We want to inform you that the Multiplayer Beta test of Men of War has been shifted due to some additional development time granted, since we want that you enjoy the game at the most and best condition we use this time to further expand the technology of Men of War and its features.
You need to understand that Men of War is seen as a big quality and unique step in the Real-time Tactical genre and we really want to get the best out of the game to guarantee you a long term enjoyment with Men of War.

We are really sorry to hyped you guys up too early, but the decision couldn't been foreseen at this point.

We appreciate your understanding!

If you registered up for the Beta you will be notified as soon as it starts and you will receive a cd-key to test out the game first hand!
If you did not register up yet, it's your lucky fortune since you can go get one of the remaining cd-keys here:
viewforum.php?f=119

For those who can hardly wait for the game, we set up a developers chat on Wednesday, the 7th of May at 19-20 GMT to exclusively answer your questions on the game and to talk a bit about its features.

The only thing you need is to join up our chat-room, which requires no chat client:
http://www.digitalmindsoft.eu/community/chat.html

Otherwise choose an IRC client of your wish and join up here:

Chatlog:

Q: Will singleplayer missions allow more freedom or will the player be forced to follow a set path?
Instinct: There are some primary objectives which are necessary to be completed by you, this doesn't mean you are forced to do this in a special way or route, we tried to give you as much freedom as possible to complete tasks in whatever way you want. You also will have more time to react and think about situations or the way you want to go on.

Q: Can scout vehicles like Greyhound or Puma have a bigger viewing range than other AFVs if possible?
Skael: These scout vehicles have better all-around view range in middle distance and see infantry much better than tanks and other vehicles, but scout vehicles have worser optics and aren't good at detecting enemies at far distance compared to heavy tanks. Anyway, they are fast and maneuverable.

Q: Can we feel difference in direct conrolling when driving a "gyrostabilized" tank?
Skael: Sure, you will. Main gun stabilization will allow you to fire at enemies while moving more precisely than with other tanks. This will allow different tank combat tactics when playing for the Commonwealth and the USA. For example, M4A2 Sherman and Centurion MK I will have such stabilization.

Q: How many new units are there planned in MoW? Can you give some examples besides the ones already seen in Developer updates?
Instinct: We have no fix number yet, simply because we do as much as we can and try to choose the most useful ones for multiplayer and singleplayer. We need a lot more vehicles for the USA and the Commonwealth, also ofcourse for the Japanese, which will not be available in MP Beta due to some balancing time we need. This is not a big deal since with the Commonwealth we have 4 Multiplayer Nations to test. Overall there will be more than 50 vehicles for sure
Skael: I can say 20+ and the number is still growing! :)

Q: Will the release version support 64-bit systems?
Skael: The game will work without problems on a 64-bit operating system like Windows XP or Vista. However, do not expect any special optimizations for 64-bit platforms.

Q:Perhaps a question that interests all of us: How is the progress with beta and did you solve the cheater problem?
Skael: We are having good progress :) and plan to start multiplayer beta in July. We are busy polishing new features and balancing multiplayer internally.
Instinct: :pang:
Skael: Sorry, June... :oops:
Skael: All known cheats on client side are fixed. Now we are working on protecting players from some host-side cheats by introducing dedicated servers for rating games.

Q: Will the AI be able to seek more ammo without human micro managing them in this task? (like a button telling them to grab what they can arround)
Skael: We want this feature in game and have it in our plan, but we don't know yet if it will be completed before the release.

Q: Will we have balanced campaigns? e.g. 10 German missions, 10 allied missions...
Instinct: No, the Soviet campaign is a bit longer than German and Allied, this is because we had the same time to make 2 campaigns as we had for 1 campaign earlier before. Never the less there are plenty of bonusmissions in the style of Soldiers for Germans and Allied, aswell in the type of defending a town against attackers. You will love the fact to have control above a German defence group at Vernan :)

Q: I have one modder-related question - Will we be able to assign shell speed and penetration to the shell itself? And not only to the gun?
Skael: Shells will have almost all parameters possible to setup, except shell speed, which will be set in the gun. Therefore expect new shell types :)
Also we have overworked the penetration system and it became more detailed and features real life like tank battles. Such as shell normalization, improved ricochet simulation. Tanks will not be destroyed by 1 hole in the hull, so you will be able to repair and capture enemy tanks.

Q: In the campaign do you have any "custome choice of troops to do (i'm thinking about close combat series as a model that would mix well with MoW)
Instinct: No, the campaigns are story based and you will follow the footsteps of special characters telling you their story about WW2. A custom choice of troops would require a different sort of Singleplayer concept we are not heading for MoW. This is something we can think of for a sequel.

Q: Are explosion effects more realistic than in Faces of War? e.g. Sound effects, ash rising from the ground...
Instinct: Definately, the sound and FX system improved drastically. The sound environment is not comparable with any other RTS out in the market. Lately we added the feature of weapon fuzz sounds, so you can hear the flying projectiles around the heads of your men.

Q: Will there be a chance of crew members getting killed or wounded by shells that penetrate but do not do any damage? Also, will they be able to be wounded by shells that do not penetrate so that if a tank takes too much fire it will start to lose it's crew (10% chance of a 20% health loss from a shell that hits the tank)?
Skael: Yes, driver and ammo loader will have bigger chance to get killed if shell penetrates the hull. If shell penetrates the turret, then commander and gunner will have serious chances to suffer from it. So in the end we can have an empty tank without its crew.

Q: Will there also be new weapons, like assault rifles or SMGs, not only vehicles?
Instinct: Yes, there will be new small firearms for infantry, definately. We also want to add more types of infantry for multiplayer aswell.

Q: will there be any horses in the game?
Instinct: Yes. :yes:

Instinct: Is it true that DMS soundcrew helped the Gearbox Software doing their soundwork for Brothers in Arms series?
Instinct: Yes, one of our soundengineers worked for Gearbox on the Brothers in Arms series in the past. But I can't hand out more details.

Q: In Faces of War the tracers were more like slow moving lasers. Is the speed and range for the bullets increased in MoW?
Instinct: Bullet speed has been increased, no laser weapons anymore.

Q: Many have asked this so i ask again, will there be off map airstrike/artillery?
Instinct: Yes you will be able to call in for airstrikes and artillery, but only in Singleplayer yet.

Q: Do u guys planing to make a "bigger" statistic system for example a kill ration lost/killed vehicles same as with infantry, the type of the vehicle u mostly knock out , the vehicle u mostly drive with etc...
Skael: We want to make such statistic system, but we just can't make everything in such short time.

Q: In FOW after shooting out an enemy tank it will shoot once and than the crew leave the tank it is a after last minute shoot and its really anoying will u change it in MOW?
Skael: With new penetration and tank damage system it will depend on the crew that stayed alive after projectile hit or not.

Q: Will be the voices for nations in there native language? or english?
Instinct: They are in their native language, except mission descriptions, it's hard to make such in their native language, since its not very comfortable to read instead of just listen to your instructions.

Q: will you release plugins for 3ds max 9 and what tools do you have for modders?
Skael: Modding tools will still be the same - game editor for making maps and missions, 3d studio max plugins for making new game models and notepad for everything else =)
Skael: New plugins for 3d studio max 8, 9, 2008 and 2009 will be released soon.

Q: Will soldiers be able to put TNT/granades in tanks barrel or hatch?
Instinct: No something like this is very complicated to do, atleast if you want to do it properly and good looking, other features have priority for now.

Q: How about the Japanese voices? Did you manage to do them?
Instinct: We are working on them.

Q: will there be realistic fog of war - only visible area where crew / soldier is looking at? or just like on other rts-s - you can see terrain around - circle unit?
Instinct: Yes there is a very realistic fog of war possible to enable by you as a player or in multiplayer by the host. Only the realistic field of view of your soldiers will uncover the fog

Q: Can i order what first should be repaired on the tank (turrent or cannon or wheels...)?
Skael: This is a nice feature to have, but we have a lot more of them in line. And all of them are waiting to jump into the game..

Q: When will you start giving out keys for beta-testing?
Skael: We will start to give out keys 2 weeks before the actual beta testing starts.

Q: Is that officer's face on the screenshot made out of leather?
Instinct: He is a German, what did you thought his skin is made of?

Q: When is the release of the game expected?
Skael: We want the game to hit the shelves of the stores with a big bang in September.

Instinct: We thank you guys for your questions and the time being with us
Skael: Thanks for the questions! It was fun :)

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