PC Gaming - GHPC, Steel Beasts Pro PE, and VTOL VR

 This past summer, I've been trying different types of PC games.  Yes, I bought Battlefield 2042, but I've done Battlefield games since the original (BF 1942)...it gets old.  

Prior to this year, I was playing War Thunder, mainly Air - arcade battles mode, Air - realistic battles mode, and some dabbling with air- simulation battles mode, which requires a stick, a throttle, and head-tracking.  Sim battles is also VR-compatible and I've also done that - it's fun!

I quit playing War Thunder last fall.  In trying to fill the void, I started playing IL-2 Stumovik: Battle of Stalingrad and it's different maps/campaigns, and also bought some premium planes.  That game is also VR-capable, but is more difficult to configure for VR, but it flies extremely well with TrackIR too.

This summer, I saw a game being advertised called Gunner, Heat, PC!  It is a moderate level tank simulator.  It's not quite easy and not quite difficult.  It plays better than War Thunder's ground battles model.  I liked it so much that I decided to become one of their Patreon members, helping to report bugs and donating funds to help the game grow.  In being a Patreon member, I was able to play their Patreon version of the game (which was available before the game made it to Steam).  September 2022 was the Early Access release date, so you can get that game on Steam now.  It's in an alpha state, so there are bugs but the devs have created a roadmap for the game, so it'll be growing over time.  It's a great game - I highly recommend it.

Lastly, I've been playing a hardcore tank sim called Steel Beasts.  I've actually been playing versions of this game for a very long time, close to 20 years.  I bought it around the year 2000 when it was being sold on a CD.  I still have that disk, too.  The game has evolved over time to be quite hefty.  The consumer version of the game is called Steel Beasts Pro Personal Edition (PE).  It's an expensive game now (it was also expensive 20 years ago, too).  The game is $115 if you're purchasing the unlimited license.  You can buy limited licenses (1 month, 4 months, and 12 months, at $9.50, $29.50, and $49.50, respectively).  With unlimited licenses, they send you a USB dongle that houses the license, which is required to use to play the game.  As well, every three years, there are major version changes, which requires licensing updates, which costs $40.

Steel Beasts is over-the-top sophisticated.  Up until recently, it had this very convoluted install process that was straight-up painful.  With the latest version, released a few months ago, the install process is a lot more simple.  As well, the difference between v4.1 (which I'd been playing a lot the past 2 years) and v4.3 (the latest version) is drastic!  The game appears to be better optimized (plays smoother and loads faster) but the graphics are actually stunning.  There's now heat blur and haze.

I've also recently been playing with the mission editor as an attempt to learn things about the game that I've not yet tried.  Creating/editing missions is tedious but the reward if you create a good mission is astoundingly satisfying!  I'm just dabbling in mission editing and created a mission where I've a US tank battalion pitted against a dug-in Soviet tank company, where the US tank battalion is forced to funnel it's forces into a kill zone.  The enemy is out of reach when the US unit comes out of a valley and there's no cover (it's a desert map), so you've to plan a way to get within range of the Soviet tanks without losing all your tanks.  Not only are the  Soviet tanks dug in, they're hiding behind small hills.  It's a works in progress but it was fun building the mission and was also fun playing it. 

I'm having so much fun with Steel Beasts that it will probably quickly replace War Thunder as my favorite game.  Note:  Steel Beasts is more of a training aid than a sim.  There's a lot to the game and you'll not be able to play it without studying up and running through it's training guides.  It's not something you're going to be able to play in 30 minutes, unless you can find user-created missions that are strictly designed for short duration gameplay.  The manual is close to 250 pages, so if you're interested, be prepared to study.

I also play VTOL VR, a VR PC flight sim that is flown using the VR controls!  The graphics fidelity is a turn-off for some folks but the game is highly immersive, mainly because the cockpit can by manually manipulated (ie, cockpit buttons can be actuated virtually, using your VR controls).  The game is also extremely popular.  There are three planes you can choose to fly, as well as a helicopter. 

I don't have a lot of footage of VTOL VR because it taxes my system badly.  With VR PC games, the PC renders the game footage, and also pipes it to the VR display.  The gameplay isn't bad in itself but playing the game and also recording it puts huge stress on the system.  I'm currently researching ways I can offload recording to another system (USB recording hardware).  Initially I flew this game while the VR headset was tethered to my gaming laptop.  I later determined how to play the game without a USB cable (I use Virtual Desktop, which enables me to play it while wirelessly connected to the gaming PC).  Flight footage of this game can be found on my Twitch channel.

My VR headset is an Oculus Quest 2 w 64 GB of storage.

My Twitch channel that I stream to -  unixfool - Twitch

I also have a YouTube page that has some recorded War Thunder gameplay:

War Thunder RB - Full Matches - YouTube

War Thunder - My ace matches - YouTube

IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad

I've purchased both IL-2 Sturmovik:  Battle of Stalingrad and IL-2 Sturmovik:  Battle of Bodenplatte. 

I purchased the premium version for both, meaning I also have the premium (ie, collector) planes for those two modules.

I've been flying IL-2 the past 3 weeks, off and on.  I'm also flying War Thunder in Simulator Battles mode.  I probably shouldn't be mixing the two, but the concepts are pretty much the same between the two games.  I can use the same tactics in both games.

I'll be posting on these two games as I learn more about them.

TrackIR and FPS

I bought a TrackIR (version 5) a few years ago but hardly ever used it. I wanted to try to use it for flight sims but never got around to using it. Well, I dusted it off and used it to play some Arma 2 this past weekend. All I can say is....WOW! I should've been using this a long time ago. While I realize that not all games allow for head-tracking, Arma does (I've many of the Arma variants, including Arma 3). I also used it a bit to play some War Thunder. It was awesome there as well, allowing for a very immersive bit of gameplay (although I just used the test drive feature to test the hardware). To use TrackIR with War Thunder will also, for full immersion, require the use of HOTAS, which I do have (I've the Saitek X52 Pro throttle and stick combo), as well as rudder pedals, which I do not yet have (I'm in the process of deciding which to buy...I'm not looking for Gucci equipment...just some decent pedals to facilitate gameplay). I'll be testing other FPS games to see if they allow for head-tracking. I may also delve into other flight sims such as DCS and the IL2 series. Stay tuned.

PC Gaming - War Thunder, BF4, ARK: Survival Evolved

I've been somewhat bored with gaming the last few months, so I've been forcing myself to play BF4 again.  I stopped playing that game maybe 7 months ago but began playing again 3 weeks ago.  I only play in Hardcore mode (kill/damage model is more rewarding and realistic), but usually played Conquest mode.  I gravitated to Team Death Match and Gun Master modes, as they've a lot more going on.  I've had a spikes in kills (and deaths) and have been obtaining lots of ribbons and medals (and equipment)...all with it being more fun than the other modes I was playing last year.  I have to keep mixing it up, I guess.

Prior to being re-engaged with BF4, I gave ARK: Survival Evolved a spin.  I do NOT like it.  It's not a bad game, but is too time-consuming.  If you have OCD, this might just be your type of game, though.  I'm not going to explain the game, but if you're curious, a simple Google search will help.  Much of the game is open-ended (it's an open world that is undeveloped...you've to develop it).

I've also decided to try again with War Thunder.  I'd tried it awhile back and played it for maybe a week or two, then got bored with it.  I've been playing it again for maybe 2-3 days so far and I've gotten more kills/assists these last 2-3 days than I did in the 7-14 the last time I played it.  I've also been watching LOTS of WT tutorials on YouTube, which helps.  I'm also working my way through the game's single player tutorials and I'm finally working my way through some of the single player campaigns.  I've been doing this to get the extra virtual money and upgrade points, but realized that going through them would help me learn crucial WT knowledge/skills.  I also fly online nightly.  Normally I don't like learning games while being online, as experts tend to prey on those new to the game and that usually makes learning very frustrating, but it's different with WT, as when you fly in multiplayer mode, it matches you with others of your skill level.  This is something that I think a lot of games would benefit from (or, the game end users).  I've been very satisfied with WT the last few days and will probably continue to play the game.  I've been playing Arcade mode, but the plan is to eventually migrate up through the modes as I become more proficient with flying.

Maybe I'll capture some Fraps gameplay footage, post it to YouTube, and link it here.