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Sell me this game!


Cruiser114

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Alright I have been lurking around the steel beast site for about 3 months now trying to talk myself into parting with 125 dollars. But i keep waiting so sell me this game i have a couple quick questions hopefully that can be answered to alleviate my "worries."

1. am i going to throw this game out my front door because its so complicated? I'm a treadhead going back to panzer commander and panzer elite and this seems to be the ultimate in tank sim warfare but is it more complicated than PE?

2. how does this game run on vista?i recently got a new laptop that has become my primary game platform it has good stats but vista is a little finicky, so am i going to have to go through a bunch of technical stuff to get the game going?

3. as for multiplayer are there usually games going or is it hit and miss?

4. is there alot of stuff i need to d/l to get it up to date? i have noticed people talking about the beta files but have delved much further than that.

5. am i going to be at a disadvantage not using a joystick?

thanks for any information you can give me, i have a feeling that if i can get the game to run well on vista i'll just have to hit the order button and go from there.

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1. Real gunnery procedures are modeled. Given the number of different fire systems modeled, that makes it complicated. There are, however, tutorials for the fire systems. As far as comparison to Panzer Elite, SB uses the WASD keys to steer, not the combination of the arrows and backspace. And in SB, your wingmen don't do bizarre things like the "lets turn around and wag our rear aspects at the other tanks who are presently firing at us dance." So while there may be more stuff to keep track of, it is more intuitive to do so.

2. I don't have Vista, can't answer this one.

3. Regular games scheduled weekly depending on location (US or Europe). Peer to peer pick up games as opponents are available in Teamspeak.

4. The version being played most often on-line is a beta-version. A version shall be released shortly. File juggling for on-line compatibility is not much of a problem.

5. Back in the day when the Davy Crocketts would publicly brag about gunnery range scores, the quickest shots seemed to be people who gunned the Leo with a mouse rather than joystick.

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1. am i going to throw this game out my front door because its so complicated? I'm a treadhead going back to panzer commander and panzer elite and this seems to be the ultimate in tank sim warfare but is it more complicated than PE?

Yes and No.

No, because (I think) the user interface is more oriented towards giving you only those commands that you need in a given crew position and not giving you all commands all the time. This means that "similar" functions are to be found on the same hotkey, so the meaning may change with their context. This makes it easier to memorize them; also, we tried to keep functionally similar keys in groups or clusters next to each other.

Also, computerized fire control systems and laser range finders make the life of the crew a lot easier.

Yes, because there are more playable vehicles which means more and different fire control systems. The upside is, you can (and should) pick one of those tanks that are relatively easy to learn (be it M1 or Leo 2) and once that you mastered one you can branch out to the ones with more complex (CV90) or more primitive (M2, no offense) fire control systems.

Vehicle handling, overall, is probably about as easy as with Panzer Elite, and the tank commanders' positions are probably more useful than in all the other tank games that I know. Let's not forget, WW2 tanks were less forgiving to user error than the modern vehicles are.

The actual challenge is tactics. Once that you know how to operate a vehicle, what to do with them is the million-dollar question. Fortunately the online/multiplayer community will jump to the rescue.

2. how does this game run on vista?i recently got a new laptop that has become my primary game platform it has good stats but vista is a little finicky, so am i going to have to go through a bunch of technical stuff to get the game going?

No. Others may have answered this already be the time I manage to finish my reply. If you have a 64-bit Vista, you need to download and install a separate runtime software for the CodeMeter stick. You may also need to install a 64 bit version of DirectX 9.0c.

Other than that, no worries - save for eventual driver woes, but that always is a risk with about any 3D game.

3. as for multiplayer are there usually games going or is it hit and miss?

There are no "game servers" like you see with other online games where you can hop in and out of sessions as you will. As a consequence you need to agree with others on the date and time. The upside is, at these scheduled events there will always be people.

4. is there alot of stuff i need to d/l to get it up to date? i have noticed people talking about the beta files but have delved much further than that.

No. The CD that we're shipping contains the latest version. You can however download those 700 MBytes and install them in advance, so that you only need to plug in the USB stick which comes with the package and which contains the actual software license.

5. am i going to be at a disadvantage not using a joystick?

No. You might actually have an advantage. Most people like the stick for immersion, but I doubt that a large group of players would consistently show better results with a joystick than some other group of equally talented people with mice.

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I am running on a Vista 64 computer with no framerate issues, except when looking towards heavy wooden areas or very large cities. These cause issues for me when in any form of "zoom". But then it's the ammount of structures and/or trees that's the issue I guess.

I got a N8800GT card and it works well for me. But computers are somewhat unique so just because I have no problems doesn't mean no one else have problems with the same configuration.

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Welcome,Cruiser.i was like you very keen to get my mitts on a decent tank sim but was woried that at $125 i would be dissapointed.I can now categorically state that this is NOT the case.Its different from other "sims" as they tend to be more "gamey" in their design and orientation.SB Pro Pe is developed from a Military version that is used to turn Farmboys and Students into Tankies!At first it does look daunting but if you remember that you need to learn to walk before you can run then all will be well.Practise,practise,practise is the watchword.As far as i am concerned ,tank sims DONT come better than this one!The learning curve is steep but persevere and youl will be well rewarded for your efforts.Try the tutorials,its not worth skipping them as you NEED to do them to familiarise yourself with the system.Then try a small mission with just 3 tanks,and then the fun starts!

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Hope you enjoy it! My advice is to pick a vehicle and stick with it for awhile to get used to the game. I suggest the M1, Leo 2A4 or Bradley. It may take longer to figure things out if you skip across vehicles constantly. Once you get the feel of it, then the learning curve for the complex vehicles (Leo 2A5/Strv 122, CV90) won't be so bad.

Hopefully you have good speakers for your laptop. Way back when SB was 2D, I stuck with it because the sound effects tipped the scales for me. It is still a strong point of the game.

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ok another quick question, i d/l'ed and installed the beta and just waiting to get my dongle, so my question is, do i need to select the game to run under a different compatibility in game properties? ie xp sp 2, etc. also is there a good thread somewhere with some of the tweaks to get it to run on vista?

thanks

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Hi,

Firstly, I've been prowling this forum (in a non-creepy way) for a while now and would really like to thank the members of this forum for their willingness to share their knowledge with such patience - it's been a real education.

:)

My fundamental question is...

will SB Pro PE still be relevant in a couple of years?

Seeing as it is already a couple of years old, so is it still going to be modded, updated, and the leading tank-sim in a couple of years?

(I realise there are no crystal balls, but a knowledgable will do!)

Thanks

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My fundamental question is...

will SB Pro PE still be relevant in a couple of years?

Seeing as it is already a couple of years old, so is it still going to be modded, updated, and the leading tank-sim in a couple of years?

(I realise there are no crystal balls, but a knowledgable will do!)

Thanks

In a nutshell,as long as there are AFV's there will be a place for SB Pro Pe.It is being modded all the time as you can see from the downloads section and an update is due in the very near future(there is a thread on this forum),and as far as i am cioncerned it already IS THE leading tank Sim available.The thing i have enjoyed from day one is the attention to detail regarding the sim.There is no compromise between accuracy and playability.You have to remember that the other "tank sims" out there are made for the mass market and as such compromises have to be made for it to sell and make money fior the developer and publisher.SB Pro Pe is a different type of sim,less "gamey" than say Steel Fury or Panzer Elite,and as such might not appeal to the gaming/simming community as a whole.Personally i think SB Pro Pe is one of the best "lesser" known secrets about!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Agree that SB pro SE is the tank sim...everything else out there is just a game...been following and have SB1 forever, prior to that my mount was M1TP2...just ordered the pro and eagerly await its arrival and then foray into online.

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. And in SB, your wingmen don't do bizarre things like the "lets turn around and wag our rear aspects at the other tanks who are presently firing at us dance."

Yes when you give a retreat order, they actually go backwards.

But to make up for this, they do like to go for a dip.

Even if they can't swim.

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Thanks for the replies.

I should have said ''will it still be the leading tank sim in a couple fo years. The last tank sim I owned was M1 Tank Platoon 2, so you could say i'm relatively new to the scene. After looking for a decent sim, SB Pro PE seemed the only real option.

But I wanted to be sure that when SB2, or another tank sim (if there are any in the piepework), will not render SB Pro PE a relic.

Cheers.

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We have SB Pro, SB ProPE and SB 'the new game' - which may or may not be called SB2 - current version number of SB ProPE is 2.433, and there will be more version numbers before the final release candidate for the next update for SB ProPE is ready. The 'missing' numbers are internal builds, or builds for release for SB Pro btw.

We may be on version 3 by the time 'the new game' is ready?

As these have different purposes, there may possibly be parallel development of all three products (once 'the new game' exists). Advances in graphics required by 'the new game' will be available for SB Pro, although whether they are immediately used depends on the requirements of the militaries who are, and who should be the primary customer for the SB Pro versions.

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The Personal Edition is a variant of Steel Beasts Professional, and for as long as we're releasing new versions of that, SB Pro PE will receive updates and upgrades all along. I don't see it disappearing anytime soon. Until 2011 I think it is pretty safe to say that we will still be around (and surely I hope that we'll still be there way beyond that).

Also, as long as we can make money with upgrades, there's no reason to dump SB Pro PE either. The more of our army customers are adopting PE for their junior leader cadres, the stronger will be the PE line.

Army support is boon and bane of SB Pro development. Sure, we often don't find the time to add cool stuff that'd be fun to have and instead have to concentrate on specific training requirements. But the upside is, development for armies is keeping us in business (game sales would not), so as long as there is army demand for SB Pro, we will be around.

SB2 would in any case not make PE obsolete. Of course, we will try to add stuff to SB2 that would make it interesting to you PE owners, but even then I think that most of you would want to keep both and play one or the other, depending on your mood. SB2 would offer different content, but still be quite similar to PE as far as the strongpoints about its gameplay are concerned. That, at least, is the plan. Whether it'll survive its clash with reality, we shall see.

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