Hey guys! It's been a nice run, but me and Vuorma decided that it's no longer worth it to pay for the domain and server space. The map will still be available on hiveworkshop and epicwar. Thank you all for your support throughout the years, we'll see you on B-net!

So, i guess none of us thought that there would be a new version of World in Flames... yet here it is! A driving factor behind this is the amazing news that Blizzard has increased the maximum map size limit by 16 TIMES, up to 128mb... i am speechless. As it happens, i had a few more models stowed back which i had wanted to put into this map but didn't in order to save map space for Chinese or Italian infantry models. There were also some balance issues which needed to be addressed *cough* paratroopers *cough cough* and i took the opportunity to fix these as well. Here is a complete list of changes:

• New models for Soviet battleship and cruiser. Their cruiser is now the Bogatyr-class, and their battleship is the Sevastopol class. Both are old WW1 relics and look absolutely badass. The Sevastopol has a high rate of fire due to its 4x3(!) guns, but low range and damage as well as relatively slow movement speed. The Bogatyr hits hard but slow and is a low-average cruiser.
• Increased the speed of the Akagi-class carrier. In reality, carriers were really fast, yet for some reason i made them slow in this map. Realistically, the Kongo-class should also be fast since it was a battlecruiser, but i'm gonna let its stats stand since i don't want to mess up the balance. Ship balance has been generally altered.
• It is now possible to enable auto-production for your structures, which will make them loop their production queue indefinitely as long as you can afford it. This should help relive the micro nightmare which this map is.
• Added a new projectile model for the flak-guns which has a more classic "pom-pom" look to it. I personally love it.
• Added a new sound set for all ships, so that you will have one less unit type asking you to "point us at them"...
• Increased the price of paratrooper planes by 150 and reduced the DPS of all paratrooper soldiers. Let me know if they need further nerf.
• It is now actually possible to win in Domination mode!! Next version it will display the percentage you hold in the multiboard.
• Reduced the cost of all Tank Destroyers. They are now only slightly more expensive than medium tanks.
• Increased bunker build time by 10 seconds.
• Fixed a bug which prevented tiger tanks from being repaired.
• Reinforced Concrete upgrade now adds hit points.
• Increased the damage of German cruisers at the expense of firing rate. They are pocket battleships, after all.
• Improved the performance of smoke grenades. A drawback of the new solution is that the effect may linger for a couple of seconds when the unit moves outside of the smoke, but at least that's better than having the game bog down entirely.
• Changed the way the Naval Doctrine works - it now increases the attack dice of your ships, which means the damage bonus can be anywhere form 4 to 10 depending on the ship. It is designed so that countries you typically associate with naval dominance get a larger bonus than countries like Russia and Finland.
• Added an extra bunker on the northern Finnish border.

It might take some time for me to make Vuorma upload the map to the downloads section, but in the mean time you can find it on MakeMeHost and EpicWar or in the World in Flames thread on hiveworkshop.com.

Sadly, there are no updates for Chinese infantry for now, but i promise that this will be a focus in the next version. Other things you might see are Narvik-class destroyers and Bismarck-class battleships for Germany and Carro Armato tanks for Italy...

Wait, what? I thought the upcoming version was 1.4c? Well, despite some pre-release testing, a critical bug appeared in the 1.4c version right after it was uploaded to MMH, which forced us to skip immediately to the next version. The important thing is, it is finally out!

New features in this version include season effects and a new tribute system, based on investing your tribute into a ship which you need to send to your allies port, rather than the instant tribute of the default warcraft system. This is to prevent situations where the US end up feeding resources to the USSR or UK while sitting safely back across the atlantic. It also encourages the use of naval blockades to prevent the transfering of resources, much like the situation during the lend-lease contracts and the shipping of equipment to aid britain during the blitz.

Finally, the airplane system has been reverted back to what it used to be, since the "improvements" made last version proved to be crucially flawed. People who were avoiding the last version can now benefit from the improved balance and performance which was promised. You will find the new version in the downloads section, aswell as on MakeMeHost.com and Entgaming.net.

To those interested in grand-scale diplomatic maps, i also want to promote a new project which i (Fingolfin) have been working on the past months - a modern warfare sandbox map known as World Domination. It has a flux economy system inspired by Supreme Commander, and walks in the steps of maps such as The Alternate Future and Nuclear Sunrise. Another unique feature is that it has a fully custom AI system which can support a full house of bots! For more information, check out the thread below:

http://worldinflames.se/forums/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1067&p=2829#p2829

So, i realise there were some issues with the airplanes in the last version. Graphical bugs, underpowered fighters, and a bunch of other things. To straighten things up, i have started working on a new version to resolve these issues. I made a completely revamped airplane system which is much more simple, yet looks better than the current one. My hopes are that less complexity will mean less bugs, and that the planes will act more natural. The new system also has support for inertia, which is something you need to see to realise how cool it looks. Until it is done i am considering uploading a temporary version where the airplane system is reset to what it was before. It will revert the airplane vs ship situation to the crappyness it used to be, but i suspect the hardcore players will still appreciate it.

Until then, merry christmas and happy holidays!

It's friday! That means the world in Flames team is kickin' in the front seat, sittin' in the back seat and releasing a new god damn version of World in Flames! This version features a complete overhaul of the airplane system, giving players the ability to FINALLY select individual targets for their fighters and dive bombers. It also lets them use the same attack type as other units, giving more emphasis to the role of each unit. As icing on the cake, cruisers now do significantly less damage against air units, and dive bombers deal double damage against all ships. This means that a desicive bomber strike can severely damage or even sink a cruiser, and my hopes are that this will lead to more carrier battles on the oceans! Another viable strategy is to focus down all enemy destroyers to make way for your submarines to settle the deal. Overall, this version brings a lot of new features to the board and i am glad to finally have it out.

This is also a special day for other reasons, since it is none less than Vuormas birthday! So let's all get out there and celebrate him by playing some awesome WiF games this weekend to honor his contribution.

As usual, you can find a complete changelog in the developer log:
http://worldinflames.se/forums/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=1059&p=2752#p2752

NOTE: The map is currently not available in the downloads section, but can instead be accessed from the map database at entgaming.net. The version will be available on this site shortly.