Alternative to IL-2 Sturmovik: Tank Crew - Clash at Prokhorovka?

[TokyoDan]

What is the closest tank game to IL-2 Sturmovik: Tank Crew - Clash at Prokhorovka that is not a DLC and for which I don't have to buy this base game? ( I don't like airplane games)

[-OrLoK- Слава Україн]

Steel Beasts? T34 vs Tiger?

tbh there are not many and none that are recent AFAIK.


could try Arma 3?

[shadowgravy]

You can buy Tank Crew as a standalone here: https://il2sturmovik.com/store/tank-crew/

I haven't played a serious tank sim since "Panzer Elite Special Edition" back in the early 2000s. I just now googled best PC tank games and "Panzer Elite Action" on Steam came up as an option. Dunno, never heard of it.

Have you tried War Thunder?

[TokyoDan]

Originally posted by shadowgravy:

You can buy Tank Crew as a standalone here: https://il2sturmovik.com/store/tank-crew/

I haven't played a serious tank sim since "Panzer Elite Special Edition" back in the early 2000s. I just now googled best PC tank games and "Panzer Elite Action" on Steam came up as an option. Dunno, never heard of it.

Have you tried War Thunder?

Thanks a million. Didn't know about that standalone version. But I watched a youtube review by Wolfpack345 and he kept mentioning the IL-2 Great Battles series. That made me wonder because I didn't see that series available for purchase on Steam's product page.

[shadowgravy]

If you look on the il2sturmovik.com website all of the products in the red menu are collectively the "Great Battles" series, including (loosely) Flying Circus and Tank Crew. You can buy any of them as standalone sims at the website, and merge titles as you see fit. On Steam though Battle of Stalingrad is the main sim and all of the other titles are DLCs subordinate to Battle of Stalingrad. Simple enough.

Here's where it gets kind of confusing: If you own Steam Battle of Stalingrad, any of the Great Battles titles you buy at the website (including FC and Tank Crew) can be merged with your Steam account ... But if you buy Battle of Stalingrad on the website, you can't buy DLC on Steam for your Great Battles sims. But that's the only limitation I think.

Purchase Tank Crew at il2sturmovik.com and you'll be able to play multiplayer on any maps you own and with other customers from both Steam and the website.

--- Break ---

"Panzer Elite Action" appears to be lite fare junk so I apologize for suggesting it. However, I found some interesting information about a mod for "Panzer Elite: Special Edition" here[simhq.com]. Also, PE-SE is available on GoG really cheap[www.gog.com]. I'm not guaranteeing it will work but if you don't mind modding an old sim it could be a fun diversion for $1.50.

[TokyoDan]

Originally posted by shadowgravy:

If you look on the il2sturmovik.com website all of the products in the red menu are collectively the "Great Battles" series, including (loosely) Flying Circus and Tank Crew. You can buy any of them as standalone sims at the website, and merge titles as you see fit. On Steam though Battle of Stalingrad is the main sim and all of the other titles are DLCs subordinate to Battle of Stalingrad. Simple enough.

Here's where it gets kind of confusing: If you own Steam Battle of Stalingrad, any of the Great Battles titles you buy at the website (including FC and Tank Crew) can be merged with your Steam account ... But if you buy Battle of Stalingrad on the website, you can't buy DLC on Steam for your Great Battles sims. But that's the only limitation I think.

Purchase Tank Crew at il2sturmovik.com and you'll be able to play multiplayer on any maps you own and with other customers from both Steam and the website.

--- Break ---

"Panzer Elite Action" appears to be lite fare junk so I apologize for suggesting it. However, I found some interesting information about a mod for "Panzer Elite: Special Edition" here[simhq.com]. Also, PE-SE is available on GoG really cheap[www.gog.com]. I'm not guaranteeing it will work but if you don't mind modding an old sim it could be a fun diversion for $1.50.

Thanks again. You just sold a copy of Panzer Elite: Special Edition on GOG.

[shadowgravy]

Out of curiosity I gave this mod a try last night and everything works okay in Windows 10 (lastest build). PE-SE's circa 1998 graphics were practically out of date even when I played the boxed edition around 2002 or so but it was a good first-person tank sim requiring strategy and platoon management. Anyhow, the PP2-x mod is a major improvement and brings the sim's graphics up to an acceptable level. Most certainly it is the sim I wish I had played 20 years ago.

The GoG link is I suppose the best and safest option for purchasing PE-SE. I also found it last night at https://archive.org/details/PanzerEliteUSAEuropeSpecialEdition as an ISO that can be mounted in free Daemon Tools Lite and installed as if from a CD.

The official PE-SE v1.2 patch is hosted at https://www.tanksim.com/download.htm.

The PP2-x v1.2 beta packs are are downloadable here: https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/pedg/pp2-x-download-section-t2315.html. Follow the instructions where to place the files and then enable the mod with the tool in your game folder. The optional Vehicles Update Pack is added afterward and it will replace files in your mod folder.

PEDG is the hub for other mod projects downloadable here[pedg.chollie.co.uk]. Most of these are on the PE-SE bonus CD though.

https://youtu.be/vG6tZSTOnG8

[TokyoDan]

Ha. I regret buying that Panzer Elite: Special Edition. It is too old for modern computers with very high res displays. I don't like the way it messes with my desktop settings and icons when it starts up so I deleted it. But I guess I'll have to reinstall it with these mods and give it another try.

[Kanye Fareast]

Steel Armor: Blaze of War mb this.

[Noblesse Oblige [KG] ⳩]

Originally posted by tokyodan:

Ha. I regret buying that Panzer Elite: Special Edition. It is too old for modern computers with very high res displays. I don't like the way it messes with my desktop settings and icons when it starts up so I deleted it. But I guess I'll have to reinstall it with these mods and give it another try.

I'd bite the bullet and get Tank Crew in the next sale from the website. Then you do not have to buy the base game. I don't think anything compares really. Only one I could suggest would be Steel Fury: Kharkov 1942 with some mod that people often suggest that I forget. Tank Crew is the most modern and has multi crew coop in the same tank etc. Steel Fury: Kharkov 1942 is single player only iirc and pretty old.

The real problem with tank crew is it's cost and the fact that it gets lost in il2's main focus, aircraft. The advertising for tank crew is almost non existent. For example we are here in an aircraft simulator forum trying to talk tanks amongst 99.9999% flight guys. Who will even see these posts and care?
I really do hope when normandy comes their is another tank pack though. I love tank interiors and the little details of the inner workings.

[kalnaren]

The real problem with Tank Crew, IMO, is that unless you play multiplayer.. it's a very, very stale game.

[SillyScrotum]

Originally posted by kalnaren:

The real problem with Tank Crew, IMO, is that unless you play multiplayer.. it's a very, very stale game.

so if i never play multiplayer , there is no point getting it at the moment ?

[TokyoDan]

Originally posted by SillyScrotum:

Originally posted by kalnaren:

The real problem with Tank Crew, IMO, is that unless you play multiplayer.. it's a very, very stale game.

so if i never play multiplayer , there is no point getting it at the moment ?

+1. Yeah. Now I am wondering the same thing as I always play solo against AI.

[kalnaren]

Basically, there's no AI beyond what is nearly explicitly scripted in a scenario. AI tanks have nearly zero pathfinding (they'll happily ram each other and buildings), and for movement they basically just follow predetermined routes without any real dynamic reaction to the player (there's some -if it's properly set up in the scenario, but it's exceptionally limited -a tank is never going to take cover in a village, behind buildings, in a forest or anything, nor is it going to use any kind of smart, tactical behaviour).

About the only thing that dynamically reacts to the player is the tank's turret. Multiple times I've come up behind TDs at 200 yards and they just sat there doing nothing while I blasted them in the backside.

For a $100 game, it's incredibly disappointing.

Now, a really well scripted scenario is really quite good mind you, but it's going to play out exactly the same every single time, and the game comes with exactly two single scenarios that have actually had any amount of thought put into them (not counting the campaigns).

The campaigns really aren't campaigns, just a collection of single scenarios. There's no persistence between them. You're not even in the same unit for some of them. I played through them and they were Ok, but I honestly have no desire to play through them again.

If trolling through the forums for good user made scenarios (and to be honest, there are quite a few) is good enough for you to justify the price tag, hey go for it. But if you're looking for something where you can load up a quick battle and have a fun, dynamic tank experience, you're not getting it.

[TokyoDan]

Originally posted by kalnaren:

Basically, there's no AI beyond what is nearly explicitly scripted in a scenario. AI tanks have nearly zero pathfinding (they'll happily ram each other and buildings), and for movement they basically just follow predetermined routes without any real dynamic reaction to the player (there's some -if it's properly set up in the scenario, but it's exceptionally limited -a tank is never going to take cover in a village, behind buildings, in a forest or anything, nor is it going to use any kind of smart, tactical behaviour).

About the only thing that dynamically reacts to the player is the tank's turret. Multiple times I've come up behind TDs at 200 yards and they just sat there doing nothing while I blasted them in the backside.

For a $100 game, it's incredibly disappointing.

Now, a really well scripted scenario is really quite good mind you, but it's going to play out exactly the same every single time, and the game comes with exactly two single scenarios that have actually had any amount of thought put into them (not counting the campaigns).

The campaigns really aren't campaigns, just a collection of single scenarios. There's no persistence between them. You're not even in the same unit for some of them. I played through them and they were Ok, but I honestly have no desire to play through them again.

If trolling through the forums for good user made scenarios (and to be honest, there are quite a few) is good enough for you to justify the price tag, hey go for it. But if you're looking for something where you can load up a quick battle and have a fun, dynamic tank experience, you're not getting it.

Thanks for the great info. I will not be buying Tank Crew. That said. Do you have any recommendation for a modern tank game with good solo play. ANd by modern I mean one that runs natively on high res monitors (1080P & 1440P), and Windows 10 without having to install all kinds of modifications and editing of files while hoping for the best.

[TokyoDan]

Maybe this might be the one: https://gunnerheatpc.com/