TankSim!

[Skybird]

Well, there is currently no big choice anyway. The only sim still supported and officially sold, is SBP. As smile price- or second hand-buys you can get TvT, and SF. M1TP2 does not run on most modern OS, and is hopelessly overaged. There is no argument for getting SB1, except the maybe low price you have to pay, but damn - it looks old and it is old. And then there was Panzer III, very good at its time, but again: hopelessly overaged today, no longer recommendable.

Think about what features and qualities you want, and then chose between SBP-PE and Zeewolf's TvT mod. Better ignore SF, it had some flaws that made me really shreddering it, so I will not recommend it. Timeframe is an obvious criterion, then online play, realism, tactical challenge, longtime motivation/replayability value.

Most likely, the question whether or not it must be WWII graphics is what will decide it for you. It has been the important question for many people coming here and asking for tank titles in the past. But consider the other points as well.

[Gerald]

Originally Posted by Skybird

Well, there is currently no big choice anyway. The only sim still supported and officially sold, is SBP. As smile price- or second hand-buys you can get TvT, and SF. M1TP2 does not run on most modern OS, and is hopelessly overaged. There is no argument for getting SB1, except the maybe low price you have to pay, but damn - it looks old and it is old. And then there was Panzer III, very good at its time, but again: hopelessly overaged today, no longer recommendable.

Think about what features and qualities you want, and then chose between SBP-PE and Zeewolf's TvT mod. Better ignore SF, it had some flaws that made me really shreddering it, so I will not recommend it. Timeframe is an obvious criterion, then online play, realism, tactical challenge, longtime motivation/replayability value.

Most likely, the question whether or not it must be WWII graphics is what will decide it for you. It has been the important question for many people coming here and asking for tank titles in the past. But consider the other points as well.

Personally, I prefer a good graphics and detail, and that it can be both WWII and the future ... but that it is interference, it may I assume .. but I guess what I chose, so will the current updates,in the long and short term.

[Skybird]

but that it is interference, it may I assume .. but I guess what I chose, so will the current updates,in the long and short term.

Ich versteh mal wieder nur die Hälfte.

I do not know any tank title allowing you WWII and modern equipement/scenarios.

The cloosest you can get in combining two era, is SBP, which has early cold war tanks like the Leopard-1A5, T-55, T-62 and M60A3 (the last three only AI-controlled, though), and most modern types like Leopard-2A6, M1A2SEP, T-80U and Challenger-II, which all are crewable except the T-80 (the C2 will become crewable in this winter's major upgrade). You can also tune down the in fluence of modern hightech by disabling certain subsystems like thermal imagers and laser range finders in the mission editor, forcing players tro use classic visual sights with crosshairs and scales like in WWII.

But you should also compare the style of "gameplay" in TvT and SBP. It is very different. I do not know if the Zeewolf mods change that, but the TvT in default status was an arcade shooting gallery with linear and prefixed mission flow, and the player only gunning away, needing to follow the string of mandatory successes before the mission rolled on - else tanks got respawned time and again (hope I get this right, I had only one afternoon on somebody else'S system to testplay it). SBP on the other hand allows you freedom of mission plan, team cooperation, tactics planning, playing from TC or gunner's seat or as force commander. Making best use of terrain and unit coordination are important parts of the show. You will spend much time i n hte mission planner before mission start. The better your preparation, the better your chances. SBP is no Rambo game. SBP also allows complex mission designs like bridging and minefield breaching operations. Simplified are helicotper and ifantry behavior, with infantry said to be drastically improved with the coming upgrade.

I should, mention that after several years, their major upgrade packages, which usually are very comprehensive, now have become payware (25 dolalrs, I think). Patches are still free. They delivered upgrades for free over the first years. They said from all begining on that at one day they would need to take some minor price for additional content - and they did so after delivering the first 4 years of all patches and upgrades for free.

And graphics, you asked for. The graphics in SBP deliver, and do their job of creating a beliavable battle envrionment. There are extrenmely realistic sights (optical, thermal), no dnymaic light chnages over the time of day/night, and the most used vehicles now have highres skins which are second to none in detail you see in ArmA2 or similiar titles. The sim creates optical vieiwjng ranges of up to 4.5 km, and delivers very natural feelings for the landscape. I prefer this engine to that of ArmA1, for example. Youz will not get too much effect gimmicks, though, no special light effects, and the kind of things you use to see in Unreal Torunament.

Sounds are already good in default release, plus many sound mods avaialble improving this or that sound file even more. It is no joy to witness an artillery barrage from being inside it.

[Gerald]

Originally Posted by Skybird

Ich versteh mal wieder nur die Hälfte.

I do not know any tank title allowing you WWII and modern equipement/scenarios.

The cloosest you can get in combining two era, is SBP, which has early cold war tanks like the Leopard-1A5, T-55, T-62 and M60A3 (the last three only AI-controlled, though), and most modern types like Leopard-2A6, M1A2SEP, T-80U and Challenger-II, which all are crewable except the T-80 (the C2 will become crewable in this winter's major upgrade). You can also tune down the in fluence of modern hightech by disabling certain subsystems like thermal imagers and laser range finders in the mission editor, forcing players tro use classic visual sights with crosshairs and scales like in WWII.

But you should also compare the style of "gameplay" in TvT and SBP. It is very different. I do not know if the Zeewolf mods change that, but the TvT in default status was an arcade shooting gallery with linear and prefixed mission flow, and the player only gunning away, needing to follow the string of mandatory successes before the mission rolled on - else tanks got respawned time and again (hope I get this right, I had only one afternoon on somebody else'S system to testplay it). SBP on the other hand allows you freedom of mission plan, team cooperation, tactics planning, playing from TC or gunner's seat or as force commander. Making best use of terrain and unit coordination are important parts of the show. You will spend much time i n hte mission planner before mission start. The better your preparation, the better your chances. SBP is no Rambo game. SBP also allows complex mission designs like bridging and minefield breaching operations. Simplified are helicotper and ifantry behavior, with infantry said to be drastically improved with the coming upgrade.

I should, mention that after several years, their major upgrade packages, which usually are very comprehensive, now have become payware (25 dolalrs, I think). Patches are still free. They delivered upgrades for free over the first years. They said from all begining on that at one day they would need to take some minor price for additional content - and they did so after delivering the first 4 years of all patches and upgrades for free.

And the graphics are high and details....

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Vendor

And the graphics are high and details....

Hm...? Sometimes I just understand "Bahnhof".

Graphics can be watched here:

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...t=88893&page=3

From post #45 on. That represents the .dds-standard that was introduced back then, with highrtes skins and new 3D models. all oictrures before posting #45 are old.

Lovely.














Any more questions...!?!

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Vendor

Yes...graphics look ok ... but I guess it gets better with time, thanks! I guess you can turn down the graphics card settings, to a normal level now, or it can redirect I have too high, and the game is not suited for cards that are built "for to good"

???

If you ask for what graphics options there are: not too many. You can set resolution to anything you want, and have the range at which the grass and detailed terrain is displayed, to longer didstances. In principle, that's it. AA and AF you can set via your gfx driver.

Hope this was what you wanted to ask.

Chances are that you can run the sim on any system around these days - also on older ones: I ran it until this spring on a system from 2004 or so - and a standard system that was at its time, nothing special.

Just avoid to carelssly set the grass lsider to maximum - that sometimes can kill any system there is.

[Skybird]

I forgot: best advise is to check out the videos. This series gives you 1 day of multiplayer action in WWIII, condensed and summarised in 6 videos of around 1 hour in total. It starts in dark, yes, but you can move forward if you want. If you are after MP, this is what you need to see.

Brave Rifles - Zipuli - January-March 2011 (multiplayer)
part 1:
part 2:
part 3:
part 4:
part 5:
part 6 (The Final) :

From the dawn of day one to the afternoon of the second day - 36 hours of intense fighting in the 90s, when the cold war suddenly turned hot! This is a great multiplayer battle being done, telling the story of events in more than one hour of video!

[Gerald]

Originally Posted by Skybird

???

If you ask for what graphics options there are: not too many. You can set resolution to anything you want, and have the range at which the grass and detailed terrain is displayed, to longer didstances. In principle, that's it. AA and AF you can set via your gfx driver.

Hope this was what you wanted to ask.

Chances are that you can run the sim on any system around these days - also on older ones: I ran it until this spring on a system from 2004 or so - and a standard system that was at its time, nothing special.

Just avoid to carelssly set the grass lsider to maximum - that sometimes can kill any system there is.

Thanks for all the answers, I have good machines and cards, so setting becomes less of a problem .. with AA and AF

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Vendor

Yes...graphics look ok ... but I guess it gets better with time, thanks! I guess you can turn down the graphics card settings, to a normal level now, or it can redirect I have too high, and the game is not suited for cards that are built "for to good"

Can we please remember not to copy the graphical content when quoting Gerald....in all fairness Steve has already pointed this out to you recently.

As we are all well aware....bandwidth costs money.

TIA

[Gerald]

Originally Posted by jimbuna

Can we please remember not to copy the graphical content when quoting Gerald....in all fairness Steve has already pointed this out to you recently.

As we are all well aware....bandwidth costs money.

TIA

I know it .. and please excuse me!