Future direction of the game

[RedwoodForest]

I am curious about the future direction of MWIF, having now gone through the tutorials and dabbling in the introductory Barbarossa scenario. Despite the graphics and UI from the mid-90s, I find the game to be utterly immersive, even in 2025. I have never encountered a game so rich or expansive before. I can see why the board game has entranced players for several decades. Moving on...

- I saw a post from Sept. 30 in this forum suggesting that the past several months has been tragically chaotic for the developer. Having experienced disruptive home repairs, I can sympathize. Has there been any news or updates since then, a couple months on?

- I've come to realize that MWIF is using an older rule set than the current version of the game in print. Are there any plans to bring the set of rules in line with the current version of the game?

- What will the benefits of moving the game to 64 bits from 32 bits be regarding future patches/updates?

Part of the reason I ask is because of comparative accessibility: I got this on sale but the game is usually $100 and may be a hard sell to anyone who isn't already totally sold on the board game and isn't playing on VASSAL already. Cleaner graphics for the map (see for instance the VASSAL graphics in comparison), UI, and AI would go a long way. Perhaps none of that is possible with the current code. I don't claim to know anything about such things. I'm a humble gamer, not a programmer.

Maybe nobody here has any insights into the above, which is fine. From a cursory glance at some threads I can sense that updates have been, well, let's just say gradual for quite some time. But thank you to the developer for all that they've done already. That's for another thread, though... along with many rule questions. What a find, browsing the Matrix sales!

[paulderynck]

I have some insights.

There's been nothing new on the developers' situation but AFAIK work continues. (I am a beta tester.)

Yes there is a new rules set (the "Collector's Edition") that was marketed with revised counters and map and a number of rules changes. But it is still 99% World in Flames and I would claim anyone who enjoys this game (the Rules as Written version 7.0), or the new version (8.0), would enjoy playing and would not consider themselves disadvantaged if they only had access to one or the other. However, there are no plans to port this version to version 8.0 and such is even less likely than a working, minimal AI.

I expect if you can run 32 bits or more, you can run MWiF for as long as you want to. I have run it since before 2008 (released 2013, but I was a beta tester in 2008) on whatever current PC I had at the time. Right now mine is a 64 bit Win 11 machine.

I've played this game on Vassal as well as on MWiF and the state of the graphics either way has not been the least bit of an inhibition to me but YMMV. I play it because I like the game more than any other wargame (of likely well over a hundred) that I've played.

You are probably going to find some negative posts on this forum. I think some of the authors of those had unreasonably high expectations and in my experience they don't seem to grog what a fantastic job the developer has done to render the game to the point it is at now.

[RedwoodForest]

I have some insights.

There's been nothing new on the developers' situation but AFAIK work continues. (I am a beta tester.)

Yes there is a new rules set (the "Collector's Edition") that was marketed with revised counters and map and a number of rules changes. But it is still 99% World in Flames and I would claim anyone who enjoys this game (the Rules as Written version 7.0), or the new version (8.0), would enjoy playing and would not consider themselves disadvantaged if they only had access to one or the other. However, there are no plans to port this version to version 8.0 and such is even less likely than a working, minimal AI.

I expect if you can run 32 bits or more, you can run MWiF for as long as you want to. I have run it since before 2008 (released 2013, but I was a beta tester in 2008) on whatever current PC I had at the time. Right now mine is a 64 bit Win 11 machine.

I've played this game on Vassal as well as on MWiF and the state of the graphics either way has not been the least bit of an inhibition to me but YMMV. I play it because I like the game more than any other wargame (of likely well over a hundred) that I've played.

You are probably going to find some negative posts on this forum. I think some of the authors of those had unreasonably high expectations and in my experience they don't seem to grog what a fantastic job the developer has done to render the game to the point it is at now.

Thank you for the response, paulderynck. Yes, I would assume that porting over the "updated" rules would be a hassle and a half considering how unbelievably complex and large the game already is, and it seems like there are other more pressing priorities like bug fixes and AI. I was referring to the Sept. 30 post about the application transfer from 32- to 64-bit, which seemed to be taking up all of the developer's time in the late summer and early fall. My laptops have been running 64-bit programs for ages now and also run Windows 11.

I figure there will be negativity everywhere. I'm grateful for what this is but I am coming into this in late 2025, so I'm sure I'm getting a different experience than those a decade ago.

[thek3mu]

the MWiF installer disc in my DIY dvd case...

IMG_2804.jpeg (2.21 MiB) Viewed 223 times

if nothing dramatic happens to steve or matrixgames the game in all it's glory will still be around for the next decades, i'm sure of that.

i feel your thoughts and i just wanted to let you know, i will be around, too.

merry christmas to all of you.

[RedwoodForest]

IMG_2804.jpeg

if nothing dramatic happens to steve or matrixgames the game in all it's glory will still be around for the next decades, i'm sure of that.

i feel your thoughts and i just wanted to let you know, i will be around, too.

merry christmas to all of you.

Fun shelves! I have that exact Totoro plushie. Yes, happy holidays everyone. Fingers crossed for some news at some point.