SB Pro V4.019 release noteseSim Games is happy to announce the release of Steel Beasts Professional, Personal Edition – version 4.019.
Due to some last minute changes, only the release notes for 4.018 are available, but they are more than 99.99% accurate, so don’t worry about the mismatch. Release notes: HERESB Pro PE 4.018 (Full Release) Version History and Release NotesThis is a new version of SB Pro PE (neither patch nor upgrade) – so don’t install it over an existing version. This Steel Beasts version is intended to be installed separately. We strongly suggest uninstalling previous versions of Steel Beasts Pro PE before installing it!
To make sure that there are no leftovers from even older installations, we rec- ommend using the Windows System Settings’ “Add/Remove Programs” utility.
Note: This version will not run without an existing license for Steel Beasts Pro PE 4.0!
Steel Beasts Pro PE 4.0 is 64 bit only!
Licenses may be purchased from the eSim Games web store (for details, see below):
http://www.eSimGames.com/purchase.htmThe Edge browser has been reported to fail with license activations; we recommend using a different browser when visiting the WebDe- pot to claim your license ticket.
This is a preliminary document to complement the version 3.0 User’s Manual until a version 4.0 User’s Manual will go into print – probably in July 2017.
This document focuses on changes since version 4.010. You may want to study the release notes for version 4.000 if you aren’t familiar with version 4.0 al- ready; these can also be found on the eSim Games Downloads page:
www.eSimGames.com/Downloads.htm Hardware recommendationsSB Pro PE 4.0 requires a 64 bit Windows version, starting with Windows 7 or higher.
Downloading, unpacking the self-extracting archive and immediate installation requires up to approximately 12.5GByte harddisk space temporarily. Of these, Steel Beasts will claim about six GByte free harddisk space permanently; the rest may be freed up through deletion and/or burning the installation files to DVD.
We recommend a 2.5GHz multi-core CPU (faster is better), 8GByte RAM (16…32 recommended for high resolution map conversions), 1GByte video RAM, and generally a DirectX 9.0c graphics card supporting Shader Model 3.0.
Mouse, keyboard, and monitor are mandatory. A sound card and internet con- nection are strongly recommended. Joysticks and selected control handle repli- cas are supported.
DirectX 9.0c is included; it is however possible to download a separate install- er:
http://www.microsoft.com/en- us/download/dlx/default.aspx?id=34429&ei=0Hs3UtGDKcXkswbW5IHYAw&usg=AFQjCNGKhzc4TZBLmW2nMmdu_EbBHePwK A&bvm=bv.52164340,d.Yms
Anti-Virus software has in the past been a source of trouble for some. If an installation fails on the first try, the next step should be to disable the AV program during the installation. Note that some AV programs only pretend to shut down, but a service (or the exe- cutable itself) remains listed as active in the task or in the services list.
Installation1. Download all parts of the self-extracting archive installer into a common directory, e.g. C:\Temp or a “Steel Beasts” folder on your desktop
2. When done, run the …part1.exe program to start the installation (this as- sumes that you uninstalled the previous version of SB Pro PE per recom- mendations on page 1 of this document)
3. If you know to have already installed CodeMeter runtime version 6.30d (or later), feel free to press “cancel” when the CodeMeter part of the installa- tion pops up; that will save you a few seconds
4. If you haven’t purchased your license for SB PE 4.0 already, now would be the time to visit the eSim Games web shop,
www.eSimGames.com/purchase.htmYou have different options there,
a. time-limited licenses if you do not want to use a CodeMeter USB stick; these will expire after a while, depending on which option you pur- chase. The time counts from the moment of first use, not from the date of purchase, or the date of license activation (see next page for more details)
b. a “classic” license if you never owned a Steel Beasts software license with a CodeMeter stick before
c. upgrade licenses for CodeMeter stick owners, for one of two cases,
i. you own a Steel Beasts Pro PE license version 2.5, 2.6, or 3.0 already
ii. you own an SB Pro PE license version 2.4, or without a version number in it
To find out which license you have, start the CodeMeter “WebAdmin” which will open a web browser window, listing all the installed licenses on your CodeMeter USB stick
5. Once that your purchase has been made, the eSim Games web shop will send you two emails – the order confirmation, and a second one with the license ticket (a complicated URL leading to the WebDepot). Visit the link, and activate the ticket there to generate the license. We recommend not to use the “Edge” browser at this point. Future versions may support one of the required web technologies for license activations.
6. Play
Steel Beasts uses an installer which can change the Windows Group Policies (access privileges) of the folder containing all the map data of SB Pro. If you do not want other users on your computer to use the Map Editor you may want to restrict access to the following folder again:
C:\ProgramData\eSim Games\Steel Beasts\maps
A popular suggestion in internet forums – one, which eSim Games does not recommend – is to right-click the SBProPEcm.exe in the ..\Release folder of the Steel Beasts installation, open the Properties dialog box, and in the “Compati- bility” tab to select the option to “Run the program as Administrator” – or to run the setup program in the security context of an administrator account. We went at lengths to make sure that this breach of IT security is not necessary.
This installer includes the CodeMeter runtime version 6.30d.
Time-limited licensesSince version 3.0 eSim Games offers a software rental option. This option is primarily aimed at users who do not already own a CodeMeter USB stick. Time- limited licenses are issued for one, four, and twelve months respectively:
• Licenses are bound to the computer on which they are installed.
• Only one license can be installed per computer. Activating multiple li- censes on the same computer will only extend the duration of the single license, not add multiple licenses to the same computer. For example, if you buy a four-month and a one-month license, activating both will re- sult in one license valid for five months.
• There is no automatic renewal of licenses; it is not a subscription fee that requires termination. Instead a warning will appear on program start if the license is about to expire (or if it already has expired).
• Licenses that have been purchased need not necessarily be activated immediately. You may buy five licenses but activate only one at a time if you wish. You just need to save the email with the ticket URL for future reference.
Online Support & DocumentationExperienced users of Steel Beasts Pro PE may already visit the official fan page
www.SteelBeasts.com with regularity. If you are reading this, and haven’t been there yet, we strongly recommend that you do so. Whether you like discussion boards or not, its integrated search function may yield valuable information.
An important part of the site, though less immediately visible, is the collec- tive effort to maintain an online documentation, the Steel Beasts Wiki:
http://www.steelbeasts.com/sbwiki/index.php/Main_PageEven without access to the internet there is a serious amount of documen- tation included with Steel Beasts itself (although a current version of the User’s Manual can only be supplied with the next update, currently sched- uled for July 2017 (as of this writing — Apr. 6, 2017).
This additional information can be found in a subdirectory of the Steel Beasts program group of the Windows Start Menu, incidentally named “Docu- ments”; apparently it’s still one of the best kept open secrets since about Au- gust 2000. It contains a PDF of the User’s Manual and other ancillary infor- mation, e.g. the US Field Manual 101-5-1 about tactical signs and military map symbology as used in Steel Beasts.
News about Steel Beasts will usually be published first in the forum of the fan site, and also on eSim Games’ homepage
www.eSimGames.com which you may want to check out occasionally.
CodeMeter• Updated the CodeMeter runtime software to version 6.40a
User Interface ChangesA new option can be found in the graphics options (Alt+G) to enable chang- es to DOF image generation.
General ChangesScenarios created with this version cannot be loaded by older versions of Steel Beasts (see bug #3937).
The status bar will now display unit icons for all infantry squads/teams at- tached to the currently selected vehicle, allowing the student to selectively command them without having to switch units or resort to the map screen. As opposed to the infantry display (which is platoon-oriented), this will only show units actually attached to the selected vehicle (even if they belong to different platoons!). Note that there is no support for hotkeys to directly select squads/teams
While in control of a 'mounted' version of the MG3 you may now toggle the 'AA' reticle using the 'R' ('GAS reticle') hotkey.
Network SessionsEmpty 'chat' input will no longer scroll the chat window.
Map ScreenWhen selecting multiple map graphics, 'empty' text fields (showing up as gray rectangles) will no longer be drawn.
Localization• Updated Russian strings
• The initially hardcoded strings of the Manage unit templates dialog box may now be localized
Simulation RulesAdjusted the immobilization effect of wire obstacles (they are worse to deal with, now).
Behavior of Computer Controlled CrewsWhen commanded to scan a direction, the gunner will always sound an alert when finding a target.
Ballistics
Changed the 'top attack' and 'tandem' indicators in the names of the various ATGMS: "*" now stands for tandem warheads while "^" would be for top at- tack
• AT-4, AT-5 , AT-11 ATGM: Added booster effect New Munitions
Added ATGMs
• BGM-71F-3
o TOW-2B Aero^
o TOW-2B Aero RF^
o TOW-2A Aero*
o TOW-2A Aero RF*
Munitions adjustments
Renamed '122mm Rocket HE' to '122mm 9M22 legacy'; will eventually get replaced in a future update. Also, adjusted some properties.
3D Projectiles• BM-59, BM-60 will now show 3D projectile
• Milan ATGMs will now show 3D projectile
Mission EditorThe Map Info dialog will now also show the scenario's current theme.
The Set Mission Time dialog will now recognize leap years. Note that old scenarios (which might feature an 'invalid' February 29th) will remain as such.
Bunkers and 'abatis' type obstacles will now display ownership information in the status bar.
Unit and Callsign TemplatesAdded unit and callsign template for US SBCT infantry battalion
Increased the width of the 'name' editbox in the 'callsign template' dialogue
Mission DebuggerAdded a tab about 'spawn regions', listing their number of regions, how many pool units and prototypes are assigned to them, 'start if' and 'stop if' conditions, and which of them are active. Most importantly it gives an indi- cation whether the specified number of 'pool units' can actually be created (boy, they add up quickly).
Pool Actors
Changed the random spawn intervals from a negative exponential with ex- pected value X to X/2 + negative exponential with expected value X/2. The obvious consequence is that the actual rates are now closer to what’s sug- gestively shown in the drop-down menu (it used to be much faster).
Map EditorEnabled the relief shading option.
Select and move multiple map annotation objects simultaneously. When placing an annotation, the text box will stay selected (so that you can enter text) but the overall Map Editor's 'mode' will now prevent both the selection of objects and the creation of new annotations (you must reset the crea- tion/selection mode..)
Known IssuesConnecting an X-Box controller under Windows 10 may result in a loss of the mouse control in Steel Beasts.
The LEOPARD 1A5-GE (cast turret) has the 3D interior of the LEOPARD 1A5-DK (welded turret). The LEOPARD 2A6-GE has the 3D interior of the LEOPARD
2A5-DK.
The BMP-2’s missile sight cannot be damaged.
The DRAGON missile gunner shows minor clipping with the missile launcher. The Marder’s shot counter only displays a static number.
For the ERCWS-M some simplifications with respect to focus handling are in place, based on the assumption that 'autofocus on/off' is a global, shared set- ting between CDR/GNR panels and day/TI view channels, and that while the autofocus is active, all manual focus change is disabled.
The Javelin’s arming distance is 125m, even if set to direct attack mode.
Artwork/Render EngineSignificant performance improvements could be achieved across the whole range of scenes.
Improved the quality of shadowmapping with larger radii (the distance from the camera to which shadows are rendered).
We had a lack of glow, and the only prescription was more cowbell. In the Graphics settings the Depth of Field quality now defaults to 1.
Increased the default transition distance for vegetation 3D models to bill- boarding. Use the “General” Detail (Alt+D) slider to adjust.
Reduced brightness level during sunrise/sunset Increased sun brightness, and reduced its size
Terrain
The Hannover-Weserbergland map received another update. Adjusted the collision box on the 40m large oiltank.
Added collision boxes to a number of smaller Korean style buildings.