History WWIIOL8


	WWIIOL A History In The Making "Articles" __________________________________________________ World War II Online Development Update by James Fudge Posted 08/07/2000 According to the latest post on the Cornered Rat website, the developers of the multiplayer simulation World War II Online have been working on finalizing the implementation of various systems in the game. According to the developers, this includes the mission system, text radio system and the physics model for certain mission areas like the Blitzkrieg theater. The developers say that the complication with implementing the mission system is that it shares database info with strategic system, and the rank system. Getting all these systems synchronized is one of the main tasks being worked on. The team is also getting the Map display design finished this week as well. They say that the "Mission planning map will allow functions for de-clutter by object type, setting waypoints, slew / zoom / scroll of the map display, text entry for mission description, and mission peramiter tools for setting vehicle type, strength, goals etc." Other properties being worked on include player communications used during combat. Cornered Rat says that at first communications will only support one channel, but as they expand the feature, the radio will not only support multiple channels, but allow players to define the function of each separately to, receive, transmit, or both. It will also support private messaging, and a "squelch" list. Some of the standard channels being planned include Allied / Axis, Country, Mission, Squad, GCI, HQ (Branch specific) and Command. Finally Cornered Rat says that they have redefined the Blitzkrieg theater geographically. According to the developer, they have "enlarged it and moved the boarders around to include more of France and England, as well as getting a lot more of the North Sea included." __________________________________________________ Received E-mail from WWIOL From: Mo Sherland ********************** Welcome to the WWIIOL Beta List. This list will keep all the registered beta testers apprised on the current status of the WWIIOL Beta. THIS IS A NON-REPLY CLOSED LIST. No one can reply or send to this list except for the Cornered Rat Software staff. If you wish to be removed from this list follow the instructions at the bottom of this email. ******************** Greetings all! Welcome to the WWIIOL Closed Beta! You will be called on to help test the systems and connectivity of WWIIOL before we release it to the public for general play testing in the open beta. Thank you for signing up. The initial test will be run in stages and details on those will be published to the testers as they are added. Phase I is complete and Phase II is being set up now to run starting the week of 26 June. These earlier Phases require a very focused test methodology and a limited tester base. As the Phases are finished, new features will need to be tested and more testers added to keep productivity and test regimens on target. The fact that you are receiving this mail indicates that you signed up for the test and are willing to sign and agree to an NDA (Non-Disclosure-Agreement) with Playnet Inc. This NDA will specify that testers under the agreement are bound to the terms enclosed. Please take a moment to take this to heart. We are taking this NDA very seriously and we reserve the right to not grant individuals an NDA to sign for any reason. By signing up for the closed beta you have been added to a pool of potential testers. By the final Phase of the closed beta test we will need all of you, but if there is a snag in finalizing the NDA you may be passed over. Signing up does not guarantee you a tester position. It does however make your participation very probable. When you receive an NDA, read it completely before signing it. If you cannot, or are not willing to, be bound by it, then we will hopefully see you in the open beta. For those of you that may be under age, you may be required to have legal guardians sign a binding contract in your behalf. You won't all be receiving an NDA at the same time, so if you have not gotten one yet, it does not mean you won't get one, or that you need to ask for one specifically. Patience! Again, we're doing this in phases, your time will come. The tests that we need done will largely be non-game issues initially. I don 't want to make this sound dull, drab, and threatening, but the amount of useful and timely feedback we need to hit our quality assurance milestones is staggering. We need your help, but we need that help to be focused and serious. The NDA is in place to assure a level of commitment between you and Playnet Inc. That commitment is hoped to be mirrored by the testers in their ability and willingness to do what is asked of them, do it well, and in a timely manner. All that stuff said, we are glad to have had such a great response. The community that is growing at http://www.wwiionline.com is more than we had hoped for, and proof that we decided to make the right game. WWIIOL is the dream of all of us here at CRS. The most comprehensive and integrated virtual battlefield yet, and all set in World War Two. It is our profound hope to bring WWIIOL to it's potential, and offer the greatest internet-based combat sim yet to the public. The closed and open beta tests will help us get this enormous job done. And your help in particular will give us feedback that we need to craft the final product into a winner. Thanks for your enthusiasm and efforts so far, stay tuned for your "call to arms", and clear your affairs if you think there may be a possible conflict of interest in signing the NDA with Playnet Inc. We are all excited about this product and glad to see so many willing to help bring it to life. Let's get to work! Chris "Mo" Sherland Producer: "World War Two Online" Playnet Inc http://www.playnet.com "Online interactive communities. anything else is just a game" ******************** Special Offer ********************** As thanks for registering for the beta, Cornered Rat Software and Playnet.com would like offer you World War II Online t-shirts at a special price. Click on the following link to read about this special offer. This is only available for a limited time and is not available to anyone not on the beta test list. http://www.wwiionline.com/betashirts01.html ----------------------- Beta News List ----------------------- To unsubscribe, send an email to majordomo@playnet.com with the text 'unsubscribe betanews' in the body of the message. __________________________________________________ World War II Online Development Update by James Fudge Posted 08/28/2000 According to the latest development update from Cornered Rat Studios, development of the company's online simulation World War II Online has not been going too smoothly. The latest entry (on the web site) from the development team details a couple of serious problems that --until recently-- brought development to a series of screeching halts. The first problem that the team encountered had to do with connectivity between clients and the game server. Currently the system can handle 500 simulated clients. The problem centers around server swapping, and load sharing - which until a few days ago was causing a serious headache to the people in charge of the networking aspects of the game. The team says that they are making progress in this area. another problem that cropped up relates to the animation system. Problems have been encountered with the physics model and the scripting language that were to be used to animate troops. Although some headway has been made in this area, the team thinks that they will probably only have the basics ready before the launch of the beta. Which brings us to the whole point of the Cornered Rat posts: Because of these and other problems, the beta has been slowed down a bit. Hopefully the developers can finish up the basics and start the beta test soon. Keep your eyes glued to www.sewer.playnet.com for breaking news on the development of this upcoming online sim. __________________________________________________ Click our unit symbol to return.