if you've never heard of World War II online then you've been missing out on an important part of World War II gaming history but you're not too late yet to get involved with its rebirth and once again making gaming history!
Here comes a MASSIVE update to WWII Online - arriving February 15th 2023! Includes the long-awaited TARGET voice channel which will be the new default, bringing combined arms communication to the game. Completed revamped audio to balance things out, and brand new special effects (visual and audio-video inside). Hero Builders receive an all-new exclusive - Hero Anti-Tank Soldier - equipped with a Bazooka, Rifle and Frag grenades. 28 new towns have been added. Hurricane kill bug squashed. And several polish items were added for a better-integrated voice comms (IVC) experience. This is all made possible by YOU the WWII Online subscriber - thank you for supporting our studio!
World War II Online Version 1.37.1.0 - February 2023
This release brings a few long-awaited IVC changes for players, 28 new towns, new special effects and a new Hero Builder infantry unit.
Features
IVC Target channel added
IVC HC channel added
IVC Multi-crew channel added
IVC Squad channels will now be separated by their side
An IVC tab has been added to the Keymapper pop-up (P) window
A new Hero Builder infantry unit has been added
RPAT w/2 rounds
Main battle rifle w/20 rounds
2 HE Frag Grenades
1 Knife
1 Shovel
Sound effects audio has been equalized across all units and weapons, this may require players to adjust game audio volume in preferences
Matilda, Pz2c, Pz3, SdKfz 231 and Firefly crew members have been visually updated
The Triumphal Arch has been added to Brussels
Players can now damage the newly added Dams
New towns have been added: Chalons, Chalons South, Tilloy-et-Bellay, Attendorn, Sittingbourne, Sheerness, Juvigny, Conde Sur Marne, Les-Petite Loge, Bochum, Hattingen, Zevenaar, Elten, Bechy, Verny, Baronville, Francaltroff, Cuvilly, Montdidier, Lassigny, Ribecourt, Orbeval, Marville, Jametz, Vittarville, Rouen, Rouen East and Barentin
Tongeren has had new town walls built
Beauvais, Clermont and Willemstad have been rebuilt
Terrain tiles around Paris have been fixed up
Dover, Bergen op Zoom and Calais are now enlarged
Some river barriers have been moved under water with buoys added to mark them
Some in game Manuals have been updated
Genobrst has been added to the Fallen Soldier Memorial
A few new props have been added: Row Boat, Submarine, Aircraft Carrier and Swordfish
Double ponds with a creek and bridge have been added to Sittingbourne
Factories from Amiens and Abbyville have been moved to Rouen and Rouen East
All new special effects have been added
Create longer lasting VFX for artillery rounds that have no fireball
Create individual SFX for artillery HE shells
Create mortar specific VFX
Improve muzzle smoke VFX on tank main guns
Improve fuel fire VFX
Improve engine fire VFX
Improve frag grenade VFX & SFX
Create new bomb explosion VFX & SFX
Create new bazooka explosion SFX
Fixes
Secondary "Hurricane" kill bug fixed
Fixed the bug that caused some building to disappear during town captures
Motorized Mortars can now shoot beyond 2,150m
Repaired the Beauvais-Poix-de-Picardie FB
Fixed the unkillable Stuart driver
The AB Barracks buildings now have a damage model
S! Playnet / Cornered Rat Software
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Our plans are shifting full force to innovation and bringing WWII Online into the modern age. This is the moment you've all been waiting for and asking us to capitalize on! This roadmap will demonstrate updated workflows to bring us the latest graphics as we pursue Unreal, while simultaneously providing visual upgrades to WWII Online 1.0. We're going to show you demonstrable progress including the game world conversion status as well, including the first work-in-progress shots showing part of our game world in the Unreal Engine. We also have tremendous news for squads and how the player base will be able to drive gameplay.
Please enjoy this jam-packed roadmap plan which helps set the tone and expectations for our overall direction of WWII Online. As always, thanks for being subscribed and providing the fuel for Playnet/CRS to achieve these goals.
2022 ROADMAP ITEMS COMPLETED
You can view specific details for released items via the 1.36 readme and the 1.37 readme.
Integrated Voice Communications
Artillery + Server Tracked Arty Rounds
Ju-88
Mobile Airfields
MG-42 (Vehicle Mounted and Infantry)
Motorized Half-Tracks
Free to Play fighter aircraft
Enhanced Special FX (several added, and continues)
Improved game audio (several added, and continues)
Variable capture buildings
M1919 .30 Caliber LMG
One-click despawning
THINGS NOT FINISHED - BUT STILL IN PROGRESS / PRIORITY
Bomber Loadouts: Bugs fixed, nearly ready.
Wellington: Flight model completion is all that's remaining.
Tank track repairs: Good progress made here, we estimate Q2-2023 delivery.
ROADMAP BRIEFING/OVERVIEW
This year's roadmap shows a large shift in focus, all of which are intended to accelerate innovation and benefit what the community has asked us to do.
When we set out to prepare this roadmap we had four primary considerations:
Does this grow/retain new and old players?
Does this create squad development and growth?
Does this help generate bigger battles?
Does this help us innovate and bring the game into the modern era?
We've listened to the community's feedback, discussed our available options and ideas internally, and selected what options we found to be the most valuable and realistic that we can execute.
WWII Online 2.0 development is the overarching primary goal of everything that we do and all of these are intended to help supplement that effort. As a reminder, 2.0 remains a long-term, high-risk goal that we're working to achieve. Between now and then keeping WWII Online 1.0 healthy is essential as that's the lifeblood for us.
Timelines are intentionally not provided for 2.0 work because of the effort required, research/learning, trial and error, and overcoming obstacles. Our development team has a blueprint via 1.0 of what to do and we're not afraid of taking on challenges. But providing them the necessary grace and support to complete those objectives is paramount. All the while, just like this posting, we will aim to keep you appraised of achievements and progress.
INTEGRATED VOICE COMMS UPDATES
The implementation of voice comms to WWII Online has forever changed the game for the better, and we're looking to expand on that. Here are some new updates coming for it in the early part of 2023:
Target Radio Channel
If you share the same mission "target", you will be placed on the same voice channel (by default) as all other participants
This means air, land, and sea forces can coordinate together
Squad Radio Channels - for each side
This means if your squad plays each side, you will have a separate:
Axis Squad Channel (secure)
Allied Squad Channel (secure)
HC Radio Channel
If you're in High Command, you will have access to a secure voice channel
Operation Amplify is WWII Online's next large-scale live campaign operation, now featuring integrated voice comms.
Everything has been unlocked for all players (returning vets, new users, and steam users) for the weekend of January 8th (Jan 6-7-8) with the actual operation being on Sunday, January 8th at 12PM Pacific (2PM Central, 3PM Eastern).
Operations are the best way to experience the game in full scale, so be sure to register now on our discord #global-ops channel (click here) directly.
As this year comes to a close, we wanted to take this opportunity to look at many accomplishments and achievements around here. It goes without saying that the WWII Online community’s continued participation in playing, subscribing, and advocating this game to others is essential in enabling our continuation and growth. To that end, we thank you sincerely, for providing the RATS this opportunity. Please continue reading and share your commentary within. S!
ARTILLERY
Since the beginning, the community has been asking for artillery and it’s come in swinging providing a whole new dimension to the game. These weapons can be used to lob shells over 10km using server-tracked rounds. It’s an amazing thing to see them being used in-game and the cross-coordination has provided a whole new element to teamwork. We actually have new special effects (visual and sound) on the plan for future implementation which will make these howitzers even more awesome.
INTEGRATED VOICE COMMS
WWII Online has seen the use of Roger Wilco, Teamspeak 1 / 2 / 3, and now Discord for the last few years, and finally, we have brought voice comms directly into the game. This has created a very powerful experience with players being able to talk locally with any friendly combatant, and using long-range radios to ensure communication can exist for the Air, Land, and Sea.
We had a goal of getting this out before Christmas and we made it happen. Our team is presently ironing this out so it performs even better, and is a bit more stable (server-side) and we’re going to be expanding some channel availability which will include a private High Command channel and a Target channel.
Target channel will open the door for cross-communication in combined arms situations providing everyone has the same target selected on their mission, just like our current target (text) chat works. This was highly requested and will become the new “DEFAULT” voice channel in the near future.
MORTAR CARRIERS
We introduced four new 81mm motorized mortars to WWII Online enabling rapidly deployable indirect fire capabilities. During this time we were testing and sorting out the implementation of the artillery in a more controlled environment and leveraging some existing assets. The British Universal Carrier we had before was a Mk II but the mortar carrier was actually a Mk I variant, so it required an entirely new model from the chasse up. The M3 Halftrack version for the US/French forces also required extensive renewal work inside the model as well. The German Halftrack was probably the most straightforward model only requiring minimal renovation inside to make it fit its historical presentation.
British - 3in Universal Carrier
American/French - 81mm Halftrack
German - 81mm Halftrack
FREE PLAY ACCESS EXPANDED
Free Play access was expanded to include base-level fighter access (BF-109E/1, Hawk 75, Hurricane Mk 1 and all-new P-40B) to help grow and develop the air community more.
A NEW DAWN FOR PARATROOPERS
We developed one of the biggest expansions to the Paratrooper set since the original release of paratroopers many years ago which included:
Parachute turn rate/speed increased for greater maneuverability
New Paratrooper canisters: Long range ammo canisters to resupply ground forces for Para NCOs
New Para NCO: SMG w/deployable ammo canister (Hero Builders Only)
New Para Combat Engineer: HE (x4) + Repair Kits (x2), able to be re-armed 50% by ammo cans in field
New Para RPATs: Bazooka, PIAT and Panzerschrek
NEW MACHINE GUNS ADDED
The long-awaited M1919A6 was added to the US kit, and the MG42 was also developed and added as an infantryman and as a later-tier Sd. Kfz 251 halftrack variant.
VISUAL DISTANCE / RENDERING UPDATES
Infantry visibility was increased to 1,000m and trees were extended to about 4.5km. This is good information to have for better detection of these objects making the experience more true and realistic.
JU88 ADDED
Finally, the long-awaited German Ju-88 was added to WWII Online. This was our first ground-up aircraft that CRS 2.0 has done and let’s just say we picked a really complicated model. For those of you waiting on the Wellington, please note that it is in development still and we’re hoping to get it out there in the beginning of 2023, so it will make the roadmap and we haven’t stopped working on it fyi.
Upon the roll-out of the Wellington, we will be including new load-out options for the Ju-88 (and the Wellington).
40 NEW TOWNS ADDED
Our terrain producer TR6AL is an absolute machine. The work involved with developing new towns and ensuring all links are working is no short of a huge task. In the continued pursuit of expanding the playable area of WWII Online, 40 new towns added is a big deal. Further, the expansion up north into the Holland area represents an opportunity for us to remove the Zealand “cut” and preserve naval gameplay. The bay area up north could become quite the sea battle at some point and we look forward to seeing its continued development.
The new towns of: Aumetz, Blerancourt, Coucy-le-Chateau, Maartensdijk, Hilversum, Huizen, Muiden, Woudenberg, Ede, Elst, Zeist, Utrecht, Culemborg, Vianen, Bruinisse, De-Cochsdorp, Scheveningen, Ijmuiden, Herdecke, Castrop-Rauxel, Herne, Zwolle, Hoogeveen, Meppel, Eursinge, Arnhem, Renkum, Franeker, Harlingen, Woerden, Amsterdam East, Amsterdam West, Mijdrecht, Leiden, Alphen Aan Den Rijn, Haarlem, Aalsmeer, Hillegom, Dortmund, and Limburg have been added to the game.
OPERATION FURY & PLUNDER
Our Community Management and HC teams have been working closely to bring a larger-scale game play experience for everyone through newly founded, "Operations." We have seen a very large and positive impact from these OPS and intend to continue them with supplemental unlocks for users to incentivize attendance and show what else could be accessed along the way.
Here's one of our population graphs showing routine population and how these have a sizable bump.
GAMEPLAY MECHANICS
Garrison supply has been reduced to about 50% strength of an infantry brigade now, making moveable units a bit more powerful. This was done because we're a bit more comfortable that High Command has sufficient staffing to manage these. The strategic element of WWII Online is important to preserve and expand on and this is a big step in that direction. We'd like to give OHM and TMAN big kudos on their continued efforts to make campaign changes transparent and take in community feedback to help guide them. In this regard, it's the best it has ever been.
Additionally, capture timers were reduced slightly and that resulted in more participation in terms of captures and overall sorties. Both of these are healthy as we want to keep WWII Online moving and not get stagnant. Here are some details on the differences between Campaign 190 and 191 in terms of captures and the average number of sorties.
RAT STATS
And for a little fun, here are some stats on some of the RATS for 2022, ranked by TOP KILLERS.
2022 was a magnificent year of development success and we got a lot of our long-awaited deliveries out there. It has also demonstrated that CRS 2.0 has increased its knowledge and capabilities with the code base, and our team overall has grown quite a bit. A massive congratulations to all of our staff and contributors who have worked so tirelessly - and relentlessly - to pursue a better future for WWII Online. For full details on what was added (features and fixes) to WWII Online, please check out our wiki page here: https://wiki.wwiionline.com/view/Readme_1.36 and https://wiki.wwiionline.com/view/Readme_1.37.
The CRS leadership team is currently ironing out details on the 2023 roadmap and things are shaping up there. Once we have everything worked out we will of course articulate what that plan is for you all, and we think you’re going to like it.
I can tell you it will be quite a bit different than what you’re used to with an emphasis on future development. We will have some work-in-progress items to share with you and give you a solid briefing on what to expect for the year.
To all of you who are subscribed, I want to send my personal thank you. Probably the most difficult (and undesirable - but necessary) decision we had to make this year was to roll back our price point. I want to encourage you by saying those of you who have remained and returned to your subscriptions you’ve made it possible for innovation to once again start taking place. You will see the fruit of that labor articulated in the 2023 roadmap and have a more clear understanding of what CRS is doing to take it further.
From all of us at Playnet / Cornered Rat Software, we hope you had a great holiday with your family and wish you a very Happy New Year. The team at CRS is primarily comprised of those who were players first and share the same passion you do for our future. During this re-charge, we’re prepping to do some pretty significant things and your patience and support will be paramount. You’ll stay looped in the whole time. Be sure to take this time to get folks off the sidelines and back into the fight where we the game needs them.
S!
Matt “XOOM” Callahan Director | Executive Producer Playnet, Inc. / CRS
Happy Holidays everyone! This patch introduces Integrated Voice Communications (IVC) to WWII Online, forever changing gameplay for the better! Starting now, all players will be connected to voice comms with no third-party software required. This is a massive breakthrough in our technology and will work to retain new players, improve the current experience and develop squads and battles further. You'll get local 3D proximity chat and a variety of primary radio channels to help you connect tactical and squad communications like never before!
Keep reading to learn more and see our Wiki (manual) inside. Thanks for your continued support as a subscriber, making developments like these possible. Salute!
World War II Online
Version 1.37.0.0 - December 2022
Introducing Integrated Voice Communications to WWII Online!
Lobby voice radio channel for general comms and choosing sides
Side voice radio channels active when no mission has been selected (Separate Axis, Allied channels)
Mission radio channels (side unique) becomes primary radio channel (whether spawned or not)
Squad voice radio channel for dedicated squad ops (always available)
In-game 3D voice chat providing attenuated and directional positional-based voice audio
Configurable key mapping
Cycle through available voice channels
Transmit on selected voice channel (PTT)
3D voice activation (talking)
Temporary IVC Disable (Mute/Deafen) for tense moments
IVC Hud Enable/Disable
IVC Hud displays who is talking, Icons over talking players (Radio vs 3D Chat)
IVC Configuration
Voice audio input/output device selection
Input/Ouput volume
Enable/Disable channel types (uncheck all for IVC opt-out)
Sensitive to .ignore list for muting other players
Note: There is a planned follow-up release to expand on IVC and some extra polish items, after the holidays. Please enjoy!
A tremendous amount of work has gone into delivering Integrated Voice Communications to you all. We'd like to thank our developers, testers, and operations team for a full-on collaboration in making this technically achievable and workable in time for you this holiday.
WWII Online's next major game operation - is coming December 4th 2022 at 10 am Pacific/12 PM Central/ 1PM Eastern US/ 7 PM Brussels. With already 100 players signed up, it is poised to be a significantly large campaign operation. This time we'll be unlocking all tanks (with no rank restrictions) for veteran and free players alike, including Steam users.
Introducing OPERATION FURY V, a global Campaign event for Allied and Axis players to join!
We have unlocked free ALL INFANTRY access (free for Veterans and Free Players) for this weekend!
On the 20th of November, this Sunday, 12PM Server Time (12PM PST/2PM CST/3PM EST/8PM GMT), the Allied and Axis players of WWII ONLINE will engage in a global campaign event. With over 100 players already committed to the event and another 50 tentatively attending, there will be targets and mayhem galore!
No other game can provide the scale of air, land, and sea like WWII ONLINE so join the fun, register for the event on Discord, and get in-game EARLY. Whether to bring up additional supply of tanks or airplanes from rear supply depots, battles such as these will likely hinge on logistics, or take the time to fine-tune your equipment keymaps; whatever the reason, early coordination PRIOR to the attack can make all the difference before the chaos of massed tanks, fighters, bombers, ground and airborne infantry, and 105mm howitzer artillery barrages disrupt the battlefield.
You, the players, working in conjunction with the player-run High Command organization will dictate the when and where of battle so buckle up, shuffle to the door with shouts of “Geronimo!”, batten down the hatches, and wind up the engines as we all engage in a vicious Götterdämmerung.
If you have never experienced WWII ONLINE, or currently free-to-play, have a lapsed subscription, CRS has generously granted you ALL INFANTRY access for the weekend. This means ALL submachine guns, automatic rifles, machine guns, anti-tank soldiers with RPATs are available for you to enjoy.
Select the “global-event” channel and select your commitment to battle
If needed, go to the “welcome” channel to pick a side and be assigned the proper Discord roles
WWII Online is community-driven and 100% player-funded as we continue our efforts to transition the game to Unreal Engine 5. In the coming months, we will begin to further showcase our present efforts toward UE5. Our game continues only because of our dedicated gaming community which pays a monthly subscription which not only maintains the game but provides us with the financial resources to maintain and acquire the tools, talent, and infrastructure to continue our journey to UE5. We hope that you will subscribe to join us!
It's patch day and The king of Battle has arrived at WWII Online: Introducing ARTILLERY! The RATS do it again by providing the longest-ranged indirect fire weapon ever introduced into a video game. They have server-tracked rounds with a range of up to 10,000-11,600m depending on the weapon. Also introduces the infantry-based MG42 with a 50rd drum mag and colored smoke. Three roadmap deliveries plus a lot more, keep reading!
World War II Online Version 1.36.19.0 - November 2022
Introducing ARTILLERY for WWII Online! Since day one you have requested this to be part of the game, and here it is! It also happens to be the longest indirect firing weapons ever to be placed into a video game! Additionally, the MG42 is now available for infantry and we've added various other features and fixes. Stay subscribed and help us do even more!
Features
Artillery units have been added to the game
The Allied M2A1 105mm
The Axis 10.5cm LeFH18/40 105mm
*Current known issue: Incorrect range info on the vehicle selection screen. This has no impact on actual vehicle performance, this is ONLY the vehicle information displayed in the UI when selecting the vehicle. The actual maximum range for the LeFH 18/40 is: 12,325m.
A brand new Motorized Mortar and Artillery Leveling System has been added (see the unit's manual for details)
An updated HUD info window for motorized mortars and artillery has been added to give players specific details for those units
Added country specific colored smoke rounds to artillery, US-Violet, DE-Blue/White, FR/UK-White
The infantry MG42 unit has been added to the German spawn list
Available starting Tier 2, with production ramping up by Tier 3.
4th quarter Credits update
Capture timers have been updated for Campaign 191
A number of unit images have been updated with Propa screenshots
A few machine guns updated, including: game manual updates, weapon names, tracers and proper weights
The Panhard, Stewart and Stugs have had their crew members (3D models) updated
Wickenby is now Scampton
River dams have been added to west of Sheffield, SE of Herdecke and east of Dortmund
A few of the Spawn In Tips have been updated, more planned in the future
The new towns of Aumetz, Blerancourt, Coucy-le-Chateau, Maartensdijk, Hilversum, Huizen, Muiden, Woudenberg, Ede, Elst, Zeist, Utrecht, Culemborg, Vianen and Bruinisse have been added to the game
The visual range of some buildings has been extended
Wazdown has been added to the Fallen Soldier Memorial
Koln has been updated to named Koeln
A number of bridge names have been updated to their historical names
Some bush rows have been replaced with city planters in some towns
Fixes
Fixed an armor issue with the FlaK36 (88mm)
The Lorraine Anti-Char's driver hatch armor has been fixed
Some telephone poles and their wires have been replaced
More textures have been updated in order to help with ATI GPU load times
Destroyer gun sights have been fixed
Forrest floors now slow vehicles more than before
Note: Some fixes may arrive at a later point to further enhance the experience.
S! Cornered Rat Software
Don't forget to subscribe and support the war effort! Each person here makes a big difference, so please do back the team up - thanks!
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During this campaign the axis pushed from the start and steadily pushed the front line west. It took them 18 days to capture 3 French and 6 British factories and the towns they are in. With them crossing the channel we seen some hard-fought battles in England, something that doesn't happen often.
Campaign 191 has now started! Everyone has access to free Tier0 equipment (pre-1940), so join the war now!
The following gameplay changes occur for campaign 191:
We are introducing the TOP FIGHTER competition for WWII Online. As we start Campaign 191 today, we're going to unlock Tier 0 fighters for everyone (including free players and veterans) and we have some special awards available for players (including two joysticks and a Track IR system). The theme of this Campaign is to get more fighters in the air and development of air squads. Bragging rights are on the line and game-wide recognition is included as part of these physical awards. We just completed Campaign 190 and would also like to congratulate the TOP BOMBERS (see within). Now is the time to get the pilots back in-game, who will make the TOP 3 ACES in WWII Online? Campaign 191 starts tonight, let's go! Continue reading to see the special awards the top 3 aces will receive for campaign 191's TOP FIGHTER"competition!