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Where was eSim / Steel Beasts Pro ?


streakeagle

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I was lucky enough to get a pass to attend I/ITSEC 2013 and took a day off from work to attend today. This is a huge military training simulators conference. I saw a lot of representation for Bohemia Interactive. Their "booth" was huge. More importantly, many if not most ground warfare simulations being demonstrated used VBS3 as their base.

Sonalysts wasn't promoting Danger Waters or any other combat simulation/game, but they had a booth there promoting simulation of electronic systems for maintenance and operation training.

Lockheed's P3D was the commonly used basis for many of the flight simulations.

Cryengine also had a strong presence.

One company's booth did have a banner/poster promoting all the systems they used to create their products which included "Steel Beasts". But other than that, I saw no evidence of an eSim presence.

Rheinmetall Defence had a very nice Canadian Leopard 2A4 simulator on display and operated by Canadian armed forces (really great guys!). I was shocked to discover that they were using VBS 3 rather than Steel Beasts for a Leopard sim. I didn't get to talk to the Rheinmetall Defence representatives as they got busy demonstrating their systems, but I wanted to know if they knew about Steel Beasts and why they chose VBS over it for a tank simulator.

The amount of overlap between consumer games and professional military training simulators is staggering. They had so many products that some dedicated pc gamers would buy if they were made available to the public despite their high price tags. Joysticks, throttles, rifles, and even replica ejection seats for most modern aircraft.

Oculus Rift was being used for many demos, though there were many equivalent technologies in use as well. But you could see that when cost was a factor, high end gaming hardware was prevalent. Thrustmaster Cougar and Warthog HOTAS controls were very common as well as Logitech sticks.

Natural Point (Track IR) had a sizable booth, too.

While I had a great time talking to many representatives about their products (and comparing them to all the consumer level games I play), I was disappointed not to see even one demo using Steel Beasts Pro :icon_frown:

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The guys at the Armoured school wanted SB Pro but were told to use VBS when I was last here demo'ing the sim. When they saw the two side by side there is really no comparison, they know it, but are forced to use VBS.

I myself use the VBS sim for training there as well. I have to bite my toung all the way through, from seeing the ground through the cracks in the doors where they meet the body, to having to step out side to use the bino's.

I have now decided to refrain from any VBS training up there.

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The guys at the Armoured school wanted SB Pro but were told to use VBS when I was last here demo'ing the sim. When they saw the two side by side there is really no comparison, they know it, but are forced to use VBS.

I myself use the VBS sim for training there as well. I have to bite my toung all the way through, from seeing the ground through the cracks in the doors where they meet the body, to having to step out side to use the bino's.

I have now decided to refrain from any VBS training up there.

VBS2/3 is fine for a small-unit dismounted scenario. Anything else, or even at a Company level or above, it's essentially useless.

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VBS2/3 is fine for a small-unit dismounted scenario. Anything else, or even at a Company level or above, it's essentially useless.

I would definitely have to disagree with you there. I have "played" some company sized scenarios in vbs2 and they were amazing. Granted the experience is as good as the scenario maker, but with the proper mission it is quite enjoyable.

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The guys at the Armoured school wanted SB Pro but were told to use VBS when I was last here demo'ing the sim. When they saw the two side by side there is really no comparison, they know it, but are forced to use VBS.

I myself use the VBS sim for training there as well. I have to bite my toung all the way through, from seeing the ground through the cracks in the doors where they meet the body, to having to step out side to use the bino's.

I have now decided to refrain from any VBS training up there.

Same goes with French Armor school. Even SB Pro was better for training purpose, VBS2 was chosen because of industrials interests...

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