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Steel Beasts Pro PE

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Being armor fan since M1 Tank Platoon, I was wondering are any other forum members which going to order Steel Beasts Pro Personal Edition - It has only somewhat less features than Steel Beasts Pro which is being used as a tank crew training tool in several armies, for example in the Finnish Defence Forces. Graphichs and realism-wise it is identical. The only downside is 125 USD price tag but what the hell, good sims are worth it in my opinion.

These great in-game videos effectively sealed my decision to order SB Pro PE (at least when I'll upgrade my video card);

http://www.eechcentral.com/files/SteelBeasts/sb_pro_pe_01.avi

http://www.eechcentral.com/files/SteelBeasts/sb_pro_pe_02.avi

http://www.eechcentral.com/files/SteelBeasts/sb_pro_pe_03.avi

Here's the official fan site:

http://www.steelbeasts.com/

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Hellfish talked me into ordering today smile_o.gif

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Hi,

It is on my wish list, though I still need to scrape the funds together.

@Hellfish

There are some differences between the types of vehicles listed in this review of beta and the vehicle list of the makers. Can you tell whether the Mercedes jeep and YPR family of vehicles have made it into the SB Pro PE or not?

Regards,

Sander

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Not going to buy a game that costs more than I get per month from the goverment.. yay.gif

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Yes they are in there, but I'm not sure if they're crewable yet. I know I've killed a couple of the Mercedes jeeps. There are also many Australian vehicles that aren't on the list - the Leo1AS1 and ASLAV are crewable.

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Hellfish and others, can you answer some questions as you have the game:

- How's the editor, what kind of triggers can you make with that, can you set multiple objectives and sudden enemy off-map reinforcements?

- Can you draw freely to the briefing map, like expand those markers and arrows as you wish?

- Are all maps 20kmx20km and how many maps there are?

- Can you jump into any friendly vehicle in middle of the combat?

- How do you command other friendly forces?

- What is your PC configuration and how does the game run on your machine?

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Quote[/b] ]- How's the editor, what kind of triggers can you make with that, can you set multiple objectives and sudden enemy off-map reinforcements?

Editor is very easy to use so far. I haven't tinkered with the triggers yet, as they're not as simple to use as OFP's. But I've played missions with multiple objectives and there is a spawn command to bring in off map reinforcements.

Quote[/b] ]- Can you draw freely to the briefing map, like expand those markers and arrows as you wish?

Not freehand drawing that I've seen. The markers and arrows can be turned on and off, but not edited on the fly. You can add new markers at any time, though, and there is a very large selection to chose from. You can also put text labels on the map at any time. I'm trying my first MP game tomorrow, so I don't know yet if this is is true in that environment.

Quote[/b] ]- Are all maps 20kmx20km and how many maps there are?

Most maps are really 80x80km, but let you select a smaller area to fight on. 20x20km is the standard and will be more than adequate for most needs, but I've made missions with maps that were 5x20 or 10x20, etc. In all I think I counted 30 completed maps with another 30 or so heightmaps for use in the map editor. Terrain varies greatly - some desert, some savannah, one map is an Italian valley, some Korean maps, some mixed terrain. All in all I've been very impressed with the selection - I just wish I could remember which maps were set in which kind of terrain.

Quote[/b] ]- Can you jump into any friendly vehicle in middle of the combat?

Yes and no. You can usually jump into a 3rd person view and give movement commands but only a few vehicles are crewable and player-functional. I can jump into tanks of another platoon or company and do anything, but I can't jump into a Marder and fire the cannon. You can, however, command a bridgelayer and manually deploy the bridge - which is fun.

Quote[/b] ]- How do you command other friendly forces?

Give them waypoints and orders on the map screen. Waypoints work much the same as they do in OFP. I had no trouble learning how to use them.

Quote[/b] ]- What is your PC configuration and how does the game run on your machine?

Athlon 64 3200 with a gig of RAM and a crappy FX5600 video card. I have no trouble running the game - FPS averages around 20 and everything looks great. I don't remember exact settings I have, but by and large my game looks exactly like the vids show.

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I thought only the Abrams and Leopard were playable. What's the complete list of usable vehicles?

M1A1(HA), M2A2 Bradley, Leo1A5DK, Leo1AS1, ASLAV-25, ASLAV-PC, Leo2A4, Leo2A5DK, M113, HMMWV w/50cal, FIST-V, and maybe one or two I'm forgetting are all fully playable. Most everything else has some interactivity. The CV9040C is supposed to come out this summer.

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Thanks, Hellfish. I really appreciate the info you gave. smile_o.gif

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No problem. If you have any other questions or want screenshots of anything in particular, let me know.

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No problem. If you have any other questions or want screenshots of anything in particular, let me know.

Just show us some screenshots! biggrin_o.gif

Man, this sounds like great fun! Although, quite a bit of dough!

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Couple of Leo1 interor/exterior shots would be nice and some savannah and italian terrain for sure smile_o.gif

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How to purchase the game without credit card?

It's not very common that younger people have credit cards here in Germany confused_o.gif

But I'd like to play that game too, me as tank fan smile_o.gif

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How big are the maps?

I watched the video and it looks great. The vehicle models and terrain looks better than Flashpoint, but troop animations and when vehicles are destroyed looks abit crap.

The inside of tank looks more like a sim than Flashpoint in that you click to places you want to look at, but apart from the infrared and independant MG on top it looks like nothing that Flashpoint doesnt have (thats just going from the videos and website though).

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Not going to buy a game that costs more than I get per month from the goverment.. yay.gif

well it's just a hair more than the price of 2 games, and I've bought 2-3 games over the last year that lasted about a month or so, so really it's worth the money for me. It really depends on what you put into it. I think of how much I spent on OFP, about $30, and I've got a good 5 years from it. I'm sure this sim will last me at least 1/2 that long, so again, for me I'll get more than my money's worth.

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How big are the maps?

I watched the video and it looks great. The vehicle models and terrain looks better than Flashpoint, but troop animations and when vehicles are destroyed looks abit crap.

The inside of tank looks more like a sim than Flashpoint in that you click to places you want to look at, but apart from the infrared and independant MG on top it looks like nothing that Flashpoint doesnt have (thats just going from the videos and website though).

It's a tank sim that has infantry. OFP is an infantry sim that has tanks. The two can only really be compared in the fact that they are military sims. The focus is different.

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How big are the maps?

I watched the video and it looks great. The vehicle models and terrain looks better than Flashpoint, but troop animations and when vehicles are destroyed looks abit crap.

The inside of tank looks more like a sim than Flashpoint in that you click to places you want to look at, but apart from the infrared and independant MG on top it looks like nothing that Flashpoint doesnt have (thats just going from the videos and website though).

It's a tank sim that has infantry. OFP is an infantry sim that has tanks. The two can only really be compared in the fact that they are military sims. The focus is different.

That, and eSim said that their next major priority is to redo the infantry. They'll get 3D models, new animations and improved algorithms to use cover and buildings better (so you'll see infantry in buildings and they'll be harder to kill).

Ditto on Ebud with the price tag. I paid $50 for Battlefield 2, played it for about a month and dumped it. That was a waste of money. I paid $125 for this and I guarantee it will last a lot longer than BF2 did.

Oh, and also, SBProPE doesn't use a hitpoint system like OFP which makes vehicles FAR more realistic in their behaviour and effects.

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looks like a very cool sim smile_o.gif

Good lord I wish we could have terrain like that in flashpoint.

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Damn that looks great, awesome shots. Can't wait to get the game!

How's the mine damage, do you get cut track once you hit a mine and is that modelled in the 3D model too? Hows 120mm Rheimetall with Sabot, is hitting T-72 at any distance a virtually guaranteed kill or have you had instances or requiring something like 3 shots to kill it (if you hit in a less vulnerable place for instance). How's the performance against T-80?

How's the efficiency on 105mm gun?

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Quote[/b] ]How's the mine damage, do you get cut track once you hit a mine and is that modelled in the 3D model too?

I haven't hit a mine yet, and I haven't seen any enemy vehicles live long enough to reach minefields either. I'll try it out and let you know. But damage is not modelled in 3D, save for the occasional catastrophic explosion knocking off a turret.

Quote[/b] ]Hows 120mm Rheimetall with Sabot, is hitting T-72 at any distance a virtually guaranteed kill or have you had instances or requiring something like 3 shots to kill it (if you hit in a less vulnerable place for instance).

It all depends on where you hit it. I've noticed that engine hits are almost always kills - frontal shots are usually kills and suprisingly side shots aren't often kills. I usually aim for the gun mantlet or turret ring when I'm gunning and facing a T72 head on. Most of my side hits aren't kills, I think, because I have trouble tracking targets that move perpendicular or diagonally to me, so I think I usually end up hitting a wheel or track or something non-critical on the sides.

Last night I fired three rounds into a BMP1 before I got a kill - partly because I was firing APFSDS and partly because most of my rounds hit in the troop compartment and passed right through. Engine and turret hits are almost always kills.

Quote[/b] ]How's the performance against T-80?

Not too hard to kill T80s, but they are mean if they shoot at you. Very good fire control systems. Oh, and in the mission editor you can change ammo loadouts, so you can give T80s BM13 steel ammo instead of later tungsten or DU rounds if you want. For infantry you can give them RPGs or ATGMs of many varieties.

Quote[/b] ]How's the efficiency on 105mm gun?

Most difficult thing about the 105 is the fire control system, especially for the AS1. Penetration isn't great, but within 1500m you're probably ok. I had a Leo1 take out an Abrams frontally at 200m.

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