All Leave is Cancelled - Return to Your Duty Station! Campaign 174 has begun this Thursday, July 16th at about 4:00 PM server time (PST).

Changes made for this campaign:

1. Bridge AOs were increased from 6 to 12.
   
2. Starter accounts get as surprise units for this campaign the Sniper and the Bofors

Your High Command top leaders for both sides are:

• Allied Commander in Chief - Jwrona
  
• Chief of Staff - Foe
  
• Allied Discord

• Axis Commander in Chief - Googs
  
• Chief of Staff - Shagher
  
• Axis Discord

Be sure to get in-game when you can and support your side!

Take a few moments and watch the below video created by CHIMM and our marketing team which tracks how the map moved during our 66 day campaign. It was epic! From starting points all the way to the west - a stall - and then a map move all the way to the east. At the end of the video see the rankings of Top Players in all categories for the campaign. Some real dedicated and skilled soldiers out there!

Congrats and thanks to retiring Allied CinC Justinrot for his dedication and leadership to the Allied side.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_caW2gdPig

The server is now in intermission mode, which means everyone gets free play to all units, with unlimited supply and no rank restrictions! Campaign 174 will start on Thrustday July 16.

Join our facebook group to help us spread the word and get exclusive updates!

Enjoy and subscribe to help us move faster forward!

Coming sometime by the end of this month, version 1.36.6.0 will be live to the WWII Online players. We'll be highlighting the building/texture development in greater detail, in the form of screenshots and a video walkthrough. I also want to give you an update on a couple of other items that are a work in progress and not yet planned for release. Let's dive right in!

Here's a quick look at the depot (spawnable), church, and capture point buildings.



A quick walkthrough with XOOM checking out these buildings in greater detail, with a quick reminder about the return of 10 old school bunkers to frontline towns and a walk through the pentagon. The infantry walkthrough is using the new STG44 and the enhanced infantry field of view settings which increase the situational awareness of all infantrymen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tpCnbCoIcw&feature=emb_title



WELLINGTON BOMBER

The "Wellington" Allied Bomber has officially started 3D modeling stages and here you can take a quick look at the Bombay doors being worked on.



DINANT HILL TEXTURE UPDATE

PITTPETE is working on updating lots of terrain objects as you may know, and with a little nudge of OLDZEKE he's now working on the "Dinant" hillside. Take a look at its current progress:



TERRAIN TEXTURE COLORIZATION FINE TUNING
With recent feedback received by players, PITTPETE is working on the colorization of the terrain textures, likely making it a little bit darker green. In this test (proof of concept) photo, you can see the center around town as being a bit more green than the little brighter / orange-ish perimeter. Internally this is what we're recommending he do based on your recent feedback... what do you think?

EXPLORING THE ADDITION OF NEW ENVIRONMENT OBJECTS

Tr6al (our in-house terrain guru) is working on bringing in new environmental objects into the game, to help fill up some of the bigger areas throughout the game world with more "stuff." In this example, he's taking a look at some woefully underutilized rocks. Please note this is an exploration and may not result into the final product.



YOUR SUPPORT MAKES ALL OF THIS POSSIBLE

It goes without saying that we couldn't do this without your support guys. Subscribe and help us make WWII Online even better. Any subscription level helps us out tremendously.


Tell us what you think of these updates?

From our president XOOM:
June had some HUGE accomplishments that we can't help but outline in case you missed it, and we're going to be going into details about what to expect from CRS in July, such as the next game release scheduled (Version 1.36.6.0). We also have another major release planned for September which will include several new vehicles being added to the game.

This is all being made possible by YOU, the WWII Online player base and your continued subscriptions, so let me be the first to thank you and I hope you find the many details and photos in this article to your liking. Have a safe and Happy 4th of July weekend everyone!

June 1st: We released game version 1.36.5.0 which brought in the modular trench PPO's; Sturmgewehr 44, combat engineers and the long-awaited server tracked "bombs" - now you can conduct high altitude bombing.



June 6th: We celebrated our 19th anniversary with a special event, "Operation: Rapid Strike" on the Training/Events server.



Top players received special awards including this massive custom made desk writing pad provided by, "CHIMM."



June 8th: Forum software upgraded after 4 years. Huge thanks to B2K and PILOTMC.




June 9th: Allies down to 1 out of 3 french factory towns, start a massive counter-offensive resulting in a historic recovery. We are currently on Day 56 and the fight will be raging on for some time still.



Consider joining the Allied High Command and/or the German High Command to help the war effort.

June 12th: New "Heads Up Display" waypoints added and optimized, expanding the mission leader toolset and battlefield cohesion. Great job dev team!




June 29th: CRS showcases the latest updates to the water textures, including enhanced water wakes.





While it is pretty hard to beat that month, we do have quite a bit in store for you coming! Version 1.36.6.0 is slated for release and includes a multitude of items. Here's what we can share for this version at this time:

• Enhanced infantry field of view
  
• Aircraft damage level audit
  
• 10 old school bunkers being added to key cities along the frontlines
  
• Updated ATG crewman characters (M1, 6 Pounder, and Pak38)
  
• Improved water shaders/textures (as shown above)
  
• Flak38 receiving its appropriate model
  
• Morris truck "riding" positions improved
  
• Several bug fixes/improvements
  
• More not listed

Not related to the release, CRS is taking crash to desktop issues very seriously and we've laid out several details on how to get your DXDIAG report to WWIIOL support. We're then taking this actionable intelligence over to our Developers for review to help reduce crashes that players may be experiencing.

In terms of server stability, OHM (WWIIOL Game Manager) is pleased to report that the game server has been online and healthy for over 20 days now continuously. This no doubt is to the great credit of our Systems Administrator, "PILOTMC." CRS is constantly working to make your time with us enjoyable and stable, this is evidence that we're making great strides in this department.


We firmly believe infantry players will love this update as we work to increase your peripheral view and add more to your screen. This will help you achieve increased situational awareness, and during some testing, we noticed it was also much easier to corner buildings as you could better anticipate the turns. Beyond that, WWII Online is 100% about "scale," what better way to feel that scale then to truly be immersed in it?

CURRENT INFANTRY FIELD OF VIEW

Check the corners of the screen to examine the differences. It's important to note that while aiming down your weapon, there is no difference - it zooms in just the same. This is going to greatly help players acquire and engage their targets!




ENHANCED INFANTRY FIELD OF VIEW

As you can see, your view peripherals now include the buildings on the left and the right, whereas the above picture did not. #winning



Significant work has been done to make WWII Online's aircraft damage models more realistic than they have ever been before. The work that went into the level of detail in the accomplishment of this task was astonishing. Based on various historical WWII and Post War WWII AC component and survive-ability documents such as AC Aluminum Alloy Studies, Aircraft Vulnerability and Armament Effectiveness Studies, Ammunition vs AC Fuel tank Studies, and other WWII AC damage oriented documentation, the effort to properly calculate, integrate, and then verify "real-world results" tailored around the uniqueness of every airframe has taken several months of work and multiple rounds of testing to accomplish. We know that all of our Pilots have been asking for a review and well, here it is!

Special thanks to Scotsman for the deep research and for HATCH assisting with implementation.

OLDZEKE has put together some GUN CAM footage for you to demonstrate the differences, enjoy!

109E-4 vs Bell14a
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsJKlfNrxz8&feature=emb_title

Spitfire Mk Ia vs 109E-4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlqQY5fH2CU&feature=emb_title

H-75 vs 109E-4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sulxGBwuJbE&feature=emb_title

109E-4 vs Hurricane Mk I
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCja-VOC_qyBEqxz4dewgS8w?feature=emb_ch_name_ex

Spitfire Mk Ia vs Heinkel 111
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQtG5XqN2y0&feature=emb_title

Bringing the new bunkers to the frontline is the beginning of distributing more of them throughout the game world. This will serve as an excellent test for feedback and let us know how they're doing. A big thanks to XL2RIPPR for his fine work on these bunkers, as well as a big salute to Tr6al for implementing them. Here are a few examples.



Thanks to BMBM, we are getting some much-needed updates on legacy ATG crewman for the M1, 6 Pounder, and Pak38. Yes, you can see even the US forces are actually going to be getting all of their crew members filled out with the appropriate trooper, WOOT!



Thanks to BMBM, here's the updates FlaK 38 model.



It goes without saying that we couldn't do this without your support guys. Subscribe now and help us make WWII Online even better. Any subscription level helps us out tremendously, right now you can subscribe to a premium account for only $5 a month during 1 year (-50%)! The promo ends on July 9th!

Tell us what you think of these updates? What would you like to see more of? Thanks for reading and Happy 4th of July everyone!

WWII Online activated its most generous discount ever offered, since its release on Steam. Summer deals will end on July 9th 2020.
We would like to thank everyone for your support as we continue to upgrade the game. This is an unique opportunity to join our community and enjoy the best WWIIOL can offer!

-80% on a 30-days premium access, or $2.99/mo!
-60% on a 90-days premium access, or $5.3/mo!
-50% on a 365-days premium access, or $5.4/mo!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/667291/World_War_II_Online__PREMIUM/

Attention, for premium content you will see the discount applied only once you added these to your cart:


-80% on a 30-days Starter access, or $0.99/mo !
https://store.steampowered.com/app/667290/World_War_II_Online__STARTER/

-50% on all our DLC content!
https://store.steampowered.com/dlc/251950/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/908473/Medium_Armor_Pack/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/908474/Combat_Fighter_Pack/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/908461/Paratrooper_Pack/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/908460/Leadership_Pack/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/936710/Mortarman_Pack/?snr=1_5_9__405

https://store.steampowered.com/app/908472/Light_Armor_Pack/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/908470/Light_AA_Gun_Pack/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/908471/Light_AT_Gun_Pack/

The production team has been busy to help improve the visual appeal of WWII Online, and today we're going to show you a couple of before and after (work in progress) screenshots. We think the Air Force guys are going to be pretty pleased to see the updated water shaders (courtesy of OLDZEKE) as it will add depth perception while flying over all waterways. PITTPETE has been working diligently on the improved textures of all ground terrain textures, and Tr6al is working to create new town layouts in existing towns to diversify how battles are fought. Leave your feedback in the comments section.

Here are the current shaders.



And now for the updated version!






And now for an updated look at Dinant.



Here's an example of how the team is working to get you enhanced town layouts to diversify the way battles are fought. In this example, the town is getting more civilian buildings along the roads, and depots are being relocated to leave more space between each other.
Special kudos to Tr6al for all of his hard work.

This hotfix provides a fix for invisible mobile spawns, performance boosts, brand new customizations available for the "Heads Up Display" so you can get exactly what you want. This is all in thanks to your quick feedback and our team at CRS moving with a purpose to provide a record turn around in solutions. Thank you all for your continued reports, please read the full extent of this readme to understand all the changes coming in.


This release is a Hotfix patch to fix a few bugs that popped up in the latest release.


BUG FIXES

• Invisible FRUs should now be fixed
  
• FPS loss when stacking multiple straight Sandbags together should now be fixed
  
• Corrected an issue that allowed some PPOs to be placed under player units
  
• HUD Waypoints should now disappear properly whenever the Mission Lead deletes them or the Mission closes
  
• Implemented a change that should alleviate Firebugs
  
• Fixed an issue that was causing continuous messages to appear for the new player AI Notification

UPDATES

• The curved Sandbags should now be able to be attached to one another
  
• The DB7's Bombardier's altitude gauge is now more visible whenever looking at the instrument view
  
• Updated the pilot's view so that the top of the altitude gauges in the DB7 and Boston I can be fully seen
  
• The DB7, Boston I and He111's altitude and airspeed gauge textures have updated, making them much easier to read
  
• HUD Waypoints now have a separate Preference Options page with new Options
  
• The ATG PPO can now be attached to the new Trench PPOs
  
• The new Trench PPOs have had their wood and grass textures darkened in order to help blend them into their environment
  
• The new Trench PPOs were updated to not have such a "rough" floor while walking/running on them
  
• Combat Engineers have had their spawnlist selection menu image updated

NEW CONTENT

• Opacity of HUD Waypoints can now be adjusted per player's preferences
  
• The color of each HUD Waypoint can now be adjusted per player's preferences
  
• The distance at which HUD Waypoints are no longer shown can now be selected per player's preferences
  
• A new hotkey Keymapper Option (default shift+y) has been added to allow players to hide/show HUD Waypoints while spawned into the game
  
• When it's night time in-game, HUD Waypoints will have their opacity reduced by 40% so that they aren't as bright during the night

Help us move forward and enlist now!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/667291/World_War_II_Online__PREMIUM/


S! Cornered Rat Software

Our 19th anniversary event "Operation Rapid Strike" was a huge success! American and British forces landed in occupied France on D-day but in 1943. A 4 hour air, land and sea battle ensued as the Allies pushed the Axis forces back to the east. To see the top winners of the event read below....

Operation Rapid Strike showcased the best of our game in a 4 hour special D-day event of intense battles. It was really crazy! We froze the live campaign and held this op on our training server. In this 1943 scenario both sides started the event without heavy armor. We were simulating a starting point where an early American landing would mean the Allied supply lines would not be as strong as they were by 1944. The Axis in 1943 were fully committed the war on the eastern front and the closest heavy armor divisions for both sides were more than two hours away. So most of the fighting in this event was done without heavy armor on both sides.

The Axis forces struck first with a capture of Gravelines and the Allies quickly followed with captures of Escoeuilles, Varengeville-Sur-Mer, Torcy-Le-Petit and recapture of Gravelines. The Allies finished the op with a capture of Samer and St. Omer right at the closing bell. As was historical, the Allies were successful in pushing the Axis east and liberating 5 French towns!

We Hope everyone enjoyed the op. We intend over the coming months to do more "pre-set up" ops on the Training server!

We hereby declare Allied Forces Victorious in Operation Rapid Strike with a net capture of 5 towns.

• Allied total kills: 1,661
  
• Axis total kills: 1,389

This year we recognize and award our Top Infantry, Tanker, Bomber, Fighter, and Navy from the event.

Top players in each category will receive a custom XXL 35" x 15" desk "mouse" pad with their name and WWII Online 19th Anniversary theme print. *Please be patient, these will take some time to be printed and shipped to players*

Our runner-up players will receive our standard sized WWII Online mouse pads and are available for immediate shipment.

The following players need to contact CHIMM @ CORNEREDRATS.COM no later than Friday, June 26th, 2020 to claim/coordinate their award arrangements. Player names in blue and red represent their respective ALLIED/AXIS sides.

TOP INFANTRY

• barbiere (Axis) 87 kills
  
• jonas41 (Allied) 58 kills

TOP TANKER

• XOOM (Axis) 31 kills (not eligible for award)
  
• berraco (Allied) 26 kills
  
• rans (Allied) 26 kills
  
• macalex (Allied) 21 kills

TOP BOMBER

• drake1 (Allied) 12 kills
  
• MANDRILL (Allied) 10 kills (not eligible for award)
  
• allstar12 (Allied) 6 kills
  
• kapropa (Axis) 6 kills

TOP FIGHTER

• panda1k (Allied) 31 kills
  
• radical (Allied) 21 kills
  
• kardehk (Axis) 21 kills

TOP NAVY

• kempi (Allied) 61 kills
  
• dubane (Allied) 13 kills

(Yes, I caught Hell for denying the boss an award, and I'm assuming MANDRILL will charge me an "award denial fee" (inside joke) - hehe)

What an amazing event though, congratulations to everyone!


S! ~ CHIMM


P.S. - We would love to see pictures with you and your awards if you are willing to share

Coming June 1st 2020, Cornered Rat Software will be releasing WWII Online version 1.36.5.0! This includes some highly anticipated content such as Server Tracked Bombs, STG44, HUD Waypoints, New Trenches + MORE! Join us for this exciting patch and get ready for our big 19th anniversary celebration / D-Day event on June 6th 2020 at 11AM. Please continue reading for patch notes and event details.


Version 1.36.5.0 - May 2020
This release is an assortment of bug fixes, updates and long awaited new features.

• Fixed a Playgate (PC only) crash that wasn't allowing for it to download patch files

• Corrected an issue that wasn't showing proper commands in the .help menu

• Fixed the issue that caused engines to fall off whenever plane landing gear were shot

• The M4A3 Sherman's ammo readout has been fixed to represent the proper ammunition being used

• An error that was showing up in the log file has been resolved

• Found and fixed the issue that was causing only Hurricanes to be listed in the Enemies tab of the AAR screen

• Adjusted the Vickers Mk VIc's 15mm Besa penetration and ballistics to address the over performance issue

• Added a section to the FlaK 36's user manual in regards to the "Look Over" feature

• Straight Sandbag and Barbed Wire PPOs can now "stick" together, allowing for a solid line of PPO objects

• The Copying Old Setup Files popup message has been updated to help make it less confusing

• The in-game Credits have been updated

• Language translations have been updated with this release's information

• The Mac log file is now located at "Users/<username>/Library/Application Support/com.corneredrats.wwiiol"

• The Sturmgewehr 44 (StG 44) is being added to the German arsenal, in limited quantities

• Kill credits will now be given for running over infantry units with various types of other units

• Bombs have been added to Server Tracked Objects (STOs), this will now allow bomber pilots to kill infantry from above 700m

• Mission Waypoints will now appear both on the player's map and their Heads-Up Display (HUD), this feature can be disabled within the Preference options

• Mission Waypoints are now shared across multiple Missions that have the same Target location

• Whenever a new player, rank 1, shoots an AI unit they will receive an alert that AI units can only be destroyed by larger caliber weapons or grenades

• In-game chat transmissions may be temporarily revoked for violating the Terms of Service

• Combat Engineers have been added to all countries which allow more defined focus on offensive operations

• The Trench Player Placed Object (PPO) has been added to normal Engineer's equipment availability

S! Cornered Rat Software



Support Cornered Rat Software's development of WWIIOL and subscribe!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/667291/World_War_II_Online__PREMIUM/

Not unlike most countries, the United States celebrates the sacrifice of its war dead with a day of remembrance and honor. For the US it is Memorial Day which is now celebrated on the last Monday in May.

Originally called "Decoration Day" the holiday to honor our military men and women who have died fighting for the United States started back in 1868. That first year, American flags were placed on the graves of Confederate and Union soldiers who were buried at Arlington National Cemetary during America's Civil War. That tradition started more than 150 years ago continues today where over 5,000 volunteers gather annually to place American flags on every grave in Arlington National Cemetary. In addition, the annual flag setting has spread to veteran graves in cemetaries around the country. It's just a small sign of rememberance for the ultimate sacrifice.

Here at WWII Online we are hoping to crank up the heat in Campaign 173 by opening all player access to all weapons starting Friday afternoon through Memorial Day Monday! This means all subscriptions will have all weapons access for 72 hours from Friday to Monday.

No excuse now not to use your favorite toy or one you have been looking forward to trying out and perfecting. Rally up your squadies and get some game time in this weekend!

***Veteran Player Notice (anyone with an account already in our system)***: You can login and play under your "Free Play" subscription now. Full access will be added Friday morning and last until Monday night as outlined.

• When: D-Day, Saturday, June 6, 2020.
  
• Time: 11:00 AM server time (PST) or 2:00 PM EST or 6:00 PM GMT.
  
• Where: The "Special Event" server (you will see the server in your Playgate options)
  
• For Mac users, it's your server selection (Training / Events).
  
• Duration: Four hours.
  
• Details: The day is June 6, 1943 yes 1943…

In this “what if scenario” The Allies are determined to strike against the Axis in France before their Atlantic wall is complete and while Axis forces are stretched to the East in Russia. In striking early, the Allies will not be as well-equipped or organized as they were a historically (a year later) and in some cases the Axis forces will be stronger as they have not suffered the historical losses yet, especially in the LW and the KM.

Operation Rapid Strike will be played on the Special Event server. The campaign server will be locked for the duration of the Special Event (4 hours planned). In this scenario there will be only a few light armor tanks in garrison supply so the first few hours of the event will be infantry, navy and air focused. Moveable brigades loaded with heavy armor will arrive to the front lines about 90-120 minutes after the event starts.

In Operation Rapid Strike the Allies have chosen speed (attack in 1943) and closest distance between England and France for the main attack – Dover to Calais!

The Allies will have secured a beach head at Calais and moved less than 30 km inland before meeting Axis resistance (Calais, Wissant, Marquise, Ardres, Boulogne and Gravelines start Allied with all Allied FB’s except Gravelines and Boulogne whose FB’s will be Axis. Allies will have air in Calais

A secondary Allied landing at will be simulated at Vlissigen with Breskins, Ijzendike, Westkapelle and Veere starting Allied giving us two locations for Air, sea and land action. Allies will have air in Vliss.

The key is that the first 2 hours will be fighting without heavy armor and will be air, navy and infantry focused until armor arrives.

We expect to recognize a few top performing players and next week we will roll out the Allied and Axis scoring rules so we can declare a winner for bragging rights at the end of the event.

Mark your calendar and save a few hours on D-Day 2020 to fight along side your squaddies and join Operation Rapid Strike.



We've got some more screenshots for you, this time showing some (of the several) work-in-progress building textures that are being revamped. The work of XL2RIPPR and KayBeeJay (environment artists) are really starting to take shape enhancing the visual appeal of the game. Working on textures takes talent to get right, and it certainly simplifies the need to totally re-model a whole building. That's not to say that these buildings may not get replaced with newer - higher poly buildings however (such as the big urban blocks, which yes, are still being worked on).