Steel Panthers Evolution and Timeline

[Cross]

I put this timeline together to try to help players who are confused about the many different versions of SP:



I first came across a limited shareware version of SP II at least ten years ago, and then I bought 'SP I' because I was interested in WW2. But it took me years of playing and reading before the genetic family tree of the various games slowly dawned on me.

For those still not sure:

There were 3 original games made by a company called Strategic Simulations Inc:
SP I.....1995
SP II....1996
SP III...1997

All used the DOS (not windows) operating system, and each used a different game engine.

SP III was unique in that its hexes were 200yds instead of 50yds, and you controlled platoons instead of squads/sections.

The SPWW2 and SPMBT games were built by Camo Workshop using the SP II game engine, and SPWaW was built by Matrix Games using the SP III game engine, but all three games continued to use DOS.

SPH2H and 'SPWaW Enhanced' are user created mods of SPWaW.

There have been - and are - plenty of other mods, but I thought SPH2H and SP:WaW Enhanced are the most important and noteworthy.

WinSPWW2 and WinSPMBT were converted to the Windows OS by Camo Workshop, and are distributed/published by Shrapnel Games.

If I've got anything wrong, or have missed anything out, please let me know.

[low_bidder]

Runs great in Linux too!

[Vesku]

Excellent work once again!

One minor mistake, last year for SPMBT is 2020, not 1920.

[Cross]

Excellent work once again!

One minor mistake, last year for SPMBT is 2020, not 1920.

Thanks Vesku...corrected.

[Stonefire]

I put this timeline together to try to help players who are confused about the many different versions of SP:



Uploaded with ImageShack.us[IMG]

I first came across a limited shareware version of SP II at least ten years ago, and then I bought 'SP I' because I was interested in WW2. But it took me years of playing and reading before the genetic family tree of the various games slowly dawned on me.

For those still not sure:

There were 3 original games made by a company called Strategic Simulations Inc:
SP I.....1995
SP II....1996
SP III...1997

All used the DOS (not windows) operating system, and each used a different game engine.

SP III was unique in that its hexes were 200yds instead of 50yds, and you controlled platoons instead of squads/sections.

The SPWW2 and SPMBT games were built by Camo Workshop using the SP II game engine, and SPWaW was built by Matrix Games using the SP III game engine, but all three games continued to use DOS.

SPH2H and 'SPWaW Enhanced' are user created mods of SPWaW.

There have been - and are - plenty of other mods, but I thought SPH2H and SP:WaW Enhanced are the most important and noteworthy.

WinSPWW2 and WinSPMBT were converted to the Windows OS by Camo Workshop, and are distributed/published by Shrapnel Games.

If I've got anything wrong, or have missed anything out, please let me know.

Hi Cross. Maybe the games history goes further back, because I remember playing at SSI game called WARGAME CONSTRUCTION SET II: TANKS!, or just tanks back in the early '90. I found an old review on the net:
http://www.ibiblio.org/GameBytes/issue20...nks21.html

For that time it was a great game, and as it was the same developer my guess is that SP1 was based on "Tanks"

[Cross]

Hi Cross.
Maybe the games history goes further back, because I remember playing at SSI game called WARGAME CONSTRUCTION SET II: TANKS!, or just tanks back in the early '90. I found an old review on the net:
http://www.ibiblio.org/GameBytes/issue20...nks21.html

For that time it was a great game, and as it was the same developer my guess is that SP1 was based on "Tanks"

Hi Stonefire,

You are probably right, and I think SSI had another game called Kampfgruppe that was similar.

I believe the great Gary Grigsby was involved in developing Kampfgruppe and the first 3 SP games while he was with SSI, and probably TANKS too.

For my evolution image I thought I would only include actual SP titles, because the main goal was to help remove some of the confusion of having about 10 games with the same name!

[Stonefire]

Hi Cross.
Maybe the games history goes further back, because I remember playing at SSI game called WARGAME CONSTRUCTION SET II: TANKS!, or just tanks back in the early '90. I found an old review on the net:
http://www.ibiblio.org/GameBytes/issue20...nks21.html

For that time it was a great game, and as it was the same developer my guess is that SP1 was based on "Tanks"

Hi Stonefire,

You are probably right, and I think SSI had another game called Kampfgruppe that was similar.

I believe the great Gary Grigsby was involved in developing Kampfgruppe and the first 3 SP games while he was with SSI, and probably TANKS too.

For my evolution image I thought I would only include actual SP titles, because the main goal was to help remove some of the confusion of having about 10 games with the same name!

Hi Cross
I realised that just when I had posted the reply...:)