In Brief:
TacOps
- played in one minute turns
- stylized maps with only three elevations. Maps do not have a zoom in or out feature.
- units are typically platoons or company. Units can split down to sections. Units are issued orders by platoon / company. Copy and Paste feature for orders
- easy to use interface
- multi-national OOB
- lots of unit types
- simplified airstrikes
- a full in-game editor capability (umpire mode) for CPXs. ATF and BCT don't have anything like this.
- excellent multi-player via Hotseating, Lan/Internet or PBEM
- excellent tech support
- very active user community
- can be played on a low end machine
Armored Task Force
- basically, BCT on steriods with multiple enhancements and allowing individual units.
- real time with up to 8X time acceleration. There is a pause feature to give orders if real-time gets to be a handful. Maps also have 8 levels of zoom
- realistic maps with multiple heights
- can be played at company, platoon, section and single vehicle level. Units can be issued orders at each level and are interchangable. Units are typically platoons. Groups of platoons form a company hierarchy which can be given orders.
- AI can handle sub-units if you give commands to attack, defend, breach etc to company-level units. Copy and Paste feature for orders.
- interface can be a handful at times, with a variety of right click menus and toolbars.
- very limited OOB. US Army, US Marines and OPFOR.
- limited unit types
- detailed air support. Aircraft are treated like another unit, meaning aircraft can loiter and remain on station and make multiple passes on targets.
- more detailed artillery model than TacOps
- multiplayer is lan / internet. Limited number of players in multiplayer. No PBEM.
- has a scenario builder but can't design new maps and unit database is small.
- average tech support
- limited user community (game is new)
- needs high end machine as game can stall while it processes the game play. Time skips of up to a minute or more are common on a average-power machines.
Brigade Task Force
- in brief, BTF is the predecessor of ATF. Unlike TacOps or ATF, unit sizes are fixed in sections, platoons, or companies. Units cannot be broken into smaller sub-units.
- simplied air-support model
- unlike ATF, cannot give orders to hierarchy and have have AI handle sub-units
- interface is a bear to learn and master
- multiplayer is lan/internet and is limited to two opposing players
- has a scenario builder with multi-national units. Has several add on modules, acquired separately.
- average tech support
- active user community
Recommendations for a new player - in order.
TacOps followed by ATF followed by BCT.
TacOps, while the maps seem crude to ATF, has the easier interface, umpire mode (a huge plus in my book), a large multi-national OOB and unit database, excellent multi-player, outstanding tech support on-line and a very active user community.
While your friend is not a multi-player, the PBEM feature of TacOps is one way to play against an opponent without dedicating the time to play in a CPX. The real-time nature of ATF and BCT doesn't allow for PBEM. Another thing to consider...
My two coppers...
[ December 10, 2002, 02:51 PM: Message edited by: Del Shand ]