This Wednesday we released a critical CPU Fix that is already producing good data, resulting into an overall 40% reduction in the total number of automatic despawns, which occur when there is packet loss. In addition today we'll give you some short notes on how 1.36 is developing as the team has made some good strides. We also have a fallen soldier notice to inform you of.
CPU FIX - 40% REDUCTION IN AUTO-DESPAWNS & MORE
We've been talking a lot lately about the CPU Fix and how critical it was for us to remove an unintended bottleneck occurring on our servers. Now that we've implemented it this Wednesday we're seeing the live campaign servers performing much healthier, with better lines of communication between clients and server.
CRS remains committed to continue to reduce this number down more so and we are strategizing more methods by which this can be done. The purpose of this mechanism in the first place (auto-despawning) was to remove certain users whose packet loss was so extreme that it would go into an unrecoverable state where players would be unable to kill them, and they'd warp / be hard to track via the predictor logic.
So you should anticipate better third person rendering with more timely feedback, whether the other player is running, being shot, going prone or aiming, these things should all looks smoother and be more responsive.
1.36 - TOWN BASED SUPPLY (STATUS)
One of our key deliverable items has been completed this last week which relates to the visibility of garrisons on the game map. Since these garrisons (towns) will be activating and deactivating based on the campaign's movement, we don't want to see the whole game world filled with garrisons because that will confuse players according to the design that we set forth.
Remember, there will always be 1 frontline garrison, and rear garrison(s) adjacent to the frontline's rear. This is the town based supply component. We do aim to have move-able supply as well which will allow High Command to have options for creating more dynamic game play experiences. This marriage between Garrisons and Brigades is what we call: Hybrid Supply.
1.36 Core Features to be completed:
- Supply in Every Town (95% Complete)
- Supply Switch after capture (90% Complete)
- Other capture mechanics [like who owns the town when it gets capped] (100% Complete)
- Activate/Deactivate Towns for Front/Back/Rearline (95% Complete)
- HC Country Owner Switch for Allies (90% Complete)
- Handling frontline Airfields (75% Complete)
As you can see the first iteration is approaching completion. 1.36 has required some trial and error on our end, and through that process we've been able to plan more effectively on how to accomplish the tasks. These are listed as core features because they represent basic functionality. This is what we're aiming for on initial launch. Notice I say initial, because there will be multiple iterations to refine it and add to it. This is something we're committed to doing and recognize day 1 delivery will not be in its final form (aka: work in progress).
We have several developers now working to push this through to delivery. We know it has taken some time, but we are ever confident that it's going to do great things to relieve the pressure valve from High Command officers, allowing them to refocus their leadership on building exciting missions, operations and overall massive game play. It will also give the player base a fighting chance regardless of population imbalance because supply will be available in every battle - no matter what. Re-supply operations will be restored. And certainly better than the original town based supply, the Allies will be able to modify who owns the town so they do not get into a British (North) vs French (South) situation.
FALLEN SOLDIER NOTICE
Our hearts are heavy this morning, as we learned that former RAT and long-time community member, “JAMMYMAN,” has passed away, surrounded by family on October 29th, 2018. Jammyman created and ran some of the most memorable Special Events and was the lead of that team. He was an avid flyer and spent quite a bit of time in the Luftwaffe - German High Command. He was a guy who cared about our game immensely, selflessly served, and didn’t ask for a whole lot. After 28 months of battling cancer and the toll grown so great, he asked for the WWII Online community’s assistance - something he had never done before. The WWII Online community rose up and helped provide some cushion in his final days. To all of those who contributed towards his GoFundMe - we salute you, and I know directly that it meant a huge amount to him. Well done community, your final act of kindness was most definitely received. Please feel free to share a story that you might have of him, perhaps in-game screen shots, or anything else that we can share his memory from. We will add him to the fallen soldiers memorial at the earliest opportunity. Gone, but not forgotten. !S