WWII-Online getting a graphical upgrade.

[Malakili]

  I BELIEVE you can deploy equipment to a frontline, but any rear equipment gets lost if oversupped?  Malakili??  How does this work?

Yeah, thats more or less it.  Granted, running supply like that is kind of boring to be fair, and probably not something that is going to make new players real interested in playing more.  Something squads tend to do to move some supply around for particular ops that have in the works more than something that is consistently done at most towns/bases these days.

[Mrbloodworth]

materiel

You have ether played to much, or have served. 

[Ghambit]

  I BELIEVE you can deploy equipment to a frontline, but any rear equipment gets lost if oversupped?  Malakili??  How does this work?

Yeah, thats more or less it.  Granted, running supply like that is kind of boring to be fair, and probably not something that is going to make new players real interested in playing more.  Something squads tend to do to move some supply around for particular ops that have in the works more than something that is consistently done at most towns/bases these days.

If a rear-base gets emptied to oversupply a frontline base, can you resupply the rear base normally?  (just not oversup it?)
And I beg to differ about supply runs.  I had fond memories of running big iron (bombers, etc.) supply with quite a few characters (a lot of these guys are vets in real life as you know).  It's the one time when you can kinda relax, do some planning, shoot the shit, etc. and actually get something productive done - rather than just stand around.

Which is a note to everyone interested:  this is not the game you just pop in casually and shoot stuff and leave (you CAN, but you wont be that effective).  It's more like planning a big Raid in your typical Diku.

[Malakili]

Ugh, accidentally navigated away and lost what I had typed up. 

Long story short, if you are interested in finding out more about the nitty gritty before trying the game out, check out the wiki
http://wiki.wwiionline.com/index.php/Main_Page and of course feel free to ask questions here.

[Ghambit]

 

[Malakili]

hmm?

[Ghambit]

Forgot how grognard it was.

[Malakili]

Also, the map here: http://www.lagus.org/webmap/ is easily much better than the one on the battlegroundeurope.com website.   Shows recent activity, supply lines, where armies are located, and the like.

[Xuri]

So, yeah. Created a trial account and tried to get it running on my old laptop (pentium M 1.6 ghz, geforce go 6800, 2 gigs of ram). Doesn't even meet the system requirements, but at least the game booted.... ish.



I think I'll give it another whirl after my vacation when I've once again got access to my desktop gaming rig. :P

[Sheepherder]

So, yeah. Created a trial account and tried to get it running on my old laptop (pentium M 1.6 ghz, geforce go 6800, 2 gigs of ram). Doesn't even meet the system requirements, but at least the game booted.... ish.

 

[Xuri]

Windows OS: Windows XP/Vista /Windows 7
or
Macintosh OS: OSX 10.6/OSX 10.5
Processor: Pentium 4 3.2 GHz or Athlon 64 3500+ (2.2 GHz) or better with SSE 2.0 support
Memory: 2GB
Hard Drive: 3 GB Free
Sound: on-board or better
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce 8600 series or ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro or better* discreet GPU with * 256 MB VRAM and Shader Model 3.0*
Please install the latest drivers from your graphics card manufacturer!
Broadband Internet Connection
Integrated graphics hardware is not supported

Managed to actually get ingame, but alas, everything was too distorted and slow to actually do anything but (after some effort) completing the basic movement tutorial.

[Sheepherder]

I feel like I'm being trolled via wiki.

[Ghambit]

Is there any way to get a friend invite and apply it to an existing acct?  I'd really like to try the 1.31 patch live, but I'm not gonna pay $15 to do it. 
Starting a new acct. doesnt appeal to me, 'cause I'm relegated to crap equipment and I'd prefer not having to give out a bunch more billing info.

Why dont they have a "returning vets" promotion like they usually do?

[Malakili]

Is there any way to get a friend invite and apply it to an existing acct?  I'd really like to try the 1.31 patch live, but I'm not gonna pay $15 to do it. 
Starting a new acct. doesnt appeal to me, 'cause I'm relegated to crap equipment and I'd prefer not having to give out a bunch more billing info.

Why dont they have a "returning vets" promotion like they usually do?

I think they did last weekend(ish, I don't remember the exact date). 1.31 was live at that point, but it wasn't a normal campaign, they were running another event to test it on the live servers or something.

I'll see if there are any promotions I can do.

[Malakili]

Doesn't seem like there is something like what you are looking for Ghambit.

On the plus side, campaign 62 has gotten off to an absolutely fantastic start. There was an incredible battle last night at Dinant that went on for hours that was among the best battles I've seen in the game.  The terrain in that area can lead to some epic battles, and that was certainly one of them.

[Ghambit]

Well, I 'spose I could just fire up an alt account to try it out.
I remember back when I played that battles could last an entire evening and into the next morning... then one could stay on and fight the Euros and Aussies.  Places like Antwerp typically.

[Malakili]

Well, I 'spose I could just fire up an alt account to try it out.
I remember back when I played that battles could last an entire evening and into the next morning... then one could stay on and fight the Euros and Aussies.  Places like Antwerp typically.

Yeah, the big city fights can go on for days really, and if you consider the fact that the surrounding towns are really part of the same battle, it can get pretty epic around those major choke points.   I'd really suggest giving it a shot, even if on an alt account.  You'll be playing lots of rifleman, but frankly, I spawn as that the majority of the time anyway.

[Malakili]

Just wanted to throw a quick review together of patch 1.31 for anyone who cares (not that many people probably do, but humor me).

Gameplay: Basically the same as it ever was.  Still very much a sim, and a lot of the game is pretty cryptic/not transparent to beginners.  That being said, it is fairly easy to spawn in as a rifle man at a random town and have an idea about what to do.  The biggest change to gameplay in the patch 1.31 is the capture mechanics.  No more one person capping a table, instead the are more fluid like more modern games.  The speed at which you cap is determined by how many people are inside the objective.  Long story short, I'm seeing a lot more teams of infantry moving around cities and towns together because their combined capping power is significant, whereas before you really only needed one person to "ninja" an objective.  Now it takes a single person 8 minutes to capture if they are by themselves, so its not so viable a strategy anymore.  

Edit: ** I should add, for people that are still in the "Taxi to Victory" mentality about this game, it, while classic, doesn't really accurately represent getting into the game at all anymore. Sure, flying is very much like a flight sim, and therefore is quite tricky, but with nothing but a mouse and keyboard you can easily play infantry, armor, and navy, and be able to pick it all up pretty quickly by doing nothing more than looking over the keybindings.

Graphics: Definitely a nice upgrade, certainly not cutting edge, but given the fact that you've got bigger battles in this game than in any other I've seen save perhaps EVE (and probably including EVE occasionally), and that you've got a massive view distance, realistic sky, and a million other things going on, it all works pretty well.   New weather effects add some neat situations to the game, I've seen in rain twice so far, and it makes the fighting interesting, visibility is decreased, and the cloud cover makes it a little more difficult for air.  Compared to what it was, its a lot better, but that isn't saying much.  A fair amount of new models for buildings in the game, most noticeably for Army Bases/Bunkers, which now look and function a lot nicer.

Sound: Same sounds, exceptionally good as always.

Summary: The best PvP MMO I've played, is ...still...the best PvP MMO I've played.  Not the easiest to get into, but once you are into it, still provides some of the best gaming moments out there.  Tonight I was part of a few attacks and defenses, and had an absolute blast.  There really isn't anything like setting up an attack on a town with a huge column of armor, ATGs set up on a hill shelling the town, and infantry streaming in while air support buzzes overhead.  The sheer experience of it is fantastic, and still hasn't gotten old as far as I'm concerned.

I'll be happy to answer any questions if anyone has any.

[Ghambit]

I had played quite a bit before I had to come up north to work.  Havent been online for a week or so and I gotta say I miss it. 
The main difference to me from 2005 was that it seems like more units are visible at a time and the game runs smoother.  In the old days, typically you'd be cutoff from seeing the air quake from the ground...  but now, you can see pretty much every plane in the sky, unless weather says otherwise.  Whether this is because there's no more 100 unit graphical cap or that there's just not as many players... I'm not sure of.

Tbh though, battles nowadays arent as populated as the old days.  And in this regard, things feel a lot more casual.  Indeed, the learning curve in the old game was even worse - BUT, the sim feel was greater.  Today's version of the game is definitely more fat-trimmed and casually oriented.  The squads are also less regimental and less VOIP dependent it seems.

It's definitely a different game.  Less epic, but less clunky and ugly.  The new capture mechanics along with the AO and supply changes from the last huge patch were all really designed to consolidate the playerbase, which was a smart move.  It'd be interesting to see what'd happen if we had population numbers from 5+ years ago, which is why everyone wants a new game using the same premise. 

[Malakili]

I had played quite a bit before I had to come up north to work.  Havent been online for a week or so and I gotta say I miss it. 
The main difference to me from 2005 was that it seems like more units are visible at a time and the game runs smoother.  In the old days, typically you'd be cutoff from seeing the air quake from the ground...  but now, you can see pretty much every plane in the sky, unless weather says otherwise.  Whether this is because there's no more 100 unit graphical cap or that there's just not as many players... I'm not sure of.

Tbh though, battles nowadays arent as populated as the old days.  And in this regard, things feel a lot more casual.  Indeed, the learning curve in the old game was even worse - BUT, the sim feel was greater.  Today's version of the game is definitely more fat-trimmed and casually oriented.  The squads are also less regimental and less VOIP dependent it seems.

It's definitely a different game.  Less epic, but less clunky and ugly.  The new capture mechanics along with the AO and supply changes from the last huge patch were all really designed to consolidate the playerbase, which was a smart move.  It'd be interesting to see what'd happen if we had population numbers from 5+ years ago, which is why everyone wants a new game using the same premise. 

Yeah, I really wasn't sure how long it has been since you played, so now its clear to me that a lot of the changes that came a good ways prior to the big 1.31 patch are new to you as well.   So, if you haven't played since release or in a bunch of years, yeah, 1.31 is a different game in a major way (still more a sim than much else on the market, but certainly not Taxi to Victory).  But it isn't a huge change from 1.30.   The changes they made to make the game work with a smaller pop had the side effect of making it more accessible because its more obvious whats going, even if you aren't "in" on the planning and so forth. 

[WayAbvPar]

Do they have more robust stat-tracking now? In the olden days when I played there was some 3rd party thing hacked together, but it was really a pain in the ass to use.

[Malakili]

Do they have more robust stat-tracking now? In the olden days when I played there was some 3rd party thing hacked together, but it was really a pain in the ass to use.

http://csr.wwiionline.com/scripts/services/index.jsp

[WayAbvPar]

Ah that is much better. Even has some of my stats from the olden days. I though my K/D ratio was better, but oh well. I played almost exclusively infantry, so I got mowed down my armor A LOT. I might have to check things out next time they have a free veteran weekend or some such.

[Dark_MadMax]

I  always wanted to try  ,  but never happened , trial requires credit card  # - so screw it . I also checked online stats - there is like 5-10 players playing it . meeeeehhhh.


They need to go F2p and start doing microtransactions. With no players in it I dont see it being attractive. The conquest map combined with combined arms gameplay seems like kick ass idea though. I would definitely plays something like this provided it had  players .heck I dont even care about graphics if it has massive battles (100 -200)

[Malakili]

I  always wanted to try  ,  but never happened , trial requires credit card  # - so screw it . I also checked online stats - there is like 5-10 players playing it . meeeeehhhh.


They need to go F2p and start doing microtransactions. With no players in it I dont see it being attractive. The conquest map combined with combined arms gameplay seems like kick ass idea though. I would definitely plays something like this provided it had  players .heck I dont even care about graphics if it has massive battles (100 -200)

It does have massive battles, though if you aren't in Europe or the US, then your prime time might not have battles that big.   The worst thing this game could do is go F2P with microtransactions, what would they sell?  There is no gear or items.   Sorry if you aren't willing to try it because the trial requires a credit card, your loss if you are serious about wanting a game like this.

[Nebu]

If they could better limit the supply of tanks and planes, I'd be all over this game.  Has any kind of attrition mechanism been added such that you can run out of tanks/planes in an area for some set period of time?  I love to play infantry and want dedicated infantry battles (a la real time squad leader).  If this game could give me that, I'd be all over it. 

[Ghambit]

There IS fun to be had during off-peak hours, especially if you take the plunge into command.  You can run supply, do strat. bombing, naval bombardments, training, planning, blow FBs, and if you're really slick and organized setup an AO and sneak cap a small town with a well organized squad.  Even if you dont have command authority, if you at least get to know the officers often you can get them to lay an order for you even if they're not online.  (e.g. commanders dont get much sleep)

It's not a cut and dry on/off peak type of game.  Things DO happen during the quiet times, just like in real war.

If they could better limit the supply of tanks and planes, I'd be all over this game.  Has any kind of attrition mechanism been added such that you can run out of tanks/planes in an area for some set period of time?  I love to play infantry and want dedicated infantry battles (a la real time squad leader).  If this game could give me that, I'd be all over it. 

Indeed, the whole game is really a battle of attrition.  Whoever attrits the other side the best and is the most patient, wins.  Example, I was in a large battle over large town near an airfield.  In order to take it we had to attrit them of planes or "game over."  We positioned DOZENS of AAA and ATG in the high hills and snuck some armor close in on their airfield. It took a while, but eventually they ran out of supply and we could move in our main armor columns and inf.  The key here is using low cost equipemnt to take out high cost stuff... like ATRs for tanks, or AAA for planes, etc.  OR, simply having a positive K/D

[Dark_MadMax]

It does have massive battles, though if you aren't in Europe or the US, then your prime time might not have battles that big.   The worst thing this game could do is go F2P with microtransactions, what would they sell?  There is no gear or items.   Sorry if you aren't willing to try it because the trial requires a credit card, your loss if you are serious about wanting a game like this.

Microtransaction could be easily added. Like award resources, new guns ,planes , perks etc- check any other microtransaction based shooter to get ideas.

Credit card for trial is a turn off , but the biggest one was the battle stats.  - It seems like there are a dozen people playing it at any one time l! - if its less than 64 people online in same battle -no thanks, that is deserted dead for my taste.  I already have BC2 and only thing it lacks is persistence and scale.

[Mrbloodworth]

The only things that have ever really turned me off of this game is the shooting style, the fact that you are your tank (Ilove plantisdes getting in and out of things system) and the fact that 4 pixels killed me. ( green on green + distance means that sniper is 4 pixels in your view).

[Malakili]

The only things that have ever really turned me off of this game is the shooting style, the fact that you are your tank (Ilove plantisdes getting in and out of things system) and the fact that 4 pixels killed me. ( green on green + distance means that sniper is 4 pixels in your view).

Yeah, the gameplay is definitely not for everyone, planetside its not.  Very slow and deliberate, and the majority of your deaths will come from something you never saw.  The way to get around that is by sharing information with people in your mission/target and doing your best to stay hidden, use smoke when running across open areas, or getting enemy positions suppressed with machine gun / HE fire.

It does have massive battles, though if you aren't in Europe or the US, then your prime time might not have battles that big.   The worst thing this game could do is go F2P with microtransactions, what would they sell?  There is no gear or items.   Sorry if you aren't willing to try it because the trial requires a credit card, your loss if you are serious about wanting a game like this.

Microtransaction could be easily added. Like award resources, new guns ,planes , perks etc- check any other microtransaction based shooter to get ideas.

Credit card for trial is a turn off , but the biggest one was the battle stats.  - It seems like there are a dozen people playing it at any one time l! - if its less than 64 people online in same battle -no thanks, that is deserted dead for my taste.  I already have BC2 and only thing it lacks is persistence and scale.

I have no idea what you are talking about with a dozen people playing at once, I was on earlier during Australian prime time (the least populated time of the day by far) and the battle I spawned into was easily at least 64 people, and not to mention the server has been up and down today for maintenance.  Wherever you are getting your stats is just plain wrong.

 Basically your microtransactions idea would totally demolish the existing playerbase who would be outraged at the change, and most new players wouldn't stick with the game past a day or two because of the steep learning curve.  Brilliant ideas all around.

[Ghambit]

The only things that have ever really turned me off of this game is the shooting style, the fact that you are your tank (Ilove plantisdes getting in and out of things system) and the fact that 4 pixels killed me. ( green on green + distance means that sniper is 4 pixels in your view).

You can switch positions in your tank as well as your plane.  If you're inf. you can also hitch a ride and get on and off.  If you're driving an MSP, you can lay it down and simply get out.
So, it's KINDA like PS but usually only when you're hitching a ride or are providing a mobile spawn.

As for "pixel deaths,"  the best infantry players all use a magnifying glass and variable freq. mice.

[Mrbloodworth]

Do you get the binoculars on creation now?

Anyway, my complaint is mostly that I may be to accustomed to indicators, and level and player styling that is not intended to make you simply blend in (with exception of very overt mechanics, like, cloaking).

I can't pick out a 4 pixel blob player from the rest of the background, so hitting it, or even knowing that thats not a tuff of grass before being sniped is kind of a problem for me.

Its me, not you (WWIIO) :)

As far as vehicles, they really need to add getting in and out animations. I don't like games where you just spawn as "X". Personal preference. I do recall sitting on tanks and such, but then came the 4 pixels.   Then a VOIP from me: "Uh, what just happened?"


Maybe thats not an issue anymore with the graphics update.

[Malakili]

Do you get the binoculars on creation now?

Anyway, my complaint is mostly that I may be to accustomed to indicators, and level and player styling that is not intended to make you simply blend in (with exception of very overt mechanics, like, cloaking).

I can't pick out a 4 pixel blob player from the rest of the background, so hitting it, or even knowing that thats not a tuff of grass before being sniped is kind of a problem for me.

Its me, not you (WWIIO) :)

As far as vehicles, they really need to add getting in and out animations. I don't like games where you just spawn as "X". Personal preference. I do recall sitting on tanks and such, but then came the 4 pixels.   Then a VOIP from me: "Uh, what just happened?"


Maybe thats not an issue anymore with the graphics update.

The way supply works it would be pretty difficult to deal with getting in and out of vehicles/using them. For instance, you spawn as a tank and that starts the tank building ticker.  If you get out of that tank, whats the status?  The tank is still on the field, but now are you a rifleman? Does that get subtracted from supply?  Its also somewhat unrealistic that a tank crew would just hope out of a tank guns blazing.  There are, of course, transports for moving infantry (trucks, planes and boats), but thats not really what you are talking about of course, you're talking about the driver being able to get out.

You do get binoculars right away now as far as I know, it used to be rank 3 or so. 

As for blending in, you learn to look for movement and muzzle flashes.  Its not so much that you see a german in that bush, you just see something move and shoot into it.   If it isn't for you, it isn't for you, no problem there, just trying to explain to you how I go about spotting enemies.

[Mrbloodworth]

The way supply works it would be pretty difficult to deal with getting in and out of vehicles/using them. For instance, you spawn as a tank and that starts the tank building ticker.  If you get out of that tank, whats the status?  The tank is still on the field, but now are you a rifleman? Does that get subtracted from supply? 

Everyone should already be a rifleman. If a tank gets pulled from the depo, its taken from the depo.

As far as the rest, tanks should be pulled from depo and climbed into. Not spawned in as. Thats all I am saying. I am not talking about jumping out instantly out of a tank. Planetside did a great job of animating getting in and out of a vehicle in a somewhat believable way.

I also do not like games where you "pop" in and out of things.

[Malakili]

The way supply works it would be pretty difficult to deal with getting in and out of vehicles/using them. For instance, you spawn as a tank and that starts the tank building ticker.  If you get out of that tank, whats the status?  The tank is still on the field, but now are you a rifleman? Does that get subtracted from supply? 

Everyone should already be a rifleman. If a tank gets pulled from the depo, its taken from the depo.

As far as the rest, tanks should be pulled from depo and climbed into. Not spawned in as. Thats all I am saying. I am not talking about jumping out instantly out of a tank. Planetside did a great job of animating getting in and out of a vehicle in a somewhat believable way.

I also do not like games where you "pop" in and out of things.

I didn't mean the animatons would look odd, though yes, that would also be no good.    What I meant was it doesn't make sense that any random rifleman knows how to drive a tank, or shoot its guns properly, etc.  As it stands, when you spawn into a tank (or other vehicle) it has its entire crew inside (each of which can be independently killed), while you can switch to any member of the crew using the F keys (or have your friends join your vehicle and you can each man part of it), so when you are spawning a tank you aren't just spawning the piece of armor, you are in effect spawning and controlling the entire crew.

Now, I realize that modern FPS games, even the ones that tout "realism" don't generally take into account that kind of thing and it can feel a bit dated to have the game function the way it does.  But it has an sort of consistent internal logic that works.  Also, yeah no amount of explaining the reasoning is going to change your mind if you just plain don't like the mechanics.