Hours of War, browser MMO World War II strategy game, entering Alpha

Hello all,

We are developing a browser MMO war strategy game franchise, Hours of War. For more detailed information, and info about updates etc., do visit Hours of War website: Hours of War| Normandy 1944

We will begin the game with World War II campaigns and scenarios, like Allied invasion in Normandy 1944 (Allied vs. Germany), and Tali-Ihantala 1944 (Finns vs. Soviet Union). The game can be played as high level strategy (if you are a high ranking commander, like Army Commander), or on a tactical level (e.g. you play a Battalion Commander, commanding Companies). Or anything in between.

ALPHA TESTING
We are entering closed Alpha phase quite soon, and have chosen first wave of Alpha testers. We will add more testers soon, so if you are interested in Alpha testing, see the game website, Hours of War| Normandy 1944, for details how to apply.

Kind regards,
Miikka Lyytikäinen
Executive Producer
Hours of War / Sauma Technologies Ltd., Finland
SAUMA Technologies

 

Hi,

sorry, at this point all public information can be found from the game website, or from our Facebook group (which contains a FAQ etc.), at the address:
Hours of War
We will be launching a new game site quite soon, it will contain more information.

***
Edited by Miikka:
As not everyone has a facebook account, here is some additional info:

ABOUT HOURS OF WAR
Hours of War (HoW) is a browser based massively multiplayer online strategy-game developed by Sauma Technologies.

YOU - THE COMMANDER
You are one of the commanders, fighting alongside and against of up to 5000 human players in WW II campaigns and scenarios such as Allied landing in Normandy 1944, the Soviet mass offensive against the Finns at Tali-Ihantala 1944, and more to come including more than just WW II battles and wars!
Your objective is to create an ongoing military career by commanding your troops to victory in battles that rage on 24/7!

WHAT IS NEEDED TO PLAY?
All you need is a web browser and Flash player to play the game.

TRY FOR FREE
You can try the game for free, playing brief battles from the scenarios and campaigns, with limited amount of players.

PAY PER PLAY
For a small fee you can start a short game and invite your friends to play with or against you. Your friends play for free!

MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTION
A monthly subscription gives you the full game experience, and a career mode within the game and community.

HISTORICALLY ACCURATE
We are trying hard to create a game that is historically accurate in terms of terrain, weather conditions, Tables of Equipment, and troops, equipment etc.

USER GENERATED CONTENT
If you want to change the game data, you can create your own campaigns and scenarios, and change e.g. unit data or weather conditions.

LAUNCH: ALPHA, BETA, AND FINAL
- Closed Alpha of the game will launch during Q1/09
- Open Beta will be launched during Q2/09
- Final and full version, which will continuously be updated after the commercial launch with new content like campaigns and scenarios, during Q3/09.

ALPHA: JOIN THE GAME
Enlist now and become a WWII legend!

All Alpha tester positions are occupied at the moment -- but we will add more Alpha players soon, so keep those emails coming

Send us an email, with a subject line as:
Hours of War alpha testing request.
Feel free to include any other feedback as well.

Send the email to address:
alpharequest (add at here) hoursofwar.com

NEWSLETTER
Sign up for our newsletter to stay up-to-date on product updates, such as game features, and new campaigns and other content!

Sign up: send an e-mail to:
newsletter(at)hoursofwar.com

Your email address will only be used in contacting you. Newsletter: we will send you news about the project. Alpha request: we will send you a notification if you are chosen to participate in the Alpha testing.



***

Cheers,
Miikka

 

Hi Buzzsaw,

sorry, I am unable to tell more about the limitations of free to play at this moment.

Cheers,
Miikka

 

The new Hours of War website and forum has been launched! We are releasing more information about our project including new screenshots, Alpha test-news and more!
Check out the updated site:

Hours of War :: Home

ALPHA STATUS UPDATE

Our production team has worked extremely hard for the last few weeks to release the first playable version of Hours of War. Internal Alpha testing has been going on for a while, and next Monday 16th March we are launching the external Alpha for a selected group of testers.

WIN 3 MONTHS OF FREE PLAYING TIME - REGISTER NOW!

Register now to the Hours of War website and participate in a competition, where the winner will get 3 months free subscription to the game when it is launched (target launch is Q3 2009)!
The prize is randomly determined among the registered users, and the competition will end April 1st, 2009, at 23:59 UTC + 1 hour.
We will announce the winner on Hours of War website and forum and e-mail the winner.

 

Hello,

here is a brief status update concerning Hours of War.

NEW VIDEO AND SCREENSHOTS/UNIT CARD PICTURES
we have released Hours of War video, and some new screenshots/Unit card pictures.
Both can be found from our game page, from the address:
Hours of War :: Game

ALPHA GAMES
We have arranged a couple of external alpha games, where we tested how our back end works (server technology, and the underlying code handling data between game client and server and database), and on the game client side some basic things like moving the troops and combat. We have feedback from the testers, and know quite clearly issues we need to address in order to move closer towards beta version.

NOW DEVELOPING NORMANDY LANDING, AND TALI-IHANTALA, WHAT NEXT?
That is what we are asking from our registered users, at our forum -- what campaigns or scenarios should we create next? All opinions appreciated, and will be taken in account when we make the decision.
The thread is here:
Hours of War • View topic - Your opinion? Which battle/campaign should we develop next

Cheers,
Miikka

 

Hi all, we have a winner for the march competition, and a new competition.

WINNER OF MARCH COMPETITION!
Hello, we have a winner for the 1st Competition: user Gunnar has won 3 months of free playing time! Game launch is expected to take place during Q3/2009.

NEW COMPETITION UNTIL APRIL 30th!
A new competition has started: every registered member participates automatically, and every new registered user, who has registered before 30th April 2009, is included in the competition. And everyone that registers, will be included automatically in future competitions like this! You are free to register here:
Hours of War :: Register

PRIZE: 100 EUR AND ORIGINAL ART!
The prize is: 100 Eur Amazon gift voucher (at the time of writing, 100 Eur equals 132.77 USD), and an original concept art drawing signed by the artist mailed to you! Register now to participate!

LET US KNOW WHAT CAMPAIGNS/BATTLES YOU'D PREFER US TO DEVELOP
If you have ideas about campaigns/battles, you'd like to play, write your feedback to this forum thread:
Hours of War • View topic - Your opinion? Which battle/campaign should we develop next
(you need to register and login in order to write)

Cheers,
Miikka

 

Hello all, we have a new May competition, and a winner for the previous April competition:

NEW COMPETITION UNTIL END OF MAY!
A new competition has started: every registered member participates automatically, and every new registered user, who has registered before end of May 2009, is included in the competition.

PRIZE: 100 EUR AND HOURS OF WAR T-SHIRT!
The prize is: 100 Eur Amazon gift voucher, and an Hours of War t-shirt mailed to you!

REGISTER NOW AND PARTICIPATE AUTOMATICALLY IN FUTURE COMPETITIONS
Registering now you ensure that you will automatically participate in all monthly competitions like this in the future!
Hours of War :: Register

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WINNER OF APRIL COMPETITION!
We have a winner for the April Competition: user with a nickname of War Dragon has won 100 Eur Amazon gift voucher and an original Hours of War drawing signed by the artist! We have sent an email to the winner.

 

Hi all, we have a new competition & a winner for the previous one.

JUNE COMPETITION STARTS

A new competition has started: every registered member participates automatically, and every new registered user, who has registered before end of June 2009, is included in the competition.

PRIZE: COMMANDO: D-DAY COMICS AND HOURS OF WAR T-SHIRT!
Prize is the legendary comic, Commando: D-Day Fight or Die! The Twelve Best D-day comics anthology, and Hours of War t-shirt, mailed to you!

More info on the D-Day comic, see the publishers page!

REGISTER NOW AND PARTICIPATE AUTOMATICALLY TO FUTURE COMPETITIONS
Registering now you ensure that you will automatically participate in all monthly competitions like this in the future!
Register now:
Hours of War :: Register

Do remember that the Open Beta Game launch is expected to take place during summer 2009, hope to see you all in the game!

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WINNER OF MAY COMPETITION

Hello, we have a winner for the May Competition: user legoman has won 100 Eur Amazon gift voucher, and Hours of War t-shirt! We have sent an email to the winner.