SB future direction

[Marko]

Just a bit of speculative fun. I am sure esim will be busy with bug fixes and military Customer requests for the foreseeable future.

Well esim have managed to find a gap in the market not only for a top class AFV sim

But also focusing on the cold war era for the last update was a very clever move.

So where and what era to focus on for the next big update.

Personally I would like to see a focus on the Arab Israeli wars, we already have most of The Tanks used in that theatre modelled. Just make them playable.

[Ssnake]

Just make them playable.

Genius!

How hard can it be?

[Gibsonm]

Yep just knock em up in your spare time over a weekend.

[Maj.Hans]

Yep just knock em up in your spare time over a weekend.

You know for a moment......Okay this must be an Aussie English vs. American English thing but when I read that my brain went somewhere else.

[Tacbat]

So where and what era to focus on for the next big update.

The present.

[Marko]

Genius!

How hard can it be?

Well it has already been done poorly, but done.

By another software developer. they managed to model the M-60 fire control system

So one would think esim would have that capability if they so desired to make a playable version.

[Marko]

Yep just knock em up in your spare time over a weekend.

You may want to rephrase you comment Gibsonm you being an officer and a gentleman.

LoL

[john.gear]

You know for a moment......Okay this must be an Aussie English vs. American English thing but when I read that my brain went somewhere else.

Agreed.

[Gibsonm]

You know for a moment......Okay this must be an Aussie English vs. American English thing but when I read that my brain went somewhere else.

You may want to rephrase you comment Gibsonm you being an officer and a gentleman.

LoL

Well here that means "put it together, roughly"

If you have another interpretation its up to you.

[Hedgehog]

Well here that means "put it together, roughly"

If you have another interpretation its up to you.

Think Marko was expecting a QDG style response:

"I say, chaps! Lets all get together in the RSM's shed at 0900 hours on Saturday and lash something together PDQ, what!"

:men_ani:

[stormrider_sp]

Genius!

How hard can it be?

We can help modelling 3D interiors and skinning! :men_ani:

[DarkLabor]

We can help modelling 3D interiors and skinning! :men_ani:

Good, you got empty shells.

But what about how it works? The specs?

[Ssnake]

Look, I'm not saying that it's impossible to do. I even have an idea where to go and whom to ask for support. But still it will cost a major amount of effort - two to three days of a photo session plus one or two days more to put everything together in a coherent manner for the artists to work with. Collecting the field manuals, and studying them to figure out what the procedures are and how the fire control system works. Further research to interview users about the strength and weaknesses of the tank's design. A month or two just for the artist to work on the 3D interior. Depending on how close the whole thing is to an existing tank, at least a few weeks of programmer time.

Those "other" game developers who did it "badly" are proof that one can spend 18 to 24 months on the development and still don't get it right - and they certainly weren't without talent; they probably had to cut it short at some point to prevent development costs from ballooning.

"A few weeks of programmer time" may not sound much, but it actually is when you consider the fact that we're more or less booked out for the next 12 to 18 months by other necessary developments. Also, one hour of effective programming time requires about four to five hours of testing. All this quickly adds up to about one man year of development time.

The M60 will come one day, but you'll have to accept that we can do this only at our own pace. It's a no profit effort like other 1970s equipment because there is effectively nobody paying for the development, and whether we can boost the sales of the Personal Edition to a point where it becomes economically viable remains to be seen.

[Tjay]

You know for a moment......Okay this must be an Aussie English vs. American English thing but when I read that my brain went somewhere else.

Pray tell me Sir, how you would go about making a MBT pregnant. Diagrams and illustrations would be helpful, and if you have a video, please post the YouTube link here. :luxhello:

[Tjay]

How hard can it be?

That's what David Cameron (our PM) is reputed to have said about running the government - just before he was handed the job. He's not quite so flippant these days. And yes, I do appreciate Nils was being sarcastic.

[stormrider_sp]

Good, you got empty shells.

But what about how it works? The specs?

Well, that´s the other half!

Hey, at least we can do something!

Edit: I know the other half, the programming, is where the tiger sleeps. I might be misunderstood, so to clarify, I didnt meant to be picky or something, I just said that if we, the community, could get involved in things like 3D modelling and skinning, then it would free, as Mr. Ssnake said, about 2 weeks in development. We could even go through those manuals and resume what´s important. For Free!

[DarkLabor]

Well, that´s the other half!

Hey, at least we can do something!

Yes.

[aop]

and whether we can boost the sales of the Personal Edition to a point where it becomes economically viable remains to be seen.

Well considering the current copy-protection system and distribution channels it's almost if you don't even want to sell the PE to anyone.

There is a market for niche games like these, DCS series proves that pretty well, you are just too afraid of piratism to go after it.

[Tjay]

Well considering the current copy-protection system and distribution channels it's almost if you don't even want to sell the PE to anyone.

There is a market for niche games like these, DCS series proves that pretty well, you are just too afraid of piratism to go after it.

eSim have repeatedly explained what their business model is, and the relationship between the Pro and Pro PE editions. And even more importantly where the support they provide to folks like us who use Pro PE as a 'game' has to come from. From time to time people with no actual experience of marketing and supporting commercial software post on here saying, 'Hey, you could turn this into a new World of Tanks and rake in the dosh if you would only (insert uninformed personal opinion here). Don't you think if it was that easy it would have been done already?

[Hedgehog]

Well considering the current copy-protection system and distribution channels it's almost if you don't even want to sell the PE to anyone.

The parsed version :

No, the idea is to weed out the idiots, who would drag SB Pro PE's reputation down.

Everyone who owns a copy typically had to do some serious justification to validate their purchase. (This is why the price is "high". tis but a drop in the ocean for eSim, in terms of revenue.) And therefore actually realises that actual tactics are needed to achieve any sort of success.

There is a market for niche games like these, DCS series proves that pretty well, you are just too afraid of piratism to go after it.

DCS/ARMA/BF type games have typically (Exceptions appreciated) idiots running around without a shred of teamwork between them.

See above.

[wolfstriked]

Don't forget the new time limited purchases are a huge step in opening up to many more players.

[Tacbat]

aop, you have no idea what you are talking about.

[Ssnake]

Well considering the current copy-protection system and distribution channels it's almost if you don't even want to sell the PE to anyone.

I will readily admit that the current license activation with CodeMeter License Central poses more obstacles at the user than originally envisioned. Java, JavaScript, ActiveX are probably not the best possible technologies anymore to use on such a web site. Wibu Systems is working on that, and I'm confident that in the new year it'll work better.

I will also admit that the original pricing structure was designed to set up a warning sign against impulse buyers. This was done to protect them and us from a big misunderstanding, that SB Pro PE would be something like "Quake on tracks", some egoshooter/action game. Steel Beasts Pro PE first and foremost is a training tool with which one can incidentally also have a lot of fun - if you are willing to accept the premise that it wasn't designed to be a fun game in the first place, but as a tool to support instruction of soldiers.

Distribution channels - you have a point there, but let me just say that eSim Games' corporate policy is to maintain our customers' privacy. That is hardly reconcilable with the most popular digital distribution platform, Steam. Also, our past experiences with publishers did not exactly encourage us to keep retail distribution. I'm still under certain legal restrictions as to what I can actually say here, but what happened during those SB1 days ... left an impression.

I would no go so far as others who responded here in saying that SB Pro PE sales are but a drop in the ocean for us. The revenues are above the 5% threshold. But it's rather clear that we're making most of our money with software customization contracts with our army customers. This is what brings you, the PE players, new equipment - the CV90/30, the Centauro, the Ulan, etc.

The original Steel Beasts game had the M1A1 and the Leopard 2A4 as vehicles with crew positions. What has been added is mostly a direct result of army customizations. Refurbishing the engine, making better sounds, reworking the user interface - these are mostly things that we do on our own/for the Personal Edition. So the PE does receive a bigger share of scarce programming time than the revenue suggests (but of course the army customers will profit from these changes as well). In the end I think it's a business model where everybody is a winner to an extent; you PE users would otherwise probably never see exotic equipment like the CV90/35, the Lemur RWS, the ERCWS and more. Armies would never get low cost simulation solutions of the same level of fidelity would it not be for our continuous development process.

The main difference if you draw a comparison to DCS is that we're mostly resting on government contracts to "subsidize" the development of the Personal Edition while DCS first and foremost needs to make money through consumer sales. There's good and bad to both approaches, it's just that the economic circumstances do not allow for a direct comparison.

[ht-57]

the original pricing structure was designed to set up a warning sign against impulse buyers

You may want to up the price of admission. In the "world of tanks" For a one year premium account its $95usd, couple that with an upper tier tank for $53usd

[wolfstriked]

Is their a list of the vehicles that are done for the armies under contract?Just would like to know.:cool3: