World in Flames Update – NetPlay Ready 03.00.01.00 is available!

[Daniele]

The wait has been long, but the day has finally come. The truest PC adaptation of one of the most complex and realistic wargame ever made has received a tremendous update and this is not one to be taken lightly. Developers have worked very hard on it - constantly refining and testing it – to make it the most significant milestone for World in Flames since its original release in 2013.

Matrix Games is very proud to announce that the NetPlay Ready Update is now fully working and it is coming with a gargantuan list of changes!

You can download the update here

It is almost impossible to enumerate the vast number of improvements that have been made to the game since release. We have selected a few important features from this major update to give you a taste of all the goodies you’ll find in it:

- NetPlay is fully working! Now you can play World in Flames online against other players with all the assistance the computer adaptation can provide to your game.

- As part of the major work to get NetPlay fully working, we added the ability of a player to review his NetPlay games off-line. That is, without logging into the NetPlay Server, he can restore any saved NetPlay game using the new Review button (instead of the normal Restore button).

- That brings up the game with all the usual capabilities - except advancing the sequence of play. This lets the player check where his own and the enemy units are and what they are capable of doing in the near future. It is especially useful for planning what to build at the end of the turn and assessing what reinforcements are going to enter the game next turn.

When the US enters the war, checking where all the Japanese and US carriers are and what air units they have aboard is important. At all times, keeping an eye on enemy invasion units deserves some of a player's time. During game play, while on-line with an opponent, a player can get distracted and forget to watch what is happening all over the map. Reviewing a game between gaming sessions helps a player keep his bearings as to what just happened, what is happening, and what is about to happen.

- As part of the thousands of additional improvements to World in Flames since release, it's important to note that the game now handles well many situations that only arise rarely and correctly implements cases where the rules interact in ways which the original board game design hadn't anticipated. Relationships between countries that are at war with only some of the major powers and minor countries on the other side can affect supply lines and resource routing. Even the placement of reinforcements on the map can be complex under some circumstances. In the board game, interpreting the rules to resolve what is permitted depends on the players reaching an agreement - typically after a long and at times heated discussion.

- The program now does a much better job of figuring things out and acts as the final arbiter. These conditions were rare and until they occurred and were reported to us by the players, they weren't always handled to everyone's satisfaction. Now the ability to deal with obscure rule interactions covers a lot more ground, with the solutions based on thoughtful analysis - often provided by the original designer of World in Flames. This gives players the best method yet to play World in Flames online with the rules enforced as the original board game design intended.


To celebrate this key milestone, World in Flames will be on sale for a week! From April 9th to April 16th you’ll have the chance to take this incredible wargame at 60% off! You cannot miss this chance!

Are you eager to try the full potential of the NetPlay Ready Update but you are still intimidated by the sheer amount of features? Fear no more! A highly detailed multiplayer AAR has been written, designed to illustrate all the characteristics and mechanics of the game in its current stage. This massive AAR will be divided into 7 chapters, guiding you through the hard choices the players had to take. We will post a chapter every day in the forum, so be sure to not miss any of it!

If you want to read Chapter 1, “Conquest of France”, click here!

Kudos to G and S for having created such an awesome AAR!

Stay tuned for the further chapters.

[Twisted1]

(much sadness) I tried to install the new 3.0 up date and it does not take.

I get a message " World in Flames is not installed on your computer".

I tried to use the auto installer in the game and get the error message "Unable to determine the installed version"

No joy.....

[tacfire]

Questions:

Can version 3.0 be installed on top of older versions of the game with no issues? And if so, will older saved games work with 3.0?

Or is it better to delete older installed versions of WIF first from our hard drives, and just install 3.0 like its a fresh new install of the game?

[Shannon V. OKeets]

ORIGINAL: Twisted1

(much sadness) I tried to install the new 3.0 up date and it does not take.

I get a message " World in Flames is not installed on your computer".

I tried to use the auto installer in the game and get the error message "Unable to determine the installed version"

No joy.....

Please contact Customer Support. They have the most experienced people at solving problems like the one you have encountered.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

ORIGINAL: tacfire

Questions:

Can version 3.0 be installed on top of older versions of the game with no issues? And if so, will older saved games work with 3.0?

Or is it better to delete older installed versions of WIF first from our hard drives, and just install 3.0 like its a fresh new install of the game?

"Check for Update" on the primary opening screen should install the new version - replacing files from the previous one where necessary.

In the past some players have had trouble with the update, but yesterday there was a report that it worked correctly and smoothly.

[Courtenay]

I just tried the updater, and it said I had the most recent update, which I do not.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

ORIGINAL: Courtenay

I just tried the updater, and it said I had the most recent update, which I do not.

Rats.[:@]

I have zero control over the Update function - it is purely a Slitherine/Matrix application.

Contacting Customer Support is the only advice I can provide. Sorry.

[RudiTheGerman]

Barbarossa production for Russia is still at only 11 points.
Considering that Barbarossa is like the Newbie scenario to get into the game, I would have hoped that this would be fixed, over super wird situations, which almost never happen

[RudiTheGerman]

running the Exe from the Zip File worked just fine for me. It installed the new version over my last install of 2.95.
The updater than says that I have the newest version.

However showing the Version NUmber somewhere would be best practice !-) - you only find it after starting a game under help-about

[paulderynck]

The version number is on the top of the initial screen after you launch the game. Unfortunately the shading of the bottom half of the top bar can make it a bit difficult to read.

[Joseignacio]

It keeps on being for 2 players, no? Just to encourage or not my WIF mates, they would be more prone to buy a multiplayer with more human players...

[juntoalmar]

I think it's a 2 players thing, but I'd like to know the opinion of those who have played NetPlay on how easy/complex can it be to arrange a 4 players game (where only 2 people are online at the same time).

[Elessar2]

Based on the multiplayer AAR's that I've seen, it's apparently as easy as just emailing the current turn file.

[Centuur]

ORIGINAL: juntoalmar

I think it's a 2 players thing, but I'd like to know the opinion of those who have played NetPlay on how easy/complex can it be to arrange a 4 players game (where only 2 people are online at the same time).

I've got the impression that you can only open a 2 player netplay gamesave if you are one of the players involved. But I'm not sure about this. So I would suggest to simply see if this can be done by sending files within the Allies powers.

One thing I'm sure about: this isn't possible during the phases in which both sides do things simultaneous (such as production, use oil and production planning).
Personally, I think that a program such as teamviewer has to be used by a side to play a multiplayer game.

[Joseignacio]

Thanks all.

[rkr1958]

I tried the manual override for routing RP's through different sea areas and it worked! And it continued to keep my override routing even after I closed and re-opened the production form. Unfortunately, the override routing went away when I closed and re-opened the game file. But, the fact the override feature seems to be "kind of working" is encouraging and a whole lot better than it was. Though, I haven't confirmed that the overrides will keep as long as the game file isn't closed.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

ORIGINAL: rkr1958

I tried the manual override for routing RP's through different sea areas and it worked! And it continued to keep my override routing even after I closed and re-opened the production form. Unfortunately, the override routing went away when I closed and re-opened the game file. But, the fact the override feature seems to be "kind of working" is encouraging and a whole lot better than it was. Though, I haven't confirmed that the overrides will keep as long as the game file isn't closed.

Overrides are (suppose to be) removed once the Production Phases are completed for a turn.

[Neilster]

Thanks for your efforts Steve [:)]

Cheers, Neilster

[rkr1958]

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets

ORIGINAL: rkr1958

I tried the manual override for routing RP's through different sea areas and it worked! And it continued to keep my override routing even after I closed and re-opened the production form. Unfortunately, the override routing went away when I closed and re-opened the game file. But, the fact the override feature seems to be "kind of working" is encouraging and a whole lot better than it was. Though, I haven't confirmed that the overrides will keep as long as the game file isn't closed.

Overrides are (suppose to be) removed once the Production Phases are completed for a turn.

All this was during an impulse (allied #5). And sorry for the confusion, these are not "override" versus default allocations. This is where I went into the Route-1 and changed which sea area through which the resource(s) were moved.

[paulderynck]

Have to try that with the save game we spent so much time on (and could not get the Canadian resources to go through the Faroes) a few months ago.