Tankbuster Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 Just had to let the devs and guys at Battlefront have some appreciation for producing this excellent sim. The game arrived in just four days from a distribution centre in Ireland to the UK. Installed fine and plays very well with all graphics set on highest at a res of 1024x768. I played the demo to death and have just finished the single player missions (must download the new ones) to get some training for the campaign. Once I figured out I had to turn the joystick off in Config to get the mouse to work right my single problem with the game setup vanished. The manual is well produced and gives a decent intro. to the basics, but a few more explanatory pics and text on the various gun sights, range finding and manual gunnery would have been useful. The Tank Commander and Driver positions at the moment feel almost like a cheat if you set the gunner to scan and open fire. All you have to do is point the tank at the enemy and the gunner does the rest, and usually fairly accurately too! Tank movement, sounds and damage all look and sound very good - this is way ahead of anything else out there in tank sim world, but then that would not be difficult as there are so few true tank sims around. I love the environment too, plenty of buildings, animals, trees, grass and sounds which all add to the atmosphere. I think I am going to be happy with this one for a long while 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freya Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 Originally posted by Tankbuster: I think I am going to be happy with this one for a long while Welcome to the club! :cool: 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tankbuster Posted October 14, 2005 Author Share Posted October 14, 2005 Thanks! I'm really enjoying the little details - I mean who else would go to the trouble of filling fields with nodding sunflowers and gardens with moving veg! I just saw an APC get hit and burn and the guys inside spilled out the back all on fire - horrific, but amazing detail. When troops get hit by shells they go spiralling into the air with a scream, the tanks crews swearing when hit, the fact that my tank can get blown into the air and land in a crater with the crew partially intact (we still kept firing! ). I could go on, but I am starting to sound like a regular fanboy 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sneaksie Posted October 17, 2005 Share Posted October 17, 2005 the tanks crews swearing when hit -------- I don't remember if english speech can be installed during setup same as english text marks on ammo selector, etc., but i can say that russian speech is MATURE to say the least, esp. in critical situations:) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schmeisser Posted October 17, 2005 Share Posted October 17, 2005 About that 'gunner cheat' - if You want real 'hardcore' set own unit experience to 1 Should help a bit 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macker33 Posted October 20, 2005 Share Posted October 20, 2005 The sim comunity really wanted a decent tank sim,i dont believe at long last we actually got one. What i cant figure out is why flight sims are more popular than tank sims. All we need now is for the dev team to make a WWII tank sim. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schmeisser Posted October 20, 2005 Share Posted October 20, 2005 'Es rasseln die Ketten, es dröhnt der Motor...' Yes, yes, i want my favourite 'medium' tank, Vampir set not necessery How much time and how many tries it took You befor You were able to destroy anything in 'real mission' not in gunnery practice ? I needed about 4-6 hours to get familliar with game, and probably if i wouldnt be really sure that i was gonna play t-72 at all cost i would give up. In flight sim its going bit faster - i dont want to say that You are ace after one hour, but its simpler. Thats why ppl better like flight sims. Beside what is so funny in riding on big ugly machine, through mud , water, and once per 10 secs shoot with cannon , huh ? :> 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macker33 Posted October 21, 2005 Share Posted October 21, 2005 Maybe,but rolling over things and pushing things out of the way in planes isnt the same as it is in tanks. Thats worth the money alone. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freya Posted October 21, 2005 Share Posted October 21, 2005 Originally posted by macker33: What i cant figure out is why flight sims are more popular than tank sims. Hmm, guess there's something special about the fascination of flying and make no mistake, a decent flight sim is something that's hard to ignore. On the other hand a tank sim, if properly immplemented, offers a wider varity of missions and it demands a level of tactical expertise, especially concerning combined arms warfare, that's very different from flight sims and which is one of the things I really like about good tank sims. Unfortunately, many simmers have other priorities, so they don't appreciate tank sims as much as tank sims deserve. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macker33 Posted October 22, 2005 Share Posted October 22, 2005 True,theres definately more variety in tank sims, I've 8 or 9 flight sims but how many times can you fly a mustang and still get a kick out of it. Flght sims have been done to death,all them flight sims and not one decent WWII desert flight sim. Imersions important too,i remember getting drawn into panzer commander more than any other game i ever played. Just wait until i get my 3d glasses,will be rocking and rollin' then. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freya Posted October 22, 2005 Share Posted October 22, 2005 Sure enough, immersion is one of THE yardsticks for *any* good sim imo. Unfortunatley, immersion is what most of the recent sims are lacking in. This is even true for BoF to some extent, as there isn't any real character development for the player, no crew/platoon members you need to take care of and of course no dynamic campaign. Recent sims tends to focus on the technical aspect, that is, simulating aircraft, tanks etc., but it doesn't really give the player the feeling that he/she is involved in a military conflict where he/she is only part of something bigger. In the end, those sims are feeling rather dry and hollow. I would love to see a truly dynamic tank sim, be it WW2 (my favorite) or a Nato versus Warsaw pact scenario for example, with news flashes to keep the player up to date regarding the overall picture of the campaign. And reinforcements should also be modelled realistically: for instance if you loose too many tanks on some missions, your company later might have a tough time to do the job on hand. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergei Posted October 22, 2005 Share Posted October 22, 2005 Originally posted by macker33: What i cant figure out is why flight sims are more popular than tank sims.Because making a good ground combat simulation is harder to do than a good air combat simulation. It took a long time until computers were powerful enough to allow nice, detailed terrain. And even after that it took time until infantry could be modelled. In flight simulators, all this is much less complicated. Terrain is just a background (and for a Pacific sim you don't need it at all) and there is no need for infantry. Due to these reasons, flight simulators have been popular for the past 20 years, and it will take quite a lot of time until tank simulators can achieve comparable fan base. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schmeisser Posted October 23, 2005 Share Posted October 23, 2005 Long time ago i had really great computer. Commodore C-64 II and C1541 floppy drive. It had 64 kb of memory, typical mobile phone today has 20 times more memory ;D. I had tank sim - Steel Thunder , reallly great sim, i am serious. You could drive M48, M60 M1A1, Bradley. Your opponents were T-55/64/72/80, brdm, btm. Its construction was very similar to t-72 BiF - Player could change battlestations 'on the fly' - driver gunner we could customize ammo load Basically great game sorry for my little offtopic ;0 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tankbuster Posted October 23, 2005 Author Share Posted October 23, 2005 Never heard of that one Schmeisser,it does look pretty detailed for its time. I think I was messing around with a Sinclair ZX Spectrum at the time and early space sims - ahh the good old days! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freya Posted October 24, 2005 Share Posted October 24, 2005 Ah yes, the good old days. I remember very well when thr original Tank Platoon from Micropose appeared for the Amiga. That too was a blast. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macker33 Posted October 26, 2005 Share Posted October 26, 2005 Back to sims nowadays are to dry,the way i look at it is there should be something for everybody. If its a battlefield experience you want you should try WWII tank commander,its got explosions and paratroopers falling from the sky and non stop explosions and bullits,Very cartoony. I actually thik t72 has meat on its bones and i can buy into it but try the other game for a change.I got both the same day but i mostly play t72,theres a new panzer elite game coming out soon so maybe that can live half ways between t72 and wwii tank commander. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freya Posted October 26, 2005 Share Posted October 26, 2005 Well, to make a game or sim that will suit virtually everbody is impossible imo. For the mayority of players, a sim always will be either too hardcore or too arcadish. I think on of the main reasons that recent sims has become *dry* is that too much efforts are made for multiplay gaming while sacrifying a solid campaign for single playing. Playing such games in single player mode just feels hollow. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macker33 Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 Well yeah,if you suit one person another person will want to be suited the opposite,compromise and you will end up being accused of making something that is neither one thing or another. I'm really really glad t72bof is the way it is and i dont think its dry at all,a bit on the tough side though. Its definately a new benchmark in tank games. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macker33 Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schmeisser Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 Supriiiiiiiise!!!!! Macker must be a Fin Salmiakkikoskenkorva called also FPO roolz ! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PzKpfwIII Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 Originally posted by Schmeisser: Long time ago i had really great computer. Commodore C-64 II and C1541 floppy drive. It had 64 kb of memory, typical mobile phone today has 20 times more memory ;D. I had tank sim - Steel Thunder , reallly great sim, i am serious. You could drive M48, M60 M1A1, Bradley. Your opponents were T-55/64/72/80, brdm, btm. Its construction was very similar to t-72 BiF - Player could change battlestations 'on the fly' Basically great game sorry for my little offtopic ;0 This was more game than sim, though. IIRC you went into action solo? Microprose's M1 Tank Platoon game had semi-realistic force compositions and the enemy used Soviet doctrine (or claimed to). Some complained about the "vector graphics" in Microprose's game - the Wargamer had an indepth review of Steel Thunder by an actual US armor officer. He hated vector graphics so he turned his nose up at M-1, but gave Steel Thunder high marks because the engine start up sequence was accurate. Having owned Panzer Commaner, M-1 Tank Platoon II, M4, Muzzle Velocity and a couple others, I've yet to see a tank sim that comes close to the sheer fun of M-1 Tank Platoon. Had they simply updated the graphics it would have been a blast to play. The same thing happened when they updated Red Baron II from Red Baron; somehow all the fun got sucked out of it in the process. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freya Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 Originally posted by Russophile: Oh yes, Red Baron was one of my favorites games back then. I had high expectations for RBII, but as you said, it was a big disappointment. Though Tank Platoon II was a nice game imo. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macker33 Posted October 31, 2005 Share Posted October 31, 2005 This game is Da Bomb,its rock hard though. What i cant figure out is why this board isnt jumping,you'd think everybody would buy a top game. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freya Posted October 31, 2005 Share Posted October 31, 2005 Originally posted by macker33: you'd think everybody would buy a top game. Yes, that's true, but obviously not everybody has bought this game. Seems like tank sims aren't as popular as flight sims after all. I also suspect that at least some people are put off by the campaign theme. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klugman Posted November 1, 2005 Share Posted November 1, 2005 This game is an alright tank sim. Not as realistic or user friendly as SB, but it has potential. I cant wait for the patch to arrive. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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