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CRS
Official Chat Event - 11/30/00 This is a log of the official World War Two Online chat event that took place November 30th, 2000. Chris "Mo" Sherland and Michael "Gryf" Weber were the guest speakesr and Joel "Tongue" Solloway acting as the chat moderator. Well will each airfield have a proper name like "Bordeaux-Merignac" or will it be numbers like in Acesh High? Real names..historical etc.
If the war continues past 5 years will secret airplanes be introduced as operational? Well I don't know if we're gonna let it go that far yet. it is a matter of opening up new theaters and such. As it stands now we don't plan on going into hypothetical weapon systems.
When ya gonna let Macs in? Soon. Keep an eye on Sewer news for updates from Hoss. The Mac version is looking good, but we have some more ironing to do yet :)
concerning the bombers, we get in a more advanced a 100% bomber like the LeO451 instead of the DB7?. Right now all we have planned for the French is the DB7. It's hard to predict what they would have had had they continued in the war. Plans right now are just to add British bombers at this point.
have you started the infantry damage model done? or did I just make an idiot of my self Well, I can't answer your second question, but...the infantry damage is done. We're modeling blood loss and fatigue. It's very cool. I'll post some info on that on Sewer News soon. It's very "intense" when you get shot in this game :)
For the first time, you guys are brining the communities of the "3l33t" Quaker and the "Realistic and Serious" Simmer. Can you envisage any serious gameplay or community problems with this? Of course I can see a certain amount of friction, but I don't see too many problems. You'll find that cooperation will make the game much more enjoyable for all. the sooner people come to realize that the better their game experience will be.
jeeze man is it slow lol
How bout diplomacy? Will it be possible for an entire country to change sides ala Russia in WW2? We do not have that planned right now.
Are the release of new theatres going to cost players more money in the form of "add-ons?" Not exactly. We are still working out details as far as release features, but INTER-theater stuff will be free...like Med and ETO stuff will all be updated to the same box version. We might split it into "hemispheres" like PAC and CBI may be a seperate box. But again, nothing set in stone yet.
I have noticed a good number of what I like to call "Brick Forests" in the latest screenshots. IE the large blocks of trees made up of a few pixels and thus aren't able to be entered. Will there be a lot of those in the final release? Right now all of the forests and objects you see in screens are placeholders to test technology. Many of these objects will be replaced before release.
will there be a training arena? YEs there will be. And we'll even have trainers for ya'll to toment :-)
what vid cards wll it support? Well, all the latest for sure....VooDoo 2 is still a bit sketchy, we are trying to support the older cards as best we can.
What will we see for training materials, manuals, etc? Since we are going to have a retail release we can expand on what we originally expected to put out. We'll have a manual and specs on the vehicles as well as some form of tactical infotmation. Mostly the material will cover interfaces and game functions so you can get in and use the systems we have in place.
Will the different countries have an equal number of spawn points or will they be according to the histroic starting strengths? All historic.
how will aircraft be repaired and who long to make repairs?? Well you repair aircraft by selecting a new one. We're not going to induce delays like that.
For crewed vehicles ie tanks when they are knocked out will the crew fight on foot or go back to a starting area. Either. If you survive a vehicle destruction, or just abandon one, you'll have the choice to fight on, on foot, or return to your last spawn facility with a "game exit" command. That last one will leave you vulnerable in the game for a bit, so players don't use it as an escape from combat :)
what phase of the beta are the bulk of the closed beta testers going to be added??? That number is currently in flux. I can tell you that we'll be adding them faster than originally planner. (BTW Duros, you'll do well not to shoot me too often in Counter Strike :-)
Will we or will we not be able to kamikaze ships in WWIIOL. This has been an interesting topic in the forum lately. If so, can a single plane take out a ship? Undecided. As you know there are a LOT iof issues with self-distruction that impact TONS of stuff in an online environment. We will have to try a few things out and see what gameplay looks like. The most apealing idea is that Kamikaze missions specificaly, would be a dedicated type, and suicide in general would get a player no gain.
How long, in general, will it take the average person to achieve l33t sn1p3r status? And once a person is l33t, should we indeed ph34r them? Well at this point we don't quite know. you must master the "Salad Sniper Code" to reach 3l33t status. From what I understand that requires a Llama, 2 chickens, a goat and a midget with e polaroid.
What about neutral nations? Will there be any in the game for us to invade? Not right off the bat. That is in the design, but implimentation hasen't been decided on.
Will it be possible to pick up arms and equipment dropped by killed players? Will there be any distinction between equipment dropped by friendly players and enemy players? Not initialy. Laeving weapons laying around in a CS game is one thing, but updating thousands of players on the location of a single rifle is bandwidth that we'd rather spend on cool stuff, like custom vehicle IDs and more FX.
If someone takes the last of a specific weapon, say a machine gun, and they die is that gun after say 10 mins or so just added back to the cache or base or will someone have to deliver a new supply of weapons to the base? Weapons systems will have a flow control controlling the number of weapons that are out and about. When someone dies the weapon simply gets placed back into the pool of available weapons.
Will there be restrictions on the number of tanks available on each side to avoid people from always choosing the best atnk available? Yes, we have a few limits in mind. Some will be limited by spawn dedicated locations, and others may have an actual sortie limit on them.
What factors will prevent us from the typical flight-sim laser-guided bombing? Environmental factors, a certain amount of induced dispersion and Hoof's physics model that makes it behave realistically
exactly how does one take or disable spawn point? Lots of killing shooting scratching and biting
Will say the germans be able to invade britain early on if they conquer the french or will they have to wait for ships to be modeled before they can attempt a landing? We'll have to model some sort of landing craft before invasion take place.
in FPS you can see the gun..Will this be the case in WWIIOL or will it be like RS?? You can definately see the gun in WWIIOL FPS. It's very cool!
sorry im late it's ok really
will there be any way of stopping a player from changing sides and crashing all the planes on the other team to have air supiriority??? Crashing planes will have no effect on the number of planes available. If you crash it it goes back into the ready weapon system pool.
how will you handle the TK situation?? Tuna Knish? No preheat in the microwave for one!! Our TK system is just now getting some attention. There are a lot of things to consider. The most intense is the variety of weapon systems we have available. We'd like to get one system that works elegantly for all the modes, but that's not very likely. Something that works for a pistol won't do for a 1600lb bomb, or the 16 inch guns on the USSS Iowa :)
What are some of the different ways of getting ground troops/tanks to the front lines? Well that's a closely held secret right now. Suffice to say we have a clever system of levers and pullys that will allow anyone to spawn withing 15 minutes of the action.
Will a player be able to equip there own fighter with a certain ammount of ammo ...will rockets be implented in the game later ? Yes they will.
Is it necesary to have more than one crewman to operate a tank properly or is a single version interface available? A single player can operate any vehicle. But in order to work the functions of a position you have to move there...losing all the functions of the other position :) It's a bit trickyat first, but it'll promote crew-play.
When a soldier is shot and begins bleeding....will there be anything he can do to help stop the bleeding or will he have to just hope his wound stops bleeding before he dies? He can clot naturally. Last week I had a tank driver get hit and lose 20% of his blood. His vision was hazy and the bumps and jolts gave him mini blackouts, but he made it back. You can survive a bullet wound, but it will certainly affect your performance.
When sitting in a tank or a plane, will I be able to look around an acctually see a model for my co-pilot or gunner, driver, etc. Yes you will actually see the other pesonel in the vehicle with you.
Do yall feed hoof twice or once a day..does his move away from the screen during the day....are you sure he is still alive? He's looked kinda pale now that you mention it. There is a slot on his door that says "insert Pizza Here"...no joke. We think he's ok in there, he keeps checking in great code...so...well..."HEY HOOF"?????
How are you handling the building of static defences and fortifications? For example the building of "Fortress Europe" after the fall of France. Well for all static items there are automatic defenses. We'll have a Maginot line to begin with and you'll get a taste of what we can do.
Will more countries be introduced at development of the game progresses, such asafter covering the war from 1940-1945, are you going to go back to 1939, and possibly add a country such as Poland? Yes we have 9 planned initialy, and more can be added anytime we want. First off we'll only have 3 though...France, Germany, and Britain.
will it be possible to join tanks or bombers already driving or flying as additional crew? I spose same goes for ships. Ships: yes. Bombers : Yes. Tanks? Not sure yet. There will definately be some "join in flight" options.
will it be possible to join tanks or bombers already driving or flying as additional crew? I spose same goes for ships. Ships: yes. Bombers : Yes. Tanks? Not sure yet. There will definately be some "join in flight" options. What's current status on voice comms? In-game or strictly 3rd party? We're working on voice as part of the game.
will there be any automated AAA fire vs planes???? Yes.
To Mo: What's your favorite tank so far, and why? Well, the Char is a monster! I love fighing in that thing. But it's slow. I think overall, I'd take a PzKpfwIII for now....until the StuG comes out :)
What Difficlity will AI be on ? like will they be all out extreme rushers? or layed back eating on some biskets and gravy? Uh, well AI is only for static defense so I guess they are the ultimate campers.
About communication, will the radio system look like the one on Aces High? Well we'll have a text based radio system if that's what you mean. I think all text based systems look about the same. I guess the answer is yes :-)
please oh please.. will you banish OTTO from bombers if you feel you have adequate "hop to gun" commands, and "join plane in flight" capabilties? It's quite possible. However in an effort to annoy you we'll have the "Tone code" that places a super accurate otto gunner whenever you attack a bomber :-)
Will players, once they have achieved a level where they can command troops, be able to place automated defenses and fortifications, airfields, and AAA and artillery positions? Yes and No. Command positions will be by appointment only, they are dependant on ra-+nk level, but not that alone. Once a command position has be obtained, a player can do what THAT position allows. Maybe it's routing supply and convoy activity. or maybe it's ship building etc.
If a Sixxo dies in the forest, does it make a sound? yes one that sounds like a little girl
Will there be ship building facilities to bomb or recon..dry docks to destroy...? Of course. We have to give the bomber guys targets don't we? :-)
will the box have an actual manual,or do we have to print the damn thing? Yes there will be
Will I be able to view mine and other players stats and what kind of stats will be available? Yes> Score / rank / KD ratio / qlaifications for vehicles / medals / squad info etc.
What about the Navy ? plz give us some more goodies on it. C'mon plz plz? Will Battle Ships be able to do damage on ground units and bunkers? Everything will be able to damage everything. If you can damage it with an infantry dude then you can blast it with a 16" shell. Conversely watch out for shore batteries when you're in close to shore :-)
How many People to you plan to have in Phase IV???? Uh, well somewhere between 200 and 400. There are too many variables to give ya more than that.
if your a commander and your "taken out" after you respawn will the secondary commander still be i charge or will your automaticly take over again??? Command is all about setting goals, not giving orders. Check out the FAQ at HQ, it gives a good outline of what command is in WWIIOL. But don't expect to be giving orders here. A command positiopn gives a player abilities that make targets valuable, keep supply flow protected, build the navy, and set goals for the mission builders.
will there be flares to send up for night fighting ? Yes. We'll be getting "localized" lighting effects in soon and that's when we'll support night fighting and flares etc.
There has been some good discussion regarding defenses like minefields and roadblocks. Will it be possible for commanders to set of those types things in place? Not right now. the technology is not in place for such things.
do you wish you were as handsome as the playnet.com guys on the third floor? Uh, have you loked at those guys recently? After all that great work they did on Playnet.com they simply look like old tired souls. The site looks great, however the guys who did it paid dearly for that look.
Will there be U-Boats and can you depth charge them? Yes and yes.
Explain the lend another allied country a base in your country idea a little more...how would supply for that base from the other country work? Would there be severe limitations on equipment? Would it be only one type of vehicle? Any allied country can "give" or "lend" a base to another "friendly" country. Supply flow goes on as normal but with a slight penalty. All Equipment needs to be "convoyed in".
Will " willie pete " white phospurus Ammo be available for Arty rounds We are going to have "smoke" rounds. Right now we have no plans for burning rounds of that size. We'll see though :)
how long do wrexks and stuff stay on the battlefield? They stay till no one is in visible range of them and then they go bye bye.
Will there be any movies involving a real battle with tanks and troops any time soon? Very soon
are you going to post these questions so others can read them later because some people have a big psych class in a half hour?? Yes the HQ should put up a full log... SIXXO SUCKS!
if you block,say,a road with a tank or other vehicle,then stay in sight of it,will it hinder traffic/ If you mean a "hulk", then yes, it'll stay for a while. Eventauly all hulks will need to fade or burn out...there's simply more important things to do with that sorta bandwidth :)
Until landing craft are put in. What happens if the germans take control of all the bases in france?? Will the theatre be reset? Well if that looks like it might happen we might just have to work around with something else. We;ve got some clever people here. they'll figure something out :-)
Regarding blood loss....will you be able to physically see how much blood you are losing so you know how bad your wound really is or will there be a sort of "damage indicator"? You will have a indicator regarding your general physical well being.
I noticed antennas were not on any of the AFV's I saw in the screenshots. My question is will they be on there. I think if they were it would add to the realism of the game. This would give way for having your antenna blown off and communications severed. It 's also a sniper tactic to blow of antennas to lessen the ability of a AFV's abillity to wage war. We will not be limiting comms in the game at all. But look closely at the Char, it does have an antenna.
will there be aircraft carriers... I was forced to ask this question Hehe, Yes you will have Aircraft carriers.
c'mon,dangle a lil' bait for us,any time frame for open beta(besides Q12000? Well I can safely say it will NOT be in two weeks. Most assuredly next year.
What's crater life? Will buffs/jabos be able to still see what they hit yesterday and adjust drop points as needed? Not that long. But what you hit will stay down until it's fixed period. Recon will be vital in this environment.
Mo, there seem to be some issues with WinMe and other games is anyone testing with WinMe now? Yes we do. Some of the beta testers are using it now. We are unsure of support at this time.
the graf zepplin can be built??? Yes you can build it if you are the German commander. It will take a significant amount of resources to build that might be better used elsewhere.
If i am killed in a battle.......how long will it take me to return to the same battle....or will i even be able to? That depends. If the battle is right outside the base you spawned from, you migyht find it TOO close for comfort, but if you had to ride in a truck for 10 minutes to get there, then you'll be looking for a ride :)
for flight, what stick setup would you recommend? You'll need SOME stick for planes. I personnaly still use a TM PFCS :P Any stick will do these days. It's important to try a few out though. Something with rudderand throttle on it will be very handy, or get all those components seprately.
You are talking about rcon unit, the Germans have a rcon car, but in the British/French list of units, I don't see any rcon cars The BEF used the Daimler Scout. We will have that in there.
You are talking about rcon unit, the Germans have a rcon car, but in the British/French list of units, I don't see any rcon cars what responsibliltys will the president/prime minister or equivilent have in the game?
You are talking about rcon unit, the Germans have a rcon car, but in the British/French list of units, I don't see any rcon cars Keep the flow of pizza going!!!
Will mortars have Forward observers or will they have to direct lay on targets Either. Players will be able to both sortie ARTY, or spot.
Will sub commanders have to worry about underwater terrain, and running aground? Will they pop if they dive too deep? Yes to all....MUHhAHahHAHAHAh!!!
Will trucks and infantry be spawned separately? Like if me and some fellows are going out on the town and need a ride can we go to the motor pool and pick one up or does one of us have to quit out and log back in with "truck guy". And if we do have to log back in with Truck guy can he function as a regular infantryman? Everyone is infantry in the end. Your driver can select a truck but he can bail from that at any time. What weapon he'll have will depend on what that country normally equipped drivers with. So you can select a truck, drive to the front and then bail and perform as infantry. If he wants to drive back, well keep the truck in sight :-)
How are the sheep models coming along? Have you hit upon any nice fleece textures? We can't seem to leave them alone long enough to get them into the game....we'll see, but I wouldn't get my hopes up.
will world@war interview key people after the major battles? I would assume so, yes
will explosions from a distance that would be visilbe in real life be visible in the game? or are these taken out of the effect because of code and latency issues You can see em...for sure. If they are over a few KMs out, then they get hidden by the render engine, but if it's in range, we're gonna show it to you.
WILL THERE BE A "MEN OF CRS" CALENDAR available at some point? The women want to know. Yeah, but the test shots came out pretty scarey. Tongue was on the cover and we couldn't even get the publisher to open the damned thing. We might switch it out and get Caveman on the cover next time.
WILL THERE BE A "MEN OF CRS" CALENDAR available at some point? The women want to know. Yeah, but the test shots came out pretty scarey. Tongue was on the cover and we couldn't even get the publisher to open the damned thing. We might switch it out and get Caveman on the cover next time. Are you getting rid of Icons? We have a very clever system of pullys and levrs that will allow icons to overcome the inherent deficiencies of the computer screen without making them omnipresent neon beacons.
Will the President/Prime Minister have to deal with diplomatic relations with allies/enemys or will there be another position for that, such as a diplomat or emmisary??? Generally that will be done by the country leader.
will the battle of the atlantic be a seperate theater??? Nope. It'll be in the ETO release. As we add ships they'll be a free DL.
ya gotta tell me if yer gonna have onboard radar Onboard radar. Only if your vehicle had it.
How will you prevent people from creating a character for the oposing country and then leak details? We wont. Commanders will be side locked, but all other players will be able to create personas for ALL countries with one account.
I realize damaged vehicles will only be in view for a short time however, in armored battles possesion of the battlefield means repairing your damaged armor. Will this be the case later in the game? No repair for vehicles right now. You'll need established bases to get a new vehicle.
Will I be able to customize the weapon loadout/layout of my vehicle. Say I want to add a browning .50 cal to the front passenger side of my willys Nope. Just historical loadouts. The Willys had a version that mounted an MG on the back deck, and we'll give you that to choose as ONE of the loadouts for the Jeep, but do-it-yourself loadouts won't be supported.
Will there be windows in the JU 52 transport plane, for paras to look out of? I'll see what we can do. I find if they know what kind of mess they are getting into they don't like to leave the plane.
ai firemen? Nope....let em burn!!
When do I get my Hurricane? After you complete the certification. :-)
Have you guys got the fuel ratio deal solved yet...I know you guys said at the last chat that ground vehicles were a no brainer, but that airplanes were a different matter...????? Yes we have a system that leashes fuel for aircraft.
If we find a particular commander isnt doing a good job and is just screwing around will we be able to have him removed for a better leader? We'll have a system to resolve issues such as that. However the system we currently have inhibits people from rising above their abilities.
Can any sodldier grab any kind of gun accessible to him........or does it depend on his rank? I don't have an answer for that right now. We have regular debates over rank for weapons. We'll have to see how some gameplay works before we can give a solid answer.
Landing or taking off carriers, are you going to have friendly collison on and if so how are you going to handle people landing or taking off without it being total chaos? So what's wrong with a
little Chaos?
Landing or taking off carriers, are you going to have friendly collison on and if so how are you going to handle people landing or taking off without it being total chaos? So aircraft WILL operate at realistic ranges whatever the map scale is?
Landing or taking off carriers, are you going to have friendly collison on and if so how are you going to handle people landing or taking off without it being total chaos? Yes
if your tank runs out of fuel, is there any way to get mobile resupply? Talk one of those logistical weenies into driving some fuel out to you :-)
if your tank runs out of fuel, is there any way to get mobile resupply? Talk one of those logistical weenies into driving some fuel out to you :-) can ya crawl?? Absolutly.
do you have to obtain a certain rank to be allowed to be certified for another vehicle? Again, we have to play test some things to see what ideas work bets. Can't give a certain answer on that right now.
What kind of different terrains will there be? Lots :) We'll be modeling all the major theaters and fleshing out the not-so-well-known ones as well. Eventualy we'll be modeling the entire world.
what about cover and concealment?? how good can ya hide? PLenty of cover and concealment in the terrain. How good are you at hiding? :-)
Will sea be modelled with waves and weather effects? Sea state will certainly be modeled and have an effect on ships.
will an ordinary player like me be able to lead a country one day? Yes. Command positions will requier a "sty;e" of play though, so keep that in mind. If your style is wreckless and wild, chances are you won't get recommended for a command position.
Ambien Fauna? It will be at zee HQ!!
How will logging in and choosing operations be handled? We'll have interface screens to handle that. If you mean by what method do we communicate it's a standard PPP connection.
Will the different branches of the army have different ranks? Ie Infantry Pvt-Schutze and Armoured Pvt-Panzershutze?? We'll
have the different names for the ranks.
Much thanks to Mo and Gryf for taking time out of their busy schedules to answer our questions, and to Tongue and the rest of the Playnet.com staff for setting this chat up. Thanks guys! |
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Copyright 2000 Mike DelPrete
"Booya"
