The following summarizes some exciting updates in the WWII Online world:
DEPOT SPAWNING BRINGS FRANTIC ACTION TO BATTLEFIELD
Bringing the fight into cities and towns
With several major updates already delivered to the growing number of virtual battlefield recruits, Playnet and Cornered Rat Software are ready to introduce another round of major gameplay enhancements to their MMOG, "World War II Online".
The upcoming release of v1.9 (now in open Beta testing) allows players to establish a foothold in enemy held cities as well as use non-military facilities for troop spawning. These facilities are the depots that connect all the cities in the gameworld. Every road that connects two chokepoints has a pair of supply depots. Now these can be used by ground troops as combat staging facilities. Spawning at these depots puts inftantry in critical positions with tactical advantages. Depots are now more important than ever and create fast-paced infantry firefights like never before.Capturing a depot gains a critical foothold at the beginning of an attack
Soldiers can now employ both offensive and defensive tactics at the depots. Every intact depot in a town or city can be used by defenders to spawn infantry forces. Any side of town that comes under enemy attack can be quickly defended. There is a cost to the defensive forces though as spawning infantry at the depots drains that town's Army Base of its supply of troops. Attackers can capture a depot in a city or town and gain a foothold from which to attack with infantry. Supported by armor supplied from the nearest friendly Army Base and with aircraft from nearby airfields, ground troops now have the means to more quickly take the battle to the enemy. As with defending forces, infantry spawning from depots draw from a limited supply from their own Army Bases.
New Version 1.9 Will Add Many New Features!
v1.9 has a lot more than the depot spawing feature. In addition to porting the Unity 3D graphics engine to OpenGL, this new version adds another 40 cities/towns/ports to what is already the largest online world available in an MMOG. The additions to the terrain fill out much of southeast England as well as new strategic-targets such as destroyable factory installations.
v1.9 also adds a large number of special effects to the game with additions such as debris from shell hits on aircraft, shell ejections in first and third person and more battlefield explosions.
Infantry play has also received a lot of attention with the addition of a knife to the standard troop loadout, new animations including combat and non-combat emotes and additional sounds. More vehicles are being added including low-level bombers and new french armor.
There's also been the addition of a new RPG feature tagged as "Research, Development and Production" (RDP) which puts control of vehicle and weapons introduction and battlefield availability into the hands of player/commanders. Watch for a follow-up to this briefing which will detail the new RDP features.
