Getting Started1. In the main menu. Select
"record" and pick a user name. This is very important because it builds up a service record.
2. Start with the installed tutorials.
Pick ONE vehicle and stick with it until you are comfortable. The Leo 2A5 is popular as is the M1A1. The Leo tutorial contain 23 separate tutorials. You will not have to do 23 for each vehicle as many of the tutorial are generic. Fire control and systems do vary so you want to pay attention. Pick ONE first and have at it.
3. Tank range/Gunnery score. Once you know the basics you can move on to the Tank range. It is very important you get some practice in here as your score here will dictate how the AI on your side will do. Say you have a terrible score on the tank range and you are the Tank Commander of your tank. The AI will assume the gunner position and fire. The AI uses your Tank Range score here so if you have a high score the gunner will be a better shot. You can do the Tank Range as many times as you wish. Your score can only increase not decrease. So if one day you have a bad session on the range your skill will not be affected. Practice, practice, practice..
Your score on the range is used like this:For offline: It affects the friendly AI
For Online: All AI have the same score of 75%. This includes enemy and friendly (though sometimes you wouldn't think it
)
However something to remember. When you take control of the gunners position on and off line the only thing that matters is how you perform at that moment. Your previous gunnery score is not used.
Difficulty Settingthe chosen difficulty level will influence how quickly targets will be recognised. (on "Easy" your own units will receive a bonus in alertness and reaction speed, on "Hard" difficulty the enemy will be faster to react. Targets will be prioritised by their threat level. The threat level is a function of armament, range, whether a unit moves or is stationary, and whether it's located to the front, flank, or rear.
Realism SettingsThis setting activates assists for the player. These help in your situational awareness. These are some of the assists:
• Crosshair to estimate where the gun is pointing when overriding the gunner in the M1.
• Direction indicators for map reference points.
• The laser tag marker on the map.
These helpers will disappear as the realism level is increased.
Control SetupThere are several ways to control steel Beasts Pro. You can easily setup your controls by accessing the "Controls" menu within SB. You have many choices. This menu gives you the ability to assign vehicle specific commands how you want to:
SB Controls menu
Your input choices are:• Keyboard + Mouse
• Joystick
• Other Input Device
Keyboard and MouseThe keyboard and mouse is extremely popular and if you have used a PC for gaming in the past you will be comfortable. I use this method and find it accurate and simple to use. Below is a keyboard chart. You can reconfigure the keys as you wish.
Steel Beasts keyBoard Chart
JoystickYou can use a joystick. Some players use sticks with many buttons and allocate the different controls to these buttons. This works very well. The X52 from Saitek is a stick which would give you good control as well as the flexibility to assign commands/controls to the various buttons.
OtherThere are companies that provide Hardware that is a close copy of the real controls within the vehicles. Here is one such company.
http://www.afvsim.com/Leopard-2-Gunners-Control-Handle
Leopard-2-Commanders-Control-Handle
You could also manufacture your own device using a usb joystick card. If you are new to SB then i would recommend you try the mouse + keyboard combo first. You already have it and many find it the number one choice. Ultimately use what works best for you.
Comms ProcedureComing really soon....
HelpGrogheads TeamSpeak (IP: 216.22.24.158 , Port 9987)
Daily at 20:00 (GMT+1)
Room: Dogs of War
Available VehiclesExcellent series of videos produced in December 2011 showing interior and exterior of the available vehicles in the sim.
These are videos showing an older version so some vehicles/positions and interiors are omitted. This is using the older graphics engine.Steel Beasts Museum Part 1
http://youtu.be/U4VAihWF_28?list=PL6C515FBEC8E724AF Steel Beasts Museum Part 2
http://youtu.be/Jd3QhUkYoUM?list=PL6C515FBEC8E724AF Steel Beasts Museum Part 3
http://youtu.be/jWnr_352scg?list=PL6C515FBEC8E724AF
