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| Screenshot - Call to Arms: Panzer Elite |
Yup, back in the saddle again, this time with Call to Arms: Panzer Elite from Digitalmindsoft Publishing. I originally got into this publisher's games via their Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront. When Panzer Elite came out, I jumped on it. I mean, y'all know my love of tanks. (And juvat, I'll try and find some screenshots of aircraft blowing up tanks in one of the games I have. I know it's there, just haven't played that particular setup yet.)
This one is in early release, in other words you buy the game and provide feedback to the developers and as the game gets updated, you get the updates. Basically you're paying for a finished product and get to help test that product. I don't mind, that particular business model seems to be working for a lot of game publishers.
Anyhoo, that opening photo is the standard player's view. You're hovering behind your tank so it's perhaps a bit more "arcade-ish" than IL-2 Sturmovik - Stalingrad. But it's great fun. Once you see something you might want to shoot at, you can zoom in to this view ...
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| Screenshot - Call to Arms: Panzer Elite |
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| Screenshot - Call to Arms: Panzer Elite |
For now, if the vehicle dies, so does the crew.
As for Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront, it looks like this ...
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| Screenshot - Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront |
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| Screenshot - Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront |
It's immersive, very immersive.
I highly recommend both, if you've got at least this much oomph in your machine:
Minimum System Requirements
OS *: 64bit - Windows 7, 8, 10, 11
MEMORY: 16 GB RAMGRAPHICS: GTX 1070 / RX 5600DIRECTX: Version 11STORAGE: 80 GB available spaceSOUND CARD: DirectX 11 compatibleADDITIONAL NOTES: SSD drive and fast internet connection needed for optimal gameplay
If you've got that, or better, you should be able to run these games. (juvat - Not sure if they'll run on a Mac, but the discussion page on Steam says "Yes" it runs on Windows and Mac.)
Sorry gotta run, Krauts are breaking through near St. Vith!
Sounds like a good way to lose lots of sleep!
ReplyDeleteI don't really lose sleep, remember I can get up whenever I feel like it. But it can make for a lot of those "Damn! Is it 1:00 AM already?" scenarios.
DeleteForgive me if I am repeating myself. My father fought in Churchill tanks (Not Shermans, thank God - as he said more than once.) They were well suited to the bocage country in Normandy: better, he reckoned than their German opponents. Once out in the open ground though they were inferior; simply underarmed for fighting at range. Happily, out in the open the German tanks were exposed to attack by rocket-firing Typhoon fighter-bombers of the RAF.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, as far as I can see once the bocage country had been crossed and the killing at the Falaise Gap was finished, much of the rest of 1944 was largely a case of pursuing a fleeing German army. Things got lively again when they reached the neighbourhood of the Belgian/Dutch/German borders.
That last paragraph is based on my reading: Dad was exceedingly reluctant to describe action. Too unpleasant to think about, I suppose.
What I know about the Churchill is limited. I do know they had decent cross-country performance and they were intended to be "infantry tanks." British pre-war doctrine called for three types of tanks: light, infantry tanks, and cruiser tanks. Infantry tanks were meant to directly support the infantry, on foot, so they tended to be slow and well-protected though initially under-gunned. I have set myself the task now of learning more about the Churchill.
DeleteAnyone who was there doesn't like talking about it, the talkers usually weren't there. No one wants to relive that sort of thing.
Ah....games look immersive Sarge, thanks for the stats which are a bit beyond what I'm typing on presently.....oh well.
ReplyDeleteMain reason I had to switch over to a desktop for most of my games, laptops have the muscle, they don't have the stamina, i.e. they overheat way too fast. I fried one laptop due to that. For its successor I got a cooling pad (think giant fan under the laptop which at full bore sounds like a low flying jet at full power) and it still overheated on the graphics intense games, like these two.
DeleteBefore I retired I just didn't have the time for gaming, so couldn't justify the cost of a new machine. Now?
Let's just say that being retired gives me the time.
What OS’s do these games run on? I have a Mac.
ReplyDeletejuvat
They are designed for Windows PCs, but (according to Google's AI, which deep digging showed me wasn't that far off) -
DeleteCall to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront can be played on a MacBook, particularly M1/M2/M3 models, but requires emulation tools like Whiskey or CrossOver to run the Windows version. Performance is generally good on Apple Silicon, though setting graphics to High/Ultra with water quality on Low is recommended for stability.
Call to Arms: Panzer Elite is not natively supported on macOS and cannot be played directly on a MacBook, as it requires Windows 11, DirectX 12, and specific NVIDIA or AMD graphics. The game is designed exclusively for Windows, meaning Apple Silicon or Intel-based Macs cannot run it without using tools like Boot Camp (for Intel Macs), Parallels Desktop, or CrossOver.
There are some details in the beginning of this YouTube video which show you how (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EZtR77cr7A). That's for a different game but the basics are similar. I gather it's possible, but not easy.
One of the reasons I went with an IBM PC back in the day as opposed to an Apple product was because of the availability of software for the two. Lots of software for the IBM, and cheaper, as compared to Apple. I had a kid who worked for me who said that he could play any IBM game on his Mac, just needed to buy emulator software/hardware for it. "How much?" I asked. "Around two grand," he answered.
Which is why I stuck with PCs and didn't go the Mac route.
Again Sarge, stunned by the graphics. I have been out of gaming for a while, apparently.
ReplyDeleteGraphics have come a long way in the past few years. Of course, the power needed to run those graphics has also increased, a lot!
DeleteNext to last Ostfront image sure reminds me of the videos coming out of Ukraine, and you don't want to be any of those guys in about 2 seconds.
ReplyDeleteImage quality really is impressive!
We can tell that you really have adapted to the "retiree" gig and the well deserved opportunities you now have. Carpe diem!
JB
For me, playing these games, which are more simulations than games, helps give me insight into both history and current affairs.
DeleteThat last screenshot really does look like something coming out of Ukraine nowadays.
I'm working on being the best retiree I can be. 😉