What’sthestatusofthenewmodeand
howhasplayerfeedbackbeen?
ThefirstseasonofWorldWarOpen
BetahasjustfinishedandallWar
Thunderplayerswereabletotake
part.We’vereceiveda lotofmuch-
appreciatedfeedbackduringthisfirst
large-scalepublictest,withmanygreat
ideasonhowtofurtherimprove
WorldWar.
Playerslikedseveralofthekey
featureswepresentedin thisfirst
publicversion,forexampletheglobal
operationsmap,wherecommanders
werenotonlyabletocontroloneteam
orsquadron(clan),butrathertake
chargeofa wholefaction.WorldWar
modealsointroducescompletelynew
typesofmissions,allowingplayersto
changethecourseofhistoricalbattles
usinghistoricallyaccuratevehicles-
anexperiencewehavehearda lotof
positivevoiceson.Wealsoreceived
positivefeedbackabouttheextra
rewardsforparticipationandvictory in
WorldWar.
Inregardstothefeedbackto
furtherimprovethemode,we’veheard
severalsuggestionsaboutsimplifying
theuserinterface- manyofwhich
wehavealreadyactedupon,with
furtherchangestocome.Another
factoranda focusofthisfirstseason
wastotrythemode’sbalance.Given
thatcommandersareincharge
ofmovingforcesonthemapand
initiatingengagements,somebattles
inWorldWarmodeseeforcesof
severelydifferentstrengthsmeeting
eachother.Whilewehaveoptedto
auto-decidethosebattleswhereone
sidefacesanoverwhelmingenemy,
weconsiderlesssevereinstancesof
asymmetricalstrengtha featureof
thismode,asit addsanotherstrategic
layerofskilltothemode,namelyhow
wellcommandersdistributetheforces
availabletothem.Ofcourse,wewill
closelymonitorthebalanceofthe
entirescenariosingeneralandare
analyzingdataandfeedbackfromthe
playerstomake adjustments where
necessary.
Willtherebeanydramaticchangesto
WorldWarnowthatyouhaveseen the
resultsofthebeta?
We’redefinitelycommittedto
developingtheWorldWarmode
evenfurther,bothbasedonplayer
feedbackandourownideasforthe
mode.We’replanningtointroduce
newscenarios,newbattlemechanics,
newmodevariationsandmore.World
Warscenarioswillalsoemployships
andmoderngroundvehiclesatsome
pointinthefuture.Thesechangesand
additionswillbeincrementaltowhat
wecurrentlyhave,whichmeansthat
therewon’tbeany“dramatic”changes
fundamentallyalteringthemode.The
fundamentals of the mode have been
testedfortwoyearsinclosedbeta
beforelaunchingit tothepublic,which
allowedustowaterproofitskeyfeatures
andmakethemasfinalaspossible
beforegoingpublic.Now,wewantto
focusonnewfeatures and quality-of-life
improvements.Whattechnicalchallengesdidyou
facetogetWorldWarupandrunning
andworkingsmoothlyforsomany
simultaneousplayers,andhowdidyou
overcomethem?
Themostimportantthingis that
we’veintroduceda completelynew
gamesubsystem– theglobalmapof
operations.A groupofcommanderson
eachsidemanagestokensthatrepresent
armies.Commanderscanmovethem,
initiateclashesbetweenarmiesof
varioustypesandtheycanevencall
artillerystrikesfromartilleryunitsright
inthisinterface.Thelandscapetypeis
alsoimportant:forests,forexample,slow
downarmiesandinitiatingcombatnear
a citywillresultinthebattlebeingheld
onanurbanlocation.
Astheamountofsimultaneousplayers
participatinginoneoperationcanreach
severalhundreds,everyoneshouldbe
abletoreceivetherightinformationin
timetomaketherightdecisions.This
informationflowbetweentheplayers
andspectatorswasthekeytechnical
challengebecausetheinnerstructureof
eachoperationis quitecomplex.That’s
whywehadtoworkhardonbothclient
andserveroptimisationforthismode.
We’veintroduceda versioncontrol
systemforeachelement– foreach
singlebattle,army,unitinthearmyand
otherobjects- andwecachethisdatato
reducethetrafficandCPUload.Someof
thein-gamedatathatis time-based– for
example,anarmy’smovementandthe
battlestartcounter– is calculatedby
thegameclientindependently,without
sendingrequeststotheserver.The
clientis gettingnotificationsfromthe
serveronlyforupdatesthatcannotbe
predictedbytheclient(i.e.whenthe
battleends).
Inordertobesurethatourserverswill
beabletohandletheload,we’vemade
numerousstresstests- weemulateda
ridiculouslyhighnumberofspectators
ora hugenumberofsimultaneous
operationstofindweakspots.It was
noteasy,butthefirstseasonofWorld
Warshowedusthatwemanagedtodo
thisright.Forthefinaltestbeforethe
publiclaunchwe’vedevelopeda special
AIsystemthatmovedvirtualarmiesin
hundredsoftestoperations.Plentyof
activeWarThunderplayerspassively
andinvisibly“participated”inthemby
gettingthetestdataupdatesasif they
werebrowsingtheWorldWarmode
menusorsomethinglikethis.Andfurthertolast– gettingthe
gameplay and balance right must haveINTERVIEW