Lt DeFault

I do play a couple of other games sometimes - but they are not combat related. I actually took a break from SB after years of playing single player and online. I'm just now getting back into it. It really is a fantastic sim.

I'd also like to add that many of us have had our dongles (I hate that word) CodeMeter sticks for ten years or more with no problems.

*Knocks on wood

If your dongle gets damaged/broken it can be replaced as long as you can send the damaged one back. If you lost it, you would have to purchase another one.

I do not have the names of any channels handy, but if you search for Steel Beasts on YouTube, you should be able to find them fairly easily. I'm not sure if Matsimus still has his SB videos up, but that would be a good place to start. Also, there is a thread in these forums titled "We Love Videos" that has many Steel Beasts vids in it.

1. Required every time you run the sim. Unless you get a time limited license, in which case no dongle is required.
2. You can play on any computer as long as you have the dongle inserted and the software installed. If you purchase multiple licenses, there is a way to play on multiple computers at the same time with only one dongle.
3. There are few dozen single player missions included with the sim - but with a lot of time in the planning phase, you could theoretically play some "multi-player" missions by yourself. There are also missions which can be downloaded from this site. (Note: There are also quite a few multiplayer missions included with the sim and available for download.) There are some tutorials included for about 18 vehicles - although that's not nearly all of the vehicles in the sim. There are also some "demo" missions which demonstrate a few things.
4. The AI can be very deadly. Or not. A lot depends on the scenario design.
5. Never played Steel Armor, but your description sounds exactly like Steel Beasts.
6. You would only have to upgrade if you wanted to play online with other people using a newer version.
7. YouTube has a lot of videos and there is a link to a wiki at the top of this page.

Just out of curiosity: is the UID some sort of hash of the map data?

Looks good! 👍

"... doesn't like beer" ?!?!

Blasphemy! 🍻

Very nice.

Although the new map downloader is named "SB Pro Maps Downloader v19", it was listed in my installed programs as (and I think I have this right) "Steel Beasts Map Tools v17". I was initially confused as to whether I should uninstall that program or the one titled "Steel Beasts Maps version 1.0". Ultimately, I uninstalled the former - which I believe was correct as I now have an installed program named "Steel Beasts Map Tools version 19.0". Either way, I'd just like to point out that the difference in naming conventions of the downloaded file and the resulting program may cause confusion among those of us who are less sharp or more inebriated - as the case may be. Thank you!

Might be a separate decal file. I vaguely remember having to mod some of those.

Sorry, I'd had a few beers.

Here's how it works:

(Reference the image below.)

1. If you want one condition to be met to trigger an event, check the first box and set the conditions. Done.
2. If you want two conditions and both have to be met, do step 1 and then check the second box and set the conditions for that.
3. If you want two conditions and meeting either one of them will trigger the event, change the first "AND" to "OR" and do step 1 & 2.
4. If you want three conditions and all have to be met, leave the first "AND", do step 1 & 2, then check the third box and set the conditions for that.
5. If you want three conditions and any one being met will trigger the event, change the first "AND" to "OR", do step 1 & 2, then check box 4 (leaving box 3 unchecked) and set the conditions for that.
6. If you want three conditions and either meeting the first two together or a third by itself will trigger the event, leave the first "AND", do step 1 & 2, then check box 4 (leaving box 3 unchecked) and set the conditions for that.
7. If you want three conditions and meeting the first by itself or the other two together will trigger the event, change the first "AND" to "OR", do step 1 & 2, then check box 3 and set the conditions for that.
8. Etc., etc. ...

I hope that made sense (and that I didn't make any mistakes ... it's been a while since I used this feature).

What is this "briefing" you speak of? 🐄💨

Ahh ... bummer.

I use the manufacturer's programming software (Saitek SD6 Profile Editor) with my X52. I'm not sure if they make a version for the X55 or X56 - mine doesn't list them. But if they do, I'd recommend using it. It gives you many more options in terms of assigning functions to the stick and throttle. For instance: I was able to set the throttle to control the speed of a vehicle. It took some doing but in the end, I was able to use it as a true HOTAS for SB.

These are Saitek sticks, right?

7 hours ago, Volcano said:

While I don't know the extent of what you are doing, my reply in that other thread was about the old abatis (which you specifically asked about).  I wasn't talking about swapping out textures on trees, or swapping out models.  In general this would create an alternate reality in situations where users are playing a simulation together.

 

For a community game this would not be allowed. For a classroom, that is fine - as long as all the computers are the same.

 

But beyond that, replacing models in a classroom version with 4.0 tree model could come with a host of issues - namely the fact that tree MRF files contain script data, which contains behavioral data about the tree itself, which may or may not be compatible to 4.1 (but at the very least is certainly surpassed and not applicable at this point).

 

Yes, I was going to note in the other thread that I had only done this mod as an addition to a mission I created to be used by all participants. I wouldn't use such mods in any other situation. I never even considered the MRF files, it was just a "vis-mod".

I started to look into it again thinking it could be applied to other objects, but if it's going to interfere with the mechanics of the game I'll abandon the idea.

4 minutes ago, Gibsonm said:

My problem more broadly (and perhaps not for this public forum) is that in a class room I'll be asked by a bunch of soldiers "What sort of XYZ tree is that meant to be?" and they will all laugh when I tell them its gum.

 

Whilst a peripheral issue, it does tend to undermine the whole accurate simulation thing.

This might be of interest to you, Mark. If I am successful in my efforts, I just might be able to restore the look of your old gum trees.

14 minutes ago, Volcano said:

The abatis uses the same (old) bark and leaves tree textures as before, AFAICR.

Indeed, from my initial tests it looks that way. There are still no "desert abatises", which was why I decided to mod the textures for my mission in the first place.

However ... I've run into a little bit of a puzzle here.

I started investigating the possibility of modding stock "trees" [abatises] by re-downloading the original mission file I had submitted 10 years ago ["Burning Sands"], which included the modified abatis textures. (I had long since lost the original files.) When I tried replacing the default abatis textures with what I had originally modded, I saw no difference. Upon further investigation, the abatis texture files [conifer.dds and pinebark.dds] included with the current download of my original mission were no different than the current stock files.

This is curious - because I am sure I had included only modified textures to make the abatis look as though it was formed with palm trees. (Specifically because having an abatis formed with evergreens in the middle of a desert looked absurd.)

I have no explanation for why the current download includes the stock textures as opposed to the modified ones I originally uploaded. I cannot, however, completely rule out the possibility that I made a mistake so long ago and uploaded a zip file with the wrong textures - however unlikely I find that possibility to be.

Anyway, I will continue to try and replicate what I was able to do previously and will report back with how successful I am. But, it will take more time as I now need to start from scratch - again. And I'm also trying to learn the new way in which SB handles maps - along with re-learning how I did all of this in the first place.

Luckily, I have tomorrow off from work - so I should be able to devote a fair amount of time to this project.

PS

17 hours ago, Rotareneg said:

I cannot find a way to directly access the new trees and rocks in the mission editor.  The only way I can find to get access them is to load one of the included themes, completely overwriting whatever theme your map might have had. However, even then it just changes the small selection of objects available in the theme editor, so you can't mix and match objects to your liking.

Backwards Generator [Rotar],

Could you provide me with an example of a specific map object which does not appear with a specific theme? This would help me work out whether I can mod an existing texture which does work with said theme to look like an object which doesn't ... if that makes sense. Thanks!

Will do.

In past versions, I was able to change the appearance of some "trees" (actually abatises) by modifying the appropriate texture of the tree being used by the theme. Would that still be possible?

I've been away for a while (and haven't read the release notes yet), so I'm not exactly sure which improvements are from this update or a previous one. But I'd just like to say that, even with low graphics settings on my cruddy laptop, the sim looks more awesome than ever. I can't wait to see what it'll look like when I have the chance to install it on a faster machine.

Thanks eSim, beta testers and everyone involved in continually making this sim better the best!

Copy (or move) the scenario to

C:\Users\YourUserName\Documents\eSim Games\Steel Beasts\My Scenarios

When picking a scenario to run, click the drop down menu at the top and select "My Scenarios". It should appear in the list.

No idea why the FPS counter won't show for you.

Well, the good news is that Ssnake's workaround of replacing the map did work ... insomuch as it allowed me to open and run the scenario. The bad news is that the scenario was completely unplayable - both at the default settings and even with reduced graphics and detail settings. (Frame rates of around 6 fps in the daysight upon starting and so much lag that it was utterly pointless to continue.) I'm not surprised at this, given the fact that I'm running SB on the system mentioned above. I may try running it on our more capable desktop ... or wait until my wife buys her brand new über gaming rig and try it out on that. Although, I suppose it wouldn't be much help to eSim to find out that SB runs wonderfully on a brand new, "over-qualified" system.

Oh, just saw Fuchs' post about the same problem. I'm going to try Ssnake's recommended solution. Wait out ...