Sub Battle Simulator wasn’t a hugely popular game from the great Epyx, but it still managed to generate the idea of a sequel in the way of Tank Battle Simulator.
Unfortunatly I don’t know too much of the game, but I guess it would have basically had the same idea of Sub, but in a Tank :)
The only thing we have seen is that old advert stuck in the game, other than that… there has been nothing of the game :(
Andreas Wallström very kindly asked Matt Householder about the title, as he worked on Sub Battle Simulator. Matt believes that the game was “Fantasy of Epyx management”, and that it likely never got beyond a title screen.
Matt had left Epyx by that point though, so its possible a development contract may have been signed by Digital Illusions.
Andreas then asked Gordon Walton about the title, and he confirmed that the game was in development, but was cancelled when Epyx went bankrupt. Later on though, the game was re-invented and came out just for the PC (no C64 version planned) in the shape of Sands of Fire . The very same team did the C64 edition, so credits are now updated!
Can something of the C64 edition now be found?
Contributions: Martin / Stadium 64. Andreas Wallström, Matt Householder
Was Tank Battle Simulator planning to be made by Epyx and published by Accolade?
Nope, likely released by Epyx in the US, then US Gold in the UK.
Based on the game’s description, Accolade indeed released a tank game under the title “Steel Thunder”
http://www.mobygames.com/game/steel-thunder
Is it the same game with name changed you are talking about or a different game?
Could be!… I think it will be a case of finding the authors and getting them to confirm.