confirmed feature list for the next SBP upgrade

[Skybird]

This is a list where I summarized all confimred features that had been described by Ssnake in various threads at the SB forum, and were scattered around a bit.

Note this: due to lacking time, they consider to release the upgrade (which most probably will be payware, 28-35 dollars are thought about), in two parts, also probably, a first one planned for around x-mas, which will be tested, but due to lacking ressources not thoroughly tested and may have a risk to show up with some bugs, and a supplementing addon (for free then) around next summer. the alternative, that still is not ruled out, is a major delay (something SBP players are used to ) until summer and then the release of only one, but thoroughly tested and complete package.

Also note this: the big surprise was planned to be the Pizarro. It is confirmed to be ready and finished, but their spanish army contractor so far has not given is okay to the way they did model the thing, and thus the Pizarro currently is left out. As soon as the Spanish MoD says the sim is fine, it will be released. that said, I have not fully understood wether the Pizarro as planned part of this upgrade will arrive as a later supplementation (that you will not be newly charged for), or if it now will go into a later completely different update that will be a new package then.

Originally Posted by Ssnake

In the latest releases it's now possible to save AARs to disk, to swap 'em, and load them later for study. VUs can now save their sweet victories for posterity.

The Tiger (armed recce helicopter) is an important reconnaissance asset for any battlegroup commander, so quite naturally you would want to see it modelled. It needs some weapons if you get into a situation where you have to fight for information, hence missiles and a gun enabled. (It uses Javelins with increased range of 4 km that serve in the role of Hellfires, and a 30 mm cannon (AP rounds), Skybird).

The door gunner is the only means of self defence that the Griffon has. It was supposed to be implemented a year ago already, ... (rudimentary stations for pilot and copilot, too, Skybird)

Map zoom slider
A small improvement, yet essential to deal with urbanized area. You can now zoom into maps like factor 32 or so (I never needed the full range). A small improvement, but an improvement nonetheless.

Chinook
Well, yeah. Yet another helicopter. Yawn. But variety must count for something, too.

M88A2
Been on the wishlist of many, here it is - an armored recovery vehicle. (towing is manual action only, Skybird)

For all 120mm gun systems in SB Pro we'll have the M1028 Canister round (illustrated with screenshots), and the DM33 PELE. The latter is a refurbished APDSFS round with a core of a compressible material. After passing the armor layer the compressed core will rupture the penetrator wall for a lateral spall effect. At the same time the round is completely inert. It is therefore possible to use this type of sabot against snipers in a house without endangering people in adjacent rooms.

new option to have crew served heavy weapons for infantry... Missile teams can now have Javelin, too. OK, one of the flukes is that they still drag around a Milan launcher, but it's a start. Yes, it's got a top attack flight profile.

Not so spectacular but useful, one day is the option to adjust observation arcs. Units will still see and react to targets outside of these arcs, but their attention focus will be in the arc itself. With a narrow focus they will be very attentive.

Another element in this is that circle (transparent if LOS is given, otherwise black). This is the reference point for hull down adjustments. Previously positions with dead space 1500m ahead lead to overexposure of computer controlled tanks since they tried to be hull-down to that dead space, and not the ridge line 3km ahead.

houses, when occupied by own troops, are now semitransparent. This has the added benefit that Shift+Lase and "Lase waypoint" actions are now useful again.

Grenade launcher:
Has three types of ammo, HE, HEDP, and a German hollow charge round with 82mm penetration power. Currently no mix in ammo belts is possible, so either of the HEAT rounds is probably the best choice for the moment.

Bushmaster armored truck
Similar to the German "Dingo" (and incidentally based on the same principles, and the Unimog chassis. Provides armored transport, can be equipped with a remote weapon station (which is invisible right now, we'll still have to build a proper model for it; RWS option also available for ASLAV-PC).

Infantry
Will now sink into the ground in forests. Makes them harder to spot, and harder to hit with direct fire. Much harder.

Missile team
Screenshots will follow next week.

Shot dispersion
We have switched to a Gaussian normal distribution model. About the same behavior for large caliber rounds, bigger spread for small caliber weapons (to sum the practical effects up).

Turret clock damage
Disables the rendering of the turret in the vehicle compass (F1 view). The hull orientation is still shown.

Squads
All IFVs can now mount, dismount and control their squads by separation into fire team and assault team. Squads can therefore perform maneuver in bounds.
There's a new order "Observe to" which lets you control the orientation of a unit in the 3D view (before it would always orient in the direction of travel at the arrival of the designated point).

ISO container objects
In three flavors - filled with sand, filled with air, filled with office space. Sand provides cover and concealment. Air provides concealment, and cover against small arms at medium and long ranges. Accommodation/office containers simulate containerized field camps, and burn if hit by HE rounds.
They all look the same. We still have to add at least one other texture to make the office containers look like offices.

AAR
Captures now the status of smoke objects (including artillery impacts). Way cool matrix effects possible now.

Track damages
are now visualized by absence of a track around the roadwheels. No great effects, but it's a step in the right direction at least.

IEDs
are now four times as powerful.

No saving of battle plans
The function was so broken that it was better to suspend it. Well, maybe you could call it a bug fix. Anyway, it'll be back once that we had a chance to redo it more or less from scratch.

Position lock works again
...in multiplayer sessions. Only the external position is always active.

[Deamon]

Chinook
Well, yeah. Yet another helicopter. Yawn. But variety must count for something, too.

Btw, can hinds transport troops ?

And shouldn't the tiger have an 20mm gun ?

It is therefore possible to use this type of sabot against snipers in a house without endangering people in adjacent rooms.

So troops can now occupy buildings ? What exactly does this mean, have buildings now modeled interiours ?

Is there any documentation of improvements of the infantry in SBP compared to SBG ?

Did trops finally learned things like crawling, pop up shoot and go down quickly again ?

Is there a stealth option like in operation flashpoint where the soldiers try to be as camouflaged as possible ?

Can troops pick up weapons from dead soldiers ? Is the ammo and weapon load still treated only on squad level or do each sodier have now its own load out ? Which would mean when the bazooka guy was shot all bazookas would be lost to the squad untill it picks it up again.

Also is it possible in SBP to define a threat victor or threat azimuth ? So that you can force the AI to aim at a certain point.

Also is it possible now to separate the squad from its IFV ? This limitation always pissed me off, especially in situatiopns where I had to rush with the IFV quick to another place while the IFV then refused my orders and was instead staying there and waiting till the squad returned to the vehicle but till then it was to late.

Squads
All IFVs can now mount, dismount and control their squads by separation into fire team and assault team. Squads can therefore perform maneuver in bounds.
There's a new order "Observe to" which lets you control the orientation of a unit in the 3D view (before it would always orient in the direction of travel at the arrival of the designated point).

Ahh finally

[Skybird]

can hinds transport troops ?

In reality yes, in the sim not by default option. However, but a mission designer can script events that any hekicopter reaching a given position will fly low, slow, and after a scripted ammount of seconds, a squad will appear there, giving the impression they were transported.


And shouldn't the tiger have an 20mm gun ?

No, it has a GIAT 30 mm cannon with up to 450 rounds, plus optional 12,7 mm MG in external mountings. It is possible that it also will carry too much ammo in the addon. It is a start, though, and if there is minor detail being wrong, this is what is emant when they say: "released in not a thourpoughly, only generally tested state." See explanations in my introduction. It will be corrected some time later, if there is a wrong.


So troops can now occupy buildings ?

Yes, since one of the last updates.


What exactly does this mean, have buildings now modeled interiours ?

No interiors, this is no FPS. It means that troops can enter bui9ldings, hide in there, and ambush taregts from the bwindows. Friom the outside oyu do not see there are troops inside a slong as they do not open fire. It is possible to order them if they should ignore the buildings, hide in the base floor, or on the second floor.


Is there any documentation of improvements of the infantry in SBP compared to SBG ?

No to my knowledge, but it has been described in many hreads over the past 18 months, and is obvious in the sim as well. Yes, the infantry has more possibilities than in SB1, no it still is not perfect.


Did trops finally learned things like crawling, pop up shoot and go down quickly again ?

Missiles shooters do like that, yes, but until the new upgrade they lie flat on the ground, uncovered. No crawling. The addon will add this: "Infantry Will now sink into the ground in forests. Makes them harder to spot, and harder to hit with direct fire. "


Is there a stealth option like in operation flashpoint where the soldiers try to be as camouflaged as possible ?

Not in this manner, but you can influence the firing range, and the level of determination (acceptance of losses) by which they will stick to a defense position. You can also give them different types of orders like "assault", "engage", "scout", which does influence if they stubbornly move towars an objective, or react by seeking battle positions when enemies are present, if they react to enemy flanking, or simply march on.


Can troops pick up weapons from dead soldiers ?

Not in that detail. I asked that one to Ssnake some months ago, but I forgot the answer. The question was wether missiles for a squad count per squad or per man. However, squads become the more reluctant to fire back the more casualties they have taken.


Is the ammo and weapon load still treated only on squad level or do each sodier have now its own load out ? Which would mean when the bazooka guy was shot all bazookas would be lost to the squad untill it picks it up again.

See above. I'll try to find out.


Also is it possible in SBP to define a threat victor or threat azimuth ? So that you can force the AI to aim at a certain point.

You already define battle positions to face a general direction, the new upgrade also allows you to specify precise left and right boundaries for observation area. the smaller this area is, the faster a threat will be recognized.


Also is it possible now to separate the squad from its IFV ?

Since longer, yes. with the new upgrade you can even divert fire and assault team, both with different kind of weapons, it seems. HMGs are introduced.


This limitation always pissed me off, especially in situatiopns where I had to rush with the IFV quick to another place while the IFV then refused my orders and was instead staying there and waiting till the squad returned to the vehicle but till then it was to late.

Give the IFV early the command to keep their squad aboard, then they will not dismount every time the behcile stops. Scout orders will make the grunts move together with the slow driving vehicles. Separate orders for the squad will separate them from the vehicle, and the vehicle will then freely move without waiting for the squad mounting again.

[Deamon]

Originally Posted by Skybird

can hinds transport troops ?

In reality yes, in the sim not by default option. However, but a mission designer can script events that any hekicopter reaching a given position will fly low, slow, and after a scripted ammount of seconds, a squad will appear there, giving the impression they were transported.

You mean scripting with the editor ?

And will I have to do the same with a chinook ?

No, it has a GIAT 30 mm cannon with up to 450 rounds, plus optional 12,7 mm MG in external mountings.

You mean it has a 30mm in reality too ? :hmm:

So troops can now occupy buildings ?

Yes, since one of the last updates.

This is cool actually.

What exactly does this mean, have buildings now modeled interiours ?

No interiors, this is no FPS. It means that troops can enter bui9ldings, hide in there, and ambush taregts from the bwindows. Friom the outside oyu do not see there are troops inside a slong as they do not open fire. It is possible to order them if they should ignore the buildings, hide in the base floor, or on the second floor.

I mean, how does it looks like when a soldier pops up in a window ? There is no interiour you say and the windows are just textures then ?

Missiles shooters do like that, yes, but until the new upgrade they lie flat on the ground, uncovered. No crawling. The addon will add this: "Infantry Will now sink into the ground in forests. Makes them harder to spot, and harder to hit with direct fire. "

Damn, they need to learn crawling. But at least something. btw I see some trenches, on videos, digged out where tanks take a hull down position and fire from. Can this trenches be digged during a mission somehow or in the terrain editor or something ?

Is there a stealth option like in operation flashpoint where the soldiers try to be as camouflaged as possible ?

Not in this manner, but you can influence the firing range, and the level of determination (acceptance of losses) by which they will stick to a defense position. You can also give them different types of orders like "assault", "engage", "scout", which does influence if they stubbornly move towars an objective, or react by seeking battle positions when enemies are present, if they react to enemy flanking, or simply march on.

I guess it's the same as in SB then.

Also is it possible in SBP to define a threat victor or threat azimuth ? So that you can force the AI to aim at a certain point.

You already define battle positions to face a general direction, the new upgrade also allows you to specify precise left and right boundaries for observation area. the smaller this area is, the faster a threat will be recognized.

Finally! This will save me a lot of micromanagement!

Also is it possible now to separate the squad from its IFV ?

Since longer, yes. with the new upgrade you can even divert fire and assault team, both with different kind of weapons, it seems. HMGs are introduced.

What do you mean with HMG's ?

This limitation always pissed me off, especially in situatiopns where I had to rush with the IFV quick to another place while the IFV then refused my orders and was instead staying there and waiting till the squad returned to the vehicle but till then it was to late.

Give the IFV early the command to keep their squad aboard, then they will not dismount every time the behcile stops.

No no. I mean when I actually dismount the squad and move it from to a forest patch in an ambush position and letting the IFV behind the hill to give them support. Then when the enemy comes over the hill I take them under fire with the IFV while the squad smoke them with bazookas from close range. When some enemy vehicles might have sliped through I would want to move the IFV quickely into another firing position to engage them from behind and guess what the IFV refuses my order and stay there and wait in the open till the squad returned and till then the next enemy tank comes over the hill and smoke my IFV.

Separate orders for the squad will separate them from the vehicle, and the vehicle will then freely move without waiting for the squad mounting again.

About what seperate orders are you talking about ? As far as I can see you cannot really seperate the squad from the IFV, the squad can move freely very far but when I want to move the IFV then he stay there and wait till the squad is back.

How much bigger are the maps now ? I somehow get claustrophobia in SB at times. I would like to make some scenarios where you have to cross long distances with missons that goon for hours, where you don't have to expect enemies behind every hill. But SB terrain is a little bit small for my taste.

And btw, any improvements to the helo AI ? Can they hide now behind the terrain and tree lines or are they still behave like on a turkey shot ?

[Skybird]

You mean scripting with the editor ?

Yes, during mission design.

And will I have to do the same with a chinook ?

For the time being, yes.

You mean it has a 30mm in reality too ? :hmm:

as far as I remember, yes. I just checked on the fly with Wikipedia, they also say: 30 mm.

I mean, how does it looks like when a soldier pops up in a window ? There is no interiour you say and the windows are just textures then ?

Windows are textures, soldiers remain invisible inside houses. All you see is the muzzle flashes from wepaons and a puff of msoke when a missile is fired.

Damn, they need to learn crawling. But at least something. btw I see some trenches, on videos, digged out where tanks take a hull down position and fire from. Can this trenches be digged during a mission somehow or in the terrain editor or something ?

Not during the mission, which for the time scale of usual missions is unrealostic anyway. each vehicle has it's own foxhole, and they can come in two depth levels, too, one of which allows tabnks moving back and forth, revealing their turret when firijng, and complety go on divind station while reloading. they rock back and and fourth within seconds for that reason.
You can see pictures of it here : http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...d=1#post421927
I agree on the crawling part, it is a high priority for me, yes. But for esim, it seems to be a medium priority only. Has something to do with that infantry again is not the original focus of the sim.

What do you mean with HMG's ?

Heavy machine guns. Before they had LMGs and MMGs only.

No no. I mean when I actually dismount the squad and move it from to a forest patch in an ambush position and letting the IFV behind the hill to give them support. Then when the enemy comes over the hill I take them under fire with the IFV while the squad smoke them with bazookas from close range. When some enemy vehicles might have sliped through I would want to move the IFV quickely into another firing position to engage them from behind and guess what the IFV refuses my order and stay there and wait in the open till the squad returned and till then the next enemy tank comes over the hill and smoke my IFV.

Move the IFV to the squad, or giove both a movement path to a meeting point or leave the sqaud in place. Once the squad has received an order for itself , it is detached from the IFV, and the IFV can do as it pleases. At least that is like it is in SGB. Do not remember SB1, though.

About what seperate orders are you talking about ? As far as I can see you cannot really seperate the squad from the IFV, the squad can move freely very far but when I want to move the IFV then he stay there and wait till the squad is back.

See above. if you talk about SB1, I do not remember, if you talk about SBP, you do something wrong. When you unload the squad, it still is attached to the vehicle, and will follow it, and the vehicle will never stray beyond a certainn distance to the squad, or even wait until the squad has mounted again. If you click on the infantry alone and give it some order like "hold/defend", or "move", it is detached, and the tank will not wait for them to return before it moves (SBP)

How much bigger are the maps now ?

as big as the mission designer makes them. there is a limit, but I never met it so far. for example, 20x15km and more is no problem.

I somehow get claustrophobia in SB at times. I would like to make some scenarios where you have to cross long distances with missons that goon for hours, where you don't have to expect enemies behind every hill. But SB terrain is a little bit small for my taste.

Keep in my mind that platoons and companies in reality would have preordered movement corridors and phaselines for formation cohesion, else a unit would stray into anothe runits firing zoine and Blue on Blue would occure.

I played some missions going for up to 6 hours. But that is not really fun, I promise you. Somebody created the Thunderrun of amerian tanks along the highways in Baghdad, due to the micromanaging I did, I played a sneaking battle. My losses were low, but it took, as I said, over 6 hours. The road is 25 or more km long.

And btw, any improvements to the helo AI ? Can they hide now behind the terrain and tree lines or are they still behave like on a turkey shot ?

Helos are low priority and originally were meant as flying targets for gunnery practice only, so little improvement there (the Aussie military wanted them first, I believe). I doubt there will ever be a flight model of the fidelity you want. that simply is not within the scope of this simulation, and to spend time on it would thus not be justified as long as there are higher priorities - and these are there in high numbers. However, helicopters can be quite lethal. But I tend to leave them out, they are not clever in the way you described, and thus are easy targets. I use them for pop-up-and-hide recce exclusively, if ever, or to chase down an already retreating or shattered enemy (like you often use cavalry in Total War)

[Deamon]

You mean it has a 30mm in reality too ? :hmm:

as far as I remember, yes. I just checked on the fly with Wikipedia, they also say: 30 mm.

This must be new then. The last time I check it it was still 20mm. 30mm is quite large for such a small copter. But i don't mind, the bigger the better

I mean, how does it looks like when a soldier pops up in a window ? There is no interiour you say and the windows are just textures then ?

Windows are textures, soldiers remain invisible inside houses. All you see is the muzzle flashes from wepaons and a puff of msoke when a missile is fired.

Uhh. Does that mean you cannot gun them down then, when they fire from the window ?

I agree on the crawling part, it is a high priority for me, yes. But for esim, it seems to be a medium priority only. Has something to do with that infantry again is not the original focus of the sim.

Sooner or later they will surely fix it.

What do you mean with HMG's ?

Heavy machine guns. Before they had LMGs and MMGs only.

Heavy you mean something like MG3 ?

Move the IFV to the squad, or giove both a movement path to a meeting point or leave the sqaud in place.

No I want to leave the squad where it is and move the IFV but when the IFV is a certain distance away from the squad, it holds on and the squad is running back to the IFV without me ordering it.

Once the squad has received an order for itself , it is detached from the IFV, and the IFV can do as it pleases.

I just made a test run again and figured out that when the squad is a closer distance away and I want to move the IFV then the squad returns while the IFV waits. When the squad is much further away then you can go with the IFV where you like, while the squad stay where it is. However when the IFV pass the squad later too close it stops again and take them on board. Can you maybe ask the devs to add a Kriegsgerichts feature so that I can trial them for disobedience ?

See above. if you talk about SB1, I do not remember, if you talk about SBP, you do something wrong.

I am still talking about SB1

How much bigger are the maps now ?

as big as the mission designer makes them. there is a limit, but I never met it so far. for example, 20x15km and more is no problem.

This is good actually. Is that true that in SB2 the maps will be smaller again ?

I somehow get claustrophobia in SB at times. I would like to make some scenarios where you have to cross long distances with missons that goon for hours, where you don't have to expect enemies behind every hill. But SB terrain is a little bit small for my taste.

Keep in my mind that platoons and companies in reality would have preordered movement corridors and phaselines for formation cohesion, else a unit would stray into anothe runits firing zoine and Blue on Blue would occure.

I know but i want to simulate some marches as well and also an territorial in-depth war where the front line is maybe dissolved already and scattered units are all around. Some gunships would be good then to stop some enemy units that break through.

I played some missions going for up to 6 hours. But that is not really fun, I promise you. Somebody created the Thunderrun of amerian tanks along the highways in Baghdad, due to the micromanaging I did, I played a sneaking battle. My losses were low, but it took, as I said, over 6 hours. The road is 25 or more km long.

That reminds me on something. As far as I can see rearm and repair can be done now in the field too right ?

I doubt there will ever be a flight model of the fidelity you want. that simply is not within the scope of this simulation,

That would be a shame after all for such a fine sim. But sooner or later some of their customers will demand this. It's just a question of time, imho.

and to spend time on it would thus not be justified as long as there are higher priorities - and these are there in high numbers.

One day they will have worked all of them off and then they can finally implement some fine gunship AI. And teach the infantry crawling

or to chase down an already retreating or shattered enemy (like you often use cavalry in Total War)

That's what I would use them for. Some beaten formations that managed to sneak through and no tanks can catch up with them again fast enough, that's where a gang of gunships would come in handy and that is what I would want to have a really big map. Paratroops or air cavalery could be fun too to intercept breaked through formations. :hmm:

But I still have one hell of a fun with SB1. My skills much improved. This came me very handy even In OFP tank operations too.