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CRS
Official Chat Event - 2/03/00
This is a log of the second
official World War Two Online chat event that took place February 3rd,
2000. Chris "Mo" Sherland and Mark "Snail" Pribe were
the guest speakers, with Al "Rafter" Corey as the chat moderator.
On schedule? for
closed beta?
Yup, 1st quarter gives us till the end of March :) We should be letting
folks in "soon"
Any idea as of yet
on app. how much the monthly fee will be?
Fee is not decided yet. *Probably* a monthly fee, though. It won't be
as expensive as..um...brand x used ta be..grin
How many people
are expected to be able to play at once in a multiplayer game?
1000 per theatre...and 10 theatres planned so far. That *can* grow as
time moves on.
Can we recover damaged vehicles..tow ships..drive trucks.e.carry
wonunded off field?
Not yet. We want to have these functions but honestly they will have to
wait for the first round of theaters and vehicles to go. It's on a "list"
but it's low priority.
what percentage
of the first theater is done by now?
We're still working on building tools, so the 1st theatre isn't done yet.
We have test versions we're using to play with stuff.
How did you guys
get into game programming. Can you recommend good methods of learning
it?
Well, take some classes and get a degree. Same with art..unfortunately
NOone will teach you production...it's a black art :)
Is Snail really only a small mullusck that only the French can
consume?
"small" and me
don't particularly come right to mind...but I have been consumed by French...people.
Will different vehicles
have different distance icons?
Yep. A soldier won't be as easy to see as a battleship. Icons in detail
I won't go into yet tho
what will be the first set of planes released?
This is on the website. Blitz 1940 will "include": Spit I Hurry
I 109E3 StukaD He111 Ms406 Curtiss Hawk 75 Ju52 Bf110 others...
How are you planing to balance out units such as a Tank against
infantry?
Definitely! Things like a tank in among buildings or trees is just ASKING
to be holed by some enterprising foot soldier.
if one's soldier gets killed , does one respawn in a city with
the same character, or will you have to make a new soldier or career?
Your "career" will not end, just your scoring streak. You won't
lose rank or standing. Your re-spawn will have a game "timeout"
but you'll be able to start again from your BASE OF ORIGIN
ground/water textures: will we actually see rolling waves? In
case of rain/snow on ground will we see the changes to the textures and
effects of mud as well?
Rolling waves is something I personally don't wanna see (I get soo seasick)
but it looks like we'll try 'em anyway. Snow and mud will be present as
appropriate to the season - mud and snow will be slippery..yes.
Hows the Hawk 75 Comming?
It's not done. I have a sketch of a flight model in right now, but I'm
waiting until it get's a 3D shape. It's a lot more efficient to do it
that way. It'll be in the closed beta :) 4 gun version more than likely.
Are there going to be lots of buildings though? How could you
possibly model something like Paris. Hundreds of generic buildings or
what?
Well, it'll be a tad abstracted.
We won't model every building (we can't as you note). The idea is to make
things interesting and filled out enough to be fun without chundering
everyone's box into the sub-one framerate range
Will the war start with all counties having access to infinite
supplies? ie France having Spit bases everywhere
NO!!! There will be definite limits to where couties can spawn weapons.
Spits for example will be limited to England right off the bat...but commanders
can move those base ops...but if all the Spit bases in France are destroyed
the Spits will be pushed back to Britain.
Who does one or there division get into closed beta testing?
I assume you mean squads or clans...once we get support for those working,
you start it and have others sign on with you. It'll be as automatic as
we can make it
Are horses going to excist?
Eventualy. We can't really do horses right now without making some serious
sacrifices. It's a whole new technology that we'll just have to wait for.
But after we have gone a whole round (1940-1945) we'll get horses in for
the next go around :) GET YOUR CARROTS READY!!
How many units will be able to appear on-screen at once? Since
infantry is truely 3d modeled instead of sprite driven stick figures,
wil lthere be a limit on how many soldiers, or panzers that will be able
to appear on-screen w/o slowdown?
We'll get fairly agressive on level of details...the closer you are to
something, the more detail you get...the further away...less. Plus, we
have FT...THE BEST 3d modeler in the industry when it comes to frame rate
efficiency..imho
any ground/air signals? flares, signal light etc?
Flares, lights, fires...runway lights at night...etc etc. Yes. I'd LOVE
to see beams from searchlights too...among other things..but that one
aint clear yet
Many games like AH and WB have not done night combat because they
all said no one would like it, and it wasnt playable. What are you doing
to make the night combat playable?
We'll make it dark :) We plan on having multiple night phases during a
single day so that players from all over the world will be able to get
some night ops in if it's what they want.
what's the deal with the 32 plane limit? Will WWIIOL kill that
sucker dead?
64 is our target right now. We'll try to move that up. Eventually, we'll
move into those extremely agressive LOD (level of detail) areas that let
us get it LOTS higher than that.
if night ops..that pretty much rules out the Icon ala Warbirds
etc..?
Icons won't be like those big neon signs at night, no. But I can't tell
you exactly what it'll look like yet. (we're still arguing about it here...grin)
Is the Mac version on track for release w/ the PC version??
Yep. God willing it'll stay that way.
Aircraft damage... will we have engine fires? reduced structural
integreity due to hits?
We are doing this now...and it's great. There will be multiple levels
of damage for EVERY SINGLE component on every vehicle. So you may end
up with bad fire damage on the wing behind engine #2 on a -17, but the
rest of the wing is ok...and the H stab has a gaping hole in it :) Oh,
yeah....the co-pilot is splattered on the winshield too :) The damage
model is under bigtime wraps, but we are going to be publishing some cool
stuff soon....I can only say that we are going mad on this system and
it will rock.
Will there be any type of recon aircraft?
Yes! grin. And there will be things for them to do, too!
won't these huge maps bring choppy gameplay?
Nope. We have systems that dynamicaly reduce terrain detail with distance
and with altitude. I can't go too deep, but our detail reduction has to
be top notch or this game won't work at all. We are giving a lot of attention
to this. Our goal is to get good FRs for all modes. You'll never be displaying
the whole terrain, so the viz range of your vehicle will help define the
detail you will display.
Will 56kers be chosen for the beta? The DL time would be somewhat
long, no?
We'll try to get 28k'ers in. The download shouldn't be tooo horrible.
It's a trade-off...but we'll be reasonable. We have to log on from home
too...grin. (and my isp blows)
WIll planes be set according to the virtual wind tunnel tests
mentioned and stay that way or are ya gunna keep tweakin em? Please don't
tweak.
Tweaking is for fools. My plan is to get it as close as I can and publish
that info. From there, if I get it closer I'll change it, but I want all
players to have confidence in knowing what performance curves to expect
from an enemy vehicle. I will not pull that rug from under the players....I
simply refuse.
Will off-line "practice" be available for all levels
of players? Infantry, Pilots, Ships, etc?
Yup
Maybe i should refrase my question. What options would comandos
have? And would frog men be supported?
I don't think we'll see frogmen in the 1st go-rounds. Commandos will have
access to things that regular infantry won't...but they're really just
light troops if you think about it.
Will there be things like anti-tank ditches, mines, antitank rockets
like the panzerfuast
Ditches are tough. We are trying to get a technology that works in this
environ ment, but we can't be sure just yet. AT stuff will be in there
for sure!! YEEHAAA.....I want to cack a Sherman with a hand held heat
round!!! WOOOHOOO
What will prevent the leaking of information from one side to
another, seeing how you are not restricting players to stay on one side?
Well, the Commanders on each side (down to a certain level which we'll
tune in beta) will be restricted to one side. Those guys will have to
practice their own security. Ike didn't run about telling every grunt
about the invasion beforehand...grin. Also, we'll be monitoring those
folks to keep everyone honest.
Will head to head be available for one on one?
Not sure yet. The design is for MM at this point. We have no H2H plans....but
we are confident that we could add that. After all our initial test was
an H2H module :)
do you feel that the complexity of the sim will require a cadre
of traininers?
Hell yes...grin. You're volunteering, eh?
have you guys played the game yet? if so, how is it? does it still
need loads of work?
We haven't really "played" it yet so much as tested things.
It's not at a state where it can be played yet...so yes...it still needs
alot of work. We're getting systems and the underlying structure in place
now.
How does the artillery work
There are a few different modes. One is "calling" AI manned
stuff. The next is towing out a mobile piece yourself, and the last is
"calling" for a player who has towed out a piece. They haven't
been completed yet, but if you've ever played IEN's DOA...we did that
system. It's a blast.
Can we have Rafter's haircut on the grunts?
Concievably, yes. But there's sure to be something in the Geneva Conventions
about it.
What incentive is
there for, say, a lone pilot to wing up with a squad vs. fly about the
contryside looking for unprotected targets?
The incentive is mission completion for rank points. Beyond that players
can choose any level of gameplay they wish...roaming...patroling...whatever.
The real rewards are different from player to player. We want to allow
for all types of players.
Can you give us a status update as to how things are progressing?
Is everything on-schedule?
Things are progressing at least as well as Mr. Pessimism (me) could hope
for. If we don't make our beta milestones, I get to drag Mo down hw121
with my car...so there's an incentive program in place.
If you are playing
a grunt will you be able to pick up weapons, equipment, and ammo of the
dead enemy
We've talked about it...grin. There are "asshole-proofing" questions
there that need to be worked out.
can you elaborate on 3D sounds that you touched on last chat session.
Specifically about dopplar and time delay, etc.
Well, doppler is in as is time delay. Not much detail except for the fact
that it'll be a new experience...what we want is immersion. Total immersion
with audio and video. There will be environmental sound, and dynamic combat
audio...it's gonna rock!!
what about internet disconnects during a mission? Will there be
some kind of allowance for this but one that still discredits folks from
deliberately dumping to avoid being killed?
If you get dumped, it'll be as if you exited the game at that point by
any other means. We can't detect "motive" there. If you're an
Allied pilot flying above Germany, it'll be the same as if you jumped
out of the plane. If on the ground, then your there for a short time (and
can be shot) then you'll timeout and disappear. That'd be scored as a
capture on you.
At what rank does one obtain the authority to issue mission orders?
There are "levels" of of mission posting...it's like "batchelor
laundry" there are many many levels :) Think history and you'll get
an idea. If your a general, you'll be getting overview to your officers...if
your an officer you'll have to take that info and plan/post missions.
Basic missions will be authorable pretty early on.
Is there a limited or low end system that you want to see in the
Beta?
a p2 266 with a 2nd generation card is what we're shooting for. Mo and
I were just worrying this point today...grin. Our recommended machine
at the end of things will be something that you can *play* the game with...not
just run it.
Will you be able to give a vehicle over to another player when
you log to keep the drive going?
Yep. Crew can switch positions.
Will hand signals be modelled, and if so approximately how many?
We are just now getting to the list of "things an FPS guy can do"
to get to the animation library standard. I expect that at first we'll
get tha basic combat stuff in...shooting, crawling, running etc...after
we have another dev cycle on the troops we'll get more detailed.
Will there be tools available to commanders to relieve junior
officers who disobey or do not cooperate and jeapordise plans?
Well not juniors. But the big guys will have to answer for their sins
:)
What do you think about Search and resuce? ie. A pilot survives
a ditch and is rescued he would not be penalized in his career as if he
would have died.
And he won't be here. If you convince someone to come get you, you'll
be penalized for losing the equipment, but not as bad as if you'd gone
and wasted those taxpayer bucks used to train you..grin.
how will 'non-scoring' missions like CAP patrols be factored into
the achievement system, when they have no 'score'?
There is a way grasshopper :)
should i be alert every single one of theses days for the closec
beta testing to start , or can i wait a while, say i month or so?
We'll give folks a head's-up when it's coming. The next milestone is a
closed beta. Open beta won't be for awhile yet.
how long would it take to become a general or another high rank?
About as long as it takes to pay off your truck :) We want it
to take a while, the beta will show us a lot and we plan to throttle that
kind of stuff after we see how gameplay goes. From the bottom to the top
should be a long haul of playing well and as a team member. We want the
guys at the top to be serious.
Can terrain catch fire from arty or tank rounds?
Hmm. Well, I dunno. We can crater it....but starting a forest fire isn't
something we've really considered.
How will Flak and AA be implemented? Is it mainly AI operated
defense, or can it be towed using something like the Opel Blitz and manned
by a few infantrymen to guard a column on the run?
Both AI and player controlled. Think this way: Defensive AA and AAA will
usualy be AI, where more offensive stuff will have to be "spawned"
and towed out to battle by players...like "fixed=AI" and "mobile=player"
I'd love to know more about what you will utilise for icons to
differentiate between friend and foe, air and ground.... ????
Icons are still being argued here. There will be icons, they'll tell you
the difference (if you could logically know the difference), but exactly
what they'll be...I'll tell ya later.
Did my crate of sheep arrive? ( Hoping to bribe my way into the
closed beta.)
The crate was opened when it got here. I suspect Rafter got to the UPS
guy in the parking lot.
Will there be some sort of tools that notify me of important events?
This is most obvious in the Naval arm of service, as players will have
to be aware of attacks on their ship and be able to respond.
Yes. We are looking to get capships to "call" for help if they
are unmanned :) There will be a very cool web tool that I can't get into
right now...sorry sixxo!!
will each country have differnt looks to their soldiers?
Yep!
Russians gunna have all them lend lease varieties in their forces?
OH YEAH - From hurrys to PT boats :)
Will it be possible to take cover in grass, or will grass not
be modelled?
Grass? We are a drug free company...modeling grass will slow the dev cycle
by years!!
what are the French gonna be armed with... assuming they survive
the BoF?
French stuff....grin. Unless they're operating from say...a British base,
in which case they'll have to use British stuff.
CBI was said to be next theatre. Will that start on 12 Dec 41,
or earlier in Sino/Japanese war?
Jan '41ish would be the start date for that theatre
I hope different guns will sound like thier real life counterpart?
That could be a definate boon to the foot soldiers advancing on enemy
positions...
They will...my big concern is keeping the DL size reasonable !! Corn is
an animal :) The weapons will have very distinct sounds, and they will
be either actual samples of the weapons or an attempt to get as close
as possible
When do you expect all the theaters to be completed?
It'll take another year at least to get em all, I imagine.
WIll one allies country be able to use equipment from another
country?
Yes. I can't go too deep here but commanders from allied countries will
be able to transfer EQIP to allied bases. Brits will get brit stuff, but
ami stuff MAY be available as well.
reload times for infantry and atrty gonna be accurtate..stripper
clip vs 8 round clip for mausers and garnads..etc?
Yup...VERY accurate. This is not your Grandma's Quake :)
How many careers will you be allowed to operate at one time. ie
can I have a Uboat and a Stuka or a Spit availible depending on what mood
I'm in :)
You'll have one persona for each country, and that persona will have a
rank for each service. Your british guy might be a lowly grunt in the
army, but a colonel in the air force...and he can operate in each type
of vehicle set acordingly. If he hasn't got any rank at all in the navy,
he'll only drive the smallest naval craft....but then he could jump in
and do alot more on the air force side of things.
How's the time scale going to be? ie. 5 real hours=1 game day
or something like this?
Time scal is still unditermined. It has to be both a gameplay and a development
schedule issue, and both of those are not just yet :interactive".
We'll know more during the beta.
Say the Germans last longer then '45. Will prototype vehicles
such as the Maus be added to the game?
We'll eventually get to those sort of things, yes. It'll also depend on
reasearch and development by your commanders
will the closed beta testing include all the branhces? and around
how many will be accepted for it?
All branches will be in the closed beta. We'll start with small ammounts
to test technology and server strength then add more as we get the more
complex systems online.
Will ranks be reset every x weeks, when the war is "won",
or some other fashion?
Still being tossed around. It won't be arbitrarily done every few weeks,
that's for sure. I'm leaning towards when the war is won...but remember...that
*should* (if we tune it right) take months.
when are the next screenshots due?
Yesterday from the looks of it :) We'll get some cool stuff up soon. The
next pics we post will be of damage model stuff.
any more thought into news delivery systems. Like pagers that
will email you notifiying you of key events ongoing in the war?
There will be a web interface that is dynamicaly updated with game info...can't
tell you the format just yet, but players will have daily info from the
web on stats and operations.
Will any sort of builders like seabees be part of the AI supply
system.
Only in the most abstract way. You won't see the US Commander built a
new base on an Pacific island, if that's what you mean. But we'll have
the ability to change the terrain itself as time passes...depending on
what's happening in the war.
will killer be testing mulitpul routes in during closed beta?
or just one?
He can't find his way to work with one route...let alone trying to make
it interesting :) I'm sure he'll be testing multiples.
if you're a foot soldier will you be able to hear enemy tanks
approahcing? Will the noise give them away?
Yes. Them's loud beasties.
On that web interface, can we taunt our opponents??
Sort of...there will be content generated by players. Can't say much more.
Automatic AAR device?
BDA's will be done by recon. Newspaper stories (if that's what ya mean)
will be available.
Did you all ever make it to Aberdeen
Not yet. We've been around though, on the USS MASS, tanks, planes, we'll
get there someday :)
what about assasination attempts? Would there/could there be any
advantage to taking out a high ranking official?
You won't be able to assassinate anyone, since there's no real "death"
here.
you mentioned research & development by commanders. Concievebly
jets could enter the war for the germans in significant numbers to alter
the outcome?
Yes. This is a feature that6 will not be in the initail release but we
have a plan for R&D that can allow countries to redirect resources
to advanced weapons systems, You won't see early introduction, but you
may see increased numbers or reliability.
So how many German players can choose the name Erwin Rommel ?
Any naming restrictions ( Hitler ) ?
My druthers is that no one would use historical names, frankly. I highly
doubt we'll allow Hitler...but others that don't raise such a ruckus...I
suppose I can be swayed. Make your case on the bbs and we'll read it.
Who will be in charge on day one of the war???
Staff and extremely trusted players. As soon as we can, we'll offload
that onto players who prove themselves competent.
what gives you the right to create a game like this you bastages!!!
:)
Well, no one's stopping us...grin.
Re: front line supply, will supplies automagically get to yer
holes, or will you need to go back to supply points, or have an abstracted
1SG to bring supplies on up?
Both. Facilities will recieve supplies automaticaly when damaged IF their
routes have not been compromised, but soldiers and armor will need to
bring "friends" with them to increase longevity in the field.
The bottom line is if you want to stay in combat bring supplies, and if
you want you facilities to survive...KEEP THE AI ROUTES OPEN!!
Thanks to Mo and Snail for
taking the time to answer our questions, and Rafter and the rest of the
Playnet.com staff for setting this all up once again.
Great work!
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