WWII Online v1.6.

[Widowmaker]

The 1.6 is almost a new game, especialy for infantry play. It is still the same game and definitely not for everyone but I love the new version and have been playing extensively on the 1.6 test server. The new inf model is much more fluid than before and recoil makes the rifle the weapon of choice but close up the SMG is still king if you can control the recoil, that Thomson recoils like a son of a... female dog. Plus it now has an ammo counter for infantry.

They will be offering some kind of free trial so if you hated the game before you might give the 1.6 a try. You may still hate the game but if you can try it for free give it a go.

Here is the announcement:

Greetings all,
1.6 is complete and has achieved many of the goals we set down for this development cycle. It should be made available on the main public server tomorrow.

A completely new user interface and first person shooter system are the big highlights. The game interface has a new feel, feature set and ease of use; as well there is a completely new level of immersion on the battlefield. With new lighting and a moon at night, battles can be waged all through the game hours with much more effective and exciting results at night. New vehicles have been added to round out the set for this timeline like the He111 German Heavy bomber, MLE38 French anti-aircraft gun, Laffly French transport, and the PzKpfw IV German Medium tank.

The long development cycle of 1.6 also gave us the opportunity to revisit a lot of our data files and we found and corrected some discrepancies. All the weapon and damage values were reviewed for errors or miscalculations. We found a few, and used exhaustive research to triple check all of our figures. Soon we'll be publishing more information on this data. We think 1.6 delivers the most accurate weapon and damage systems attempted in an online simulation.

While we continue to work on performance issues like frame rates and load times we are now setting down the plans for the next release which will probably include more enhancements to the RPG layer, as well as gameplay changes within the strategic layer to help migrate supply and spawn limits into one system. We are defining development goals now and will have more detail in the weeks to come.

With the release of 1.6 for Windows we have entered the last dev cycle for the Macintosh client and have a publishing arrangement in place, which should see the Mac version on the shelves this year. A public preview of the Macintosh client will run prior to it's release. Watch for more details soon.

We also brought a long-awaited public test method into use with the development of 1.6. Thanks go out to all the players for who helped test, track and report bugs, and helped load and debug the host processes. We will be using this system again in the future, and without a doubt it helped produce a better product. Again, a big thanks goes out to all who helped.

In the coming days we'll be announcing new program to attract more players including a free trial offer and a re-evaluation program for former players. These along with the Recruitment Rewards and Prepay Subscription programs and the previously mentioned Mac preview are designed to do whatever we can to bring more players to the virtual battlefield- but we need your help. Help us kick start the Recruitment Rewards program by telling your friends about v1.6 and the free trial (watch for details).

Tomorrow's release marks the one year anniversary of WWIIOL going live. It's no secret that the launch of 1.0 last June was more than bloody but we made it off the beach and silenced the guns. We are now proud to see our customer base enjoying a stable environment with vastly improved performance and features (and fun!). We all wish the game could have been what it is now, but it was not to be. The fact that WWIIOL subscriptions are growing still is claim to a great idea being able to overcome horrible adversity. We have you to thank. Get out there and enjoy v1.6 while we go back to work making the game you play even better.

[[AK]Hylander]

I'm still a subscriber, but have probably only played an hour since they totally flubbed up the armor numbers for the British. I'm primarily an armor player so itl ruined the game for me having nothing but A13s to run around in. I ran into some pollen dust in the air while in an A13 and my whole crew got whiped out.

I love the Matilda, but it's extremely hard to get one with the way the numbers are currently. I've been waiting for 1.6 to see if a better infantry model combined with Allied AA guns will now help bring the number of people looking for the Matilda and armor in general down and make it easier to get.

If not, I'll be cancelling my subscription before my next renewal date.

[Widowmaker]

Yeah, I read your posts about it on the 3rtr board. I do understand totaly, that is one of the reasons I hesitate to recomend the game to everyone since not everyone will like it. I, personaly, have no problem with the spawn limits at all. The Matty and the Char were behemoths and seeing 5-10 of them spawn somewhere was a bit much for the very lightly armored PZ's to combat.

Luckly for me I did not get into the games for the tanks. I enjoy many parts of it and the tanks are just one part. I often enjoy the infantry aspect the most and that is VERY VERY GREATLY IMENSELY IMPROVED with 1.6 so I am happy. I do like all the units realy so it is no big deal to me. I do see your point for sure though. If I loved the heavy tanks like you do and they were this limited I would not be happy either.

Oh, and I am also not one who is a big history buff or anything. I remember when I was a kid one of my best friends was and we would do all the army play and all that. I never had a "love affair" for WWII, just a passing interest and I thought the planes were cool. That is why I have no intrest in the historical accuracy, I think it is neat they are trying for some level of historicaly acurate modeling but could care less if they maintain a "true" timeline.

[[AK]Hylander]

What bothers me is they are worried about "historical numbers". Well guess what? You do not and never will accomplish historical ratio in numbers in terms of troops so why are they so concerned about it with armor? Granted.. an army of Matilda's is going to whipe through the German Defense... but 1 tank per AB is pretty weak. At least have 1 in general population and 1 for missions instead of allowing 15 A13s.

I downloaded and installed the patch last night and tested it just to make sure it all worked, but I haven't tested the game part yet. I wasn't into the infantry model as it seemed like you were moving in slow motion and the graphics were about 5 generations ago. <G> Hopefully, as everyone keeps saying, that is greatly improved.

[[AK]Leonidas]

Thanks for the update. I've been thinking about getting this one. I love WWII, but the initial press was so negative. Is there any serious coordination between the inf, armor and air?

[[AK]Hylander]

Leo,

It really depends on your squad (Highly recommended). Our squad has a few "squad" nights where as many as possible try to get together once or twice a week for particular missions. But any given night you will find at least a few working together regardless.

My squad is located here: http://rtr3.wwiionline.org/

They still have alot of work to do with this game, but it is getting a little bit better with every release. As I've said, I'm really into the armor... but I'm going to give flying a chance as well once I make Major in the Army (I'm at 96% progress to be Major as I'm a Captain right now).

[Widowmaker]

3rtr is a good squad, too bad I have been missing squad nights but I have been becoming slightly... involved with a female of late

[[AK]Hylander]

Widowmaker,

1) You only need to be involved with a woman about an hour a night.
2) Priorities man!
3) What name are you using in WWIIO?
4) There is a 'squad' for WWIIO "widows" - wives who've lost their husbands to WWIIO

[Widowmaker]

You have NO IDEA how long it has been since I have had a woman show interest in me

The name I use is Reynark.

[[AK]Hylander]

I've been with the same woman for 7 years, 5 of them married. I know the feeling!

ROFLMAO