HAZBONES

Ok, just finished my first 24hrs of game play and fought only 1 major engagement, Shiloh! Before you ask, my OCD has gone into overdrive and I kept restarting my campaign trying to get the best possible outcome on each battle. LOL My OCD aside, you really have created a great product here. Keep up the good work! Just a few things to compare in UG:CW vs UG:GB: 1) Detachable Skirmishers (love it) Suggestion: this feature was missing in GB so adding it has really stepped up the pleasure factor. Just work on tweaking the AI and how they react to detached skirmishers. Sometimes it seems to dumbfound the AI when lots of them are active on the field. Please enable us in the Army Organization to drill down to regiments. I know it would probably be too complicated to mix all those weapon and unit stats of the various regiments but an idea would be to treat the regiments the same as you would the weapons, their independent stats will either enhance or hamper the brigade they are attached to. There are numerous books out there that give excellent battle records of individual regiments and the player can "raise/buy" them as set units same as the weapon systems. Of course let us name the regiments and assign commanders the same as the brigades. 2) No map contour lines?!!! (hate it) Suggestion: please add the map contour lines again so we can properly place artillery and shield unit movements as the generals did historically! A 2D map is really hard to see where elevation (or depressions) lay. 3) Smart AI (love it), Removed AI behavior options (hate it) Suggestion: I loved the AI behavior options (e.g. determined, aggressive, passive, etc.) in UG:GB. Now that those are removed in this game, I am really missing it. Any chance we can get those options back again? Really adds to the replay ability and extends the time spent playing your game! What's to hate about that besides a dozen or so more man hours of coding/work? lol 4) The Armory and picking my choice of death deliverance (love it) Suggestion: GREATLY EXPAND THIS!!!!!!!! There were so many other weapons you could put in there it's ridiculous. Some find that just including the most popular weapons is sufficient but my OCD says "FEED ME MORE"!!! 5) Lackluster naval component (meh) Suggestion: I know you can't do it all just one Pre Release but maybe in the future add a naval component to the game where you can build warships the same as you would brigades? It would be fun to bring gunboats of my own design to Shiloh or fight naval battles like Monitor vs Merrimack!!! It would even make a battle of Fort Sumter possible. That would be kick ass IMO. Ok, I am wasting good play time. Back to war I go and I eagerly await the next big patch!

Being the OCD-type person that I am that LOVES minute details, I would love to see the army organization reach down to the regiment level. Having discovered several of my ancestors fighting on both sides of the war I'd love to play with those regiments they fought in historically. In my opinion, it wouldn't subtract from the tactical aspect of the game if by default the regiments are joined to the brigade and only detached in actual battle much like the skirmishers do now.

The suggested concept is OK but the only thing I'd like to change is the use of the middle mouse button. I didn't even realize that there was a feature available to adjust the facing of your units until just the other day when someone in this forum mentioned it. For those that travel a lot, many of the mini travel mouse you buy do not come with a middle mouse button. There is usually only a left/right mouse button with a little side toggle that allows you to zoom in/out (sometimes not even that). Some mouse devices don't have a middle button but only a "wheel" which makes it easy to zoom in/out but trying to use it to hold and move around a unit is nearly impossible. I suggest to use the right mouse button to click-hold and drag to get the unit to face in the direction I want. I know that there are a zillion hardware configurations out there and you can't cover them all but something like this is basic control of the game and should be considered.

Specialty units like engineers, supply wagons, sharpshooters, scouts, etc. would be the type of specialty units I'd like to see. I hope this game will be moddable so we can go in and change stats of specific units on our own.

I understand the role of skirmishers in battle and it can be debated both ways but in my own opinion; I just don't like the idea of a unit of "skirmishers" and think it would make more sense to have a "skirmish" ability for each unit to switch on/off just like the "charge" ability. That way I can use the unit as a regular line infantry when I don't need them as skirmishers. The cohesion idea is sorta already in game just looking at the video of the game action again. It appears that units break formation while moving. I was just posting some ideas to get the old brainstorm brewing. The creators already have their minds set to where they want to go. Ideas posted here are just there to see if anything "fits" within their vision. Darth has spoiled us from his mods in the Total War series so it's hard not to get carried away knowing what he's capable of. lol

Just my suggestions after watching the video provided only, Battle speed too fast (as many have pointed out) Skirmishers are not a unit but merely an action taken by a unit. Any unit could send out skirmishers. Is this going to be an option, to be able to turn on/off skirmishing like charging? If it can be done then I'd suggest removing units named "skirmishers" to relieve the issues pointed out already about skirmishers fixing bayonets and charging, filling positions in the main battle line, etc. Make them have a true purpose rather than trying to shoe-horn them into a role they are not. If cavalry can dismount and fight the same as activating a unit to charge, that would be cool too. Have a button to turn on/off dismount and when they are dismounted, they act like the skirmishers as I stated above. Have units maintain formation and if they cross rough terrain or charge over a large stretch of distance, the unit will break up as it moves. This can be done with a simple "cohesion" gauge that takes hits as the unit moves over certain ground or moves through other units and slowly goes back up if the unit stops and doesn't move "reforming". Being a former ACW reenactor, you'd be surprised how much time is being spent in the middle of battle dressing lines and all the while being shot at! I wrote this in another thread but I wanted to repeat that to accomplish resupply (not reload) all you would need is a gauge that slowly goes down each time the unit fires (depleting the ammo the unit has on hand). Once the gauge goes below a certain limit, the unit automatically fixes bayonets and can only melee. To shoot again, the unit must resupply using a resupply point on the map. These resupply points can be just like the reinforcement points you already have and the unit must have access to the point to get resupplied the same as if you lose a road or other map location, you lose the reinforcement in that location (until cleared of enemy). Have a button to push to "resupply" and the unit will not move until the gauge gets to a certain point. The unit will auto-fall-back if an enemy gets too close while in resupply mode. When the unit's ammo gauge gets to a certain point (but not full yet), it can start shooting again if an enemy gets in range but as long as it remains undisturbed, the gauge will keep going up until full. Now the unit is ready for action again. This prevents baby-sitting units that are resupplying. If you want to get more technical with supply trains, a horse and wagon can be used as a supply unit. It can be moved around the same as any unit and comes with a supply radius that shows like the commander's influence circle. Any unit within the supply radius will resupply (not reload) automatically (IE: their resupply gauge automatically goes up without pressing any buttons). I prefer not to get this far into supplying in this game for the sake of keeping the game fluid and simple but some people I have read like to control things like that. Make some elite units like sharpshooters, scouts/observers, engineers, etc. (which you probably already thought of but I just thought I'd mention). These are just suggestions to help improve the game I hope and I love the progress you have made so far.

If you need any new testers for your next round then I'd like to take a shot at it. No, I have never play-tested before No, I don't have a PhD or any other computer game design experience (except for some game modding in various military strategey games) No, I am not a fanboy of any particular game so not biased toward any particular game-styles But.... I love strategy games in any form I love history especially the ACW (I have a vast military book library) I was an ACW re-enactor in my younger years so that should count for something right? I can follow directions better than most I can communicate my opinions clearly and constructively I got a lot of time to kill and most importantly, I have several mobile devices from various makers I can test this game on (Amazon, Samsung, Google, Sony, Apple, etc.) I like the way you are going with this game and would like to be apart of it.

I chose to include limited ammo. Suggestion to implement: Since you want to keep it as simple as possible for those using tablets, mobile devices, etc., then stick with the system you are already using for morale, organization, etc. with a simple gauge that goes down as the unit fires. When it gets to a critical point, the unit will automatically fix bayonets or draw swords in a cavalry unit's case. The unit will remain like this until you hit a side button "resupply". I'll leave the supply rules up to those that know best but keep it simple IE: like objectives on the field there can be supply points and you must control a road in order to get those supplies same as reinforcements. Don't re-create the wheel you guys are doing great with the way you are heading. When you hit the "resupply" button, the unit's ammo guage will slowly go up (and avoid enemy contact while doing so like auto-fallback mode) until it gets to at a certain percentage full again (like 50%). As long as the unit does not engage an enemy once at 50%, the gauge will keep filling until whatever level you guys decide. The resupply will stop if contact with one of the resupply points is not possible. In this way, the player can hit "resupply" and return to action with the rest of his army immediately without babysitting the unit that is resupplying. Edit: the charge button can be used to disable the "auto-fallback" mode used during resupply so you can still charge and melee with the enemy when out of ammo (aka, the "Chamberlin" option)