Order of Battle: World War II Patch Notes, July 26th 2023

Roughly 8 years since Order of Battle: Pacific first released, we are now proud to present the latest update to Order of Battle: World War II.

As you can see in the detailed changelog below, this is not just the usual incremental patch update. We’ve moved the game to support a whole new version of Slitherine’s PBEM++ system and in doing so are the first Slitherine game to use the new Multiplayer Rating System. We have also added the ability for players to set up multiplayer games as either Paired and/or Ranked types.

Our designers have been reading and responding to community requests and have updated many of the scenarios in Order of Battle’s campaigns. Not just fixing up bugs but also going through and adding units that have been added in subsequent updates, new AI commanders and also the ability to have the AI use period-appropriate camouflage skins. We’ve also tweaked a few of the units in the database to make them more usable for players and modders.

We’ve also updated several multiplayer maps to make them more balanced and more likely to reach a natural completion and updated the UI when browsing your list of active multiplayer games.

Finally we have added support for game controllers into the PC version of the game. This is a version of the UI that was created for console players and can be used either with a game controller whilst playing on your TV or with your Steamdeck in your hands.

Don’t miss the article about this new patch here. Also, a new tournament is about to start, sign-up here.

Full Changelog:

• Updated the game to use the latest version of Slitherine’s Pbem servers giving access to updated multiplayer functionality.

• Added support for Multiplayer Ratings.

1. Similar to the system used in chess, this Elo based ranking system creates a new persistent Rating for players who take part in Ranked games and Ranked Tournaments.

2. Beating players with a rating higher than yours will give you a larger points boost whereas winning against players that are much lower ranked than you will give a much smaller increase.

3. You can see a player’s Rating from the in-game Games List or from the Ratings list on our website

4. Players are also free to opt out from having their rating shown by going to their Multiplayer Profile and selecting the Opt Out option.

• Added new options when creating a new 1v1 Multiplayer game:

1. Paired : Players can choose to have their games start as “paired” games (just like in tournaments). The system will create two matches for you, with you as Player 1 in one game and Player 2 in the other, for a fair test of skill!

2. Ranked : Players can choose for games to be Ranked matches. When you play a Ranked game the result contributes towards your Order of Battle “multiplayer rating”.

3. “Ranked” and “Tournament” games are indicated with icons on the Multiplayer games list

• Added Support for Game Controllers when playing Order of Battle on PC. You can opt-in to Game Controller support from the Options->Controls screen.

1. This is ideal for players who prefer to play on their TVs or using Steamdeck.

2. Boot the game in Steam Big Picture or use SteamDeck and the game will automatically start with Controller control scheme active

3. To switch back, press ESC then Y on your keyboard

• Updated three of the classic Order of Battle Multiplayer Maps. They now give results that can be recorded by the