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New Features in Development! READ!!
JonathJCen
Member UncommonPosts: 202
Hello all,
In light of the CON 2006, a squad member of mine, who's a Builder, was honored with a few hours discussion with the RATS at CRS HQ. The comments in >>> are his info in responce to the info of another player who posted the * remarks on the forums, who'd also spent a few hours chatting with CRS.
These changes are not "wouldn't it be cool if..." They are already well in their way on development.
NOTE: Just for clarity, TOE means tables of equipment, STO is server tracked objects, RPD is research production and developement.
* Significantly improved performance: This is a multi-stage process, the
first of which (IIRC) should be entering the game in 1.24. From what I was
told, and then from the demonstration of the work Jaegar is doing, this
ought to be a decent FPS jump for almost everyone. Until it goes live no one
will know for sure just how good it will be, but it looks like a fantastic
improvement.
>>>>>Jaeger demo'd the new Render routines of a few test shots for us. On a
off-line game screen where the current Render engine was getting ~9fps, the new
render engine was getting ~65 FPS! He had the game running with at the same FPS
as with the old render engine - but with almost 80 times more polygons - it was
amazing.
* Significantly improved graphics: Obviously this will come in over time,
but it is not only a goal, but seen as a requirement by the guys at CRS.
They want the game to look and run better. I believe that they will succeed.
>>>>>>Once they get the above render improvements in, they'll have FPS to play
with. Terrain is first, but they already demo'd a new PZ model - original had
4000 poly's on it, new on had over 20k poly's. Still wasn't animated or damaged
modeled - but DAMN! And remember. A lot of what we have already is a LOT more
detailed and textured - it's just cut down to save FPS.
* TOE's: This is coming soon, and when it does the entire game will change.
All of it. Gone will be the days when there is always another tank in the
next town back, death will matter and both kills and dying yourself will
take on a whole new significance. No longer will you fight to the last
rifleman and then fall back to a fresh supply, because when it's gone, it's
gone. This is the next step forward towards the game we have always wanted
and CRS is bringing it to us.
>>>>>Drools - a good attritive defense will now be rewarded They're also talking
about adding a Corp level as well. So instead of Division>Multiple Brigades you
will now have Corps>Division>Brigades so you will start having a real supply
train as well. Supply will be automatically moved up - but will likely be able
to be manually run up as well to build an attack force, or as a desperate
reinforcement. Cutting a Division of with TOE's will REALLY hurt the other side
now.
* UNITY II: this fits in with everything else and it is happening now. As I
understand it, this will not only make adding new gameplay features and
terrain easier, but will also improve performance.
>>>>> This is getting there - the FUBAR with the US publisher may delay this -
but not kill it. I'm more excited about TEII and the improved terrain - which is
MUCH closer to completion.
* RPD changes: If you couple the current RPD rules (strategic bombing
effecting supply), with TOE's, and the eventual adoption of a trickle supply
system, then true blitz warfare becomes a reality. Add to this the new STO's
and no longer will you be spawning only in camped AB's and warring
exclusively over flags. Instead the battle will be to seize strategic and
tactical objectives well beyond the limits of towns, and towns themselves
will become even less relevant. As each aspect enters the game the depth and
complexity of the battle will increase, and CRS is doing it. RPD is in,
STO's are in, TOE's are on their way. CRS has been busy coding what will be
one of the most significant advances in online combat history.
>>>>>Lotsa fun stuff here - but I don't want to get hopes up as some may be a
bit away. Had a good 1/2 hour with DOC at CRS HQ and he gave me a GREAT idea of
where they wan to go with this and where it is going - it's going to be great -
and might start giving strat bombers much more to do soon!
* STO's: Most of us haven't thought of all the cool things you can do with
this new technology. CRS has. Their goal is one or more per patch. We aren't
just talking bouncy grenades and wreckage remaining on the field, how about
bases that the PLAYERS place in game -- that sound pretty cool? CRS
apparently thought so too, since they were the ones that mentioned it.
>>>>>>The only limit to this technology is how fast CRS can code the new toys.
KFS1 tweaked the update procedure and managed to save a crapload of bandwidth to
use with this tech. You should also notice that with 1.24 all the problems with
people seeing buildings and bridges in different damages states will disappear.
It was this work that led him to cleaning up the update code enough to get STO's
to work solidly. Imagine ATG's with camo nets, commanders who can place sandbag
emplacements, AT mines, a field of dead tanks indicating a 88 kill zone, bombs
that work from any altitude and buildings that render from that altitude as
well. MOBILE FB's (instead of set place ones)
* Squads: CRS listed some specifics. They were all cool, but the best news
is that CRS clearly recognizes the importance of squads and wants to promote
them. I believe some squad love will be in 1.24.
>>>>>Best one here is going to be the ability to see from the top level of the
UI missions your squad has posted and the ability to join them right away.
* HC Tools: From the comments I heard CRS wants to make dramatic
improvements in this area. If I understand correctly, I believe the
objective is to allow them to do their jobs a whole lot easier. I did not
hear any specifics.
* Mission system changes: I am gonna gloss over this as well. In brief, CRS
is unsatisfied with the current system and they want to improve it. They
have a couple different ideas and I liked both. In expect that whichever
system they go with will be very cool and may also significantly help Squads
as well.
>>>>The best one here is the ability to alter the mission target to keep the
mission rolling in the field without having to despawn and respawn. They still
have some discussion on ways on making fewer missions necessary - but they're
close.
* Fast Action: New players have a hard time finding the fight. This is
something CRS intends to change.
>>>>> Smithers missed one BIG thing. At first it will be global and only be
visual, but you know how CRS starts small and then tweaks it up. WEATHER! Rain
has been sighted in WWIIOL beta. Gophur also indicated it is a relatively easy
thing to tweak to change friction coefficients on the various ground tiles to
work differently in different weather. The next step would be to localize it
more instead of global. I believe he said Rain was first, followed by snow. He
didn't want to promise a time yet as there are still s few kinks - but it is
ALIVE.
The one thing that impressed me the most was mentioned above - the new render
routines. SO much right now in game is sacrificed to keep poly's and textures
down to save on FPS, that the removal of this cap was causing the Rats to drool.
They were SO disappointed it didn't make 1.23 as they wanted to have it for the
CON - but the first stages of it should pop up in 1.24 and everyone should see
improvements - especially newer cards. 
Comments
Still no bailing out from my panzer tho...
And since there's no S-Boot yet....I guess my WW2OL vacation goes on heh
I just wish they could work faster...I feel the urge to drive my panzers again.
They'll probably add the bailing feature to airplanes prior to tanks, however they've stated that if/when they do this the pilot wouldn't be as good as a normal infintry. Probably only carrying a pistol with very little ammo. I'm going to presume that if they eventualy allow you to bail from a tank, that they will invoke the same concept.
It would be nice if they could go faster, but they only have a small team because the population of players is not more than perhaps a few thousand accounts. My best advise is that if you wish to see these features sooner, to stick with the game. The more money they can get, the more new staff members they can take in. On acation, friend's of the staff members contribute to their work by volunteer means but no one wants to do volunteer work forever.
the RATS are very dedicated workers, the handfull of them are constantly watching our suggestions and know a great deal about even the most minute issue that we bring to their attention that other company's devs would consider 'below them.' They share the same dream today as they did since day one, and they are working to improve their technolodgy, creating new programs as they need, to create the greatest wargame ever, as historically possible as they can make it (and no they do not overlook historical accurateness for the sake of game balance. German 20mm guns on airplanes are still, and always will be, weaker than the british 20mm. However the germans have cannons on all of their planes. Even though the allied side get cannons eventualy, the germans usualy have a much larger ammo count on their cannons).
*pardon my spelling, been up for a long while*
Top Ten Most Misused Words/Phrases in MMO Industry...
nice to hear, but they should fix the bugs first and the crazy lag
They'll probably add the bailing feature to airplanes prior to tanks, however they've stated that if/when they do this the pilot wouldn't be as good as a normal infintry. Probably only carrying a pistol with very little ammo. I'm going to presume that if they eventualy allow you to bail from a tank, that they will invoke the same concept.
It would be nice if they could go faster, but they only have a small team because the population of players is not more than perhaps a few thousand accounts. My best advise is that if you wish to see these features sooner, to stick with the game. The more money they can get, the more new staff members they can take in. On acation, friend's of the staff members contribute to their work by volunteer means but no one wants to do volunteer work forever.
the RATS are very dedicated workers, the handfull of them are constantly watching our suggestions and know a great deal about even the most minute issue that we bring to their attention that other company's devs would consider 'below them.' They share the same dream today as they did since day one, and they are working to improve their technolodgy, creating new programs as they need, to create the greatest wargame ever, as historically possible as they can make it (and no they do not overlook historical accurateness for the sake of game balance. German 20mm guns on airplanes are still, and always will be, weaker than the british 20mm. However the germans have cannons on all of their planes. Even though the allied side get cannons eventualy, the germans usualy have a much larger ammo count on their cannons).
*pardon my spelling, been up for a long while*
I know all that. I stuck with WW2OL for 3 years
I was a member of their closed beta team, general in the GHC and an officer of the 31'st Wrecking Crew.
And trust me, I've despawned more broken panzers that had 2-3 crewmembers alive than I want to think about. (weapon logs for teh win!) Altho...when the driver had his left leg carved off by shrapnell, I doubt I woulda bailed out with him
_________________________________
playing:
ww2online: Fader
EVE: Fader Bane
proud member of BKB http://www.bkbhq.com/
The only thing listed that I would have any interest in would be the performance boost.
HC's can go scratch.
Brigade spawning sucks.
TOE will suck.
So glad I'm not playing no more, although it does hurt not playing a game that I played since day-one.
I think I should start a petition for a classic server to go back to say about the 2001-2002 timeframe. That's when the game was fun, populated, and oh yeah fun.
And had flying tanks!
My best kill back then, was a Char B that thought he was hiding behind a hill, but in reality, he was flying 300m up in the air....We had so much fun shooting at that Char.....
And had holes in the ocean?
Back then, the 31'st WC tried the first ever invasion of England..Right after a server reset, we set sail on a 6hour+ trip to reach England. 13 Fairmilles, somewhere between 30-50 soldiers......2 boats reached Calais(Not England) and 4 troopers...the rest had LD'ed or sank in the ocean holes....Was the best boat trip I've ever done in a game tho....
1. Jaeger's new rendering routine sure looked good on the big screen, but as of a few weeks ago the Rats were saying that they were anticipating about a 2-5% improvement in framerates. It's one thing to show a nicely rendered scene ... quite another to generate those kinds of framerate improvements in a live game.
2. Unity II. Is that still alive? Heck, it's been worked on for at least 2 years, so with just a little luck we'll soon see a 2 year old graphics engine. Exciting, ain't it.
3. Rain has been sighted in beta? No it hasn't. Sorry to rain (or not rain) on your parade