World in Flames is the computer version of Australian Design Group classic board game. World In Flames is a highly detailed game covering the both Europe and Pacific Theaters of Operations during World War II. If you want grand strategy this game is for you.
And even more so when WiF has been "coming soon" for the last SEVEN years!
Boy I am going to enjoy crushing Denmark after that remark. [;)] In fact if Poland survives the Wehrmacht after the first round I will let Italy kick Denmarks butt, in the next impulse [&o] and Italy cant beat anyone, errr maybe Ethiopia but then again maybe I will have Ethiopia crush Denmark. Does Denmark have an army?[&:]
Although it has a Navy (for what it may be worth under the WIF rules...).
Boy Jose glad to see you around, but I know there is no Danish army I was just ragging Mr. Terminus who was being a little or a lot cynical about the issue date of the game.
I just lifted this quote from the New Titles Announced for 2012 thread.
ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins
We are far from done making monster wargames. I've been spending a huge amount of time helping get World in Flames finished as well as moving War in the West forward and the "War in Europe" goal that we announced is probably the most ambitious monster wargame project we've attempted.
Regards,
- Erik
I don't know Erik or what he can do to move WiF along...but as Matrix Director of Product Development it can't be a bad thing that he is spending a huge amount of time here.
I may not agree with everything about this release plan, from what little we know of it. But I do wish you guys all the best.
May 1, 2012 Status Report for Matrix Games’ MWIF Forum
Accomplishments of April 2012
Project Management
I monitored all the threads in the MWIF World in Flames forum daily.
Hardware and Software
Matrix Games programmers fixed the problem with dropped server messages when using the NetPlay Forum to communicate with other players that are logged in. That capability is crucial for starting/restarting a NetPlay game. The same correction was made to the game server, which is used when playing an game over the internet. They also enabled deleting Seeking Opponent requests. This means that players are able to delete their posted requests to the Seeking Opponent database once an opponent has been found; therefore all listed posts should be active.
The open items for Theme Engine remain unchanged: (1) scroll bars for the detailed map, and (2) its inability to display detailed listings of file directories (i.e., the dates and stuff when opening or saving a file).
Beta Testing
I released versions 9.06.00 (9 fixes), 9.06.01 (10 fixes), 9.06.02 (1 fix), 9.06.03 (8 fixes), 9.06.04 (6 fixes), 9.06.05 (12 fixes), and 9.06.07 (19 fixes) to the beta testers in April. Version 9.06.06 was used by me but never uploaded to the beta testers. This is about my normal number of new versions (7) but half my typical fixes (65).
One reason there were so few fixes this month is that I have been running alpha testing for NetPlay, besides being time consuming (working with two computers), that means I was both discovering and fixing bugs rather than dividing the labor between the beta testers (finding) and me (fixing).
I fixed one bug in creating detailed maps which must have dated back to 2005. I’m kind of baffled that anything worked with this bug present (there were two separate copies of the detailed maps). See the comments regarding NetPlay below for most of the changes I made for the new versions I uploaded for the beta testers.
Saved Games
I revised the format for saved games (*.GAM) a couple of times so it contains the necessary data for switching decision makers (e.g., USSR, US, Italy) during setup for a NetPlay game. This was the reason version 9.06.06 was never uploaded for the beta testers.
Restoring NetPlay games now works. To accomplish this required a handful of coding changes. For instance, the autosaved games needed to be synchronized so they are created simultaneously on all computers. The program checks that both players are restoring the same game at the same point in the sequence of play. To make that determination, the program uses the Game Number and the Next Entry Number, which are written out to the GAM file. Prior to restoring a game, players should check those numbers to make sure they match. The program displays that information for each saved game when a player ‘considers’ whether or not to restore a game. When NetPlay executes, it checks for matching numbers and reports any discrepancy. The same system will be used for PBEM games.
Map, Units, and Scenarios
I removed Ceylon as part of the setup area for the Commonwealth in Guadalcanal. I also updated the naval unit writeups with the latest from Rob J.
Optional Rules
Nothing new.
Game Engine
Getting NetPlay to work forced me to revise the code for the Weather phase. It is now what I consider ‘beautiful’ code. Rarely do I go to the effort of writing code that might be considered beautiful. But the requirements for the weather phase are both few and weird. Having the weather preset for some scenarios but not for all of them is one strange aspect. Having it rolled every other impulse is another. In addition, MWIF rolls for the weather and reports it to both players. In practice that means reporting it for one major power for each player. After all players have closed the weather report form, the game advances to the next phase.
This combination of unusual requirements dictated that the code had to be crystal clear. Previously I had been patching the CWIF code to implement the weather phase, but the result became so confusing. So I more or less started over. Now the weather phase has its own module, similar in structure to all the other phases. Not a lot of code but it’s very easy to understand how it handles the unusual weather rules.
Setup is one of the most complex phases and I finally admitted that it also needed its own module with 3 subphases: (1) lend lease at the start of the game between major power on the same side, (2) placing each major power’s units on the map, and (3) placing partisan units on the map after all other units have been set up. I think of these as: lend lease, set up major powers, and set up partisans. It was a struggle to get these to execute correctly for NetPlay.
Lend lease involves all the major powers on a side which make decisions simultaneously. On the other hand, setting up the major powers is processed by each major power in a rigidly defined order. That is also preceded by a scrap units sub-subphase prior to randomly drawing units from the force pools. Always a pain to code was setting up the Nationalist Chinese and then the Communist Chinese - because they are one “major power” set up by two major powers. Setting up partisans is similar to setting up major powers, but with the kicker that there might not be an available hex for some units (“No room for the partisan unit on the map.”).
Here are the routines I gathered together in the Setup Phase module: function SettingUpPartisans: Boolean;
procedure Setup__Initialization;
procedure Setup__ChangeSubPhase(const NewSubPhase: TSetupSubPhase);
procedure NextSetupMajorPower;
procedure NextSetupPartisans;
procedure Setup__Process;
procedure FinishedSettingUp;
procedure Setup__TerminateMajorPower(const MPI: TMajorCountries);
procedure Setup__Terminate;
Many other phases of the game needed revisions to support NetPlay. The most common problem is how to process an event so it is only done once, by one major power, but gets reported to all the players (e.g., setting up reserves). Again, the changes I made here were also required by PBEM. Mandatory DOW on major powers was a major hassle to revise but that now functions correctly. I currently have a similar problem with the mandatory DOW by Germany on Poland - that’s next on my list of things to fix.
Player Interface
Nothing new.
Internet - NetPlay
I spent the month mostly working on NetPlay. I finished the code for working with the JSON data structure, which is used for Seeking Opponent requests. Players can post a request and reply to other players requests. The intention of this functionality is to enable players to easily find opponents for NetPlay games.
I also finished the code for players to send and receive messages and game data when playing over the internet. Getting that accomplished let me take the last couple of screenshots for the Players Manual. A typical game starts with 13,000 game record logs being created and transmitted between computers. That’s a pretty severe test for the game server.
Sending and receiving messages while logged into the NetPlay Forum is useful for resolving any outstanding issues about starting a NetPlay game (e.g., negotiating about optional rules). It can also be helpful just before starting/restarting a game to coordinate when to start and how long the session will last.
One aspect of NetPlay that I now have working correctly is that the flags in the main form accurately report which major powers currently have decisions to make. Those flags also indicate whether the local player controls the major power or not: a large image means the local player control the major power, a small image means he does not. In addition there is a little ‘Waiting’ message in the main form when a player is waiting for another player to make a decision.
I’ve been able to run the Barbarossa, Global War, and Missed the Bus scenarios through to the completion of setup in NetPlay mode. A couple of beta testers have been able to do the same for Global War. I’ve actually run Barbarossa through several impulses, but that was by taking mostly Pass actions for both sides. Testing NetPlay takes a lot of effort because it involves either two people or running two computers with a lot of back and forth. Now that I have saving and restoring NetPlay games working it will be much easier. That starting every game from the very beginning got old super fast.
PBEM
Nothing new, other than the comments above about saved games and the game engine.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
In making changes to support NetPlay I reviewed, and made a couple of changes to, the code determining which major powers are decision makers (I was able to reduce the code from over 1000 lines to 825). The important thing was to enable a player, who currently has no decisions to make, to have full access to the map, units, and various forms to review the status of his position vis-a-vis his opponent.
Another change I made for NetPlay, that has direct bearing on the AI Opponent code, was that I created a separate thread to run some code “in the background”. It is a minor technicality but I am happy to now have a working example of how to code background threads using Delphi. Virtually all the AIO code will execute in separate (i.e., background) threads. The intent is to have the AIO figure out what to do, while its human opponent is moving and clicking the mouse and using the keyboard. When the time comes for the AIO to decide something, it should be able to do so quickly.
Player’s Manual
I have finished with the text and screenshots for the Players Manual and Rules as Coded. Next up for my involvement with the documentation is proof reading the final layouts for how those will appear in print.
Tutorials, Training Videos, and Context Sensitive Help
Content Sensitive Help messages are finished (350+ messages totaling 693 kb). The 20 tutorials are also finished, although Rob W. is still worrying over the text for the interactive tutorials (261 kb). Rob wrote the text for all 10 of the interactive tutorials and Peter v. diligently went through them all, checking for clarity and typos. I made a bunch of code changes to support the interactive tutorials; there are still a couple of coding loose ends that I need to look into.
All that really remains here is for me to re-record the 6th and create the last three Training Videoes: 10, 11, and 12. The 6th (main form and drop down menus) needs redoing because I have seriously modified some of the forms since I recorded that video in December of 2009. The last 3 training videos are for naval movement, naval combat, and production/politics.
Historical Video, Music, and Sound Effects
I now have all the files I need for this except for the Italian National Anthem. For that I have a MP3 file, but I need a WAV file. All the sound files are WAV and the video files are WMV.
Hi !
For first, sorry for my very, very poor English...
I pretend only to speak English...
Anyway, a little thing: during the WWII the Italian National Anthem was the "Marcia Reale" ("Royal March").
Now the Italy is a Republic and so we use an other Anthem, "Fratelli d'Italia", "Italian brothers" (a lot more nice, IMVHO...)
Unlucky, I didnt found any file WAV of these Anthem, sorry, but perhaps you can use the file mp3 and change the extension.
Bye bye
Toni (an Italian addicted to WiW since from the 1991...)(22 games played, 21 defeats... A true World record, I suppose...)[X(][:D]
P.S. An old Italian popular sentence tell so: "Better a bad game without AI today (rectius, for exemple the 4 July 2012....) than a marvellous game with AI tomorrow/never...
"Fulsere quondam candidi tibi soles"
"What do we say to the God of Death? Not today." Syrius Forel
"I hate newspapermen. They come into camp and pick up their camp rumors and print them as facts. I regard them as spies, which, in truth, they are. If I killed them all there would be news from Hell before breakfast."- W.T. Sherman
Hi !
For first, sorry for my very, very poor English...
I pretend only to speak English...
Anyway, a little thing: during the WWII the Italian National Anthem was the "Marcia Reale" ("Royal March").
Now the Italy is a Republic and so we use an other Anthem, "Fratelli d'Italia", "Italian brothers" (a lot more nice, IMVHO...)
Unlucky, I didnt found any file WAV of these Anthem, sorry, but perhaps you can use the file mp3 and change the extension.
Bye bye
Toni (an Italian addicted to WiW since from the 1991...)(22 games played, 21 defeats... A true World record, I suppose...)[X(][:D]
P.S. An old Italian popular sentence tell so: "Better a bad game without AI today (rectius, for exemple the 4 July 2012....) than a marvellous game with AI tomorrow/never...
Welcome to the forum.[:)]
Thank you very much for the information on the Italian national anthem. That helps me understand what to look for.
But why there is this story about a new release date? I wouldn't be surprised either, but I can see no reference in Steve texts... Is it just a joke, misinformation, or there is some truth in it?
I am 95% sure (after checking some online magazines and Matrix pages) that that was a mistake. If it was not, it would be a very clear case for a court.
Unfortunately this mistake has had some difusion on the Net.
But why there is this story about a new release date? I wouldn't be surprised either, but I can see no reference in Steve texts... Is it just a joke, misinformation, or there is some truth in it?
Hola !
Yes, sorry, it's a nice joke, because the December 21 2012 is only the date of the end of the Word for Maya's calendar...
Obviously, it's a false interpretation of the Maya's calendar, and in any case it was impossible for that people to imagine the exact day of the end of the word...
There was even a movie (a very bad movie, IMNSHO...[8|]) about this doomsday, by Roland Emerich, called "2012"...
But why there is this story about a new release date? I wouldn't be surprised either, but I can see no reference in Steve texts... Is it just a joke, misinformation, or there is some truth in it?
Hola !
Yes, sorry, it's a nice joke, because the December 21 2012 is only the date of the end of the Word for Maya's calendar...
Obviously, it's a false interpretation of the Maya's calendar, and in any case it was impossible for that people to imagine the exact day of the end of the word...
There was even a movie (a very bad movie, IMNSHO...[8|]) about this doomsday, by Roland Emerich, called "2012"...
Obviously, it's a false interpretation of the Maya's calendar, and in any case it was impossible for that people to imagine the exact day of the end of the word...
There was even a movie (a very bad movie, IMNSHO...) about this doomsday, by Roland Emerich, called "2012"...
Bye Bye
Toni
P.S. Thanks to you, dear Shannon, for your polite words and for your incredible work for all us Wif's maniacs.
Are you saying I was telling a little(or big) white lie? Me??
"I hate newspapermen. They come into camp and pick up their camp rumors and print them as facts. I regard them as spies, which, in truth, they are. If I killed them all there would be news from Hell before breakfast."- W.T. Sherman
