Panzer Elite: A New King Tiger

It's hard to believe but true. After a long history making one arcade game after another, Psygnosis is finally gearing up to publish a hardcore sim. In this case, a hardcore tank sim, no less!

There's a funny attitude among game developers where it comes to hardcore (ie. serious) simulations. It's not until a genre of sim is firmly well established that someone is willing to take a shot at making a truly serious simulation.

After many years of arcade games, only recently have efforts at realistic motorcycle and rally racing games been announced. The first realistic infantry "sims" have finally appeared. Even X-Wing Alliance now seems to be making a return to its quasi-simulation roots. Suddenly folks all over are waking up to the fact that sims and realism (even faked realism) are okay after all!

Was that a town we just ran over?

Imperial guard outside Mos Eisley spaceport, umm... I mean a Sherman holding the Toum railway station.

Charybdis and iMagic made some notable (if heavily flawed) efforts at making serious tank sims, but when it comes to setting the standard, nobody has been able to touch Microprose. Yet in spite of the excellence and realism of M1 Tank Platoon II it's not really a hardcore sim.

M1 Tank Platoon II is really a middle of the road game - not too much detail, and not too much like an arcade game. And while we have had some great attempts within the modern armor genre, we have never had a truly great WWII armor simulation. (Not having played Panzer Commander, I can't comment on it). With iPanzer '44's many problems were never fixed. Across the Rhine was a cruel joke that fans of WW2 tread will not soon forget. Heck, let's face it - if Shermans and Tigers and Wolverines (oh my!) are your cup of tea, things couldn't get much worse!

Never fear, Wings Simulations is here, and looking to offer the cure. After spending a couple days with the latest alpha of Panzer Elite this game in development shows great potential. With realistic and attractive graphics, dramatic physics modeling, and flexible gameplay options, this simulation is well on its way to creating and setting the standard for WW2 armor fans.

Cruising by the wrecks

For the first time ever in an armor simulation, the terrain is very broken and uneven. If you decide to drive cross-country, you're going to give yourself and your tank a good pounding.

Take a close look at the tread on the tanks in the image above, particularly the Panzer in the background. The tread and the road wheels actually follow the shape of the terrain closely. Additionally, as the tank scrambles over ruts and bumps the whole tank will sway and dip as it rocks on its suspension.

The effect is incredibly dramatic, giving the tanks a real sense of mass and power. In the case of the Sherman tanks, it accentuates how incredibly high their center of gravity is, although it's not clear to me yet whether it's possible to actually roll a tank. (Ed. Note: I have personally rolled a couple...)

75mm cannon vs. a 6x6 APC

There is no escaping the importance of a good terrain system in a tank sim, and this fact is not lost on the development team. The terrain in Panzer Elite has almost the same amazing depth that helped make M1 Tank Platoon II such a stand out in the genre. The usable depth doesn't seem to be quite as extensive as in the latter game, but since engagement ranges in WWII battles were so much shorter than with the superguns and missile launchers of modern warfare, this is not a real problem. The detail is highest where it counts, in the shape of the terrain and in the various objects populating the landscape.

So much for externals. All this moving around isn't limited to the external view. The interior of the turret and hull is actually modeled in 3D, complete with vision blocks, gunner's sight, and in the case of the commander, a hatch and binoculars. If you drive at top speed over rough terrain you'll be jostled violently inside the tank, barely able to do anything until things settle down a bit.

The campaign interface is functional enough. In a system similar to the Jane's simulations, you have artwork with various clickable zones. These let you manage your fuel and ammo resources, repair or replace damaged tanks and crewmen, and get your briefing for the next mission. The missions are scripted, but the resource management does lend a certain sense of continuity through the game.

And in a game with this much depth, something has to be done to ease the learning curve. The developers have this well in hand, and one of the AI features built into the game is your ability to ask an Adjutant for help. If you want to be involved in the nitty gritty decisions around tank crew and armament, you can do it all yourself. If you prefer to delegate that task, or to ask for some advice, you can do that too. The AI offers as much help as you ask for, and no more.

Forward base camp

You almost expect to see Indiana Jones clinging to the back of one of these guys

Battles take place across North Africa, Italy, and Normandy in the course of the campaign, with the option to take tours of three different lengths. Each campaign area has appropriate terrain, structures, and plant life. Even the architecture appears to have been well-researched for the period.

A look at the ammo supply screen is enough to make any tanker smile. Each shell type is displayed with armor penetration values at different ranges as well as blast-frag values in different directions. This is an excellent in-game reference that isn't overly self-conscious about scaring off timid players.

From our interview: What factors will go into resolving damage modeling?

WINGS: The collision algorithm provides the angle and penetration values of the shell on the armor. After resolving those formulae, we continue following the path of the bullet through the inside of the tank.

We have a layered model of the interior, where all internal systems of the tank are displayed. When the bullet/shell hits a system, its kinetic energy is lowered and the component is damaged. This continues until the kinetic energy of the projectile reaches zero. This model is adapted to certain ammo types (hollow charges etc.), but fundamentally they all have a similar functionality.

The game doesn't pull many punches when it comes to special effects - smoke in particular. The game has a particle system that accentuates the dirt and dust kickup from tank treads, pyrotechnics, and residual battlefield smoke, which after a long battle rolls relentlessly across the field.

Manual gunnery doesn't appear to have been fully implemented yet, but you'll get to play with up to five different types of ammunition depending on the type of tank you have and the ready supply.

One of the vision blocks available through the virtual cockpit

From our interview: How much detail is going into systems and weapons modeling?

WINGS: Weapons are simulated according to historical data we thoroughly researched. This includes all aspects of the tanks included and the individual attributes of the guns and machine guns carried. The physical formulas are as accurate as current CPU processing speeds would sensibly allow.

The driving model takes individual suspension of the road wheels into account but uses an abstract model for the calculation of the max speed over different terrain types. The resulting simulation model follows the data gathered as closely as possible. This is not to the detriment of gameplay.

We model muzzle velocity, spin derivation, gravity, AP, HE, Hollow charge ammo, smoke, smoke pods, smoke mortars, AP-T, APCBC-T, APCR-T, HE-T, HEAT, and APBC-T types of ammo, along with all ammo types for small weapons like machine guns, hand grenades, Panzerfausts, Bazookas, Panzerschrecks amongst many others.

Radio communication commands are simple but effective. You can select and order any of your platoon's tanks individually or as an entire convoy. The typical formation commands are offered, and a vocabulary of nine different commands cover the necessities for directing fire and movement or requesting assistance.

One of the most exciting potential aspects of the game engine is its support for potential urban battles. In fact, the game just begs for stereotypical wall-crushing, hide and seek, barrel-sticking-out-through-a-window, blow-apart-the-vault-doors Hollywood movie fodder. Tank sims have generally skirted this in the past for the sake of conserving CPU requirements, but it looks like Wings Simulations is going to take the bull by the horns on this one.

Seaside Italian tank playground

It's much too early to dream of evaluating the game as a whole, but it's clear that Panzer Elite boldly flaunts its attention to the little details where others have glossed over them. The pieces of this puzzle are very auspicious. If the company can pull it all together into a truly cohesive simulation, Wings Simulations will have irrevocably tarnished Psygnosis' reputation for arcade games, much to the delight of armor fans everywhere. -NM