the Steel Beasts Anti- Frustration Kit. - The 29th Armored Regiment

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Reading and utilizing terrain is key. Keep LOS limited to only the amount of area you can reliably watch, which varies on how many units you have, how fast you're moving, and a few other things - a common mistake of the newer player is to settle into an area with great visibility, "Wow, I can see half the map from here!", without realizing that a single tank can only fully cover a comparatively narrow area and half the map can see you. Often not the best of ideas. Mekhazzio - 06/2001 SBCom Forum I've gone through the tutorials and read the manual. However, when I begin with the first mission, "A Village Called Netraba", I am quite overwhelmed. "Battle of Wiese Valley", "Cavalry to the Rescue", "Canadian Frost", and "Blind Elephants" are all simple missions. The "Multiple Units" tutorial is a good one as well. With "Tanks!", it's all about using the terrain to your advantage. Maneuver in a way that keeps you mostly concealed, using hills and trees to keep you from being exposed to more terrain than you can scan, while still keeping good LOS for yourself to wide open areas. Maximize how much you can see, while minimizing how much you can be seen from. Remember, also, that firing your gun tends to draw attention to you. It's usually a good idea to back down to safety after shooting if you're exposed, or you might get zapped by someone you didn't see. In the gunner's seat, you have complete control of the gun and free reign on the TIS, which is extremely useful at spotting targets (they literally glow out of the background) -- however, since you're viewing the world through this narrow gunsight, and can't look around without slewing the turret (slow, and dangerous under fire!!) you really lose all situational awareness, getting focused on just your targets. You can't see the terrain you're on, where you're going, what else might be out there, etc. The TC's seat provides the best situational awareness and best control of the tank, as you have -everything- at your disposal: binocs, gun override, GPSE, etc. The unbuttoned view is essential at finding good positions for yourself, keeping track of your wingmates, checking over hills without exposing yourself, and spotting targets especially to the sides and rear. The external view's only benefit is that it's the least demanding view -- you literally don't have to do anything, because the computer has full control of the tank while you're in external. The drawback is that you correspondingly have very little in the way of control. No override, no GPSE, just a very basic set of movement and scan commands. The only time I put the game in external view on a playable tank is when I'm going to get a drink. I cannot see very much in the external view or TC's view of spotting targets. Seems the AI TC does a better job of spotting targets. Should I stick with being the gunner? Well, that depends. True, it does take a lot of practice to be able to out-spot the computer TC (but it can be done! Especially to the side and rear) but there are still other jobs for the TC than spotting enemies. You decide which target to engage, sometimes the computer doesn't do so hot a job of that, you decide when to stay and when to move, etc. The TC's seat gives you a much better view of the battlefield. Mekhazzio - 05/2001 SBCom Forum Mixed opinions about F8 external view: I love the F8 external view as it gives me a much better "feel" than the extremely restrictive TC's position. What I mean by "feel" is the way it is when you are in a real tank. With the external view I can see local terrain, keep
track of the hull/turret orientation, keep an eye on wingmen, and spot muzzle flashes and other events in the distance. The F8 view in my opinion much more approximates the TC's position situational awareness than the standard TC's position (which I never use). TCing is a constant battle for SA, both inside your tank (what it and the crew are doing), externally (terrain, enemy targets, obstacles, danger areas), and tactically (what units are where, how the battle is going, map reading, other radio stuff). As most TC's (like 95%) TC from OUTSIDE the hatch. I almost always TC from the F8 view because it seems a lot more like TCing a real tank. Period. I don't consider it a cheat, I just feel it is more realistic. Scott Cunningham - 08/2001 SBCom Forum The F8 external view is a tool to make up for some of the serious restrictions of the PC platform that Steel Beasts is designed for. PCs are super cheap and offer probably the biggest bang for the buck in terms of individual and flexible computing power for the masses. But it is not exactly the dream platform for game designers and creators of life-like simulations... The PC environment poses several severe restrictions on the player (tunnel vision, short-sightedness, no possibility to smoothly change positions/debark the vehicle etc.) that this external position makes a bit up for these drawbacks. Ssnake- 08/2001 SBCom Forum In SB, I really don't see any advantage at all to using the external view: none, except for the cheats of looking over objects and having two TCs. I just don't understand why y'all think it's better to see terrain with: from the TC's seat, you can see exactly where your tank is, and what you're in view of -- just look around. Looking from the inside out, rather than outside in, is inherently more accurate in getting a feel for what's around you. Which way is the hull pointing? The tank's motion and turret clock shows that just fine. You can also pop down into the GPSE and see what's going on with your gunner, can override, and from the unbuttoned view, you can tap the arrow keys to quickly look in a certain direction. I find the external view here actually LIMITS SA -and- your control over the tank, and if you don't believe me, try playing as gunner for someone tooling around in the external view. It really shows. Mekhazzio - 08/2001 SBCom Forum I'm starting to train myself to quickly switch back and forth between the external and internal views. I'm finding both have benefits. If the 'snap' views were available for the external view it would be even more helpful (hint hint Ssnake). I get a better idea of what's going on with my flanks in external mode but when I'm really searching for targets I prefer to be in the TC spot. Maybe it's just me but I think the bino view is more detailed in that mode plus I can use the GPSE to make a thermal scan. Brad Edmondson - 08/2001 SBCom Forum 1. Installation 2. Finding online games 3. Tactics 4. Sharpening your skills 5. Goodies 6. Etiquette 7. Credits
Page 1 and 2: Welcome to the Steel Beasts Anti- F
Page 3 and 4: 1. Installation 2. Finding online g
Page 5 and 6: To install the patches, click the l
Page 9 and 10: The correct answer is Yes. Clicking
Page 11 and 12: Let's talk about those three. Invis
Page 13 and 14: Part 4. Sharpening your skills 1. I
Page 15 and 16: First, you locate and download the
Page 18 and 19: Skins (go in bank\models\...) ● B
Page 20 and 21: Part 7. Credits Sean Lots and lots
Page 22 and 23: Move to another unit.. but remember
Page 24 and 25: Uses for Smoke Smoke is a great way
Page 26 and 27: Smoke is great for neutralizing the
Page 30 and 31: - Can't get damaged, short of killi

the Steel Beasts Anti- Frustration Kit. - The 29th Armored Regiment

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