The tank simulation genre seems to be coming to life this year, with iM1A2 by Interactive Magic recently released and Armored Fist II by Novalogic soon to hit the stands. Meanwhile, another tank simulation by Zombie Virtual Reality in Seattle is in early development (Spearhead) and another by Microprose (M1 Tank Platoon II) may be out this fall.

In the meantime, Charybdis Enterprises and iMagic are hard at work on a WWII tank sim. Will they take us where no iron beast has gone before? I hope so...

According to popular rumor, there are few things more frightening than being inside the belly of the whale... as the hatch clanks shut and the huge, lumbering engines whine into life, propelling you forward into hostile territory. But this was far more true during the last war where there was no air conditioning in these huge machines.

In any case, its this ferile mix of apprehension and power that fuels the interest in the genre, and iPanzer '44 is looking to capture it for us in what will be a comprehensive simulation of the WWII environment. iPanzer '44 will allow players to command a platoon of tanks or an entire company, and to drive any of the three most famous tanks of WWII: The Sherman, the Panther, and the T-34. As this might imply, you'll be able to fight on either the Eastern or Western fronts of the war, and control both infantry and artillery as well.

The first campaign is Operation Bagration-the Destruction of Army Group Center - Russia's 5th Guards Tank Army against Germany's 5th Panzer Division The second campaign is Autumn Mist-the Battle of the Bulge - Germany's 116th Panzer Division against America's 2nd Armored Division. Following is Charybdis Entertainment's press release:

Take a squad of T-34-85s through German defenses, deploy your Panthers to turn the tide, lead a Panther Zug against the unsuspecting Americans, or take a stand with a platoon of Sherman 76s to blunt the German spearhead. Using 3D internal and external views the player will experience the action as forces clash in two greatly contested operations near the end of World War II.

The feature list is as follows:

• Highly realistic simulation of stand-out medium tanks of World War II: T-34-85, M4A3 Sherman 76, and Panther G
• Two campaign settings (play either side of both campaigns!) - Belorussia, Summer 1944 & Ardennes, Winter 1944
• Immersive environment both In-Sim and Out-of-Sim
• Includes accurate unit compositions and appropriate components: tanks, tank destroyers, infantry teams, and more
• Three crew positions within each of the featured tanks: Driver, Gunner/Tank Commander, and Unbuttoned Commander
• 16-bit color throughout all areas
• Direct 3D support, with planned direct support for 3D/fx and Cirrus Logic's LAGUNA
• Multi-player support (modem, IPX, TCP/IP)
• Multiple difficulty modes for novices and veterans alike

Since infantry played such a major role in the battles of the time - as tanks were certainly not invulnerable to infantry attacks - infantry units in iPanzer will be fully articulated polygon models that will have distinct resemblances to those in Hind - and like Hind can operate in groups or solo. An enourmous change from the "paper target" infantry in iM1A2.

While the game isn't going to have the fancy laser sighting of iM1A2, it will have manually controlled battlesights that can be used to get rough range estimations and can be adjusted to compensate for various shell trajectories. It's certainly going to be a bit more of the old "dead reckoning" style over the digital equipment modeling. Also the game will carefully model the differences between the major tanks in the war in virtually every respect: from gun performance to armor styles, mobility, and shell behavior. WWII junkies should be in for quite a treat!

Another new twist to the game is that it will support forested areas. You can't have a proper tank simulation in Germany without forests, and iPanzer delivers. Currently the forests are somewhat abstracted - being large blocks of area that cannot be entered or seen through at all. These sections might get broken up some in the final version to allow at least some degree on penetrability. We'll see what direction it takes.

System Requirements

• •Windows 95
• •Pentium-class processor; 133 MHz or faster recommended
• •SVGA video card with 16-bit color support
• •4X or faster CD-ROM drive
• •16 Mb RAM •3D accelerator cards supported via Direct3D