Matrix Games World in Flames: 7 Moments of Wow!

[rickier65]

I've been following this game forum for several years now.

I have to say these 'moments of WOW" look quite impressive.

The maps and counters look great, and with 3 hardbound manuals, there will be a lot of reading going on.

Rick

[SamuraiProgrmmr]

Here is hoping the 7th moment of WOW is an early release! (At least the tutorials?)

PLEEEEEEEEEEEZE

[Philkian]

Playing World in Flames

The seventh moment of Wow for MWIF is playing the game against human opponents, either face-to-face over the board, or over the internet. When you are learning the game you should play both sides in Solitaire mode. Without acquiring some experience with the basics of MWIF, you would be a mere babe in arms when competing against a skilled opponent.

Playing Over-the-board

If you have the room, the patience, and opponents who live nearby, then you can use the printed map from Matrix Games World in Flames to play against opponents face-to-face. This is how World in Flames was designed to be played, across the table from friends in an informal setting. The unified world map is large, but not all of it needs to be laid out. For example, the map segments for the Americas and most of the Pacific Ocean typically see very little action during a game. But the benefit of having all of Scandinavia


Africa


China


and the USSR east of Stalingrad


adds enormously to the game.



Playing Over Internet

As you acquire knowledge and confidence you can contact other players of comparable skill level for playing over the internet. MWIF makes this easy to do, providing an online Seeking Opponents database so players can find opponents and arrange to play a selected scenario


with specific optional rules



To simplify playing over the internet, Matrix Games maintains a server 24/7 to transfer data between players’ computers during games. As players make decisions, that information is automatically sent to the other players, whose computers update with the new information. All of this happens virtually instantaneously, with delays measured in microseconds. As a player’s armor corps overruns a pathetic division left behind as a speed bump by his opponent, the opponent instantly sees his division evaporate from the map. When one player successfully intercepts and sinks naval transports carrying prized armor reinforcements to North Africa, his opponent can immediately start cursing the cruelty of fate.

Starting a new World in Flames game over the internet merely requires the person originating the game to know the user name of his opponent. He starts a new internet game just like any other new World in Flames game, and when he comes to the list of players, he types in his own and his opponent’s name


The program then logs him in to the Matrix Games server for World in Flames. His opponent has even less to do: he just clicks on the program’s opening screen’s button to go to the Matrix Games server for World in Flames


Once both players are connected, the program informs both players and starts the game. That’s all: a normal new game start by the originator, and one mouse click for his opponent.

You can save the game at any point and later restart it with a few mouse clicks. Indeed, if you have turned on the Player Interface option to save games automatically, MWIF automatically saves the game at the beginning of each phase of the game, and at the beginning of most of the subphases within a phase. Restoring a saved game for play over the internet is equally simple: both players restore the game from the same point where it was saved


MWIF logs into the Matrix Games server for World in Flames and informs both players when their opponent is ready to play


Then the game resumes.


Well folks, this was the last Moment of Wow! See you next week for the release of Matrix's World in Flames!

[composer99]

When one player successfully intercepts and sinks naval transports carrying prized armor reinforcements to North Africa, his opponent can immediately start cursing the cruelty of fate.

Been there, done that, fate duly cursed. [:)]

[marcussmccannis]

{Rubbing hands together eagerly awaiting to lay out cash for game}

[Gooseberry]

Don't want to sound like a pessimist, but was just wondering why the WiF product page still says "Release Date: Coming Soon"?

Isn't this due to be released next week?

I'm ready to handover my hard earned cash to get my hands on this.
Just tell me where when and how much.

[Numdydar]

Sigh.

November 7 IS STILL the official release date.

This has been repeated several times in the forum already.

[composer99]

Numdydar:

Gooseberry's got all of 2 posts to his name.

If he got re-directed to this thread by some other mechanism (say, links to this specific thread from Matrix Games Facebook posts - which I have seen on my feed) he might not have seen all the other release date announcements.

(I should add that I find it surprising that the release date entry on the product page does not contain the announced release date.)

[Numdydar]

So someone with only two posts cannot do a simple search? Especially since this has been stated several times in differnt threads?

I do agree on the product page update though. But I can also see why Matrix wants to have the ability to leave their options open as well [:)]

[Blorsh]

Maps are very beatifull, but if the terrain sacle changes at China ,I think the game changes a lot for oriental front, now is not possible to set up all chinese army adjacent to each other. At original game is not allowed to make a blitzkrieg outside Europa. A garrison always turns when moving outside Europa. A lot o different things.

If the terrain changes perhaps the scale of some armies unit would not be changed? Do you think the game changes or no?

Thank You.

[Centuur]

Yes, the game does change. The Japanese-Chinese war in WiF is a WW I type of war, with all hexes stacked with units. In MWIF this war becomes much less static, however, if you ask if it changes the balance of the game, I don't think so (time should tell if it does). It sure makes things a lot more interesting in that area (and more fun...).

[Shannon V. OKeets]

ORIGINAL: Blorsh

Maps are very beatifull, but if the terrain sacle changes at China ,I think the game changes a lot for oriental front, now is not possible to set up all chinese army adjacent to each other. At original game is not allowed to make a blitzkrieg outside Europa. A garrison always turns when moving outside Europa. A lot o different things.

If the terrain changes perhaps the scale of some armies unit would not be changed? Do you think the game changes or no?

Thank You.

Most of China is mountains, so the garrison units still have a lot of trouble moving about and staying organized. Bad weather has the same effect on units with on 2 movement points. Check out the screenshot of China in the last Moment of Wow above. Only NE China has a lot of clear terrain.

[autarkis1967]

Shannon, Will the game auto update patches or patch when joining the community server or will there be a manual patch method? Hate it when everyone has different versions and spend an hour getting everyone on the same patch level? I am not so naive to think it will not be patched since this is such a complex game. Thrilled that this is so close to being ready for prime time!!!

[Shannon V. OKeets]

ORIGINAL: autarkis1967

Shannon, Will the game auto update patches or patch when joining the community server or will there be a manual patch method? Hate it when everyone has different versions and spend an hour getting everyone on the same patch level? I am not so naive to think it will not be patched since this is such a complex game. Thrilled that this is so close to being ready for prime time!!!

When you fire up the game, there is a button on the first screen you see that is Check for Updates. If both players click on that when they start a new game, or restore a saved game, both their computers will then be running the latest version. Updates take ~1 minute, so it is no big deal to do this. I guess this makes it quasi-automatic, since the player only has to click on the update button to have his version of the game be current.

Another way to check is to fire up a solitaire game and use the About the Game menu item on the Help drop down menu. That shows the program's current version number (as the program itself perceives it).

[Joseignacio]

ORIGINAL: Philkian



Well folks, this was the last Moment of Wow! See you next week for the release of Matrix's World in Flames!

[juntoalmar]

Hey, some folk from Essen has posted a picture of the unboxing of MWiF.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/316 ... 0unbox.jpg

[WIF_Killzone]

Love it!

ORIGINAL: juntoalmar

Hey, some folk from Essen has posted a picture of the unboxing of MWiF.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/316 ... 0unbox.jpg

[Zorachus99]

If you took this thing on yourself, unwilling, at others' asking, then you have pity and honour from me. And I marvel at you: to keep it hid and not to use it. You are a new people and a new world to me. Are all your kin of like sort? Your land must be a realm of peace and content, and there must gardners be in high hounour.

-Faramir to Frodo in the Two Towers

[Kathi51!]

Hopefully posting correctly as I have just joined and am posting the first time:

Thrilled since weeks, months, years ... by the idea - much more the actual possibility of wiffing without backpains and nervous tremour due to - you all know the drill..., one item I have not gathered from the thread:

To what extent, in which manner ... and so forth does the MWIF " game engine " enforce the the rules?

What are we looking at here? A digital copy of the analog game? Or are the game mechanics enforcing the turn, impulse structure ... ? When I started moving - was bloody v. Rundstedt in nowhere + 1/- 1 or whatever? Does " a bell ring " when a naval entity moves through a sea area where I could intercept?

I would be most grateful for enlightenment

[Shannon V. OKeets]

ORIGINAL: Kathi51!

Hopefully posting correctly as I have just joined and am posting the first time:

Thrilled since weeks, months, years ... by the idea - much more the actual possibility of wiffing without backpains and nervous tremour due to - you all know the drill..., one item I have not gathered from the thread:

To what extent, in which manner ... and so forth does the MWIF " game engine " enforce the the rules?

What are we looking at here? A digital copy of the analog game? Or are the game mechanics enforcing the turn, impulse structure ... ? When I started moving - was bloody v. Rundstedt in nowhere + 1/- 1 or whatever? Does " a bell ring " when a naval entity moves through a sea area where I could intercept?

I would be most grateful for enlightenment

Welcome![:)]

"Dems da Rules!" MWIF is very faithful to the board game.

The game engine advances the sequence of play (there is also a popup form displaying the SOP as the game progresses - if you have questions as to what happens next). Possible naval interceptions generate a prompt for the side that can intercept: Yes or No?

An entire section of the Players Manual (section 7) is devoted to explaining the sequence of play, what happens during each phase/subphase, when the phase/subphase ends, and what happens next. It was a problem for our group of over-the-board players to remember all the phases and not inadvertently skip over some at times. So I made this as obvious as possible, for all you older folks out there[;)], but primarily for new players who were still learning the game.