Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Huntn

macrumors Core
Original poster
May 5, 2008
23,540
26,655
The Misty Mountains
Who's playing tanks? :) Check out this article:
10 Best Tank Games To Play in 2015

Their List, comments are my own. At least two of these games comes in an OSX version: No.8 and 6.

10. Arma 3- Excellent, but practically aimless sandbox.
9. Steel Armor Blaze of War- called complicated and an excellent simulation.
8. Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy (MacOSX)
7. Planetside 2: I loved PS1, but I don't like the change they made going from a two player to single player tank. It reduces the effectiveness of the tank. When driving in exterior view, you can't aim as well as when there was a dedicated driver and dedicated gunner. Plus this game is large and after killing the armored vehicle resistance, there is a lot of sitting around why your infantry takes the facility.
6. War Thunder- As a World of Tanks devotee, I was not impressed.
5. Valkyria Chronicles- looks interesting and Japanese, similar to Final Fantasy.
4. Battlefield 4- Tanks are not main focus.
3. Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad- Tanks are not main focus.
2. Graviteam Tactics: Operation Star- maybe by the same company that did Steel Armor, a company from Russia.
1. World of Tanks: Been playing it for 2 years. Outstanding MMO online, free-ish to play although I've spent more money on this game than any other.
----
0. Armored Warfare

This article was written before Armored Warfare came out and after playing AW, I have to say WoT is feeling kind of arcade like, although basically they are the same game, same mechanics, neither reach the level of simulation, but the AW tanks (which are modern) feel more real, and handle like I imagine real tanks handle, the terrain feels more polished making WoT look dated in comparison. Maybe I'll get tired of it but, AW is a fresh take on the MMO tank battle.
 
Last edited:

maxsix

Suspended
Jun 28, 2015
3,100
3,731
Western Hemisphere
Who's playing tanks? :) Check out this article:
10 Best Tank Games To Play in 2015

Their List, comments are my own. There is at least one of these games comes in an OSX version, but I forget which one:
Thanks for the List!

I've never played a Tank Game before, I'm sure I would enjoy it. Especially since I'm very guilty of mostly working and rarely playing games. Therefore I'll reach out to you for a suggested game for me. I'd like something relatively simple to start, something that plays offline if possible, as I'm a true novice.... read: "no clue" ha... ha... ha... :D
 

Huntn

macrumors Core
Original poster
May 5, 2008
23,540
26,655
The Misty Mountains
Thanks for the List!

I've never played a Tank Game before, I'm sure I would enjoy it. Especially since I'm very guilty of mostly working and rarely playing games. Therefore I'll reach out to you for a suggested game for me. I'd like something relatively simple to start, something that plays offline if possible, as I'm a true novice.... read: "no clue" ha... ha... ha... :D

Offline? 3, 8, or 9 although the Steam games (those games found on Steam) makes you sign into Steam (online) to get it installed. My understanding is that most (Steam) games that are single player can be configured to run when you are not online. Go to the Steam link which is for Tanks Games on Steam and you read about each one including player reviews. If it's not in the list do a search for it in the steam search window.
 
  • Like
Reactions: maxsix

6AL5

macrumors member
Oct 24, 2015
50
6
Steelbeasts should be on this list No Osx version but it is worth booting into Windows to play...

http://www.steelbeasts.com

It's the PE version that is made available to the public as they have have a version the the Military use it's pretty involved and there are online battle groups and regular battles anyone that has served in a Cav regt will soon recognise it's pretty close to the mark.
 

Huntn

macrumors Core
Original poster
May 5, 2008
23,540
26,655
The Misty Mountains
Steelbeasts should be on this list No Osx version but it is worth booting into Windows to play...

http://www.steelbeasts.com

It's the PE version that is made available to the public as they have have a version the the Military use it's pretty involved and there are online battle groups and regular battles anyone that has served in a Cav regt will soon recognise it's pretty close to the mark.

Steel Beasts was an excellent simulation as opposed to titles like WoT or AW which puts you in the environment without the technical burden. What the latest version? If something like 2002, maybe that's why it was not included.

If you love tank games, I'd suggest looking at Armored Warfare. It has an incredible tank combat environment, instantly making WoT look dated.
 

6AL5

macrumors member
Oct 24, 2015
50
6
Steel Beasts was an excellent simulation as opposed to titles like WoT or AW which puts you in the environment without the technical burden. What the latest version? If something like 2002, maybe that's why it was not included.

If you love tank games, I'd suggest looking at Armored Warfare. It has an incredible tank combat environment, instantly making WoT look dated.

Updates have been released along the way I prefer the simulation approach but my view is biased having served :)
 

Huntn

macrumors Core
Original poster
May 5, 2008
23,540
26,655
The Misty Mountains
Updates have been released along the way I prefer the simulation approach but my view is biased having served :)

Greeting to a fellow vet! :)

I seem to remember in Steel Beasts if you are in one position, AI handles the other positions? Multiplayer on servers? Public servers?

I never was a tank crew member, and my impression is that the biggest inaccuracy of many tank games is the damage protocols. If a tank is penetrated, this could be a one shot kill, correct? In the tiered games, there are hit points that must be whittled away allowing you to receive a number of pens, 2-10 depending on the tank.

Armored Warfare uses a tier system, but my impression is they pride themselves on their accuracy, as compared to World of Tanks which has taken quite a few liberties with tank specs.

AW has both PVP and PVE. I'm running into people in my clan who play exclusively PVE, but what is lacking is variability, that after you've played through a PVE scenario several,times, it becomes very predictable when and where tanks will spawn. And it's a little annoying when an enemy tank spawns next to you. ;)

For AW the tanks are modern, and using the Crytek Graphics, the environments are stunning and quite dynamic. If you have a capable computer, since it's free to play, I strongly recommend you give this a look. The standard definition graphics download is 10GB. Environmentally and realistically (although it's realism short comings are noted) this game puts WoT to shame.

I'm going to start taking my own screenshots and posting them :)

tank.jpg


trop2.jpg


aw1.jpg


aw1.jpg
 

Toxe

macrumors newbie
Oct 26, 2015
13
10
Well, I wouldn't call Valkyria Chronicles a tank game per se. It's a Strategy RPG and one of your units is a tank. But that's about it.

But other than that it's a bloody fantastic game, so if you own a PS3, Xbox 360 or Windows PC and you like SRPGs like Final Fantasy Tactics, Fire Emblem or Disgaea you have to play it. It is oh so good!
 

6AL5

macrumors member
Oct 24, 2015
50
6
Greeting to a fellow vet! :)

I seem to remember in Steel Beasts if you are in one position, AI handles the other positions? Multiplayer on servers? Public servers?

I never was a tank crew member, and my impression is that the biggest inaccuracy of many tank games is the damage protocols. If a tank is penetrated, this could be a one shot kill, correct? In the tiered games, there are hit points that must be whittled away allowing you to receive a number of pens, 2-10 depending on the tank.

Armored Warfare uses a tier system, but my impression is they pride themselves on their accuracy, as compared to World of Tanks which has taken quite a few liberties with tank specs.

AW has both PVP and PVE. I'm running into people in my clan who play exclusively PVE, but what is lacking is variability, that after you've played through a PVE scenario several,times, it becomes very predictable when and where tanks will spawn. And it's a little annoying when an enemy tank spawns next to you. ;)

For AW the tanks are modern, and using the Crytek Graphics, the environments are stunning and quite dynamic. If you have a capable computer, since it's free to play, I strongly recommend you give this a look. The standard definition graphics download is 10GB. Environmentally and realistically (although it's realism short comings are noted) this game puts WoT to shame.

I'm going to start taking my own screenshots and posting them :)



Yes AI can control them although one of it's strong points is that other operators can cover the other crew positions so you can have proper crewed tanks. One of the things that attracted me to Steelbeasts was the number of service personnel past and present that use it. Co op tends to work's better....

It is very unlikely a crew would survive a hull penetration these days
 

Huntn

macrumors Core
Original poster
May 5, 2008
23,540
26,655
The Misty Mountains
Well, I wouldn't call Valkyria Chronicles a tank game per se. It's a Strategy RPG and one of your units is a tank. But that's about it.

But other than that it's a bloody fantastic game, so if you own a PS3, Xbox 360 or Windows PC and you like SRPGs like Final Fantasy Tactics, Fire Emblem or Disgaea you have to play it. It is oh so good!

Really. I have an Xbox 360 and PC, I'll have to see which version is cheaper. I wonder if it can be found on Steam? Yep...there are a couple of tanks. ;)


Yes AI can control them although one of it's strong points is that other operators can cover the other crew positions so you can have proper crewed tanks. One of the things that attracted me to Steelbeasts was the number of service personnel past and present that use it. Co op tends to work's better....

It is very unlikely a crew would survive a hull penetration these days

That's the artificiality of a Tank games, hit points based on tiers that must be knocked down to kill the tank, along with multiple pens. However, it's still fun and I highly recommend AW! :)
 
Last edited:

Huntn

macrumors Core
Original poster
May 5, 2008
23,540
26,655
The Misty Mountains
Now that I've been playing Armored Warfare for 4 months, it's gotten where it's all most impossible to go back to World of Tanks. The Crytek graphics in Armored Warfare are superb, WoTs is looking absolutely primitive in comparision. And I've noticed the tactical environment in AW is more challenging, partially due to larger more realistic settings.
 

gkarris

macrumors G3
Dec 31, 2004
8,301
1,061
"No escape from Reality...”
The Grandfather of them all - Coleco Telstar Combat:


I would play this at the demo setup at Montgomery Ward(?) when it first came out.

I only ended up with the Telstar Pong model...

This lucky guy found a working one - the one I got off eBay was complete in box but the unit was INOP and the right controls were broken... :(
 

decafjava

macrumors 603
Feb 7, 2011
5,207
7,325
Geneva
Only tank sim I played was Steel Fury: Kharkov 1942 by Graviteam. Really liked it though it was complicated to learn. I shudder to think about the more modern sims.
 

Huntn

macrumors Core
Original poster
May 5, 2008
23,540
26,655
The Misty Mountains
Only tank sim I played was Steel Fury: Kharkov 1942 by Graviteam. Really liked it though it was complicated to learn. I shudder to think about the more modern sims.

I think games like WoT and AW got it right, KISS. For whatever simulator or "game", I do like a realistic model as to how a machine handles.
 

tanki123

macrumors newbie
Mar 6, 2016
1
0
Who's playing tanks? :) Check out this article:
10 Best Tank Games To Play in 2015

Their List, comments are my own. At least two of these games comes in an OSX version: No.8 and 6.

10. Arma 3- Excellent, but practically aimless sandbox.
9. Steel Armor Blaze of War- called complicated and an excellent simulation.
8. Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy (MacOSX)
7. Planetside 2: I loved PS1, but I don't like the change they made going from a two player to single player tank. It reduces the effectiveness of the tank. When driving in exterior view, you can't aim as well as when there was a dedicated driver and dedicated gunner. Plus this game is large and after killing the armored vehicle resistance, there is a lot of sitting around why your infantry takes the facility.
6. War Thunder- As a World of Tanks devotee, I was not impressed.
5. Valkyria Chronicles- looks interesting and Japanese, similar to Final Fantasy.
4. Battlefield 4- Tanks are not main focus.
3. Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad- Tanks are not main focus.
2. Graviteam Tactics: Operation Star- maybe by the same company that did Steel Armor, a company from Russia.
1. World of Tanks: Been playing it for 2 years. Outstanding MMO online, free-ish to play although I've spent more money on this game than any other.
----
0. Armored Warfare

This article was written before Armored Warfare came out and after playing AW, I have to say WoT is feeling kind of arcade like, although basically they are the same game, same mechanics, neither reach the level of simulation, but the AW tanks (which are modern) feel more real, and handle like I imagine real tanks handle, the terrain feels more polished making WoT look dated in comparison. Maybe I'll get tired of it but, AW is a fresh take on the MMO tank battle.

thank you for the list, but I must add TANKI ONLINE which imo is the best tank game.
if you want to play it, here is a link, its free, no download, no email.

http://tankionline.com#friend=1AF3yXDclF5U5gvpeKnxHh4sZ5szarLgyvzwE4fobGorLuxSiYgaoiX5g85oRxLn
 

Huntn

macrumors Core
Original poster
May 5, 2008
23,540
26,655
The Misty Mountains
Ok, I've been playing Armored Warfare for a couple of months and while it's a beautiful game, with beautiful tanks, honestly I don't feel as much distinction between their tanks as I do with WOT tanks. Not only that, but I find that I'm much less certain of my tactical position in AW, maybe because of much larger maps, and it just seems like there are more opportunities to be caught unaware. Probably just me. I'll continue playing it, probably mostly PVE mode, but I'm back to playing WOT. The recent WoT sound and physics makeover has made a significant difference, but the game is still ugly compared to AW which just has awesome graphics.

Anyone get similar feelings?
 

thisismyusername

macrumors 6502
Nov 1, 2015
476
729
I started playing WoT about 8 months ago and pretty much haven't played any other games since. I did try out Armored Warfare for a very short time but wasn't impressed enough to switch. Although to be fair I didn't give it enough time to make a fair comparison. Sure, having a PVE mode is nice but other than that, it just seemed like a WoT clone. It would have to be a lot better than WoT to get me to start over from scratch.

Plus, everyone I know in real life who plays tank games plays WoT. That alone is pretty much reason enough for me to stick with WoT.
 

Huntn

macrumors Core
Original poster
May 5, 2008
23,540
26,655
The Misty Mountains
I started playing WoT about 8 months ago and pretty much haven't played any other games since. I did try out Armored Warfare for a very short time but wasn't impressed enough to switch. Although to be fair I didn't give it enough time to make a fair comparison. Sure, having a PVE mode is nice but other than that, it just seemed like a WoT clone. It would have to be a lot better than WoT to get me to start over from scratch.

Plus, everyone I know in real life who plays tank games plays WoT. That alone is pretty much reason enough for me to stick with WoT.

The fact that AW controls are modeled after WoT is a good thing. Crytek graphics and maps in AW maps are amazing but are 10x more challenging, at least they seem that way to me. Every map in WoT I know exactly where I'm safe versus being exposed. It's harder to do that in AW and easier to find yourself at a disadvantage, depending on distribution of forces.
 
Last edited:

smirking

macrumors 68040
Aug 31, 2003
3,757
3,732
Silicon Valley
The Grandfather of them all - Coleco Telstar Combat

Yo! I had one of those! That was hours of fun going against my dad.
[doublepost=1458155400][/doublepost]I haven't played any of the other tank games so I can't compare, but Battle Supremacy makes for some really fun gameplay. I stopped playing due to a hand injury and the game crashes on me all the time now anyway so that put an end to the fun for good.
 
I used to play WoT then I started playing War Thunder, pretty fun and gives you an option to switch back and forth between Tanks and Aircraft. Has a single player campaign and is F2P. It's set up a lot like WoT but the physics and graphics are much better IMO. One of the gimmicks of the game that I like is when you run through soggy ground you push the dirt down more. Overall it is really fun and unless wargaming.net does something fantastic like their recent Project R with WoWS to keep me playing, I'm probably not going back.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.