Well, this is something! Wargaming.net has thrown together a totally rockin CGI trailer for World of Warplanes, showing tons of awesome dogfighting action in their upcoming game. Short and sweet, it appears to have been made for Igromir 2012, a Russian game developer conference. But hey, who cares about that? They make that awesome "brrrrrrrrrowwwwwwwwwww" noise while firing their guns!
Julian "Mirai" Williams
This is probably the best Dev Diary from the World of Warplanes team yet. They talk about historical accuracy to the planes, how they are working to keep balance in check, customization both visual and gameplay (you get to hang pin-up art on your plane, how cool is that?), damage modeling, and Lead Finding Sight Assist, to make it more arcade player friendly. But my favorite bit is about halfway through, when talking about gameplay balance; "We want to make sure you're fighting an enemy, not his plane."
I'm sure anyone who has done online games has reached a game where skill has gone out the window in favor of the instrument of death they have in their hand. Sometimes you want that, but in a game like Warplanes, I certainly don't.
Julian "Mirai" Williams
Wargaming celebrated a double win at Gamescom by releasing a new video for World of Warplanes.
As announced by a press release and video from Wargaming.net, Japanese-designed WWII planes will be featured in the World of Warplanes release, including the legendary A6M2 Zero, as pictured above.
This historical plane was most notable in the attack on Pearl Harbor and the Pacific Theater, leading up to WWII. Also included is the Nakajima Type 91, the J4M1 Sendan interceptor, and the Kyushu J7W1-3; three plane models that never saw combat. The planes feature high speed, maneuverability, and a wide array of weaponry.
BigWorld is a developer who creates middleware, specifically the stuff that - in short terms - allows the World Of games series to host millions of players without security risks. According to Wargaming, it's like the Unreal Engine from Epic. Cutting the middleman out, they bought them for $45 million, allowing faster and cheaper transition into their upcoming and developed World Of games.
Since tanks are much easier to control than planes, what with the entire Z-axis coming into play, so Wargaming is expanding their support for controls greatly, including mouse and kyeboard, gamepads, flight sticks, or joysticks. The idea, of course, is to get everyone in on the game, but those who have skills or invest enough time into the game, have much greater control over their plane. For comparison, think about the difference between manual and automatic.
Replacing the function of "capturing" a point, like in World of Tanks, was a bit of a task, and Warplane devs explain the process of inventing Superiority, including the other mission called Escort. Yes, there's escort missions, but they actually sound awesome. They also explain the new training mode, which is critical considering how much more complicated Warplanes is. the full video goes into explanation.
The entry page for the closed beta would be good to check out right about now - the closed beta is taking off. World of Warplanes is looking to be an aerial combat version of the quite popular World of Tanks, and it's pretty slick so far. No, there are no dragons, I'm still waiting for them to announce that wasn't an April Fool's gag.
ZAM is also having a Twitter contest to give away 5000 Gold Codes for World of Tanks! Just tweet / follow @Pwyff and @ZAMOfficial with what you're most looking forward to in World of Warplanes, and we'll select some lucky winners throughout the weekend! You may enter once per Twitter account for a total of two entries! Be sure to follow us, or we can't directly message you with your winning code!
How do you take a notoriously difficult game genre and translate it into an accessible, free-to-play MMO that millions will play? This was the problem that strategy game developer Wargaming.net faced - and beat - two years ago with World of Tanks, and it's the same problem they're facing this year with World of Warplanes. At PAX East 2012, I got the chance to sit down with Wargaming's CEO, Victor Kislyi, to talk about Wargaming's trials and tribulations creating an accessible aerial-combat focused MMO. I also got the opportunity to do a little stunt flying of my own, so read on!
Does the thought of aerial combat make you giddy with delight? Do you drool at the thought of piloting your own warplane? Does super generic electric guitar music get you hopping? We're sort of kidding on that last one.
World of Warplanes' newest alpha gameplay footage is out, and it is looking pretty. While most of the comments are players lamenting their inability to get into the global alpha, it looks like Wargaming.net's World of Warplanes is shaping up to be a fantastic addition to the "World of War Vehicles" franchise. Watch below!
