Massively Multiplayer WWII FPS/SIM!

tbomber · #1 (**permalink**) February 6th, 2007, 07:13 AM

Battleground Europe (AKA WWIIOL)

When it comes to realism in a world war two game, nothing else can compare.

It's been around for a while, but not well known. I freaking love it. There's way too much to the game for me to explain here, so i'll give you the gist of it:

They call it a combined arms sim - you have air force, navy, and army all working together to achieve the goal of winning the map. This means as you gain rank, you can use things like patrol boats, destroyers, fighters, bombers, tanks, anti-tank guns, anti-aircraft guns, trucks, and of course infantry.

The "map" takes place in central europe during the blitzkrieg (actual start date is may 1940 i believe), and consists of literally hundreds of towns, each with anywhere from three to thirty capture points. Once one side captures a certain number of towns and moves the frontline a certain distance, they win. The map is half-scale, so you could fly from one side to the other if you wanted, but it would literally take you hours!

This means maps last a long time - the current one is still going strong and started three months ago - in november!

The game uses very realistic ballistics and damage models - every tank and plane has historical armor thicknesses, ballistics, and internal components. What this means is if you can manage to penetrate a tiger's turret and hit one of it's ammo boxes, it'll likely blow up. If you hit it's fuel tank, it'll likely flame. If you hit it's gun, you'll likely disable it. If you hit it's tracks, they'll be destroyed.

Likewise, if you can lay enough rounds into a planes wing or tail or ammo box or fuel tank, you'll shoot a wing off, set it on fire, etc.

What this means is there's a tough learning curve. You can't shoot a tiger with a rifle and expect it's "damage bar" to hit zero and then kill it. There are no damage bars. You have to learn what guns work against what tanks and where to shoot them to get a kill. You have to learn basic fighter maneuvers to keep from gettin shot out of the sky. You have to learn to lead an enemy infantry running five hundred meters away with your rifle in order to kill him.

There's a TON more to the game: naval bases, paratrooping, high command, brigades, attack objectives, research and development (your high command has to research the tiger before you can see one on the battlefield), factory bombing, it goes on.

It's tough at first, no doubt. But once you get a hang of the game, you'll never go back to crap like call of duty or medal of honor

Best game i've ever played. and remember TBoMBeR told you

tbomber · #2 (**permalink**) February 6th, 2007, 07:19 AM

couple more screenshots - the graphics aren't the best but then again it's a MMO with unreal visual distances (up to 10km).

Mussolini · #3 (**permalink**) February 6th, 2007, 12:46 PM

I think its like WoW where you have to pay a monthly fee to play the game.

I've checked it out (the main website is great - has a newspaper that tells you what is going on) and the gamelooks pretty awesome. My main problem is you have to pay-to-play. Maybe once i get a job (graduate in may) i might get it.

EDIT

I signed up for 14 Day Free Trial (remind me to cancel account in 2 weeks) since i figure i might as well give it a shot. Got some free time on my hands today.

tbomber · #4 (**permalink**) February 9th, 2007, 06:33 PM

yes - there is a monthly fee (IMHO well worth it)

but as you've discovered - also a nice two week free trial to get an idea of what the game is all about.

Tox · #5 (**permalink**) February 18th, 2007, 08:54 PM

It sounds amazing! Do you know how many players the game currently has? If not for the $15 a month fee, I would be playing this now.

tbomber · #6 (**permalink**) February 21st, 2007, 01:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tox

It sounds amazing! Do you know how many players the game currently has? If not for the $15 a month fee, I would be playing this now.

the makers of the game (called the RATS) don't disclose that information, but a good estimate would be in the ten thousand range.

their forums (http://discussions.playnet.com/index.php?) has about 150,000 members, but you're probably looking at closer to one tenth (or less than) that number of actual paying subscribers.

the game is played all over the world, so don't expect everyone to be on at the same time, but on a good friday or saturday night (US primetime) you're sure to find some epic battles accross several towns, that will easily last for hours.

our most recent campaign just ended on sunday (axis victory)... it was the longest ever at 102 days (thats the equivalent of one "map" on call-of-duty)... Just to give you an idea of the scale of things in this game.

oh: and one other thing: this game has more 5+ year members than any other. How many people you think will be playing planetside in two years? Games like that and WoW have to constantly make new "expansion packs" to keep people interested. I personally have been playing the same WWIIOL since April of '03 and I still remember the first kill I ever got.

What keeps these people coming back? Give it a good month of playing (1st month free when you subscribe IIRC), and you'll see.

Mussolini · #7 (**permalink**) February 21st, 2007, 02:16 AM

I just cancelled my subscription (on firday) (14 day free triial). How do i get a month free? My B'day is in March, so i am expecting a few $$ to come my way. I killed 13 Brits as a Sapper on one life

I'm 300 pts shy of becoming a Para...but another month free will give me enough time to get soem money. What are they doing while the campaign is over? I heard there was a battle of britain during a previous inter-mission.

Terror of the Skies · #8 (**permalink**) February 21st, 2007, 06:21 PM

I looked into this and saw that you only fight as British or German. Not to mention the website is huge and confusing with so many links to different things. It's best if I took a large cup of coffee and a day off to read it all.

I'm not saying it's bad to fight as a British soldier, but being American, you know how that goes.

I think I'll download the trial, and if I find no interest then I won't play. But everything aside, I must say it's simply the most amazing WWII Rpg/Shooter yet.

Mussolini · #9 (**permalink**) February 21st, 2007, 06:34 PM

I dont think its a confusing site. You play as the Germans or as the British or French. It takes place during the Blitzkreig of France, so no Americans. Play as Navy, AF, or Army. Lots of fun if you ask me!

tbomber · #10 (**permalink**) February 22nd, 2007, 05:10 AM

yes you play as british or french... HOWEVER

due to lend-lease, you'll find a TON of american equipment later in the war (when the high command researches it).
Infantry (british):
Thomson SMG

Planes (french):
Lockheed P-38
Bell P-39 (Airacobra)
P-40 (Hawk 81)
P-36 (Hawk 75)
Douglas DB-7 bomber

Planes (british)
Douglas Havoc bomber
Douglas C-47 transport plane

Tanks (french):
Stuart M3A3
Sherman M4A2
Sherman M4A3(?) 76mm
Wolverine M10

Anti-tank Guns (french):
M1A3 57mm
M5 3 inch (76mm)

so as you see, although you're technically not playing as the US army, with all the american equipment ingame by the time you hit higher tiers, you had might as well be.

i'm american too, but my favorite weapon is the french LMG: the Chatellerault. It's hugely based on the BAR, and i'm damn good with it. Point is, i have tons of fun even though i'm playing as an army that got stomped pretty quickly in the real war.

and to answer your question mussolini, i think you have to subscribe to get your first free month. So once the month is up, you just need to unsubscribe. It's possible that as a senior member I can actually give you an extra free month (through this gift-giving promotion the RATS gave out), but it may require you to create a new account. I'll look into it and get back to you.

Terror of the Skies · #11 (**permalink**) February 22nd, 2007, 06:37 AM

Well... I tried it.. and all I have to say is I'll stick to COD3 where I'm a respected rifleman/sniper.

Mussolini · #12 (**permalink**) February 22nd, 2007, 12:56 PM

Yeah - the allied tanks are Shermans and M-10's and the like. Very realistic game but its not CoD. Its not meant to play like one either. Hell, to drive a tank you need to shift gears to pick up speed. To fly a plane, you've got to turn the engine on, hold both breaks, then full throttle and steer in a straight line, pulling up on the joystick at the right time. Do it too soon and you'll flip and crash.

I think its a great game.

Yeah - find out for me. At the end of the free trial if i wanted to continue, i would be charged a one time fee of 24$ (some free trial, huh) and then be charged the monthly bill the following month.

tbomber · #13 (**permalink**) February 22nd, 2007, 06:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mussolini

Yeah - find out for me. At the end of the free trial if i wanted to continue, i would be charged a one time fee of 24$ (some free trial, huh) and then be charged the monthly bill the following month.

hmm well i had no idea there was a one time fee (i suppose it's toward the "CD key" they give you).

unfortunately I checked and the promotion has ended (it was an xmas gift thing), so i can't give you any codes for a free trial - sorry

terror, like i said it's tough to start out, but if you give it time you'll find that games like CoD just dont compare (ive got cod2 and i get bored after maybe an hour... i could easily play ww2ol twelve hours straight... in fact i probably have LOL). The top riflemen/snipers in this game are well known because players can appreciate how difficult it is to make it on that list. After all, ballistics are real so you have to lead your targets, and the map is huge, so some players can manage kills five hundred to a thousand yards away. You'll never see that in any other game, not even close. I've had my share of 1000m kills (they're hard as hell), and at that distance the enemy infantry is literally one pixel high.

What i'm getting at is you don't know what sniping is until you've done it in this game. period

i'll try to dig up a screenshot of a long distance kill to show you what i mean...

these are both kills from about eight hundred meters away (which is and was entirely possible, but incredibly difficult):

THATS sniping, and you'll never see that in any call of duty game.

WO_Kelly · #14 (**permalink**) February 23rd, 2007, 05:55 AM

Yeah I also play this game. Basically WWIIOL is several simulators all in one. Right now I am focusing on the air war. I will give you a few screenies. Just to give you guys a heads up, due to the fact the computer monitor can never give you the resolution a human eyeball can, the air war is the only aspect of the game where they give you tags over the enemy plane, and within certain ranges the tag will go blue or red, telling you what type of enemy plane you are fighting though not what verson. From a distance all you will see are grey circles.

Quote:

Diving in on contacts in a FW 190 A-2. While the allied planes can generally out-turn you, the 190 can outdive, outroll, and outclimb all but the spitfire 9. With 4x20mm and 2x7.7mm the best tactic is to dive in on the enemy, hit him with all guns (a quick burst is often enough to kill him) and run away thus making it impossible for anything but an enemy plane following you in a dive to catch. If an enemy plane did follow you into a dive, the 190 can out roll it, thus allowing you to quickly change direction while the enemy pilot struggles with his controls.

Quote:

My best night ever, a total of 8 kills with the same FW190 without loss. Again the best tactic for the 190, and basically all Luft planes is to climb high, dive on the enemy and hit him, then continue to run. If you did not get the kill you superior climb rate, plus all the speed from your dive you have not used up can allow you to climb back up to good height, and simply rinse and repeat until he is dead. Never attempt to turn with your enemy for prolonged periods. The 190 has good instant turn, which means if you target breaks you can follow for a short while, but getting slow in a 190 means you will die.

Quote:

WWIIOL is all about teamwork. Flying with other players will help you survive, as you call out planes on each others 6, or if an enemy plane is on your 6, they will come and help. A favored tactic for the LW since their planes are generally faster but poor turners is to fly fast and straight and drag the enemy plane in a straight line while a fellow pilot come in from behind and kills the enemy plane.

Quote:

A massive dogfight between british planes and axis planes. In that picture are 18 planes both RAF and LW, plus tracers farther away where another air battle between several other aircraft are taking plane. While it is not always the best idea to get into a dogfight with the LW rides, it does not mean you can't. As long as you do not bleed your speed away in turn fights, you can dogfight in a small area.

Quote:

Several Bf110s and Hurricanes tangle up north while an enemy freighter attempts to shoot down enemy 110s with its 20mm anti-aircraft guns. For the first week of the map the 3 planes fighting are the hurricane 1, the Hawk 75, and the Bf110. Later it will be the spitfire 1, hurricane 2b, 109E, and Dewo. After that it will be the Spitfire 5, 109F4, and Hawk81. Finally it will end with the Spitfire9, FW190, 109G-4, P-38, and Hawk 87.

Quote:

A burst from the 2x20mm and 4x7.7mm guns on the Bf110 rips off a wing on a hurricane.

Quote:

A low level dogfight between 110's Hurricanes and H75s.

There is a tank simulator as well. Real life armor values, penetration values and the works. This is not RO armor, this is realilistic armor combat, with ammunition storage, fuel blowing up, gunsights and all.

Quote:

A StuG IIIG about to be hit by a 57mm 6 pounder on a British crusader 3 tank from the flank. Its 30mm side armor will be easily penetrated. The tank was killed within seconds of the picture being taken.

Quote:

Sometimes people feel the need to dive a tank to their enemies airfield and camp it. A shot from a 6 pounder 57mm round from my British crusader 3 tank stopped that from happening.

Quote:

The French attempted to bring tanks from a rear town up to relieve a town under attack by the Germans. many sliped though the forest and did relieve the town, but not this one. A flank shot from my StuG IIIG 75mm L/48 easily dealt with the tank, hitting something vital because the one shot blew the whole tank up.

Quote:

The British Churchill 7 tank is slow, with the 75mm allied gun. Its main advantage is its massive 152mm of frontal turret and hull armor, which can even stop an 88mm from a tiger round up until about 200m. Its side armor, though less thick then the front, is 90mm making it stronger then the tigers side armor. However from about 700 meters a StuG IIIG's 75mm round can get through with a good angle. This shot was much closer.

Quote:

This abortive attack resulted in the axis withdrawing back to their field base. quite simply the enemy had more tanks left then we did, and our inf was getting slaughtered. I decided to reverse my tank back to base because the Stug IIIG has no turret. This British Crusader 3 tank lost its turret as it appeared in front of me.

WO_Kelly · #15 (**permalink**) February 23rd, 2007, 06:07 AM

I started playing the ground game from the beginning, and while it is quite fun, I am now flying in the air most of the time. However that does not mean I do not play ground, and some of the ground battle are utter bloodbaths.

Quote:

A massive preplanned attack by the axis. This was the start of a large operation which ultimately resulted in huge losses in the center of the map and won the map for the axis. However the attack force suffered huge losses in tanks because many people spawned the tanks and not infantry. Anti-Tank guns plus Anti-Tank infantry ended up taking a heavy toll on the panzers which had been supplied for a few days to one specific brigade.

Quote:

A MG-34 deployed from a depot window. The LMGs can deploy on any flat surface, from windows, to low walls or holes in the walls.

Quote:

A LMG MG34 covers a Panzer IV Aust-G from any anti-tank infantry, plus picking off any enemy infantry that comes down the alley from the buildings on the left side.

Quote:

During the battle for Roosendael, a fierce battle for a depot began. Here a Panzer III Aust-H covers an area of road around the depot preventing enemy troops from breaking out that way.

Quote:

The battle continues, the bodies of several British troops give testament to the losses both sides suffered over one depot.

Quote:

More bodies in the surrounding building show how hard fought the battle for a single depot was, but taking a single depot can alter the map, and had this town fallen a large hole in the axis lines would have oppened allowing the enemy to break through, possibly surrounding 2 or 3 brigades up north pinned against the Zeelands waterways.

Quote:

A fairly typical weekend battle for a town. While WWIIOL can not boast the numbers of WoW, its battle for a town are usually larger then a shoebox battle. At least an equal number of allied units were attacking the town, putting the numbers at close to 100-120 people.

Quote:

While the graphics can be seen as quite dated, the RATs constantly attempt to improve graphics. As the map is about half the scale of northern euroupe, there is a lot to process. These new ruins replaced one of the older 2-D ruins, making for some great fun in the gutted walls of the town.

Quote:

A French rifleman covers the entrance to a depot. This depot was under heavy assault by the Germans, and the bodies of 3 German Soldiers can be seen near the entrance.

Quote:

While the French were gathering to retake the last depot in the town, thus liberating it from the Germans, a JU-52 fill of German Paratroopers dropped over the Armybase and quickly eliminated the few troops defending the bunker. A quick and fierce attack by the French with bolt action rifles took back the bunker occupied by several German Paras with MP40s. Here they are by the radio, and were killed before they could capture the Army Base, thus routing the French Brigade.

Quote:

A bit of a graphical error, but the bodies of 3 German paras in the bunker lie together, all 3 being killed by a French Rifle Grenadier who shot a nade down the hallway.

Quote:

A French Trooper runs down the hallway to secure the bunker, a dead french man lies in front.

Quote:

More bodies, both French and German bear testament to the ferocity of the French attack on the bunker. Though Armed with only bolt action rifles against the German Paras with MP40s, teamwork between the French Players and the one Rifle-Grenadier allowed the French troops to clear the corners with few causalities.

WO_Kelly · #16 (**permalink**) February 23rd, 2007, 06:27 AM

Quote:

An attack on an German controlled town by French forces. This Pak38 50mm guards the entrance to the German Army base, allowing it a flank shot on any tank entering. As the side armor of tanks are weaker then the front armor, this makes the pak38 able to defeat all tanks that will enter, even though in a head on battle it would be unable to penetrate their frontal armor.

Quote:

A French M10 Tank Destroyer stands guard in the French attack on the town. With a High Velocity 76.2mm similar in penetration to the German 75mm, 5x magnification optics, and a strong sloped mantle (front turret) at 45 degrees and 64mm thick (This gives its mantle a equivalent strength of over 100mm of flat armor) it is a very dangerous tank to get into a fight at ranges if it is hull down (hull behind cover, thus making the turret the only visible target to the enemy). However its slow turret (90 seconds to go 360 degrees), weak hull armor, no frontal facing MG, Open Top, and paper thin side armor makes it unsuited for close range battles. However at this point all axis tanks in the spawn list were dead, along with most Anti-Tank units, the M10 has come in for close support using HE and its rear Facing .50 cal MG for both anti-infantry and Anti-Air support.

Quote:

Two dead soldiers, one French and one German fighting for the ruins of an nameless town.

Quote:

A true bloodbath, a French Brigades last stand. Tanks and infantry have the area surrounded yet the French still charge into your guns, resulting in the death of many of them, but also the death of many of our troops. The Encirclement weakens several times, almost allowing the enemy back into the town to recapture depots, but ultimately it holds.

Quote:

The battle for Knokke, the last British Town on the European mainland. As the town housed a British para brigade along with a regular army brigade, the German forces faced more troops then usual. Here British paras and German troops lie dead attempting to take the bunker from British Troops.

Quote:

The aftermath of the attack on Knokke, British Troops lie slain in their barracks which was surrounded. They bear mute testament to the their determination not to let their last position on the European mainland fall without a costly fight for Axis Forces.

Ultimately the game is extreamly fun. As soon as you get your first kill you are hooked. I still remember my first kill back in April 2005. I was a British Tommy Armed with a Lee Enfeild. A German Soldier runs around a corner and me from the second floor of a depot put a round through his chest. He falls over dead. I was hooked.