Matrix Games World in Flames: 7 Moments of Wow!

[Philkian]

One of the most famous board Wargames is finally coming to your screens! How will it look like? How will be the gameplay and what can you expect from it? Well, the developer wants to share with you 7 Moments of Wow, one for each week until the release.

Players Manual

The first thing to strike you about the game will be the Players Manual

.

It has hundreds of pages, far more than any other game, with 350+ screenshots. Indeed, it is so comprehensive that it comes in 3 printed volumes. The first describes how to install the program and start playing a game .

It includes background information on the board game World in Flames (WIF), some guidance on how to play well



,and the complete sequence of play
.
When using all the optional rules, the full sequence of play has 60 phases, 85 subphases, 11 sub-subphases, and 7 digressions. Volume 1 of the Players Manual describes who does what in each phase/subphase and how the game transitions between them.

The second volume covers the player interface in detail, with screenshots of all 150+ forms

.
Each form has accompanying text describing the form’s visual elements and how to make decisions using the form

.

The text from this section of the Players Manual is available during game play as context sensitive help. During a game you don’t need to leaf through the Players Manual looking for how to use a form, just click on the Help button to bring up the text from the Players Manual that describes the form

.

Volume 2 also describes all the optional rules



The last section of the second volume contains the appendices: charts and tables describing keyboard and mouse commands, unit information, terrain effects, and combat result tables. Because the Players Manual is also included as a PDF file (re: Adobe Acrobat), you can print individual pages.



That means you can print your own reference pages of the combat results tables, the terrain effect chart, etc. - if you so desire. Of course they are also accessible during game play from a drop down Help menu on the game’s main form.

The third volume of the Players Manual contains the Rules as Coded (RAC) which is based on the board game’s rule booklet but with up-to-date corrections and clarifications, plus annotated deviations of the computer game from the board game

.

For players of the board game, this should be a familiar document, just improved for MWIF.

The printed material that comes with MWIF is not some slap-dash affair thrown together as an afterthought. In the Players Manual and Rules as Coded volumes you can see the tangible results of years of effort to make a great game accessible to a wide audience of wargamers.

[bo]

Appreciate your comments Philkian, also some of us tyro's are doing an AAR on the game trying to get across to board game players of WIF what it will look like on their computers and to players and fans of Matix's games who know nothing about this game, what it will look like. The AAR's are taken directly from the games combat resolutions and they are decided by the games program and not by a beta teaster.

Bo

Bill Bowen

Beta tester ----Matrix World in Flames.

[micheljq]

Any release date or price? [:)]

[composer99]

Michel:

I believe the release date has been circulating around for some time. Can't recall where it first appeared (in an official Matrix forum post or other Matrix source), but it's November 7.

As far as price goes I know nothing.

[Numdydar]

ORIGINAL: micheljq

Any release date or price? [:)]

No word on pricing, but I suppect not $49.99 [:)]

The release date has been set as November 7th, 2013

[borsook79]

Looks interesting and would surely love it and buy it if it didn't use the NATO symbols but some icon set...

[composer99]

Borsook:

While MWiF does use NATO symbols for the land units, the naval and air units are represented either by the actual ship (named naval units), generic ship icons (generic naval units) or an aircraft typical of the unit (air units).

You can see some of that in this thread.

[borsook79]

ORIGINAL: composer99

Borsook:

While MWiF does use NATO symbols for the land units, the naval and air units are represented either by the actual ship (named naval units), generic ship icons (generic naval units) or an aircraft typical of the unit (air units).

You can see some of that in this thread.

Yes, I noticed that, but that makes the matter worse for me, a mix of Nato and icons is somehow strange to comprehend for me personally. I have nothing against Nato as an option but just can't stomach a situation in which it is the only option. It's probably due to the fact that when I was playing wargames growing up those in my country did not use Nato symbols and they seem alien to me.

[Neilster]

Infantry and armour and a couple of variants on them are the main ones. Not hard. Hovering over a unit tells you all about it anyway [:)]

Don't let let that stop you enjoying such a fabulous game system [;)]

Cheers, Neilster

[Easo79]

ORIGINAL: Numdydar

ORIGINAL: micheljq

Any release date or price? [:)]

No word on pricing, but I suppect not $49.99 [:)]

The release date has been set as November 7th, 2013

As I live in Euroland and Matrixgames is an American corporation, I was delighted observing Mr Bernanke's lust for printing dollars, in the hope that I could get better prices as times goes by. But when looking for other prices here at this website I have found that they are in Euros (I guess that is because I am behind a wall of cookies or some other weird Internet trick marking me as Eurocreature), so I do not know if I can benefit of the deluge of green paper money…

As alternative to buying the game, I am initiating operations aimed at luring someone into taking up that financial burden from me, and being kind enough to purchase the game for me as a Christmas present…[8D].

(by the way, can a digital download be gifted?)

[RockKahn]

The value of the Dollar is at a 7 month low, so in theory it should take fewer Euros to buy American products. Unless the value of the Euro is falling along with it.

[Easo79]

ORIGINAL: RockKahn

The value of the Dollar is at a 7 month low, so in theory it should take fewer Euros to buy American products. Unless the value of the Euro is falling along with it.

Yes, but if the price is, e.g. "65,99 euros" I am not sure they are going to lower that figure accordingly if the Euro increases its value relative to dollar (today it is at a 2013 maximum, and it is increasing...). If I could buy in dollars, I know the bank would calculate everything using the latest (cheapest for me) exhange rate.

[RockKahn]

There are several posts in different threads discussing exchange rates/prices. After doing a search I found this. It sounds like it's supposed to be updated daily, but maybe I just don't have a clear understanding of it.

I found this in another thread where they were discussing a problem with the exchange rate. Hope this helps:

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

There's a direct currency conversion, which is done based on daily conversion rates and cached on our store server. The intention is to have a direct conversion. The price on the page in the screenshot is the cached price. Once you hit the button to actually purchase, the uncached price should show up in the cart. What does that look like to those of you seeing either the wrong currency or a conversion that's off by a small amount?

Regards,

- Erik

[Shannon V. OKeets]

ORIGINAL: Borsook

ORIGINAL: composer99

Borsook:

While MWiF does use NATO symbols for the land units, the naval and air units are represented either by the actual ship (named naval units), generic ship icons (generic naval units) or an aircraft typical of the unit (air units).

You can see some of that in this thread.

Yes, I noticed that, but that makes the matter worse for me, a mix of Nato and icons is somehow strange to comprehend for me personally. I have nothing against Nato as an option but just can't stomach a situation in which it is the only option. It's probably due to the fact that when I was playing wargames growing up those in my country did not use Nato symbols and they seem alien to me.

The problem with using icons for the land units is that there are too many unit types. It was possible with the air units because there are only 7. For the naval units, where there are 15 unit types, a couple of letter abbreviations and differences in the combat factors enabled differentiating them all.

But given the 38 land unit types, each of which has special characteristics/capabilities in the game, it wasn't feasible to devise a unique icon for each without going to something comparable to the NATO symbols. And additional information has to be shown on the counter: army/corps versus division, reserve units, minor country designation (250+ means that using color alone wouldn't get the job done), and elite versus non-elite.

The game also has 8 levels of zoom, so whatever system was used had to be capable of displaying the type of unit at least for zoom levels 3-8. That's a lot of subtleties to incorporate into an icon. Sorry, but it was beyond my ability.

---

// ****************************************************************************
// Land units: 0 - 38; utCityBasedVolunteer is not used & available.
// ****************************************************************************
TUnitType = (utInfantry, utCavalry, utParatroop, utAirLanding, utAirCav,
utMarine, utMountain, utSki, utEngineer, utMotorizedEngineer,
utMarineEngineer, utInfantryHQ, utArmorHQ, utPartisanHQ,
utMilitia, utPartisan, utWarlord, utCityBasedVolunteer,
utTerritorial, utGarrison, utMotorized, utMechanized, utArmor,
utArmoredMarine, utArmoredParatroop, utArtillery,
utMotorizedArtillery, utRocket, utRailwayGun, utSelfPropelled,
utTankDestroyer, utAntiTank, utMotorizedAntiTank, utLightAntiAir,
utMotorizedLightAntiAir, utHeavyAntiAir, utMotorizedHeavyAntiAir,
utSupply, utLeader,
// ****************************************************************************
// Naval units: 39 - 53.
// ****************************************************************************
utCarrier, utLightCarrier, utBattleship, utCruiser,
utLightCruiser, utAuxiliaryCruiser, utASWEscort, utASWCarrier,
utAmphibious, utNavalTransport, utNavalSupply, utLiner, utConvoy,
utSubmarine, utFrogmen,
// ****************************************************************************
// Air units: 54 - 60.
// ****************************************************************************
utFighter, utCarrierAir, utNavalAir, utLandAir, utAirTransport,
utVWeapon, utABomb,
// ****************************************************************************
// Special units: 61 - 71. utOilRepair is a damaged synthetic oil plant.
// ****************************************************************************
utSynthOil, utPilot, utFactory, utFort, utAvailable1,
utAvailable2, utOffensive, utOilRepair, utOilPoints,
utBuildPoints, utNone);

[Easo79]

ORIGINAL: RockKahn

There are several posts in different threads discussing exchange rates/prices. After doing a search I found this. It sounds like it's supposed to be updated daily, but maybe I just don't have a clear understanding of it.

I found this in another thread where they were discussing a problem with the exchange rate. Hope this helps:

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

There's a direct currency conversion, which is done based on daily conversion rates and cached on our store server. The intention is to have a direct conversion. The price on the page in the screenshot is the cached price. Once you hit the button to actually purchase, the uncached price should show up in the cart. What does that look like to those of you seeing either the wrong currency or a conversion that's off by a small amount?

Regards,

- Erik

Thanks!!! [:)]



GO, Bernanke, GO!!!

[bo]

ORIGINAL: Easo79

ORIGINAL: Numdydar

ORIGINAL: micheljq

Any release date or price? [:)]

No word on pricing, but I suppect not $49.99 [:)]

The release date has been set as November 7th, 2013

As I live in Euroland and Matrixgames is an American corporation, I was delighted observing Mr Bernanke's lust for printing dollars, in the hope that I could get better prices as times goes by. But when looking for other prices here at this website I have found that they are in Euros (I guess that is because I am behind a wall of cookies or some other weird Internet trick marking me as Eurocreature), so I do not know if I can benefit of the deluge of green paper money…

As alternative to buying the game, I am initiating operations aimed at luring someone into taking up that financial burden from me, and being kind enough to purchase the game for me as a Christmas present…[8D].

(by the way, can a digital download be gifted?)

My dear senorita.

There are many men here who would gladly buy this game for you, and I would too but I am retired and living off of Mr. Bernanke's measly Social Security payments.

Bo

[bo]

ORIGINAL: Borsook

ORIGINAL: composer99

Borsook:

While MWiF does use NATO symbols for the land units, the naval and air units are represented either by the actual ship (named naval units), generic ship icons (generic naval units) or an aircraft typical of the unit (air units).

You can see some of that in this thread.

Yes, I noticed that, but that makes the matter worse for me, a mix of Nato and icons is somehow strange to comprehend for me personally. I have nothing against Nato as an option but just can't stomach a situation in which it is the only option. It's probably due to the fact that when I was playing wargames growing up those in my country did not use Nato symbols and they seem alien to me.

There is always Panzer corp.

Bo

[borsook79]

ORIGINAL: Easo79

ORIGINAL: RockKahn

The value of the Dollar is at a 7 month low, so in theory it should take fewer Euros to buy American products. Unless the value of the Euro is falling along with it.

Yes, but if the price is, e.g. "65,99 euros" I am not sure they are going to lower that figure accordingly if the Euro increases its value relative to dollar (today it is at a 2013 maximum, and it is increasing...). If I could buy in dollars, I know the bank would calculate everything using the latest (cheapest for me) exhange rate.

You can buy it in dollars even if living in EU (I have done so today), when you get to the payment page you can switch currencies at will

[borsook79]

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets

ORIGINAL: Borsook

ORIGINAL: composer99

Borsook:

While MWiF does use NATO symbols for the land units, the naval and air units are represented either by the actual ship (named naval units), generic ship icons (generic naval units) or an aircraft typical of the unit (air units).

You can see some of that in this thread.

Yes, I noticed that, but that makes the matter worse for me, a mix of Nato and icons is somehow strange to comprehend for me personally. I have nothing against Nato as an option but just can't stomach a situation in which it is the only option. It's probably due to the fact that when I was playing wargames growing up those in my country did not use Nato symbols and they seem alien to me.

The problem with using icons for the land units is that there are too many unit types. It was possible with the air units because there are only 7. For the naval units, where there are 15 unit types, a couple of letter abbreviations and differences in the combat factors enabled differentiating them all.

But given the 38 land unit types, each of which has special characteristics/capabilities in the game, it wasn't feasible to devise a unique icon for each without going to something comparable to the NATO symbols. And additional information has to be shown on the counter: army/corps versus division, reserve units, minor country designation (250+ means that using color alone wouldn't get the job done), and elite versus non-elite.

The game also has 8 levels of zoom, so whatever system was used had to be capable of displaying the type of unit at least for zoom levels 3-8. That's a lot of subtleties to incorporate into an icon. Sorry, but it was beyond my ability.

---

// ****************************************************************************
// Land units: 0 - 38; utCityBasedVolunteer is not used & available.
// ****************************************************************************
TUnitType = (utInfantry, utCavalry, utParatroop, utAirLanding, utAirCav,
utMarine, utMountain, utSki, utEngineer, utMotorizedEngineer,
utMarineEngineer, utInfantryHQ, utArmorHQ, utPartisanHQ,
utMilitia, utPartisan, utWarlord, utCityBasedVolunteer,
utTerritorial, utGarrison, utMotorized, utMechanized, utArmor,
utArmoredMarine, utArmoredParatroop, utArtillery,
utMotorizedArtillery, utRocket, utRailwayGun, utSelfPropelled,
utTankDestroyer, utAntiTank, utMotorizedAntiTank, utLightAntiAir,
utMotorizedLightAntiAir, utHeavyAntiAir, utMotorizedHeavyAntiAir,
utSupply, utLeader,
// ****************************************************************************
// Naval units: 39 - 53.
// ****************************************************************************
utCarrier, utLightCarrier, utBattleship, utCruiser,
utLightCruiser, utAuxiliaryCruiser, utASWEscort, utASWCarrier,
utAmphibious, utNavalTransport, utNavalSupply, utLiner, utConvoy,
utSubmarine, utFrogmen,
// ****************************************************************************
// Air units: 54 - 60.
// ****************************************************************************
utFighter, utCarrierAir, utNavalAir, utLandAir, utAirTransport,
utVWeapon, utABomb,
// ****************************************************************************
// Special units: 61 - 71. utOilRepair is a damaged synthetic oil plant.
// ****************************************************************************
utSynthOil, utPilot, utFactory, utFort, utAvailable1,
utAvailable2, utOffensive, utOilRepair, utOilPoints,
utBuildPoints, utNone);

I understand you had to weigh the benefits and costs of that... still, producing such icons doesn't have to costly, as an example I could use Advanced Tactics Gold, which uses very simplistic and at the same time clear to read icons.

[Centuur]

MWIF is based on the board game. In there, Nato symbols are used for land units. That's it.

I think that Nato symbols are easier to give a fast overview of a land units capabilities than all other symbols I've seen used in board games. This is because they are roughly the same in all type of games using them.

But, if sales go high enough, we can make Steve's life somewhat more difficult and put an option in MWIF 4, 5 or 6... [:D] for using icons in stead of Nato symbols. Personally, I would stick to the Nato symbols...