Amongst all of the new things in 1.29, including a new Spitfire and 109, there are some important changes to the game we would like to highlight.  The new Training system has a major impact on the way new players are introduced to the game (but existing players can try it as well).  The Quick Help system also helps describe the user interface for new players.  The changes to default keymaps is a 'Must Know' for existing players, as are the new No Joystick keymaps and the changes to where your game preferences are saved. 

Please read vital information abount these systems below (and review the entire Readme for a more extensive list of changes).

Training is Now Active!

We have added a new Training feature, to help teach players the fundamental basics of Infantry play.  New players must complete this training before they can 'graduate' to the live game.

New Rifle Range

The training area has a new rifle range, with targets at 20 m, 50 m, 100 m, and 500 m.  You will also see two sandbag pits that will be used for indirect fire training (grenades, rifle grenades, and mortars).  This area will continue to be developed for training with other weapons.

Training is 'instanced' so that small groups of players from the same country can see and communicate with each other in the new training area.

Quick Help

The UI now has Quick Help tutorial screens. These explain each of the pages and tabs in the UI. These start automatically when a player first views a page or tab. To replay these quick help tutorials, click the [?] icon located in the upper right corner of each UI screen.

Default Keymappers Changed

Several default keymaps have changed.  We have attempted to bring more logic and consistency to the keymaps, while trying to change as little as possible. But with the new No-Joystick keymaps coming in, this was our opportunity.  Of course, you may still customize your keymaps.

• Deploy weapon for vehicles is Z (Deploy gun for infantry is still B or Mouse Button 2).
• Tow bar has moved to T
• Gunsight Range increase and decrease is now consistently mapped to Page Up to Increase, and Page Down to Decrease.
• Free look is now N for all units.
• Primary and Secondary Weapon fire is now Mouse Button 1 and Mouse Button 2 respectively.

Known issue with Autopilot

It is now remapped to Left Control + A but it does not take effect unless manually remapped.  We hope to have this fixed very soon.

New "No Joystick" Keymaps.

We have added preset keymap layouts for all units for those without a joystick.  The system will automatically detect a joystick and use the no-joystick presets if none is detected.  If you have a joystick but wish to use them anyway, you may select this in the keymapper.

Images of the these keymaps, and the default infantry keymap, are now on our wiki:
http://wiki.wwiionline.com/index.php/Keymap_Layouts

Great thanks to Sgtspoon whose early work on these made this much easier to implement!

While we strongly recommend joysticks, particularly for aircrafts, the ability to control a tank or AT gun with keyboard and mouse only should not be discounted.  It greatly assists with precise aiming.

Preferences have moved to your Documents

Now your screenshots, custom keymaps (saved as .CFML files), and preferences (wwiiol.xml) are saved in your Document folder.

• For XP: C:\Documents and Settings\<user>\My Documents\Battleground Europe
• For Vista: C:\Users\<user>\Documents\Battleground Europe