2023 Roadmap for WWII Online

[Cornered Rats]

Our plans are shifting full force to innovation and bringing WWII Online into the modern age. This is the moment you've all been waiting for and asking us to capitalize on! This roadmap will demonstrate updated workflows to bring us the latest graphics as we pursue Unreal, while simultaneously providing visual upgrades to WWII Online 1.0. We're going to show you demonstrable progress including the game world conversion status as well, including the first work-in-progress shots showing part of our game world in the Unreal Engine. We also have tremendous news for squads and how the player base will be able to drive gameplay. 

Please enjoy this jam-packed roadmap plan which helps set the tone and expectations for our overall direction of WWII Online. As always, thanks for being subscribed and providing the fuel for Playnet/CRS to achieve these goals.

View the full article on battlegroundeurope.com

[delems]

*** This means High Command will have no function in the placement or removal of Attack Objectives

Does this mean HC can never place or remove an AO?

 

*** COMBINING ALLIED FACTORY DAMAGE

Would you provide a few of examples of how this will work now?

Edited January 28, 2023 by delems

[B2K]

48 minutes ago, delems said:

*** COMBINING ALLIED FACTORY DAMAGE

Would you provide a few of examples of how this will work now?

New State: german # Of Factories = Allied # of Factories 

Each side will have 18 (germans gaining 9)

48 minutes ago, delems said:

*** This means High Command will have no function in the placement or removal of Attack Objectives

Does this mean HC can never place or remove and AO?

There will still be functionality for HC to place (and remove) AO's.  

 

 

[crescent]

Can we get a Wellington update?

[B2K]

19 minutes ago, crescent said:

Can we get a Wellington update?

As the article says, still working on some flight models adjustments. 

[delems]

*** New State: german # Of Factories = Allied # of Factories 

Presuming all nations on map.

And axis bombs 1 French prod fac to 100%.

All allied nations will be at 1/18th damage?

If bomb one brit prod fact to 100%, all allied nations at 1/18th damage?

Edited January 28, 2023 by delems

[crescent]

5 hours ago, B2K said:

As the article says, still working on some flight models adjustments. 

Thanks. It was weak. Was looking for a bit more info.

[Poker]

Looks good team, thank-you.

I am interested in the plans concerning HC, and I guess we’ll see how it works with the AO’s. Pragmatism to teething problems is a logical approach.

Under the EWS system, will Lt Cols remain as non-volunteered HC, or do you intend to revert back to a more traditional orbat, albeit one that requires some work?

[tater]

Quote

IMPROVED VEHICLE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS

All vehicles in WWII Online are getting an update to that the internal members can hear a little more regarding exterior sounds. That means tanks will be able to hear more of what's going on outside (without opening a hatch), and aircraft will be able to possibly hear guns firing behind you and/or the impacts on your airframe. We think this will be a huge deal for your daily gaming experience. 

So people inside closed vehicles will be able to hear things like infantry better?

Wow, must be nice. Odd that NOT inside a closed vehicle I don;t get to hear infantry as, you know, infantry. So once again vehicles get an unrealistic perk cause being taken out by infantry is sad.

 

I assume this will take about 30 to 60 minutes at minimum? (making it easier for gamey reasons)

If it takes less than that, when will inf get magical health packs?

 

Quote

ADD RICOCHETING ROUNDS

Very cool, but we need SOME sort of FF impact for all fire in ww2ol. Need not be lethal—how about getting hit by FF results in inf having the same effect as a just landed para?

The endless spray of MG fire into areas where your own troops are needs to stop.

 

 

[Sudden]

17 minutes ago, tater said:

 

 

I assume this will take about 30 to 60 minutes at minimum? (making it easier for gamey reasons)

I

 

 

I think track repair would be avoided at the line so if the battle doesn't pass you by you live with the broken track like we do now. I don't see this being useful with the hatch requirement as it is. The real crew would not be sitting in the open easy to pick off, they would be behind the tank working on the track. I don't know how we solve this dilemma. My only suggestion would be 1. All hatches remain closed, 2. All crew become non functional during the repair time, 3. Any enemy fire landing on the tracked side of the tank kills the crew (point being you better turn your tank away from enemy fire before attempting repairs). On a double tracked tank it would be nice to have a pause and turn away after one is repaired, then start on the next track.

 

[tater]

14 minutes ago, Sudden said:

I think track repair would be avoided at the line so if the battle doesn't pass you by you live with the broken track like we do now. I don't see this being useful with the hatch requirement as it is. The real crew would not be sitting in the open easy to pick off, they would be behind the tank working on the track. I don't know how we solve this dilemma. My only suggestion would be 1. All hatches remain closed, 2. All crew become non functional during the repair time, 3. Any enemy fire landing on the tracked side of the tank kills the crew (point being you better turn your tank away from enemy fire before attempting repairs). On a double tracked tank it would be nice to have a pause and turn away after one is repaired, then start on the next track.

Open hatches doesn't make them nearly vulnerable enough, lol.

if this has any utility with any enemies around it's a hard fail IMO. Respawn.

The units that should have actual damage control—ships—don't, but sure, tanks need damage control.

ATG/AAA units? They have 2 crew vs the 6+ they should have, where every single crew member could in fact do every single job. Meanwhile, shoot ONE of the 2 visible crew and the gun is useless. How about "ATG repair" gets added. crew killed, hit the "repair button and the gun is then idled for... 1 second, then it's normal. It gets a number of repairs equal to the actual number of crew minus 1.

 

[vongters]

This roadmap leaves me a bit perplexed. There are many good things, especially repairing the tracks and the implementation of more audio inside the tank and in general, besides the video of the MG42 bullets, these will make the game more immersive as well as finally having team missions (but the limit of 5 active people currently it is very high and limiting).
The new AO doesn't convince me at all, unfortunately there are too many variables that players will exploit to create multi AOs with multi accounts, without then considering who will go AFK maybe for hours or the new players dispersying in those missions.
But the things that I really hoped there were and that have not been included in the roadmap are the following:

1) Change of rules regarding ews and MS. The ews should be increased to at least 2000m to avoid the precamp of a town and to give the defender time to deploy a logical defense. Also unlimited MSs give a HUGE edge to the side OP and being able to place them anywhere effectively eliminates the concept of a frontline. They should be limited as numbers and as places.
2) No mention of damage remodeling of tanks, planes and ships which should definitely be reviewed.
3) No mention of bug fixes like death cam, autorotation of tank with driver dead or shooting through walls/tends.

4) No movement penalty for infantry running for miles and indifferently through mud, bushes etc as if they were on main street new york while tanks get the penalty and as it should be.

5) No mention of movement audio for ATG and AA and penalties as in point 4.
6) No new equipment/staff and this in my opinion is absurd because people like to have new things to use. And even more precisely, the umpteenth year without the axis getting the panther or at least the tiger updated to the 1944 version as we reported here with a lot of historical documents ---> 

It's been 15+ years and this really looks like an endless soap opera, it could break the record of ''Dallas''.

 

 

And leaving aside the multitude of ideas that the various players have provided over time and I'll add another one, that is FINALLY giving importance to the RR stations that should be considered at least as an FMS... Here's another small disappointment:
The new screenshots are definitely very nice but I can't help but notice that they are always based in Dinant, which is the same place as the 2022 roadmap screenshot. This makes me think that although ww2 2.0 has priority for you, you are still in an embryonic stage of the work and the screens of the new opel/beddy for ww2 online 1.0 give me confirmation it.
I wish you really good work, I hope people keep going and come back to play ww2 online. Personally I will continue to do so but if I was one of those players who left the game waiting for…  honestly I wouldn't come back seeing the 2023 roadmap and i'll wait again. Anyway I hope its only my thought and that people plays and pays for this great game.

Edited January 28, 2023 by vongters

[jwilly]

10 hours ago, Sudden said:

On a double tracked tank it would be nice to have a pause and turn away after one is repaired, then start on the next track.

How exactly would a double tracked tank be repaired by the tank crew?

In the real world, a broken track usually is broken on the bottom or at one end or the other. The first thing the crew does to get ready to repair it is drive the tank slowly forward or back...in the direction of more unbroken track...so the track on the ground is unbroken, and the break will end up more or less at the center of the top. If moved slowly, the tank wouldn't start to slew and bog down until the road wheels on the broken side rolled off the track onto the ground, so you want to carefully stop short of that. Then after removing pins and segments to determine what's broken and bent, and replacing all the bad parts other than one pin, the crew loosens the track tensioner on the broken side all the way, and attaches chains or cables to the two track ends, and puts a come-along in between the two, and pulls the two ends together so the last pin can be inserted.

A tank that's double tracked often won't be driveable so that both sides' road wheels remain on track. A double tracked tank can only be moved on one direction, because the other way results in the broken track moving but not the tank hull. The workable movement direction is toward the rear for a front-driven tank, or vice versa. And, any movement can only be until the first broken track runs off the top and the drive wheel has no wrap. Often in a double tracked situation, that won't provide enough movement distance to allow repair of either side.

A tank that has one side's road wheels driven off into the dirt/mud isn't repairable by the crew, which has no tools or techniques for picking up half the tank's mass and holding it up in the air while a length of track is moved back under it. That kind of work can only be done by tank mechanics with heavy equipment. In WWII, that usually meant cribbing and hydraulic jacks. On ground too soft to support the cribbing, sometimes the tank would have to be brute-force-dragged through the mud to firmer ground. Or, maybe just abandoned as unrecoverable.

Edited January 29, 2023 by jwilly

[Sudden]

32 minutes ago, jwilly said:

How exactly would a double tracked tank be repaired by the tank crew?

In the real world, a broken track usually is broken on the bottom or at one end or the other. The first thing the crew does to get ready to repair it is drive the tank slowly forward or back...in the direction of more unbroken track...so the track on the ground is unbroken, and the break will end up more or less at the center of the top. If moved slowly, the tank won't start to slew and bog down until the road wheels on the broken side roll off the track onto the ground. Then after removing pins and segments to determine what's broken and bent, and replacing all the bad parts other than one pin, the crew attaches chains or cables to the two track ends, and puts a come-along in between the two, and pulls the two ends together so the last pin can be inserted.

A tank that's double tracked often isn't/wasn't driveable so that both sides' road wheels remain on track. A double tracked tank can only be moved on one direction, because the other way results in the broken track moving but not the tank hull. The workable movement direction is toward the rear for a front-driven tank, or vice versa. And, any movement can only be until the first broken track runs off the top and the drive wheel has no wrap.

A tank that has one side's road wheels driven off into the dirt/mud isn't repairable by the crew, which has no tools or techniques for picking up half the tank's mass and holding it up in the air while a length of track is moved back under it. That kind of work can only be done by tank mechanics with heavy equipment. In WWII, that usually meant cribbing and hydraulic jacks. On ground too soft to support the cribbing, sometimes the tank would have to be brute-force-dragged through the mud to firmer ground. Or, maybe just abandoned as unrecoverable.

The article says we get 2 tracks. If you know of a vehicle with more than 2 then I suppose it would be a problem.

[delems]

*** and the implementation of more audio inside the tank and in general,

Not ever been in a tank, but how can you hear stuff OUTSIDE the tank?

Seems a terrible move to me, should hear nothing if in a tank and engine on.

And prolly very little even if engine off. (unless CE, crew exposed)

[delems]

Oh, where is change mission target?

That was a game changer great feature.

[tater]

On 1/28/2023 at 6:11 PM, delems said:

ot ever been in a tank, but how can you hear stuff OUTSIDE the tank?

Seems a terrible move to me, should hear nothing if in a tank and engine on.

And prolly very little even if engine off. (unless CE, crew exposed)

Even when the engine is off, the crew was just inside, how noisy is it inside a tank? What about when the gun goes off?

I've seen images of US tank crews with ear flaps, and of German tank COs with radio headsets (which might also provide some hearing protection)...

So we're in a position where crews:

Wearing hearing protection—would not hear infantry.

Not wearing protection—are at least temporarily deaf from engine noise and gunfire, and would not hear infantry.

Which flavor of "tankers can't hear infantry" is right?

Also, different tiers and armies might have different protection, from more to none. That would be something to model.

[Kilemall]

On 1/27/2023 at 7:43 PM, B2K said:

New State: german # Of Factories = Allied # of Factories 

Each side will have 18 (germans gaining 9)

There will still be functionality for HC to place (and remove) AO's.  

 

 

On factories, reiterating the question do all factories affect all allied nations equally?

I kind of like making it 6 factories for each Allied nation if there won’t be limits on how much frontage each nation can have.  That way, if an overpowered tier gets say 75% of the front, it can be bombed flat and countered.

I understand why Delems asked, because the roadmap sure sounds like no HC AO. 

I am for automated pull and AO for low pop no HC times, just not sure it’s going to go well for 5 guys to be able to upend a concentrated cutoff effort by EWS first.  It’s also going to make attack very difficult in any kind of balanced pop.

I get the guys saying gameplay and new equipment is not up front, but the graphics and engine conversion has been the clear focus and that is different coding resource types from your preferred prioritization.  IMO the time to tackle gameplay was in lieu of the brigade to garrison conversion, the graphics had to be done first or second and it seems there are benefits to doing it now with UE5 and more powerful PCs.

[Kilemall]

Not happy with the tanker upgrades.  Fixing treads should be an under fire difficult thing to do, which frankly RES handles just as well.   The comparison to magic health packs is apt, particularly if the crew is not risked and a track fix button is hit while everyone stays inside.

 

The infantry audio with hatches closed is another silly power up.  Maybe with the commander popped up and engine off enhancement occurs.

 

If the concern is tank survivability, then do it right, combined arms not gimmicks.

 

My proposal?  Do a Superlight MS, deployable by tanks and medium/heavy ATGs.

Smaller boxes than the FRU, maybe half height.  Destroyable by grenade or tank fire.  Can only spawn rifles and LMGs, no SMGs so they don’t become assault units.  

Can’t be bothered to protect your tanks even with convenient spawning or tanks stay the heck away from inf cover?  You lose.

[steelhail]

I see the mundane forum heroes are hard at work here.

Nice roadmap all in all. Will be fun.

[sascha]

On 1/28/2023 at 5:04 PM, tater said:

All vehicles in WWII Online are getting an update to that the internal members can hear a little more regarding exterior sounds. That means tanks will be able to hear more of what's going on outside (without opening a hatch), and aircraft will be able to possibly hear guns firing behind you and/or the impacts on your airframe. We think this will be a huge deal for your daily gaming experience. 

Err....? So realism isn't a thing any longer in this game?

 

Thinking you'd be able to hear *anything* going on outside while sitting behind a 30+ liter V-12 or 14-cylinder radial going at full chat - or while sitting inside a WW2 tank with the engine running is just silly. Besides: the real crews would've worn headphones - in case of planes those would surely have acted as sound insulation (as they do on modern planes) - not sure how insulating a tank's headsets would've been but they were used. I've sat behind both a large, nose mounted piston engine and a turbo-prop while they were running and I can assure you that I wouldn't have been able to chat with the pilot sitting next to me if I hadn't been wearing headphones. In fact, I bet without headphones, we could've been screaming at each other and still wouldn't have been able to hear a word of what the other was saying.

 

Besides: There's other loud and constant noises in both types of vehicles that will also cover up anything like footsteps (lol!) or even other vehicles' engine audio. Like wind-noise on a plane and all sorts of mechanical noises on a tank (treads, drive-train, brakes, etc).

Inside a Sherman:

Inside an FW190 (note how he's flying in tight formation with that IL-2 and you don't hear a peep from the other plane's engine).

 

Inside a 109 G-4:

^ Again: Note how during taxi at around 2:05, there's a Hurricane right in front of the 109 and, wouldn't you know it?, you don't hear a peep from that plane's engine, either.

 

Plus as loud as the audio in these clips is already, these are recordings via microphones which would probably cut off at a certain level of noise.. so the real experience sitting in there without any sort of ear-protection would be even more unpleasant, I wager .... especially in the planes.

 

 

S.

 

Edited March 8, 2023 by sascha

[delems]

Is the change target feature in here?

Very helpful for game.

[tater]

On 2/19/2023 at 2:00 AM, sascha said:

Err....? So realism isn't a thing any longer in this game?

Quote says me, but it was me quoting the plan notes.

[sascha]

On 3/9/2023 at 6:06 AM, tater said:

Quote says me, but it was me quoting the plan notes.

Whoops... took me a while to get your point, but yeah... I obviously wasn't quoting you but I was quoting you quoting the roadmap text... sorry about that...

 

S.

[tater]

9 hours ago, sascha said:

Whoops... took me a while to get your point, but yeah... I obviously wasn't quoting you but I was quoting you quoting the roadmap text... sorry about that...

Yeah, it was clear to me—just didn't want anyone else to think it was just from me, vs being the legit plan.