The Patches Scrolls - 20 years of gaming, Patches, Demos & others downloads readily available and for free Changelog, description and download of M1 Tank Platoon II patch 1.2 The Patches Scrolls Patch M1 Tank Platoon II patch 1.2. In terms of gameplay, 'M1 Tank Platoon 2' (M1TP2) is similar to its predecessor, with its four-tank platoon management and strategic overhead map view, but has added 3Dfx graphics support, more.

• M1 Tank Platoon 2 Patch Notes
• M1 Tank Platoon 2 Patch 1.2
• M1 Tank Platoon 2 Patch
• M1 Tank Platoon 2 Patch Command

1. A: M1 Tank Platoon II is not designed for the Internet. While it may be possible to play 2-player games via the Internet, you will probably get unpredictable results.
2. A quick and and dirty tutorial for how to install m1 tank platoon for windows 10.- http://www.nrgtoiso.

The Life and Death of Tank Platoon by John 'Spoons' Sponauer(June 2000)

In addition to my duties at SimHQ.com, I also run the largest and longest-running web site devoted to the tank sim M1 Tank Platoon 2. Through the years, I've come to know many great people through that site, including several of the people involved in the game's development. In the last couple of weeks since the cancellation of 'Tank Platoon,' (M1TP2's sequel) I've read probably hundreds of posts, email, messages, etc. decrying the situation and offering varying degrees of finger-pointing at everyone from the 'suits' at Hasbro to the gaming media to the design team to the sim community. There have been people theorizing online that the game was never going to be released at all, that it was a marketing attempt to sell Gunship, and more.

As I learned while studying to be a journalist, the truth is rarely black and white, if there actually can even be one 'truth.' Such is the case with Tank Platoon. I started this article after I had received word of the cancellation, and the early draft wasn't something that I would have been proud to hang my name on.

However, in the process of writing out a timeline for the article, I realized that it was not so clear cut. Rather than present you with my rants for 10 pages, I'm going to take another route. What follows is the rough timeline of how Tank Platoon was created and killed, from its early days as an expansion for M1TP2 to the post-cancellation comments and interviews. While not specifically related to the development, I've included in this timeline work done by a number of outside M1TP2 fans (myself included). This isn't done to 'toot our own horns,' but I think it shows some of the potential of the game at various points and how the game was made to allow for expansions.

A: M1 Tank Platoon II is not designed for the Internet. While it may be possible to play 2-player games via the Internet, you will probably get unpredictable results. Network play is limited to LANs, which can better handle the large amount of data M1 Tank Platoon II sends and receives. M1 Tank Platoon II. Installs and runs fine with the fixes included in ACT 3.0 (Application Compatibility Toolkit). That was with the v1.2 patch for the game, and running in Direct3D mode on a GeForce4Ti card (I didn't try without patching the game or in software mode).Great game. M1 Tank Platoon 2 - Old But Epic - Duration: 1:52. Radar11x 15,656 views. RC Pilots Lounge 074 Come on Over Pilot Ryan Media 114 watching.

Anyway, I'll let you draw your own conclusions. I have very deliberately left out a large amount of editorial comment.

Some thanks are due to the many people who helped with this article. To the wonderful people who have supported my M1TP2 site, the crowd on the M1TP2 mailing list, the current and former employees of MicroProse / Hasbro Interactive who have talked to me at various points in three years, the guys at SimHQ, and the people at PC Data and elsewhere who helped come up with some information. I don't believe I have quoted or referenced any private message / call / email without permission, however, I have freely used quotes from publicly posted messages without seeking permission first.

Because I am not a big believer in playing 'gotcha,' I sent a copy of this article to three key people at Hasbro / MicroProse (Game Designer Tim Goodlett, Hunt Valley Studio Head Robin Matthews, and MicroProse's Director of Marketing Tom Nichols) prior to publication to solicit any comments they might want to send in response, should they choose to make any at all. The only comments made were pointing out a typo and saying that the article 'fairly and accurately captured a lot of the history of these products.'

So here is, as far back and as accurately as I can determine, the history of Tank Platoon. Pay attention and take notes..it's an interesting ride that says a lot to me about development, the sim community, and the economic realities behind it all.

May 1997
At E3 Expo 1997, M1 Tank Platoon 2, the sequel to 1989's 'M1 Tank Platoon,' is announced by MicroProse.

December 1997
MicroProse updates their M1TP2 site with a lot of information. It hasn't really changed much to date (5/24/2000).

January 29, 1998
MicroProse begins to say that M1TP2 will be just one game in a series that will finally deliver on the often-fancied 'virtual battleground.' In an interview, Tom Nichols, the product marketing manager for MicroProse, states 'We will be doing additional simulation products in the M1 universe, one of which will be centered around the Apache helicopter, like the Gunship series. That's just one example.'

It's not something that specifically happened in January, but among the ideas floated around by the development team is the possibility of expansion packs for the game, which would add the ability to play other vehicles. The game is designed to allow that expansion with a minimum amount of extra work.

February 24, 1998
In a preview at Computer Games Online, a MicroProse representative is referred to back in June of 1997 as saying that he wasn't sure if the Challenger II or Leopard II tanks would be modeled for players to play head to head combat with, but suggested that even if they were, they would likely use the M1's interior cockpit graphics. It is also mentioned that a Mission Editor would not be included in the release version, but may be an item for an expansion pack.

March 10, 1998
M1TP2 goes 'gold.' The company expects to ship at least 100,000 copies of the game to retailers. Along with the game Ultim@te Race Pro, MicroProse says that it has 'strongest line-up in the 15-year history of the company.' A ZDNet article says, 'Plus, it was developed internally at MicroProse and was completed on time, which doesn’t happen very often these days.'

March 24, 1998
MicroProse starts shipping M1TP2. Initial reaction is mixed, although reviews are mostly positive. While certainly a big step up from the original, the game doesn't match the documentation in many areas (or is it the other way around?), and there are a number of very visible bugs and missing features in it.

March 27, 1998
A post is made on several online Armor Forums by Tim Goodlett, M1TP2 Game Designer

Hi,
Thanks for all the posts. We have been reading them and considering all input during our planning stages of our upgrade and expansions. As the game's designer I want to take this opportunity to let our audience know what the future holds for M1 Tank Platoon.

Yes, the Manual has errors in it. I apologize for this. Instead of giving a lengthy series of events and excuses, I will say that the development team has learned several valuable lessons for the future. The manual has been corrected in the second printing and an Errata will soon be posted on the MicroProse website.

The team has been reading the posts to this site and paying attention to the various points made about the game, much like we did prior to the start of the development cycle. Since the completion of M1, the team has been working on an enhancement to add Direct3D graphics support to the game. This is nearing completion and will be posted to our website within the next few weeks. In the meantime, the team will evaluate both your feedback and our internal review and include fixes to most of the problems with the Direct3D upgrade.

It does not end there. We plan to add on to M1Tank Platoon II with one or more expansion sets that will add additional equipment and more player controlled vehicles. /office-professional-plus-key-generator.html. The design of these expansions will take your feedback into consideration as well. I am not guaranteeing that every suggestion will make it into the game, but it will be considered.

Early April 1998
Frustrated by the lack of a mission builder, a number of M1TP2 enthusiasts (myself included) begin peeking into the data files of the game. While not exactly intuitive, the mission files are plain ASCII and look friendly to tinkering. I start work identifying what the game's 105 vehicle codes mean. At the same time, others make huge progress on identifying what each part of the mission files do (weather, unit facing, unit orders, etc.). With these two chunks of information, it becomes readily obvious that anyone can make very detailed missions in the game 'by hand' and not rely on the canned ones that came with the game. Very quickly, many custom made missions are being created by users, including using the whole scope of the game's selection of vehicles. Communication is enhanced by an M1TP2 mailing list, on which the group of users compare notes.

One of the interesting 'finds' was that if you toggled one setting in the mission file, you could play the OPFOR's (enemy's) side..none of the interior tank screens changed, but externally and on the map you WERE commanding the OPFOR. On April 19, a user creates a mini-campaign, with the player playing as the OPFOR through a series of battles!

Another interesting find was that when the user selected 'his' unit to be something other than an M1, the correct weapons showed up in the gunner's sight! The Bradley carried 25mm cannon and TOW missiles, the 2S6 had SAMs and cannon, infantry had rifles and anti-tank rockets, and even the AIRCRAFT were loaded correctly. In fact, if you chose to 'fly' an aircraft, you could sit view from the gunner's sight and watch as an apparently AI-controlled gunner selected a target, locked onto it, and used appropriate weapons. In a jet, if you took over and controlled the bombs (basically, a guess as to when to pull the trigger..you still were stuck at the gunner's screen), the bombs would drop (actually, cluster bombs were represented by the game image as a DPICM artillery shell) and pilot would automatically radio that he was coming around for another pass, and behave exactly like he would in the game when you weren't involved. While you couldn't directly fly any of the aircraft, you could adjust waypoints on the map screen and hop along for the ride.

This was all sometimes flaky. Some weapons wouldn't fire unless you toggled on night vision first, others only fired in small bursts, and the audio was still for the original game, so firing a rapid-fire cannon resulted in hundreds of plays of the sound 'Sabot up!,' all within a few seconds. You also were stuck with really only one view..the gunner's sight from the M1. You could jump up to the commander's .50 caliber gun, but that wasn't really right (imagine playing a grunt with a helmet-mounted .50! ;) ). Except for the changed 'ammo counter box' at the gunner's screen, none of the other internal views changed.

And even when it worked, it didn't always work RIGHT, especially some of the ATGMs, which sort of flew off in their own directions at times. However, in many cases it DID work..in the Bradley, for instance, the TOW could be consistently 'steered' in flight by moving the crosshairs.

It was an exciting time, as the end users figured that they now had a game with endless replay possibilities. It wasn't M1 Tank Platoon 2 any more, it was any kind of ground combat you could imagine.

M-109 and shelling a village

Su-25 attacks with cluster bombs (DPICM artillery effect is used) and rockets

Playing the T-72 and T-90. Note ATGM flying downrange in right shot

April 14, 1998
Mike Dubose, the QA Lead for M1TP2, posts this to several message boards about the upcoming patch for the game.

Gamers,
I apologize for the late post. It has been a hopping day. The upgrade is in QA, and being tested. I have compiled a list of the issues we have corrected, and added. Also the stuff we added due to gamers response. For those interested, the size of the upgrade will be 1.5 - 2 meg. Once we are done with it in QA it will be available for download on our web sight. OK, now down to the meat & gravy..aka T-Ration
1. TC target Designation. If you as a TC point it out, your gunner will 'jump to' and fire on it. BEWARE !! This includes your own vehicles also. So be careful who you point at..
2. Artillery delivered smoke. This option will only show up with your detail level set to high. Have fun with it.
3. Bino view in the TC out hatch. Z key brings them up, X key puts them down. You wont be able to fire the .50 cal when using the Binos.
4. Night Vision Goggles in the TC out hatch. The T key will activate them. With these you will be able to engage targets at night with the .50 cal. They are not a thermal class sight system, so using them during daylight hours will be ineffective.
5. External View controls. ( F8 ) This view is now controlled with the joystick, or by a left click on the mouse. Using the mouse you can pan the view to where you want it, then right click to hold the view in place. Also it is not as sensitive. No more nausea..
6. The seam in the sky has been corrected.
7. Joystick control buttons are now in accordance with the manual. It is quite convenient by the way.
8. The Hull to Gun command is now functional. It is also in accordance with the manual.
9. TC ammo over ride. We fired all the loaders, and are sending a batch of new recruits to all platoons. The new loaders will load any round a TC tells him to, and wont give you any flak about it...
10. Situational awareness in the TC out hatch. We have modeled the turret under the .50 cal machine gun so that the TC can see the tank under him, and know which way he is facing.
11. The CITV button keys on the keyboard are now functioning as per the manual.
12. COAX vs. Main Gun Rounds. In the GPS, after using the COAX, the loader does not have to reload the main gun. A gunner can switch right back to the round in the gun, and engage targets.
13. We have added contour lines to the Map screen. This is a toggled function using the L key. It also sharpens the contrast between elevation shading.
14. Unstabilized .50 cal machine gun. In the beginning of a battle the .50 is unstabilized, however, you can restabilize the .50 with the K key. It is a toggle function just like the contour lines.
15. We have made numerous tweeks to the Helos. We have changed their threat ID, taken away the cloaking device, and a few other things......
16. Smoke pods. The AI will automatically use the smoke pods mounted on the vehicles. Keep an eye on some of your vehicles when they take a hit. The TC will pop smoke to cover his tail. The Soviet vehicles do this also. I learned this the hard way today, and got my head shot off.
17. We have put a lot of work into the Multi-player aspect of the game. We have tightened it up, and it is much more stable.

We still have a couple of issues that are under construction. These being Direct 3D, and vehicles engaging through forests. We fully intend to get these issues squared away for the upgrade. Some other points of interest are..
1. Some new single battles. We created some smaller single battles. BTW the numbers next to the battles denote size in comparison to the number of vehicles in the battle. ( I sounded smart just then..)
2. In the Config. screen we added the option to turn off the menu bars. Personally I think they are cool, but then again I'm a dumb grunt, and flashy things amuse me.....
The above list are the issues we will be addressing with the upgrade. I have maintained a list of all the suggestions, and ideas that have been sent to me. Many of them are great. We weren't able to implement all the stuff sent in, but, I'll keep the list to use during the designing of the next expansion. Its gonna be a killer!!!! I will be up on the boards every day to keep you all up to date on the testing process.

April 20, 1998
The Unofficial M1TP2 Edits and Missions Site is created by me, basically to publish all that we've learned to date about the sim's structure.

April 22, 1998
Patch 1.1 released. The huge inconsistencies between the manual and game have largely been fixed..features that were missing in the release are now available. The game essentially now plays as the manual suggests.

However, the patch removed the ability to play the other non-tank units in the game, making the previous player-as-OPFOR battles crash.

April 24, 1998
In a post on the newsgroup, an M1TP2 player complains that the ability to play the OPFOR has been removed. The response from MicroProse's Amy Boylan:

'Sorry... its no longer available because it was one of the causes of '2 people in a tank' bug in multiplayer. If I can give it back to you, I will..promise'

Prior to writing this article, there's always been some thought in my mind that perhaps this was done deliberately. It seems logical to assume that since a potential revenue builder for a company was 'discovered' by end users and exploited, the company would want to cut that off. However, in researching this article, I have come to believe that this was NOT some deliberate plan to forbid users from playing as the OPFOR. It really does seem to have been an incidental side effect of the patch.

April 28, 1998
MicroProse updates the FAQ for M1TP2 for the second and last time.

April 1998
M1TP2 does not fare well in US sales, coming in ranked 104th for PC Games for the month of April, according to PC Data. It is ranked 15th in the category of 'Simulation,' behind Sierra Pro Pilot, Comanche, U.S. Navy Fighters, A-10 2: Silent Thunder, Jane's F15, and MS Flight Simulator (the other games in the 'Simulation' category include Wing Commander Prophecy and Monster Truck Madness). About 7,500 copies are sold in the month.

May 14, 1998
In referring to the game's non-functioning UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle..a drone, basically), an MPS rep says that because they could never get them working right, they decided to reduce their likelihood of appearing in missions to 0%. It was stated that this was an issue for the planned M1TP2 expansion set. The UAV can be hand-added to missions, where it can be used for spotting, but it obviously isn't really complete. When destroyed, it just stays where it is, suspended in mid-air. It doesn't really do much.

May 18, 1998
Patch 1.2 released. It doesn't 'fix' a whole lot, and in fact slows down the game considerably and makes it unstable for many people. It also neuters the AI of helicopters, apparently. They now act very timid, whereas before they were almost reckless in their attacks on enemy units.

Some people to this day feel the 1.1 patch is more stable in the long run and play with that.

May 28, 1998
Hasbro announces Gunship 3. The press release says that the sim will fully connect with M1 Tank Platoon 2.

June 1998
A very early demo of Gunship 3 is shown at E3. In an article at Combatsim, it is reported that Gunship will be a stand alone product, but will connect to M1TP2.

In the article, the terrain was reported to be identical to M1TP2, with the exception of individual trees which was reported to be something that Game Designer Tim Goodlett wanted to put in M1TP2 but couldn't, possibly due to performance constraints. Instead, whole 'blocks' of forests and single tree lines were used.

Some of the possibilities mentioned for the future included flying a Havoc, Hokum, or maybe even an A-10 in the game engine, as well as the RAH-66 Comanche. It is also suggested that Gunship could upgrade the M1TP2 engine with such effects as fog, smoke, dynamic lighting, new resolutions, and, of course, the new trees.

June 10, 1998
I learn that the product development team is doing 'a lot of work on M1 and Gunship.' I am told that the 1.3 patch will take care of all the major items that needs fixing, and when Gunship comes out, it will include many fixes that will fine tune M1. There is a readme created internally of all of the changes in the 1.3 patch, and that readme is very close to being publicly released to myself and several other sites so people can see what is being fixed.

June 11, 1998
An active M1TP2 player finds a way to play the OPFOR and the other units again, even with the 1.2 patch installed.

'After some initial problems with the game crashing (as you warned) I've managed to get fairly consistent results by first playing a normal battle (I use the static gunnery range which I've copied, tweaked, and saved as a player battle) and then moving from there to one of my non-US vehicle/non-M1 battles. The crashes occur mainly only when I try to play the non-US/non-M1 battle as the first battle. Using this technique, I've managed to play the non-US tanks as well as the infantry vehicles. I've even managed to 'make it work' using an AH-64 flight; though I was unable to control any of the firing or sighting, I was able to command the platoon via the F3 view and look over the gunner's shoulder, so to speak, in the F4 view (check out the F7 view for an interesting change of pace).'

July 1998
Many users start to find an interesting bug. With the 1.2 patch, the game seems to crash after about 25 minutes of gameplay. It doesn't seem to happen among everyone, but several users report it consistent with their machines.

July 30, 1998
At the request of a person who was working with me on a Mission Builder utility program, MicroProse sends out to the community their own document about to manipulate the mission files by hand. Much of the information is the same as has already been discovered by the end users, but a few new pieces of information help explain some things.

August 6, 1998
In an article at CGO, we learn some of the first new details about Gunship III. It will feature several of the campaigns from M1TP2 as well as two new ones (including possibly South America). The Comanche will be one of the flyable helos. Some of the changes planned are mentioned in the article:

Perhaps the most intriguing aspect is the ability to link with M1 Tank Platoon II so gamers can fight cooperative, combined-arms battles with friends on the ground. MicroProse is even kicking around ideas for a third product, a wargame that would let one person act as commander for multiple helicopter pilots and tank commanders (human or AI).'

August 6, 1998
Mike Dubose posts this on several online venues.

The Ver. 1.3 patch that we have been working has turned into something more
than we had originally intended. What started out to be some localized
changes has grown into a major over haul of the game. We are now in the
process of making major changes to 85 - 90% of M1TP2. The list of
suggestions, and ideas that have been sent to us via. Forums, and E-mail are
being reviewed. Some of them have already been implemented, more are being
considered.
The largest and most complete change will be with the multiplayer. It is
all being re-done. The amount, and type of information exchanged also the
way it is exchanged between machines will be upgraded. To help us with this
we have added a new member to our team. Multiplayer, in it's many forms, is
his specialty. Other areas include updated graphics, improved AI, an
expansion of Command levels, the addition of NATO vehicles, some new
cockpits, a larger area in which to fight, along with various other changes.
The only area that will be basically the same is the game Wrappers, and
Interface. Everything else is getting updated, and upgraded.
Ok, now the bad news. All the upgrades we are making to M1TP2 are being
implemented along with the development of Gunship3 to create the beginning
of an Electronic Battlefield. What does this mean to you as a gamer? The
upgrade to M1 will not be available until just before, or at the same time
that Gunship3 gets released. Our decision to do this was based on time
management. To spend 8 to 10 weeks on a patch, only to have to change it, or
to roll that 8 to 10 weeks back into the project. We chose the later.
I know you all have a lot of questions, along with some colorful comments, I'm sure.

Just some things to chew over...in my opinion, based on conversations and emails, the 1.3 patch would have been a significant patch and would have addressed known issues with the game, and probably would even have added some user-requested items. From all I can gather, the decision to stop work on it was NOT forced by an impending merger with Hasbro, at least at the level of the development team who was actually doing the work. The time estimations floating around the net about how close the patch was to completion range from done to 48 hours to several weeks. Looking through past emails and conversations, I do not believe the patch was 'ready to go' and is now stored in a Hasbro vault somewhere. At the time, MicroProse was not doing well financially, and it probably just made more sense to focus on a revenue generator like Gunship than work on a patch in isolation, especially when that new product would contain many of the fixes in the patch. I believe the development team was intent on working on a 'hardcore' (I hate that expression) helicopter sim at this point.

August 10, 1998
In response to an earlier email I sent regarding the status of the patch, a MicroProse rep tells me that they were aware of the slowdown many people experienced after installing the 1.2 patch and are looking into it. 'Somewhere between v1.1, and 1.2 something got changed. We are hunting it down.'

Around that same time, I learn that there will be a fairly detailed battle editor / creator shipped with the 'Gunship / M1 package.' When I asked if the old hand-created missions would still work, it was implied that the actual mission file format should not change much at all.

August 12, 1998
An outside Beta Testing Team for the GS3/M1 package is created from a core of M1TP2 fans. It is limited to 15 testers. I am included on the list.

I was very excited about this. In my opinion, external user-based testing teams tend to look for gameplay bugs, freeing up internal QA Teams to focus on product stability bugs and the like.

August 27, 1998
In a 'Welcome to the testing group' email, I get the following message:

Phase three is the final approval stage for a development team to begin creating the game in question. For us it is the M1TP2 upgrade, and Gunship 3. As of now, our Design team is fleshing out the details of the design document, the programmers are beginning the process of altering code, and I am in the process of putting together a Beta Testing program.

September 8, 1998
The Beta Testing team is sent an email with the first list of members - about 12. This is the first and last group email to the testing team.

September 15, 1998
Hasbro buys MicroProse, making the game company a wholly owned subsidiary of toy maker. From a press release:

'MicroProse will significantly enhance Hasbro Interactive in three key strategic growth areas: brands and content, R&D assets, and European distribution,' said Alan G. Hassenfeld, chairman and CEO of Hasbro.
Tom Dusenberry, president of Hasbro Interactive, added, 'MicroProse will provide Hasbro Interactive with product strength in the strategy, simulation, and 3D action game categories, enabling us to compete in virtually all major PC game categories.' Hasbro also plans to port
MicroProse titles to console platforms.

September 21, 1998
An M1TP2 fan publishes on my web site a document about how to edit the terrain in M1TP2.

October 9, 1998
I receive word that because of the Hasbro deal, the timeline for the Beta Group has been delayed. However, it is not believed that the merger will set back any shipping dates..instead, delay is expected on the legal, sales, and marketing sides of things.

In researching this, I get the impression that it was after the Hasbro merger that Gunship became more scaleable in difficulty levels, features, etc. You start seeing that phrase more often in previews and articles.

October 1998
Several of the M1TP2 / Gunship team visit the US Army Armor School at Fort Knox. They bring in some artists to capture the interiors of the T-72, Challenger, and BMP. They also took a lot of video. The school has made themselves available as consultants, and British and German liaison officers offer their services as well.

At about this time, MicroProse sends up a team of artists in a hot air balloon to capture the 'feel' of rolling terrain at a low altitude.

November 5, 1998
The first custom world for M1TP2, Bosnia, is created by another M1TP2 fan.

More information is published by the original terrain-editing fan concerning editing the maps.

November 11, 1998
The first version of an M1TP2 Terrain Editor is released by the terrain-editing fan.

December 20, 1998
Several versions later, the last update to the Editor program is released, which not only allows terrain manipulation, but also mission editing and creation features. At about the same time, the first whole new world for M1TP2 is released, Israel.

December 1998
A working demo of Gunship 3 is shown to Hasbro.

January 1999
I inquire about the status of the Beta Team. I am informed that the programs are still alive, but it will be some time before anything is ready for testing.

February 22, 1999
I learn that Hasbro has decided to make the M1TP2 enhancement a separate full product, called M1 Tank Platoon 3. Gunship 3 will be sold separately. I don't see the name M1TP3 used by many people until April, for some reason.

April 1999
The phrase 'M1TP3' is first used by Hasbro in connection with the upcoming E3 trade show.

M1 Tank Platoon 2 Patch Notes

May 3, 1999
Since I'm going to add an interactive poll to my M1TP2 site asking for thoughts on M1TP3, I contact MicroProse and ask if there is anything they'd like to get user feedback on. They respond back that they'd like to know what different types of vehicles gamers would like to see in the game, how gamers would change the tank commander's cockpit from as it was in M1TP2, and what vehicles the players would like to be able to directly play as.

I learn that there will be infantry bunkers, as well as working interiors for the M1, Challenger II, Leopard II, and the Russian Black Eagle tank. In addition, all of the APCs will have playable gunner's sights, including ATGMs that can be guided. But they still want feedback, to see if their thoughts mesh with those of their fans.

May 6, 1999
I added the poll to my site and begin to collect suggestions. To date (5/24/00), the poll has been taken 1,000 times, and there are probably more than 100 suggestions from end users.

M1 Tank Platoon 2 Patch 1.2

May 12, 1999
Hasbro puts out a pre-E3 press release regarding Gunship and Tank Platoon.

Flying to stores next winter, Gunship III is a realistic aerial combat game
where the players have the ability to fly a selection of the world s most
advanced and deadly military helicopters. Fly the AH-64D Apache, AH-1Z
Cobra, Eurocopter Tiger, or the Mi-28 Havock in a quest for victory with two
ways to play. Start in the Instant Action Mode with fewer controls and
intense head-to-head action with enemy units for pure excitement. Start in
the Campaign Mode and watch the plot unravel with dramatic tension as the
player is placed in a combat environment for the ultimate in campaign
realism upon a lethal battlefield. Capturing the feel of the original game,
Gunship III will showcase more detail, realistic graphics, dynamic mission
generation, advanced artificial intelligence and multiplayer support.
Gunship III will also feature multiplayer support for the upcoming title M1
Tank Platoon III , which will allow the two games to be connected for truly
immersive battlefield play.

M1 Tank Platoon 2 Patch

In unrelated news, the same fan who built a Bosnia map for M1TP2 releases a game map of Kosovo.

M1 Tank Platoon 2 Patch Command

May 22, 1999
A MicroProse programmer appears on the Combatsim boards and talks about some of the features of Gunship 3 / M1TP3. Among the things mentioned are the: