M1 Tank Platoon II

Polak2 · 10-17-21, 06:50 AM

The most obsolete and needing of the change in M1TP2 is its modeling of the trees and forest patches. Frankly, this is totally archaic and pretty much even strange looking to anyone today.

I remember, that 1998 was the time that from the performance reasons forests were depicted as solid and unpenetrable blocks (EECH comes to my mind), but programmers and graphics artists at MPS here simplified the thing too much but making those blocks straight and linear.

As a temporary fix, I do while playing it today is either change the venue of the scenario to desert by simply replacing names and location of the map in the Battles text files. I know that this affects the gameplay as those crude (!) blocks are meant to hide the OPFOR.

Gunship! made the improvement to this, but it was still not as good as eSim had done in SB1. Trees and forests were IMHO one of the most important component of the combat land simulation.

RetroGamer · 10-17-21, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Polak2

The most obsolete and needing of the change in M1TP2 is its modeling of the trees and forest patches. Frankly, this is totally archaic and pretty much even strange looking to anyone today.

Gunship! made the improvement to this, but it was still not as good as eSim had done in SB1. Trees and forests were IMHO one of the most important component of the combat land simulation.

All very true! I gotta get me a copy of Gunship!

The last tank sim I bought was T-72, I think back in 2006. That one was a quantum leap forward graphics-wise with even the terrain being deformable. I ordered it online and it came with two very cool labeled CDs and a great paper manual. The whole thing arrived in my mailbox in a brown envelope and it gave my computer a serious workout.

T-72 was a very hard game, nobody’s computer was good enough to run it at the time, and it failed miserably. I beat that sucker more than once.

M1TP2 and Steel Beasts did something right, though. For the first time, a player could manipulate the joystick with skill and lase and hit the target. iM1A2 had that modeled pretty accurately as well but I couldn’t get into it, unfortunately.

I’m probably gonna have to take a break as the wife is getting mad at me for playing too much, ha ha ha!!! (I know everybody’s been there!)

Polak2 · 10-17-21, 12:55 PM

Quote:

wife is getting mad at me for playing too much, ha ha ha!!! (I know everybody’s been there!)

Smoke grenades won't work here I am sure... Slow down then.

RetroGamer · 10-21-21, 06:07 AM

I pulled the original 64MB RAM stick and replaced it with two 128MB sticks. I ran some 3DMark99, 2000, and 2001 benchmarks and noticed it’s running slower!

I am not entirely surprised. Even though I ran memtest for 24 hours and it passed, my current setup is not as fast.

M1TP2 still runs ok.

Now - if I could just play it more proficiently….I keep getting the whole platoon killed on the normal and hard modes!!

RetroGamer · 10-21-21, 08:38 AM

I am pretty satisfied with how M1TPII plays.

It might be fun to try out a few vintage graphics cards to see how good it can get.

If anybody knows how to do a proper video capture from within Windows 98, please send some details.

As I recall Fraps was the thing back then. I’ll do some research.

Polak2 · 10-21-21, 09:10 AM

For screenshot:
Press the combination [ALT]-[Print Screen] simultaneously.
this will capture the window graphics and store in the clipboard.

FRAPS for video.

Polak2 · 10-21-21, 01:00 PM

One thing which is for sure superior in 3Dfx is smoke or to be more general - transparency and semitransparency rendering.

About being more proficient in M1TP2 it is my opinion that the maps are too small and they do not allow for more efficient maneuvering of the friendly units around OPFOR. A 2x size map would be IMHO better and I was hoping to try to mod that.

10-21-21, 06:07 AM	#4
RetroGamer Mate Join Date: Sep 2021 Posts: 54 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Observations After Memory Upgrade I pulled the original 64MB RAM stick and replaced it with two 128MB sticks. I ran some 3DMark99, 2000, and 2001 benchmarks and noticed it’s running slower! I am not entirely surprised. Even though I ran memtest for 24 hours and it passed, my current setup is not as fast. M1TP2 still runs ok. Now - if I could just play it more proficiently….I keep getting the whole platoon killed on the normal and hard modes!!

10-21-21, 08:38 AM	#5
RetroGamer Mate Join Date: Sep 2021 Posts: 54 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Very Short Clip I am pretty satisfied with how M1TPII plays. It might be fun to try out a few vintage graphics cards to see how good it can get. If anybody knows how to do a proper video capture from within Windows 98, please send some details. As I recall Fraps was the thing back then. I’ll do some research.

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10-17-21, 06:50 AM	#1
Polak2 Weps Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 371 Downloads: 60 Uploads: 0	The most obsolete and needing of the change in M1TP2 is its modeling of the trees and forest patches. Frankly, this is totally archaic and pretty much even strange looking to anyone today. I remember, that 1998 was the time that from the performance reasons forests were depicted as solid and unpenetrable blocks (EECH comes to my mind), but programmers and graphics artists at MPS here simplified the thing too much but making those blocks straight and linear. As a temporary fix, I do while playing it today is either change the venue of the scenario to desert by simply replacing names and location of the map in the Battles text files. I know that this affects the gameplay as those crude (!) blocks are meant to hide the OPFOR. Gunship! made the improvement to this, but it was still not as good as eSim had done in SB1. Trees and forests were IMHO one of the most important component of the combat land simulation.

10-21-21, 09:10 AM	#6
Polak2 Weps Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 371 Downloads: 60 Uploads: 0	For screenshot: Press the combination [ALT]-[Print Screen] simultaneously. this will capture the window graphics and store in the clipboard. FRAPS for video.

10-21-21, 01:00 PM	#7
Polak2 Weps Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 371 Downloads: 60 Uploads: 0	One thing which is for sure superior in 3Dfx is smoke or to be more general - transparency and semitransparency rendering. About being more proficient in M1TP2 it is my opinion that the maps are too small and they do not allow for more efficient maneuvering of the friendly units around OPFOR. A 2x size map would be IMHO better and I was hoping to try to mod that.