Youngest Age for SBProPE

[Ratseal]

I have a copy (older and unpatched) of SBProPE which I haven't played in forever. I used to spend an insane amount of time playing, designing scenarios etc.

My two youngest are now 12 and 14. Do you think that they are 'old' enough to 'get into' the SB mindset? The game doesn't provide the same instant gratification of most shoot'em ups.

On the upside, if they do get into it - I have nearly have my own platoon...

And BTW, I used to lurk here a lot! Nice to see some of the old hands around, like HellHound and Shotmagnet.

[GH_Lieste]

Dunno - my three year old loved it when I wrapped an ASLAV-25 around a tree at 100kmh, and made me do it again, and again... and again.

Then we had to sneak around using the smoke grenades a lot - that amused her as well - especially when we saw some poorly maintained vehicles driving around near here 'hiding' in their engine exhaust smoke/turbo oil smoke.

As for 'serious' gaming...

I really got into flight simulators at around 10 or 11*, and have always been keen to do it as 'right' as possible.

*Early-Mid 80s.

It depends on the level of interest and maturity though.

[Tacbat]

Do you think that they are 'old' enough to 'get into' the SB mindset?

There's one way to find out.

Just be sure to enable all the "helpers" in SB. :wink:

[Ssnake]

Personally I would consider 16+ the right age for it, and be it simply for the proximity to the age where military service could start (depending on draft and/or voluntary service). The original Steel Beasts received a Teen rating (12+ in Germany).

We're short on gore and splatter effects, but our dead bodies do not disappear and you can have a pretty grisly sight after a battle, depending on the intensity of combat etc.

Ultimately you be the judge what the appropriate age is. Time not spent with the kids is not going to come back.

[ShotMagnet]

Rat, as you know it's not a question of fast-twitch skills.

If it were I would have been ejected from this community some time ago.

Whether they are suitable for the game should be a function of the answers to the following questions:

Can the lads follow orders?

Can they behave as adults?

Can they be counted on to use their brains?

Can they play as part of a team?

If the lads can answer yes to at least the last two, I'd say that they're ready.

Shot

[TankHunter]

I got into SB1 when I was 15 or so. Granted my gamer background was in stuff like close combat, swat 3 and fleet command when it came to low level war type stuff. So I guess it depends, what kinda stuff are they used to?

[GaryOwen]

PS-Scud started rather young as well. He was always a good MP teammate.

[andym]

I am sure most kids will have played games a LOT more graphical than SB.Assasins creed and the like,most RPG games and 1st person shootems.Its not like you see bits of dead tank crew strewn over the battlefield od big sprays of blood as infantry get shot.

[Ssnake]

Well, yeah... then again, the dead bodies usually dissolve in most games. In SB Pro they add up (which is intentional).

[dejawolf]

then there's stuff like team fortress 2 where when blown up, the player characters turns into a grisly spray of meat chunks, with ragdoll bodies lie around, for you to shoot until the body limit is hit.

and mount and blade where hordes of dead bloodied enemy bodies lies strewn across the battlefield as you hack them down.

[CommanderA9]

I have a copy (older and unpatched) of SBProPE which I haven't played in forever. I used to spend an insane amount of time playing, designing scenarios etc.

My two youngest are now 12 and 14. Do you think that they are 'old' enough to 'get into' the SB mindset? The game doesn't provide the same instant gratification of most shoot'em ups.

On the upside, if they do get into it - I have nearly have my own platoon...

And BTW, I used to lurk here a lot! Nice to see some of the old hands around, like HellHound and Shotmagnet.

i bought my copy of steel beasts when i was 13. i saw it as a game, but as i grew up and got interested in the military, especially tanks, i understood steel beasts as a simulator and training tool, not a game. from then on, my scenarios became more mature and more refined

let em have a go, give it a shot, see what they think. have em go thru the tutorials first of course, then let them branch out. they may end up designing a scenario that you can't even beat (like i did to myself!)