M1 Tank Platoon II

RetroGamer · 10-17-21, 01:52 AM

M1TP2 Observations:

On one mission, I was out of main gun ammo and was headed toward some BTRs and possibly a few BMPs. The reality is that the .50cal will “cut those vehicles to cheese” (a quote from an NCO back in the ‘80s when I asked him about .50 cal vs APCs).

So, I decided to cut loose and sure enough blew up the remainder of enemy APCs - about half dozen or so with the .50 cal. That was pretty good, ha ha! I could barely see the enemy vehicles but could see them explode when I hit them. I haven’t read everything on this sim but don’t recall that topic being discussed. Just FYI info.

I created a new platoon in an attempt to dominate M1TP2 on the Hard setting. Nope - not proficient enough yet. Got the whole platoon killed on campaign 1, mission 1. I might retry all campaigns on Normal instead until I get better.

Regarding reality vs computer simulations - I recall Ssnake discussing this in the SB1 manual - there’s no way really to compare a computer sim to actual gunnery. You can get close in the hand/eye coordination area only, maybe.

So - from that point of view, none of these sims are truly realistic. All that matters is that you’re enjoying the challenge of beating a program that a team of programmers wrote. So, don’t feel guilty for enjoying something as “unrealistic” as Mechwarrior 3 or Armored Fist 1, I don’t!

The most fun game for me has always been Armored Fist 1 (1994), FWIW. You can pretend you’re commanding a Company Team of mech and armor and have a pretty good time. And yes, gamers today care a lot about graphics, including my own son. He is perplexed as to why I play old tank games that look crude compared to Call of Duty or some other FPS with beautiful graphics. I explained that it’s not about the graphics, it’s about getting immersed in defeating the game!!! He doesn’t get it. It’s ok, lol!!

Back to M1TP2 - I might try something crazy….since there are 3 different M1TP2 versions that I am aware of, - unpatched, v 1.1, and v 1.2 - I wonder if I would corrupt my fragile Win98 OS if I tried to install all 3 versions in different directories.

Maybe upgrade to 1.1, then install the unpatched version again in a different location. Upgrade it to 1.2, then install the unpatched version yet again in a different directory. Just a thought. I might attempt this when I tire of playing it.

I’d forgotten how unstable Win98 is! Something like that could easily corrupt the registry and cause blue screens or other odd behavior. I installed Panzer Commander and iPanzer’44 a few days ago and Win98 got them confused with each other. iPanzer’44 ended up having Panzer Commander’s icon associated with it and I couldn’t fix it. I was never thrilled with either title so I uninstalled both for now.

More updates to follow on the mission to defeat and dominate M1TP2 with the legacy IBM Aptiva desktop rescue PC!!!!

10-17-21, 01:52 AM	#31
RetroGamer Mate Join Date: Sep 2021 Posts: 54 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	M1TP2 Observations: On one mission, I was out of main gun ammo and was headed toward some BTRs and possibly a few BMPs. The reality is that the .50cal will “cut those vehicles to cheese” (a quote from an NCO back in the ‘80s when I asked him about .50 cal vs APCs). So, I decided to cut loose and sure enough blew up the remainder of enemy APCs - about half dozen or so with the .50 cal. That was pretty good, ha ha! I could barely see the enemy vehicles but could see them explode when I hit them. I haven’t read everything on this sim but don’t recall that topic being discussed. Just FYI info. I created a new platoon in an attempt to dominate M1TP2 on the Hard setting. Nope - not proficient enough yet. Got the whole platoon killed on campaign 1, mission 1. I might retry all campaigns on Normal instead until I get better. Regarding reality vs computer simulations - I recall Ssnake discussing this in the SB1 manual - there’s no way really to compare a computer sim to actual gunnery. You can get close in the hand/eye coordination area only, maybe. So - from that point of view, none of these sims are truly realistic. All that matters is that you’re enjoying the challenge of beating a program that a team of programmers wrote. So, don’t feel guilty for enjoying something as “unrealistic” as Mechwarrior 3 or Armored Fist 1, I don’t! The most fun game for me has always been Armored Fist 1 (1994), FWIW. You can pretend you’re commanding a Company Team of mech and armor and have a pretty good time. And yes, gamers today care a lot about graphics, including my own son. He is perplexed as to why I play old tank games that look crude compared to Call of Duty or some other FPS with beautiful graphics. I explained that it’s not about the graphics, it’s about getting immersed in defeating the game!!! He doesn’t get it. It’s ok, lol!! Back to M1TP2 - I might try something crazy….since there are 3 different M1TP2 versions that I am aware of, - unpatched, v 1.1, and v 1.2 - I wonder if I would corrupt my fragile Win98 OS if I tried to install all 3 versions in different directories. Maybe upgrade to 1.1, then install the unpatched version again in a different location. Upgrade it to 1.2, then install the unpatched version yet again in a different directory. Just a thought. I might attempt this when I tire of playing it. I’d forgotten how unstable Win98 is! Something like that could easily corrupt the registry and cause blue screens or other odd behavior. I installed Panzer Commander and iPanzer’44 a few days ago and Win98 got them confused with each other. iPanzer’44 ended up having Panzer Commander’s icon associated with it and I couldn’t fix it. I was never thrilled with either title so I uninstalled both for now. More updates to follow on the mission to defeat and dominate M1TP2 with the legacy IBM Aptiva desktop rescue PC!!!!