Anyone into simulators IE: Aircraft or Armoured

[dapaterson]

Anyone else remember the original M1 Tank Platoon from MicroProse (early 1990s)?  The sim speed was tied directly to the CPU speed.  Fine when running on an old 386DX-16; a few months ago I tried running it on a P3 1.4ghz.

Suffice it to say that the Soviets enjoyed greatly increased response times and set new records for rate of fire from a T72.

My big complaint about all sims has always been the AI; my big complaint about playing online is the extreme stupidity of many of the real people.  I guess there's just no pleasing me...

 

[DG-41]

I used to love that game, except that I played it on an Amiga instead of a PC.

No worries then about trying to play it on modern hardware.

DG

 

[RangerRay]

Anyone else remember the original M1 Tank Platoon from MicroProse (early 1990s)?  The sim speed was tied directly to the CPU speed.  Fine when running on an old 386DX-16; a few months ago I tried running it on a P3 1.4ghz.

Are there any newer PC armour platoon/troop simulations out there available to the general public?

And what are peoples' impressions of squad/sections sims like Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six, to name a couple?

 

[Kiltmann]

Dude- you have got to get outside more

Ha ha. I usually fly every day. Half an hour to an hour. When I do flights well over 2 hours (say: Calgary-London in an Air Canada A330, about 9 hours or so great-circle), I'll do 'preflight', calculate my fuel weight/pax and cargo weight, check weather (I use real-time weather), get the sim started up, go through checklists and other before-takeoff sets.

After I finally get the engines started, I'll taxi and take off manually, then at 10K, I'll turn off landing lights, turn on autopilot and SELCAL, then leave the computer unattended for anywhere between 4 to 8 hours. Besides, it's good flight experience for my Private Pilot license next year.

Until next time.

Nick

 

[Sappo]

The good thing about SB-PRO in my mind is that anyone you play with online... is probably going to be a simulator nut, and you wont have to worry about any idiots.... If someone is going to plop down the $125(us) for the sim, it is not going to be some 15 year old kid.

hey RangerRay, unfortunatly it is hard to find good troop sims right now... the recent releases of anything related to rainbow six is utter junk, the recent one lockdown is such a blatant conversion from the x-box version, its utterly retarded to the point a 5 year old could play it.

your best bet is to wait for the expected release of the new operation flashpoint...

 

[Good2Golf]

Ha ha. I usually fly every day. Half an hour to an hour. When I do flights well over 2 hours (say: Calgary-London in an Air Canada A330, about 9 hours or so great-circle), I'll do 'preflight', calculate my fuel weight/pax and cargo weight, check weather (I use real-time weather), get the sim started up, go through checklists and other before-takeoff sets.

After I finally get the engines started, I'll taxi and take off manually, then at 10K, I'll turn off landing lights, turn on autopilot and SELCAL, then leave the computer unattended for anywhere between 4 to 8 hours. Besides, it's good flight experience for my Private Pilot license next year.

Until next time.

Nick

Nick, was that the part where you leave your airplane computer unattended for 4-8 hours?  ;D

Cheers,
Duey

 

[Kiltmann]

Duey: Ha ha, I know. Seems kind of dumb. Actually, when I'm not flying long-range, I usually only do half-hour flights around Calgary, Vancouver, Toronto and Comox in Cessna 172s doing touch-and-go landings, VOR navigation, ILS practice and other neat stuff that pertains to the license testing. Heck, I even take a lesson built into the sim.

I usually only fly long-range flights once every 2-3 days. The rest of the time I'm doing what flying students do: practice, practice, practice. As any good aviator or musician would say: "practice makes perfect".

Happy contrails,

Nick

 

[Good2Golf]

In all seriousness though, Nick, as a CF Instrument Check Pilot (ICP), I've seen more than my share of guys who could make do with a bit more practice on instrument flight, both enroute and terminal (approach and departure) procedures!  If you can develop a good instrument "air sense/picture" you will be well on your way to being a successful pilot.  Lots of good IFR3 (I follow roads, rivers and railways) pilots, but a good IFR pilot will be able to save his/her bacon when the weather goes down the toilet.  There are times where I would actually feel safer on airways and in the IFR world than trying to duck kamikaze Sunday flyers with a whole range of assault gear (ultra-lights, bug smashers, etc...)  Time was when these VFR warriors would at least stick to the "right hand rule" following the "3 R's" (this actually includes powerlines too, as sort of an honorary 'road', BTW )

Keep flying and don't hesitate to bang off a few approaches, both precision and non-precision when you get to where you're going!

Cheers,
Duey

 

[Kiltmann]

Yes sir, that is some good advice there. Especially since you probably have more flight hours in military and (I hope) civilian aircraft than I have. I only have 3 hours real-time flying, but it was in a Cessna 172. What, you really think Air Canada would let me behind the stick of one of their Airbus A340s? I don't think so!

Happy contrails,

Nick

 

[Sappo]

Well considering that the civilian sim's such as MS's flight simulator are SO detailed and advanced... it is pretty much the same as sitting in the real plane (instruments wise).

IMHO if you spend a load of time becomming an expert in the computer chair, you will have a 100% easier time in real life.

Go for it.... just make sure to get some sun once every few days

 

[Good2Golf]

Well considering that the civilian sim's such as MS's flight simulator are SO detailed and advanced... it is pretty much the same as sitting in the real plane (instruments wise).

IMHO if you spend a load of time becomming an expert in the computer chair, you will have a 100% easier time in real life.

Go for it.... just make sure to get some sun once every few days

Pretty bang on, Sappo.  Slight differences aside from aircraft to aircraft, but good IFR flight is 90-95% procedures and "air picture" and 5-10% hands and feet to make those procedure turns, profile descents and non-coupled precision approaches work out in the end.  From my time testing folks, the guys who had trouble figuring out instrument procedures and an instrument air sense had a rougher time overall than the guys who had 'okay', but not necessarily pretty visual (clearhood) flying.  The mark of a truly good pilot, IMO, is someone who excels at both instrument and visual flying for the entire operational envelop of your aircraft type. 

Cheers,
Duey

 

[Kiltmann]

just make sure to get some sun once every few days

That's why God invented dogs and leashes, Sappo!

Ha ha, like I said above, I usually only spend 1/2 an hour to an hour doing flying a day doing both VFR (visual) and IFR (instrument) flying, unless I do an ATP (airline) flight across the country. Thanks to modern conveniences like RNAV, VNAV, FMS, GPS, ILS, VOR, NDB, SELCAL, A/T, TO/GA etc., I can just push a few buttons, flick a few switches, and leave my computer for a few hours to walk the dog or go lift weights while watching TV or something.

If it were up to me, I'd purchase a D-level checkride simulator (like what the airlines use to train and 'check' their pilots), build a room addition onto the house and fly that puppy for a few hours. Until I get my Private Pilot License in a year or so, I'll have to make due with the 'stick and monitor' approach to flying.

Until then, Happy Contrails,

Nick

 

[Slim]

If you were into armour the way you're into flying you'd be in heaven on SIMNET in Fort Knox! I sure was!

 

[Spr.Earl]

If you were into armour the way you're into flying you'd be in heaven on SIMNET in Fort Knox! I sure was!

Sim's cant replace what it's realy like in a MBT even a Engineer tank.
It's a thrill when your driver hit's the hammer.
The thrust then the roar and just the noise of the tank.
I got a stiffy my first time. :

 

[Slim]

I got a stiffy my first time. :

Really...I got stuck the first time (Lynx not Leo) however it all in good fun!

I don't mind not having to fix them though. Turning off a computer is way easier than torquing track...But I think that every computer nerd should have to go do track maint. at least once before being allowed to play tank sim games. I think that they'd appreciate the whole experience way more that way.

 

[Kiltmann]

Don't get me wrong, armoured tanks seem cool, but when you think about it, all you're doing is sitting in a 30-60 ton piece of metal with a bunch of shells and stuff like that just bobbing about on the ground. It isn't as stimulating for me. For me, flying a 757-200 under the Golden Gate Bridge (for ceremonial purposes), doing loop-de-loops over the Grand Canyon in a Learjet or screaming over Vancouver at 100 feet in an L-39 Albatross is more...intriguing.

I mean, come on! I'm not some boring, old 'bus driver of the skies' as some call it. Yeah, I'll fly huge pressurized tubes of metal across the skies for 5-18 hours at a time, but in my free time, it's always good to have fun.

Until next time,

Happy Contrails,

Nick

 

[Michael Dorosh]

Confirmation on the Steel Beasts board today that Steel Beasts Pro PE will have (eventually) height and terrain maps for Gagetown, Wainwright, Shiloh, and others.

They have somebody working on them as we speak.

DG

Interesting....of the three versions advertised, am I correct in assuming only one will be available for purchase by non-DOD/MOD/DND types, or are the two professional versions also going to be available to "the public"/

I remember M-1 Tank Platoon quite fondly and at the time it seemed leagues ahead of anything else.  M-1 Tank Platoon II seemed to lack a soul, for all its graphical glitz.  I think most simulator sequels turned out disappointing for some reason - game designers focused more on the hardware than the fun of the original - see Red Baron and Red Baron II for another example.

 

[DG-41]

Here's the way it works:

Steel Beasts Pro PE is the new, revised graphics engine, plus multiple crewable vehicles (Steel Beasts 1 had just M1 and Leo2) plus other stuff. It's $125 US and is going on sale next week.

Steel Beasts Pro is the same game, but with enhanced AAR features, "God room" etc. That is just for sale to military customers.

Steel Beasts 2 is a forthcoming "gamer-fied" version of Steel Beasts Pro PE that will have some degree of realism stripped out to make it easier for the boy gamer crowd to deal with. It's also by no means a done deal, as no work has been started on it.

From forum discussions with the developers, it seems that Pro and ProPE are the same codebase, with Pro having extra modules. It seems likely, based on what they have been saying, that there will be a series of enhancement packs released periodically for Pro PE as Pro (military) customers get their requested features added.

I have Steel Beasts 1, and it is very good, the prime drawback being that it only runs in 640X480 and that you only get M1A1 and Leo2A3. Gunnery realism is top-notch, down to having to index ammunition, select first-return or last-return on the LRF, dump lead using the palm switches, etc etc. With Pro PE adding Leo1 and LAV-25 to the crewable vehicles, it looks like we'll be able to get gunnery practice in Canadian vehicles on virtual Canadian training areas.

I also found a company that makes USB controllers based on M1 and Leo2 "Cadillacs", but they are $1000 each!

The game can be networked, and crews can play stations. It would be very easy to build a poor man's SIMNET around this game.

In fact, I used Steel Beasts 1 to demonstrate to an Armoured Recce DP1 course how thermal sights, gun stabilization, laser rangefinding, ballistic superelevation, and dynamic lead combined to allow a modern MBT to shoot and hit a moving target while itself on the move in less than 7 seconds from time of acquisition. It worked.

DG

 

[Slim]

Steel Beasts Pro PE is the new, revised graphics engine, plus multiple crewable vehicles (Steel Beasts 1 had just M1 and Leo2) plus other stuff. It's $125 US and is going on sale next week.

Well...I ordered Steel Beasts Pro PE from them with no problems, just told them that I was a retired armoured soldier and here was my money, can I have a copy of the game please. I have the receipt and am eagerly awaiting my copy as I REALLY liked the origional game. Probably the best tank/aifv sim I have come acrtoss to date.

I guess we'll see what its like next week.

Cheers

Slim

 

[Sappo]

Slim, you gotta let me know what its like... gimme some nice screenshots so I can drool more before I order it in a bit