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!
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.
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...)
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.
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.
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.
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
