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IMDb Steel Beasts (2000) video game entry


frankiekam

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A SB wiki on Internet Movie Database. Whoever created the entry didn't upload an image, so I did the honours and added the box cover of SB1 to suit the title. I always thought IMDb was for movies and not video games, in this case, simulation. Also wondering who are the other persons listed other than SSnake. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0280125/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Edited by frankiekam
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It is nostalgia.  The same reason Anyone collects old things.  Be it Paintings, Sculptures, Music, Cars, Military Artifacts Ect.  It is Human nature to collect old things.  I collect old things to, Electronics, and Video games are not for Me, but I understand where He is coming from. 

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2 hours ago, Brun said:

It is nostalgia.  The same reason Anyone collects old things.  Be it Paintings, Sculptures, Music, Cars, Military Artifacts Ect.  It is Human nature to collect old things.  I collect old things to, Electronics, and Video games are not for Me, but I understand where He is coming from. 

 

Pretty much this.

 

Once in a rare while I fire up something super old.

 

Or, occasionally, you'll run into other issues.  For example, "Fleet Defender" was released in 1994, and is a study sim on the F-14B Tomcat.  AFAIK, there is currently no other simulator that models the F-14 in the kind of depth that sim did, down to the correct operation of the radar in it's various non-user-friendly modes.  So until DCS F-14 comes out....This is what we've got.

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Yes, my flux capacitor needs re-calibration. Winston Churchill once said, "The farther back you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see." I've decided to return to the roots of Steel Beasts which are Steel Beasts legacy and Gold, in order to learn the spiritual basics and essence of virtual tank warefare and strategy. Once I have mastered all those single-player scenarios then I believe I'll be a better Pro PE gamer. There be method in my madness. Nostalgia? Yes, that too. In addition, I plan to build my second classic game tribute website. After much thought, it hit me that the original Steel Beasts would be an excellent choice for me to build and exercise my Wordpress development skills, My first tribute website is on Digital Integration's venerable Tornado. That was a flight simulator which excelled in mission planning. DOS game, 1993. That website that Frankie built has reached terminal velocity. I've filled it up to the brim with Tornado-related stuff. So I'm turning my attention to pay tribute to Steel Beasts Legacy and Gold. That's why I'm compiling all known references on the Net to Steel Beasts Legacy and Gold. A pity that The Wayback Machine doesn't archive all the forums and discussion threads of SteelBeasts.com circa 2000 to 2005. Being able to access the weath of discussion about Steel Beasts Legacy and Gold, among virtual tankers then would be great for my research. That's why I'm buying Steel Beasts Gold. 

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1 hour ago, frankiekam said:

Once I have mastered all those single-player scenarios then I believe I'll be a better Pro PE gamer.

 

Your belief would seem incorrect: logically, Steel Beasts Pro models more complex behavior (not to get into every single dimension of how Steel Beasts improves and adds more simulation elements to Steel Beasts legacy), so downgrading in complexity to improve skills with more complex software doesn't make sense. Since Steel Beasts Pro is more challenging than Steel Beasts legacy, your plan should be more practice with SB Pro Pe.

 

Maybe you have some sentimental attachment to Steel Beasts, but if you want a downgraded Steel Beasts Pro experience, simply reduce the graphics options way down to lower resolutions, turn the details down, and so on, and it will look more primitive, although still not as flat looking as Steel Beasts legacy.


This is why your mods are curious to me, because back then we really wanted to make Steel Beasts legacy look better and more varied, we saw the potential in a great piece of software as a starting point, we wanted more functionality, you're going the opposite route. I'll admit I'm not a nostalgic person, for one thing by definition it's always looking backwards with rose colored glasses and remembering things perhaps better than you remember then- because it's impossible to have nostalgia for the present, obviously. Therefore a great cure for nostalgia is to realize it's a trick our brains play on us and realize why it happens. You may have remembered all the other things going on in your life during that time, and that's also the nostalgic effect- you were younger then, so that tends to do that, things seemed newer.


Still, Steel Beasts Pro is just so much better, I just don't get it. Nostalgia just doesn't work on me here.

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Hi Captain Colossus. Thanks for sharing with me how to be a better SB Pro PE gamer. And for the downgrading graphic options tip. If after outgrowing Steelbeasts Legacy, I jump straight into singleplayer or multiplayer SB Pro PE, I will definitely be cannon fodder. I would have to first pick my way slowly through the Pro PE Tutorials - Gunnery, TC, etc. - so I won't look like a complete idiota/greener than grass newbie/noob when playing online. Also I would have to do more reading and maybe watch more videos by Matsimus and Steel Beasts Cavalry (amongst many others).

 

I'm strange kettle of fish who likes retro gaming. Tornado's 1991 graphics were already dated when the game came out, and Tornado won't last even 10 seconds on anyone's hard disk today. But the Gameplay. Ah. when I fire up a game like Tornado, the gameplay gets me into the mode of multitasking with urgency. Every waypoint demands my attention, every blip on my Radar warning receiver (RWR) is a threat to be taken out or avoided. I'm checking my speed, my terrain hugging height. Autpilot never felt so good. I'm like the two Johns flying over Iraq all over again. I'm in the RAF flying fast jets again, even though there's no way I will ever be. Definitely not in this time/space continuum. So I still enjoy old games because the gameplay is enjoyable. Steel Beasts Legacy 640x480 resolution graphics are way better than Tornado's dinosaur 320x240 in-game resolution. When I play SB legacy, the 2001 software mode graphics abstracts the game in a form that is enjoyable to me. I still enjoy the Legacy's tank range. The gameplay still good. Old soldiers never die. They just fade away. Talking about dated graphics, I didn't believe it when last year, an old gamer (I'm guessing he's an old timer), told me that he still plays Microprose's 1989 M1 Tank Platoon gaphics(!). He told me he still gets a lot of enjoyment from the strategy and wargaming aspect of M1 Tank Platoon. Ah, so some games are timeless to some gamers. 

 

There's a lot in SB Legacy that I haven't done yet, like play with triggers, scenario editing, mission editing, map editing, terrain height maps and such. Plus it appeals to my geek-tinker part of me since I now know how to change the colour palette and modify the look of the models' by editing their BMP files. Also a SB Legacy mission (*.SCE file) loads in seconds on my VirtualBox, so there's hardly any waiting time for me to fire up a quickie game. So in short, I haven't outgrown SB Legacy. I consider SB Gold the pinnacle of SB Legacy. That's why Starforce 2.0 DRM or no DRM, I'm getting a copy.  So SB Legacy for me is "a small step for (a) man, a big leap for my inner SB Pro PE man".

 

That's not to say I don't enjoy SB Pro PE. Or that I don't play it. I still do. Last night I practised my T-72 gunnery in the Gunner's tutorials. The sounds of the shell loading into the breech has an authentic metallic scraping/revolving gritty sound to it. Love it. Panning around in the 3D interior? Fantastic! The feeling of lasing with that small dotted reticle and landing a shell onto the target? Great. The feeling of leading the shot in a T-72 to hit a moving target? Priceless. The feeling of playing mutiplayer co-op with Teamspeak in whisper mode? Out of this world. Still, I never know when my flux capacitor will start sparking, and I get nostalgic cravings for retro SB Legacy. That's when my McLaren hits exactly 88 miles per hour and I'm zapped back to the year 2001. Haha!

 

 

 

Edited by frankiekam
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13 hours ago, frankiekam said:

... I've decided to return to the roots of Steel Beasts which are Steel Beasts legacy and Gold, in order to learn the spiritual basics and essence of virtual tank warefare and strategy. Once I have mastered all those single-player scenarios then I believe I'll be a better Pro PE gamer. There be method in my madness. Nostalgia? Yes, that too. In addition, I plan to build my second classic game tribute website. ...

 

I believe that SB1 missions can be imported into SB Pro.

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10 hours ago, frankiekam said:

Also I would have to do more reading and maybe watch more videos by Matsimus and Steel Beasts Cavalry (amongst many others).

 

Or mine. B|

 

Seriously though, it really isn't that hard to get ready to play online on Steel Beasts Pro. Run the tutorials for the vehicle of your choice, run some tank gunnery missions until you reliably get a gunnery score at 90 or above every time, practice maneuvering in Instant Action, and (if you want to go above and beyond) run through the Camp Hornfelt scenarios. 

 

Basically, if you know how to shoot, and know how to maneuver your vehicle, you will probably do fine online. 

 

For examples of actual online play, you can check out recordings of Kanium, or TGIF games on YouTube. Guys who posts these are CavGunner, Grenny(Ronin), swordsmandk, and I. 

 

You can also download TeamViewer and check out some BGANZAC games as they are played live. That should give you a good idea of what to expect online. 

 

Matsimus and Steel Beasts Cavalry do have entertaining videos, but the majority are single player, so keep that in mind while viewing. I haven't seen a video from either one where they are playing with 8 or more other players. 

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17 hours ago, MDF said:

 

I believe that SB1 missions can be imported into SB Pro.

 

But that might not be a horribly good idea, unless you plan to heavily modify some of them.

 

I know I had several missions that turned into blasting through your full load of ammunition as fast as you could load and fire, without any time to reload the ready racks...

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It is more important to be a team player than to be perfect in your skills. Skills can always be trained. But you MUST become a team player to be of any value to your side's effort. I'd rather have a mediocre gunner on my team who can follow orders than a crack shot who goes rogue whenever the situation becomes difficult, and sacrifices the team's chance for success in pursuit of a personal highscore in kills.

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