Hello all - A couple of Questions from a Fresh Recruit

[Zetetick]

Hello to Everyone at GRAVITEAM and their community    Hope you are all well

I'm a new green-as-lime-jelly recruit not just to "STEEL ARMOUR" and "ACHTUNG PANZER" (of which I am now the proud owner!) but also new to this genre of deeper strategic games  (I'm by nature a book-worm and it took my friend AGES to cajole/convince me that Gaming/Simming was actually worth my time as an adult pursuit (not just PAC-MAN/SONIC/CALL OF DUTY et al), and I must admit that I come under the header of GOBSMACKED CONVERT...WOW!! and have been enjoying gems such as ARMA/BATTLE OF BRITAIN: Wings of Victory/TOTAL WAR:MEDEIVAL 2/MEN OF WAR and so on and simply cannot believe what I've been missing!!

Aaanyway, I spotted your titles after some seeking and could tell they were just my kind of thing, so ordered them both from  GAMESTATION (UK) -now the "ACHTUNG PANZER-Kharkov" was a D/L and I have no problems with this at all but "STEEL ARMOR-Blaze of war" came in a box by post and has no manual...on the PDF I found it says I need to REGISTER it so I don't need to use the disc each time but I don't know how to do this, it says that the number is on the DVD but nothing is printed on the disc (or in the box itself) as I can see or in the files when I OPEN from my drive -does anyone know where I am to look?

Also when I choose "ENCYCLOPEDIA" on title page the whole game often crashes....I have installed the patch for STEEL ARMOR....No change

My system is  good basic Kit  (which took me 18 months to save up for -worth it. But still working my way around learning its ways( INTEL i5 2500K  - 8GB DDR3 1333mhz  - 1TB HDD - NVIDIA GTX570 (Gainsward)  - WIN7  64bit ) so I don't think it's kit related.

So any help from those in the community with experience and Know-how would be doing me a great favour and I would sincerely appreciate any Help,Tips or advice

Thank you all for taking the time     - Mike  (Zetetick)

[Rod]

Well I have XP Operating System but it has been said with WIN7 you should install in C drive NOT C\Program\ Steel Armor. There is mention of that in my 'Where are the hats and helmet' string.  Seems it doesn't crash if it's installed there-especially after modding-And I did reinstall so my game does not reside in PROGRAMS

Check your C:\Steel Armor\docs\modwork for the modding documents once your game is installed (see where I have my game installed  )
Game manual should be in your main directory but if you can't see it go here for that and other stuff.

http://www.graviteam.com/AP-STAR/TOOLS/SteelArmor_Handbuch_EN.pdf

and

http://www.graviteam.com/HELP/273.html


Latest Beta patches are here.
http://graviteam-games.goodluckwith.us/eng/2012/03/march-2012-beta2-update-for-sabow-is-released/

Sorry can't help you with the serial number.

[Panzerfaust]

Rod is very spot on about where to install SABoW Zetetick, as a Win7 user myself I never install games to their default directory (which is usually C:\Program Files (x86) for Vista and Win7). What I usually do is just delete the Program Files (x86) part in the destination path box before I click the install button so it looks like this C:\Steel Armor. Now when you click on the Win7 Start Menu on your desktop, and mouse over All Programs, Steel Armor will now be in the list. Also when you left click on Steel Armor in this directory you will get a drop down box with several selections. You can also find your game manual there and the vehicle encyclopedia. The type of Windows UAC that was started with Vista can cause major problems (like crashes) with some games when trying to mod them with stuff that wasn't "officially" released from the games developers, and since all of SABoW's patchs are "unofficial" it might be why SABoW is crashing for you. Now keep in mind even though the SABoW patches are "unofficial" they work since the patches were made by a Graviteam employee as a legal owner of a copy of SABoW. It's all legal mombo jumbo but technically only UGI Indie Games can release "official patches" for SABoW.

Wish I could help you with the product registration code but my copy of SABoW was a DD.

[whukid]

have you tried running it without the disc?

[Zetetick]

Hi and thanks for the responses 

First WHUKID : Yeah I just tried,no dice. you know,the legendary phrase  "No disc please retry" - I mean,it plays just fine WITH the disc in (Apart from those occasional crashes) but it's that the MANUAL tells me to REGISTER
The place it says I need to activate it is in the STEEL ARMOR manual in the INSTALLATION section.

(Here's a copy/paste of the bit in the manual)
" 1.3 Installation
Insert the Game DVD-ROM and wait for the Installer to start. If you have Autorun feature
turned off, start setup.exe from the Game DVD-ROM and follow onscreen instructions.
Downloadable Version: download and activate the game and follow onscreen instructions.    (Yadda,Yadda,Blah,blah etc)
1.4 Activation
The game is protected and must be activated online. Once the game is registered, DVD
is not required. Your Serial Number is either written on your DVD or sent you by email
(downloadable version). You can activate the game 3 times and deactivate it 10 times; total
number of installments is 13. We recommend that you deactivate the game before changing
your hardware or operating system; in this case you’ll have 1 extra activation.
In case you spent all your activations without breach of contract, please contact our Support "

Well I got ACHTUNG PANZER from the same place as a D/L and all is well, but when I install STEEL ARMOR (from Retail Disc) it doesn't prompt me to go anywhere/do anything -where to Register it, also no number anywhere!! on DVD or box (which was brand new plastic seal wrap so no ones messed with it).

Maybe I should try to contact Graviteam, but when I search this it's all in Russian and GOOGLE CHROME TRANSLATE turns it into nonsense English!

I really feel this game (and it's sister titles ACHTUNG PANZER /  STEEL FURY  etc)  are excellent Strategic/Tactical  Action titles and deserve to reach a MUCH wider audience, but they really need to work on helping the new player understand What the hell is going on (the in-game tutorial tooltip text thingie is terrible and barely any help at all) and with no paper manual you have to EXIT/QUIT the game each time you need to to understand every small point, I even checked YOUTUBE for a video tutorial made by a user but all the ones I saw seem to be as lost as me !

If anyone knows a GOOD YOUTUBE tutorial vid for either S.A  or A.P. (in English) this would also help me massively.

Anyway I will be soldiering on with this because I can see the QUALITY beyond, thanks for your replies chaps, and quick too, you obviously have a strong and friendly community here  so I'm sorry if this seems like a catalogue of squawking an moaning but I'm just confused as all hell....I'm sure I'll get there

Best Wishes to you    Mike (Zetetick)

[whukid]

Hi and thanks for the responses 

First WHUKID : Yeah I just tried,no dice. you know,the legendary phrase  "No disc please retry" - I mean,it plays just fine WITH the disc in (Apart from those occasional crashes) but it's that the MANUAL tells me to REGISTER
The place it says I need to activate it is in the STEEL ARMOR manual in the INSTALLATION section.

(Here's a copy/paste of the bit in the manual)
" 1.3 Installation
Insert the Game DVD-ROM and wait for the Installer to start. If you have Autorun feature
turned off, start setup.exe from the Game DVD-ROM and follow onscreen instructions.
Downloadable Version: download and activate the game and follow onscreen instructions.    (Yadda,Yadda,Blah,blah etc)
1.4 Activation
The game is protected and must be activated online. Once the game is registered, DVD
is not required. Your Serial Number is either written on your DVD or sent you by email
(downloadable version). You can activate the game 3 times and deactivate it 10 times; total
number of installments is 13. We recommend that you deactivate the game before changing
your hardware or operating system; in this case you’ll have 1 extra activation.
In case you spent all your activations without breach of contract, please contact our Support "

Well I got ACHTUNG PANZER from the same place as a D/L and all is well, but when I install STEEL ARMOR (from Retail Disc) it doesn't prompt me to go anywhere/do anything -where to Register it, also no number anywhere!! on DVD or box (which was brand new plastic seal wrap so no ones messed with it).

Maybe I should try to contact Graviteam, but when I search this it's all in Russian and GOOGLE CHROME TRANSLATE turns it into nonsense English!

I really feel this game (and it's sister titles ACHTUNG PANZER /  STEEL FURY  etc)  are excellent Strategic/Tactical  Action titles and deserve to reach a MUCH wider audience, but they really need to work on helping the new player understand What the hell is going on (the in-game tutorial tooltip text thingie is terrible and barely any help at all) and with no paper manual you have to EXIT/QUIT the game each time you need to to understand every small point, I even checked YOUTUBE for a video tutorial made by a user but all the ones I saw seem to be as lost as me !

If anyone knows a GOOD YOUTUBE tutorial vid for either S.A  or A.P. (in English) this would also help me massively.

Anyway I will be soldiering on with this because I can see the QUALITY beyond, thanks for your replies chaps, and quick too, you obviously have a strong and friendly community here  so I'm sorry if this seems like a catalogue of squawking an moaning but I'm just confused as all hell....I'm sure I'll get there

Best Wishes to you    Mike (Zetetick)

I can't really help you with the installation issues, as I bought mine via internet. As for a tutorial, i recommend quick battles with one platoon of T-62's / M-60's and like 5 of Target tanks intermingled with extensive use of the "Controls" option in the pause menu.

[Flashburn]

SABOW has a disc version?  Oh, and not Russian version?  Did not even know.  Can't help with that.  But.......

gunnery tutorial I did over at simhq....its for m60 mainly but eh... http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3508398/SABOW_M60_gunnery_tutorial_ano.html#Post3508398


Oh who is the publisher of disk?  That is who you want to register it with.  Graviteam made the thing, but due to buisness model had to sell SABOW to publishers.  I hope in the future they can self publish all their stuff like apos and k43. 

[Zetetick]

Niceone whukid :)I'll check that out....

FLASHBURN : my disc is published by "PLAY INDIE" which I gotta admit I never seen anywhere else - maybe they're new(?).  But I bought it from GAMESTATION ONLINE which is the online side to a British chain of gaming stores well known to all UK gamers.
Also, thanks to you too for the heads-up at SIM HQ  (which I've just started visiting these past few weeks.)

I been visiting many strategic wargaming sites and stuff to increase my knowledge and get a general feel for the scene (like I say: I'm greener than south america after the rain ! - I've Read quite a bit MIL History/ Soldier / Mariner diaries etc but never played these type things before - Man it's like CHESS but MILLION times better !!! )

So along with any tips on good (English-Preferably VIDEO) Tutorials also any good places online to visit would help me out a lot

You fine gents have already helped me out a great deal an I really do appreciate it     

All The Best To You   - Mike.W  (Zetetick)

[Flashburn]

This should be the pubisher. http://www.uieg.de/ They seem to do wierd stuff as far as support goes.  The play indie may be a bastard off shoot of there main operation with little support. 

[Panzerfaust]

Pretty much spot on Flashburn, sending them an email to their support dept is a joke, oh they will reply..... in German  I still can't get my head around that one, send a request and question in english and get a support ticket email back all in German 

If it's any help Zeteick I would just make sure SABoW is installed to your C drive and not the Programs x86 files and continue to use the disk or wait till SABoW goes on sale at Gamersgate for $10.00 or less (which it has done) pick up the Digital Download and put the disk away for safe keeping.
Cheers

[Flashburn]

I know about their intersting customer sevice lol.  I spent something off a while back.  Got automated response in German and nothing else.  Good thing they are expanding markets to other languages they dont speak.....