lesson like the one time I lost a M88a2 to a stream because I forgot to make sure the route did not cross a stream,lol.
I am wanting to try multi too but I am to chicken to try.
Bullet

[Ratguts]

Would be cool if there was a "turkey shoot" for us new to the sim. I imagine it would be quite funny to us new guys driving all over the place trying to figure out what to do :P

[DarkAngel]

I'm in Aus too. If you want to arrange a time I can run you through some stuff.

[zzodr]

Cool thks Darkangel.

Here's some pics from Instant action in the M1A1.

Heavy damage from a miss:
6840

Red on Red.... I'm the dot on the hill near the yellow arrow:
6841

T80 hit right down the barrel:
6842

[ChuikovChambered]

Nice shot on the T-80. But in the first pic, the fact that the "heavy damage" detail is in black means that the damage was already there when that near miss occurred.

[andym]

Smokin'! Its the second of the Radijc missions!

http://usera.ImageCave.com/andym/screens/SS_23_46_16.jpg

http://usera.ImageCave.com/andym/screens/SS_23_46_24.jpg

[Hackworth]

...I also had the bridge issue.The only fool proof way is to detatch units and drive them over manually then reattach afterwards.Bit slow but you do keep your vehicles nice and dry.one of my fave missions is the "Sandpoint" mission,you only get 2 tanks to play with but it has plenty of scope to hone your gunnery and vehicle handling skills.

Welcome zzdor.

andy, try using the breach order to cross rivers. set it from the map. driving a platoon "free style" over a bridge is asking for trouble. on breach the unit will move over in column formation, slow (you can change it to fast on the map screen [F5], tapping your forward button [w] might cause the unit to break away from the route). they tend to stick directly to the path while on breach. many people do fine with the march order. but, i ran into problem a couple times and nixed it.

[Ssnake]

In the future (2.4x), breach orders could be problematic as they will be used to force a river fording. My recommendation is assault, column formation, slow speed.