WW2 Tank Sim

[michael hilton]

Hello everyone, I have trawled the internet looking for half decent WW2 Tank Sim that will run on Win 10. I have an older version of 'Steel Beasts' which I am unable to install/run.
Something to while away the wee small hours, and sleepless nights, any recommendations ? .....Mick

[Stephen White]

Mick hi.

ESim Games took Steel Beasts into the professional military world. My old company, Systematic for example,
uses it to stimulate command and control software. eSim is focused on SB Pro, which is prohibitively expensive for a private user. They have very little competition in their niche market.

That probably leaves you with the biggest selling armour sim, World of Tanks.

http://worldoftanks.com

It's "freemiumware" i.e. free to download but with premium options. It might be worth you investigating but its model is multi-player. I've never been tempted to investigate it, so can't tell you if it has any AI (artificial intelligence) or CGF (Computor Generated Forces) which would allow single player v the game simulation, without other live participants. Nevertheless, it might serve your purpose just to manoeuvre, fire and comminicate. The best feature is that they purport to design historically accurate models.

There are a number of other sims out there, not worth a bean and I wouldn't waste your time, unless something new has come up recently.

Sorry not to be of more help.

Stephen

Stephen

[Paul Brown]

World of tanks is a fantastic ww2 tank sim for multiplayer. Being playing for years.... recommend it...

[michael hilton]

Thank you Stephen and Paul, bit of a long shot I know.....I have looked at World of Tanks, Not sure if I am up to that standard. I have tried to load Steel Beasts, I am apparently missing some 'drivers'. Thanks again lads, I will bash on with the Quad....

[Fabrice Le Roux]

Hello Mick,

While not a WWII product, I agree with Stephen, Steel Beasts Pro is a great sim. WOT is more of a game as it mixes up anything and everything on tracks. However by the time you have built up/purchased bonuses to get to a survivable level, you may as well take SB for a while.

Steel Beasts Pro has recently been upgraded to version 4.0 (actually now 4.0.10). eSim offer a timed license rental (from £6 per month) or permanent license dongle (£100). Both work on Windows 10. Intrigued by Matsimus' YouToob vids of SB4, I tried the game out for a month on a laptop (win7) and desktop(Win10) for £6 each, just to check the configs and see if the frame rate was acceptable. It is great. All the things Microprose's M1 Tank Platoon 2 and Gunship 2000 promised to be but never delivered back in the 1990s, plus the real-time God's eye battlemap, and a comprehensive After Action Report review tool that tracks every hit by every calibre of weapon.

While it is not frenetic like Battlefield, SB4 can get very immersive, feeling very realistic in the way the action unfolds. A lot can start to happen very quickly.

There is an excellent supporting website, http://www.steelbeasts.com, with a very well informed and helpful membership. Like this one!

Lastly, note that not all the vehicles can be fought from, but may form AI friendly units that can be tasked to move, engage etc from the battlemap.

Here are some of Stephen's favourite toys from the 1980s....

and some of his favourites from the 1990s too!

As you have played SB before, I hope this will pique your interest in upgrading.

FWIW There was a WWII mod for ARMA2 doing the rounds, but it looks a bit of a niche multiplayer only deal.

cheers, Fabrice

[michael hilton]

Thank you for you thoughts Fabrice, I played Steel Beasts Gold Edition for what seemed like a age, back in the day. Using a joystick, I enjoyed many happy hours.
I have downloaded WofT, took a absolute age...reading the operational guide it is clearly a multiplayer game....the graphics are amazing. I have come across a site that gives advice on installing older versions of Steel Beasts...so, might give it a go. I have uninstalled WofT.
Fabrice, it is just phase I am going through, while looking forward to the next Armortek kit.... Thanks again everyone....Mick

[Graham Hough]

In Steel Beasts can you drive the tanks from, say, the driver's seat, commander's and gunner's ?
I have played World of Tanks but kept getting killed. It may sound soft but I would like to drive around a tank with some chance of surviving longer than a few seconds!

[Fabrice Le Roux]

Hi Graham,

Steel Beasts Pro PE (Personal Edition)is the de-classified version of the full sim. It supports, depending on vehicle, TC, Gunner and Driver, and is used by various Armies as a networked virtual vehicle crew trainer. So three people could either be in the same vehicle developing teamwork skills or could be all the crew in a three-tank troop developing tactical skills, or have a Company each working on C3 skills!

FYI it is 64bit software, so needs a pretty up-to-date system with 8gb RAM to run on. The graphics settings are tweakable, and in common with many sims, the biggest frame rate hit is from shadows, which given the other particle effects, can be turned down or off without spoiling the visual impact significantly on slower computers.

While the Leopards, M1s and T64-T80s have fully rendered interactive interiors, the Chally 2 is still work in progress, but has an excellent FCS. The driving positions are rudimentary, without manual gearchage, handbrake etc as found in Iron Warrior T-72, but the assumption is that a service crewman will know how to drive, but requires practice in where to drive and teamwork. So I would not call SB a tank driving sim per se.

The community has produced a lot of scenarios for single and multiplay, plus upgraded skins, sound effects packages and similar.

Basically the sim can be used to recreate any real or imaginary tank/IFV engagement from the late 1950s to the present day.

Happy to furnish any more info either here or via PM.
cheers Fabrice

[michael hilton]

Hello Graham, Yes, Steel Beasts allows you to take out various targets without being wiped out yourself. It is a simulator of the US M1A1 Abrams and German Leopard 2A4 tanks. More than a tank game, more of a training aid. As Stephen said it is expensive.
I have a CD from the 1990s which ran on my old laptop, in Windows ME/98/95. I can load and install in Win10 however, I am missing some d3dcm.dll files......Mick
I was adding my post before I saw the one by Fabrice.
Fabrice has the knowledge

[Fabrice Le Roux]

Hi Mick,
As an existing user, might you qualify for a discount on an upgrade? If you don't ask you don't get!
cheers, Fabrice

[Adrian Harris]

If you search for d3dtm.dll, there's a link to an archive of it on this page:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/win ... 995f963ab4

Adrian.