WW2T released
Our first alpha version has been officially released. Please read the announcement in the Forums as well as any accompanying help articles. You can download what in the future will be the most complex tactical simulation of World War II from the Download page for Windows, Linux and Mac OSX PCs.
Approaching first Alpha version
If I don't run into major problems during this week it is likely that the first official alpha version of WW2T is going to be released by the end of next week. I do my best to make the 2 scenarios the game ships with playable without the chance of encountering any fatal bugs. I will provide binaries for all major PC platforms, Linux 32/64 Bit, Windows 32/64 Bit and Max OSX. Another focus of this week's work will be to provide a first (and very rough) player manual and also to open the forums section of the WW2T web page.
Second scenario ready to play
The second scenario "Vierville retaken" is ready to play. In order to make it work an extension regarding offboard units and setup had to be implemented. The scenario is significantly easier to understand and to play because it features no Support Weapons, just plain infantry, namely Squads, Half Squads and Leaders. The postponed entry of the majority of forces on both sides up to and including turn 3 of the game adds a lot of excitement and variation to the game play.
Vierville retaken
The second map is finished which will be used in the Scenario "Vierville retaken". The map features two new terrain types, grain fields and orchard hexes as well as many new (stone) building variants.
Web service user interface
Until now the UI to access the web service in order to play online was accessible only through the console. Though the looks are still basic at least this is no longer the only option. From now on zou can easily access online matches, create new matches and start an online match via the game interface.
Online matches
The main focus of WW2T lies on the possibility to play online against each other while earning a rating similar to AREA or ELO. For this WW2T provides a web service for matchmaking that allows every player to list matches he would like to play as well as to apply for matches posted by other players. Once the 2 players have found each other and are both online the actual scenario is played P2P. Only the result is later submitted back to the WW2T web service in order to update the rating. All 3 play modes work now in their most basic form: hotseat, LAN game and Online game. From now on I will solely focus on usability issues during the game play to make it more accessible. A first release of the initial Alpha version looks likely in roughly a month from now.
LAN play mode
There will be 3 modes to play against another human player. Hotseat, over LAN and over the Internet. Hotseat and LAN modes are mostly implemented so next will be to connect two players via the webservice.
First complete Scenario playable
Wo doesn't remember the "Guards Counterattack" scenario which most beginners played over and over as their first experience. This scenario will be part of the first WW2T release. It allows to play with a basic set of infantry and support weapon rules.
Development Update
A small sneak preview of the current state of development. I'm done with the basic functionality of all 8 phases. Next task will be to connect all phases and let players complete a full turn. After this I'm going to implement the Network connectivity.
Setting up site
Work has started to setup a small website that mainly allows to download the latest version of WW2T as well as to communicate with other players and myself via the forums.