Ssnake

We could have used you on the beta team, I guess. In other words - no, you caught us pants down. We'll have to deliver that at a later point. I could imagine though that M1 or Leopard 2 emplacements will still be reasonable options.

Well, I'd like to have that too - while testing a scenario from within the mission editor. But for normal play there's the issue that those camera positions would eventually give you access to tactically relevant information that you wouldn't have in reality, and that would eliminate one of the most vital challenges in SB Pro - decision-making under time pressure and uncertainty (=incomplete situational awareness). That's the essence of tactics. I tend to be very careful and reluctant when it comes to making changes in these fundamental areas.

Data saving is still going on for a few more hours, but thanks to the modern marvel of preemptive multitasking file copy operations can be done in the background. You can recognize all notebook made screenshots by their 1680x1050 format, and the absence of Photoshop by the small edge of the AAR control dialog box in the lower right corner.

If you can't wait, come and have a look. Spent the last days with the beautification of the Terrastan map. Of course this runs contrary to the idea of correlated terrain, but makes it prettier to look at. Some already posted a video from TerraSim's, and for those of you who missed it or dismissed it because they didn't think they would get anything from this, here's another chance to watch them. Pay special attention to the "correlated terrain" bits. Okay, now clean up that mess with a Kleenex, willya. What's really cool about those TerraSim guys is that not only they gave us a sample piece of terrain and worked pretty hard to make it work properly with SB Pro, the thing that fascinates me most is that they have found a way for the procedural generation of cities! In other words, you don't need an army of 3D modellers to generate urban terrain, or to repeat the same building primitives over and over again. You can have geospecific maps with buildings that have the same footprints and the same orientation and interior rooms without having to build each building model by hand. Awesome. Unfortunately, the map suits at the moment mostly as nice scenery and as a performance test as the exporter from TerraSim is currently missing two crucial elements. It doesn't automatically assign armor values to the walls, and it doesn't add blank frames that are needed for infantry to find entrances and firing positions. Make no mistake, we will update this map as soon as these two points have been addressed, and the TerraSim guys are working on it, at which point this village is probably going to be THE urban combat map for at least everybody who can run it with a reasonable frame rate. Which is probably everybody - that's the other good news. This spring we started with frame rates around one or two fps. Al then ventured to find ways to improve SB Pro's performance with terrain that involved many, and densely packed buildings, and lo and behold, the framerate increased by a factor of ten minimum, and up to twenty. Another wonderful moment, I can tell you. So all your other maps involving many buildings are going to profit from that as well - expect significant improvements whenever buildings are involved. :cool: And Yes: This collaboration with TerraSim - and Calytrix Technologies - is driven by the desire of our customers to combine several simulations in one exercise. And who knows what may happen to our commercial releases, once that the technology has matured sufficiently (we're coming closer but aren't quite there yet, IMO). Of course it takes two to tango, but at least eSim won't be the obstacle to setting up joint gameservers one day.

...and 2.538 will be a perfect opportunity to do so.

Just seven more hours and the databackup is complete. I can then start to reinstall Windows, lose my last working Photoshop license, and the restore the data. Fortunately my presence isn't needed while the computers slave away. Should ACDSee decide to respond in the next minutes (no, it does not), I might even be able to convert a few screenshots and upload them to the gallery (tomorrow it'll be, then). But I don't want to depend on it, so Yes, I can confirm what others already suspected - that the Eagle IV is the last remaining playable vehicle that is new in 2.538 - with or without Lemur RWS, with driver's position etc. That being said, I think there's still one major news item waiting. I've been working on it over the last few days so to bring it to the best looking state possible before Al has to send the DVD to the factoring for the Gold Master (which will be today). More about that tomorrow. Yes. I'm a mean bastard. :sonic:

I have the same trouble as you do. Seems to be a driver issue. I hope it'll get solved with a future driver update.

Needless to say that Murphy picked the by far most inopportune moment to attack my main computer. I'm struggling with various attempts to recover the system since last Tuesday and am working from the Notebook at the moment. So a basic level of operational readiness is retained, and it won't affect the release date of SB Pro PE, but just so you know why, for example, daily news may be delayed or so. Unfortunately a cornerstone for the release could not be finished yet. The guys are working on it full power and there's still reason to believe that August 21 will remain the release date. I just don't know if Murphy is following a more elaborate battleplan and my mishaps are the mere overture to a shitstorm, or if it is just the expression of his general chaotic evil attitude.

Yes, we made some adjustments there.

There is no manual mode for it, but the Lemur actually is one of the very few RWSs on the market that have at least some rudimentary armor applied which increases its robustness to withstand at least artillery fragments and bullets with only little residual power.

The Protector remains an option, just without a gunner's place.

Not everything in that video is guaranteed to make its way into this SB Pro PE version. It is, after all, a video about the classroom version. Then again, sharp eye.

Today's beans to be spilled have a caliber of 40mm.

The gunner's place exists for a reason. Usually it is easier to shoot from there. Still I prefer to be in the commander's position, as it gives the best situational awareness. At least for the easy shots the computer is reasonably effective so that I jump into the gunner's place when I know that the gunner will probably botch it or that a quick reaction is the essence.

Okay, let me rephrase that: The customer opted for a solution that maximized the utility value. Better?

Today's playable vehicle is totally unspectacular, which is quite the point of it. The FOV90 looks the same as a CV90/40, in SB both on the inside and the outside, but its function is that of an artillery observer vehicle (of course, in real life the interior is different, but we decided to do this on the cheap. Besides, from a functional point of view it really doesn't make a difference). You can dismount an observer team, or stay mounted, with a gunner's and a commander's position. The gunner determines target coordinates with the laser, then pushes the data to the commander with his trigger/space bar, so that the commander can then use the last three lased coordinates in his call for fire dialog box. Since there is nothing visually new I decided not to post screenshots. I'm sure, your imagination is vivid enough (and if not, look up the CV90/40 in the Steel Beasts version that you already have).

Well, of course a model of the 2A4 interior exists, and I think I have found a good opportunity to see it added over the course of the next nine months. I expect it to be in the next upgrade unless my little conspiracy will be foiled. Which is always a possibility.

With respect to previous versions, the release notes (also look here) will help to orient yourself. For the coming version 2.538 I'm going to release the summary in a few days (assuming that I may have solved my computer problems by then - gah... :mad:) No. Everything since 2.460 should be fine.

Today's news isn't exactly "new" - but these M1A2SEP pictures haven't been shown before.

The 250 GTS is a refurbished 9800 which itself is a remodeled 8800. Performance wise it can be placed between the Radeon 4850 and 4870. In short - no objections, it's a solid design for an OK price. You may want to keep your eyes open however if ATi might not offer a 4870 for the same price, or a 4850 for considerably less than the GeForce 250 costs, IOW better bang for the buck.

You are mistaken.

The technical issues aside, we issue licenses to user groups based on a few conditions - public visibility, e.g. in the form of written AAR reports at SimHQ.com or some such, at least once every quarter; non-discrimination against players that are not part of your clan/club/virtual unit so that at least on two occasions per week everybody can participate; we decide on a case by case basis. However, we don't charge any money for it but licenses are temporary only and need to be renewed about once a year.

Oh noes, the humanity!

Judging by the uniform and the control handle, it strongly suggests CV90/40 to me.

Apparently not.