SB Pro PE 4.0 FAQ

[Volcano]

Q: Where is the documentation on the various new vehicles?

A: The short answer is that we are a small team and have to make the documentation in our spare time in the SB Wiki.

http://www.steelbeasts.com/sbwiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

...these vehicle/tutorial pages will appear in that wiki as we are able to do them, but everyone is encouraged to contribute to the SB Wiki as it is really a community project. Here are two most recently added new vehicle manuals (you can find others by clicking on the category links at the bottom of the pages):

http://www.steelbeasts.com/sbwiki/index.php?title=BMP-2

http://www.steelbeasts.com/sbwiki/index.php?title=T-72B1_m.1985

 

Q: Where did my unit callsign template files go?

A: They are still there, but we had to reorganize the documents folder by creating two new folders within the Steel Beasts path. These are "My Unit Templates" and "My Callsign Templates".  When you are in the mission editor, and if you select to import a unit callsign template, then the first place you will see is this new "My Callsign Templates" folder.  You should navigate to your old "export" folder (...\Documents\eSim Games\Steel Beasts\export) and move them to your "My Callsign Templates" folder.

 

Q: What is happening on the M60A3 after I fire the gun?

A: The loader is turning of stabilization to reload the gun. Unfortunately he can only turn it off, and the gunner has to turn it back on again. The gunner can turn stabilization back on by pressing the V key.

 

Q: How do I turn stabilization back on on the M60A3?

A: The gunner can turn stabilization back on by pressing the V key.

Q: How do I focus the TIS view?

A: Focus the TIS view by either pressing NUMPAD DEL (this is the "easy focus" key that will focus the view on the ground under the reticle's current location - this takes a bout a second or so to finish focusing, to simulate the gunner turning the focus knob), or you can  focus the TIS manually by using ALT+mouse wheel.

 

Q: Why won't the Sniper Team fire at the enemy?

A: Normally the sniper team only engages High Value Targets (HVTs). The scenario designer must flag an infantry unit as being an HVT, and if he does, then the sniper team will automatically fire at that target when it comes into his LOS and range. Otherwise the user must tell the sniper to engage an enemy infantry unit (if they are not HVTs) by going to the bottom right unit icon menu in 3D world view, and selecting "Shoot at unit..." and then clicking in the 3D world view somewhere near or on the enemy target you want it to engage. Alternatively  you can use "Suppress here..." (fire immediately, suppression) or "Engage here..." (fire at any enemy that moves into that spot you selected on the terrain).

 

Note that these commands also work with all other infantry units, but sniper teams rely on these commands to engage if there are no HVTs in the area. Why? Because military request is that the snipers do not engage everything they see since they would essentially be drawing the attention of everyone (sniper teams do not work this way, they selectively engage certain targets, hence the required user intervention).

 

Q: How do I use the new grenade launched HE and smoke grenades carried by infantry units?

A: The first thing you have to do is give an infantry unit grenade ammo. You do this as you would normally give ammo to any unit in the Mission Editor. Once they have grenade ammo, you can use the grenade launcher in the 3D world view. In the external view of the unit, select the unit icon in the lower right. In the pop up menu you should see "Fire HE rifle grenade here..." (if the unit has HE GL ammo available) and "Fire smoke rifle grenade here..." (if the unit has smoke GL ammo available). You then select a spot *on the ground/terrain* where you want the grenade to be fired, and it will be fired to that location, as best as the gunner can manage to put it there. Keep in mind that intersecting objects and terrain may obstruct the flight to the target. When the unit runs out of grenade launcher ammo, the command in the menu will be unavailable.

 

Note that you can also now deploy the "regular" smoke grenades by using the new "Pop smoke here..." command in the same way (rather than by only pressing TAB key with the smoke appearing where you don't want it to be).

 

Q: How do I know if my infantry unit is equipped with grenade launcher ammo?

A: Unfortunately you don't really know if they are equipped with grenade launcher ammo unless you go to 3D world view and access the unit icon menu, and check to see if the appropriate "Fire HE/smoke rifle grenade here..." command is available. We do plan on visually showing this by having a model of the rifle appear with the under barrel grenade launcher if the unit is equipped with grenade launcher ammo. However, these have not yet all been finished it time (although a hand full of them are in-game currently - HKG36 for example).

 

Q: Why doesn't the Sinai Operation scenario use the new Shot Kal instead of the Leopard AS1 stand-in (at the time of 4.0 release)?

A: This is an oversight. The scenario files were updated, but during the excitement of the Beta test period they were forgotten by accident.