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UGCW Feedback v0.68 (UPDATE: 28/11/2016)


Nick Thomadis

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6 hours ago, Lincolns Mullet said:

Great review and rundown of your experience RoadRage! Quick question: what difficulty setting was this on?

The regular difficulty dont remember what rank it was, no bonuses for me or handicaps for the enemy just the middle difficulty.

Thanks guys I'm glad you appreciated the review!

Edited by RadioRage
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2 hours ago, Hitorishizuka said:

FWIW the Union had a hard time because of bad generals as well as a lot of Green troops. Half of that should be mitigable because someone else is behind the helm.

They should get them. I haven't seen it from the CSA side but Union does get them...it just takes forever for them to show up. It's not impossible you simply just won before they were able to come.

The battle goes to the end so to speak, there is no premature victory in this battle. Strange then but thanks for your reply.

In terms of being mitigable, it sure is, you can win every battle, though it's still harder :).

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12 minutes ago, Koro said:

The battle goes to the end so to speak, there is no premature victory in this battle. Strange then but thanks for your reply.

In terms of being mitigable, it sure is, you can win every battle, though it's still harder :).

Are you sure you properly recognized what is a reinforcement and what was on the field? Union doesn't start with all their forces on the field, only the ones defending the two forward VPs. By the time you start flanking around to the right (or have pushed them off) to angle at the final VP is around when their reinforcements will get there in time to block that.

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Well, seeing as I had McGees Hill for most of the battle, pretty sure :). I didn't notice the power bar shift at all either.

Maybe it is just 1 brigade though and therefore isn't really noteworthy.

Video here:

 

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A few playthroughs in, finished Antietamn as confederate for second time. Playing on easy difficulty and won all battles. Great game so far, but there's a few issues. In the last battle I had 60k against 120k(and about 250 vs 400 guns), and caused 80k losses while suffering 25k. This is pretty standard for all the battles, unless I outnumber the enemy in which case they are more. There were a few battles where I lost more as well.

The main issue is that the game seems to be all about big units. This is because creating massive brigades allows you to charge and outpower any opposition. I broke Malvern hill with five 2500(0r 2k?) men strong brigades. Accidentally captured another VP because one of the units routed through the enemy line. It's the same issue with AI, because when it has those massive 3k men brigades it just concentrates 3 or 4 and breaks any unit on its way. Unless you have those same big brigades as well. The charge system is a bit broken. 

The hand to hand fighting at the moment is like some massive brawl, whereas it should probably be more like pushing in a line; there should be a frontage. This would mean that you cant just attack 1000 man brigade with 12 000 infantry, because those 12k will be blocking each other. Unit get in melee too often anyways. Sometimes the AI routs nearby and the whole line explodes because the routing unit catches one unit in melee. Cavalry charges are way overpowerd, at least when timed correctly.

 

This usually leads to a strategy where I shoot the AI units to pieces, then charge and break them. Like I said 3 to 1 casualties are the norm, each brigade usually lasting 3 battles before it is down to 1000 men. Usually I just keep creating new units until the whole corps is spent(and has also become veteran), and then create a new corps. For the major battles I beef up as many veteran units as possible, all at least to 1500, and usually try to create one massive corps of raw recruits. The veterans then take up as good defensive positions as possible and aim to whittle down the enemy units from 3k to 1.5k men. Usually this happens because the AI gets stuck in the open. I also have quite a lot of artillery, as one 24-gun battery can cause 2-3k casualties per battle. They cause supply issues though. One the AI has broken it's units I bring in the big units, if any remain, and rout the enemy. This is quite repetitive though...and for example there is no other way to break Malvern hill than massive brigades because my 1.5k veterans cant defeat a 3k fortified enemy brigade in firefight.

 

Campaign could use a big makeover. Scaling doesn't work at all. At the start of each campaign phase the player should see the composition of enemy forces, and all the small battles should have an effect on it(and perhaps give other perks as well). Even better if several campaign were linked. Instead of just giving the AI random units for each battle give it an OOB that unlocks gradually. On top of this after every grand battle the AI should get an x number of men, money, leaders and weapons. Even better if you can let player decide how much(or link to difficulty). The prebuilt oob could start at whatever nominal strength, and the AI could then rotate corps throughout battle. This way if several corps with 3k brigades get shot to pieces it will at least eventually run out of men, yet still retain lots of small brigades.

Also, asking stuff from government should be at least half as cheap.

Early access so I am sure lots will improve.

 

 

 

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Per Patch 0.68: "Player receives 100% of weapons from captured units. "

Do these weapons actually show up as Rescued instead of Captured due to the way the game accounts for captured units as showing up under the other side's rolls post-battle?

See below:

Confederate_AmbushConvoy_Brigades.jpg
 

As you can see, I captured Birney and Robinson's Brigades for 368+492=860

Confederate_AmbushConvoy_Goods.jpg

But in the Goods section nothing is listed in the Captured column, only in the Rescued column. More interestingly, the numbers listed there also don't make any sense because both Brigade numbers together are higher than Re-Bored Farmer and individually higher than Springfield M1842. What is going on there?

Lastly, if Re-Bored Farmer is intended to be in some part the captured weapons from those Brigades, why is it that weapon? Union can't even buy that weapon when playing on their campaign and I know for certain that I didn't have any of my units equipped with it.

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Hello Game-Labs.

I love how you guys are taking tactical strategy to a whole new level with Ultimate General.

I have played through the Confederate campaign to Antietam on normal and I almost (should have) won! in the last 20 mins of the battle i just lost control of the sunken road and ran out of time taking it back! Lots of memorable moments in these battles, a really great game.

However, there is one or two issues I would like to raise.

The first is win/loss objectives. Antietam is a good example. I repelled all attacks, held all but one "objective" location (sunken road) with my defensive line still intact by nightfall and caused significant casualties on the enemy but still lost? I checked out the real battle and discovered the battle was technically a defeat for the Confederates as they were forced to eventually withdraw in the face of losses and overwhelming numbers. But in my battle I held and caused tremendous Union casualties. Surely that would be a victory? Or am I not supposed to win the battle?

The second issue is the persistent campaign. I certainly works well for the player as I have to manage losses and make hard choices on whether an attack is worth the casualties in the long run. Building my army is a fantastic aspect of the game.

But it doesn't seem to work for the AI.

For example, I won all battles up to Antietam and suffered 94,834 Confederate casualties but inflicted 196,891 Union casualties. I know the union had a larger manpower pool but the losses I inflicted do not seem to affect the AI armies in any way and they also have many 2 and 3 star brigades by Antietam, which would be difficult considering the number of replacements they would need.

In conclusion, it feels like the "persistent campaign" is one sided. I hope this will change.

Thanks for your time.

Nick

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48 minutes ago, NickAbbottt said:

Hello Game-Labs.

I love how you guys are taking tactical strategy to a whole new level with Ultimate General.

I have played through the Confederate campaign to Antietam on normal and I almost (should have) won! in the last 20 mins of the battle i just lost control of the sunken road and ran out of time taking it back! Lots of memorable moments in these battles, a really great game.

However, there is one or two issues I would like to raise.

The first is win/loss objectives. Antietam is a good example. I repelled all attacks, held all but one "objective" location (sunken road) with my defensive line still intact by nightfall and caused significant casualties on the enemy but still lost? I checked out the real battle and discovered the battle was technically a defeat for the Confederates as they were forced to eventually withdraw in the face of losses and overwhelming numbers. But in my battle I held and caused tremendous Union casualties. Surely that would be a victory? Or am I not supposed to win the battle?

The second issue is the persistent campaign. I certainly works well for the player as I have to manage losses and make hard choices on whether an attack is worth the casualties in the long run. Building my army is a fantastic aspect of the game.

But it doesn't seem to work for the AI.

For example, I won all battles up to Antietam and suffered 94,834 Confederate casualties but inflicted 196,891 Union casualties. I know the union had a larger manpower pool but the losses I inflicted do not seem to affect the AI armies in any way and they also have many 2 and 3 star brigades by Antietam, which would be difficult considering the number of replacements they would need.

In conclusion, it feels like the "persistent campaign" is one sided. I hope this will change.

Thanks for your time.

Nick

What you are refering in part to, is "the AI scales with my army" situation. There's a whole topic on the forum for it.

In the long run, I think the Devs will give the player more options for the campaign. You'd have to pick beforehand the level of difficulty, including wether you want the AI to scale with your army. What's more I think there could be a VERY HARD mode (the so called AI BOOST from UGG, where each ennemy soldier was a übermensch). Last but not least, there could be a "dead is dead" difficulty mode, when you can't "restart" battles that aren't going your way. This could lead to an achievment what's more.

Edited by Grognard_JC
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I seem to be having trouble with the Historical Campaign. I can't even survive until the Battle of Shiloh before I get sacked. I am playing at the Brigadier General difficulty think it would provide a bit of a challenge, but instead, I am crushed in every battle. Playing as the Union, I am outnumbered in every battle and my units can't go toe to toe with the Confederates for long before retreating. Even enemy skirmishers are able to push back my divisions. As a Civil War buff, I am very aware of the early advantages held by the Confederates, but it is getting to the point where the game is no longer even fun. Is this the AI scaling everyone is talking about?

For example, in the 1st Battle of Bull Run, I have a large force that is pushing the Confederates back, but then I run out of time and it is chalked as a defeat. Then I am defeated in the minor engagements and fired. 

My officers are wounded or killed too easily. Division commanders did not lead from the front during battle. But my commanders get shot so easily. After every battle I am replacing all of my commanders.

I will be trying it again on easy. Maybe I am just terrible at this game?

Edited by mgganimal
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21 minutes ago, mgganimal said:

I seem to be having trouble with the Historical Campaign. I can't even survive until the Battle of Shiloh before I get sacked. I am playing at the Brigadier General difficulty think it would provide a bit of a challenge, but instead, I am crushed in every battle. Playing as the Union, I am outnumbered in every battle and my units can't go toe to toe with the Confederates for long before retreating. Even enemy skirmishers are able to push back my divisions. As a Civil War buff, I am very aware of the early advantages held by the Confederates, but it is getting to the point where the game is no longer even fun. Is this the AI scaling everyone is talking about?

For example, in the 1st Battle of Bull Run, I have a large force that is pushing the Confederates back, but then I run out of time and it is chalked as a defeat. Then I am defeated in the minor engagements and fired. 

My officers are wounded or killed too easily. Division commanders did not lead from the front during battle. But my commanders get shot so easily. After every battle I am replacing all of my commanders.

I will be trying it again on easy. Maybe I am just terrible at this game?

I find the Union is harder to start with. You should try the CSA, same difficulty.

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Hi Mgg. There's a lot to learn in the game and it can be very challenging. Your issues don't have much to do with the AI scaling - it's what it is and doesn't effect the difficulty as such. 

I think starting on easy might be a good idea for you. Be sure to read my tips in the stickies and perhaps the faq will hold some answers too and the tutorials might teach you something as well. 

Be sure to update on your campaign :)

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1 hour ago, mgganimal said:

I seem to be having trouble with the Historical Campaign. I can't even survive until the Battle of Shiloh before I get sacked. I am playing at the Brigadier General difficulty think it would provide a bit of a challenge, but instead, I am crushed in every battle. Playing as the Union, I am outnumbered in every battle and my units can't go toe to toe with the Confederates for long before retreating. Even enemy skirmishers are able to push back my divisions. As a Civil War buff, I am very aware of the early advantages held by the Confederates, but it is getting to the point where the game is no longer even fun. Is this the AI scaling everyone is talking about?

For example, in the 1st Battle of Bull Run, I have a large force that is pushing the Confederates back, but then I run out of time and it is chalked as a defeat. Then I am defeated in the minor engagements and fired. 

My officers are wounded or killed too easily. Division commanders did not lead from the front during battle. But my commanders get shot so easily. After every battle I am replacing all of my commanders.

I will be trying it again on easy. Maybe I am just terrible at this game?

No, that's not AI scaling, that's probably not watching the terrain and positioning of your forces. Hard to give you detailed help without seeing a video or screenshots, in general stay in cover, don't get shot in the flank/rear, watch your weapon ranges.

Officers did actually lead from the front. Not to challenge your Civil War buff credentials, but Brigade officers basically died like flies in every engagement because they needed to be visible to motivate and lead their men.

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4 hours ago, Hitorishizuka said:

No, that's not AI scaling, that's probably not watching the terrain and positioning of your forces. Hard to give you detailed help without seeing a video or screenshots, in general stay in cover, don't get shot in the flank/rear, watch your weapon ranges.

Officers did actually lead from the front. Not to challenge your Civil War buff credentials, but Brigade officers basically died like flies in every engagement because they needed to be visible to motivate and lead their men.

That's very true. Don't know what I was thinking, I guess I was just upset that my guys keep falling.

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5 hours ago, Koro said:

Hi Mgg. There's a lot to learn in the game and it can be very challenging. Your issues don't have much to do with the AI scaling - it's what it is and doesn't effect the difficulty as such. 

I think starting on easy might be a good idea for you. Be sure to read my tips in the stickies and perhaps the faq will hold some answers too and the tutorials might teach you something as well. 

Be sure to update on your campaign :)

Yeah, I saw some of your tips and followed them a bit. What is AI Scaling that everyone talks about?

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1 hour ago, mgganimal said:

Yeah, I saw some of your tips and followed them a bit. What is AI Scaling that everyone talks about?

The AI will automatically increase the size of its army to match yours if you are above certain minimums. Thusly you can't just max Army Organization and scrounge up guys to hold rifles in every spot and just use human wave tactics.

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2 hours ago, Lincolns Mullet said:

Historically the Union had it harder than the CSA in the beginning. Keep in mind the last half of the war hasn't been implemented yet, where CSA should have increasingly difficult odds.

Do you really think that's it ? I doubt it. Porobably balance issue IMO.

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I just fell victim to the map getting cut off at Antietam too. Is this necessary to do? I lost two units up there that were otherwise holding the flank in the woods up there..

And is it possible to have a more elegant way of introducing the units in the third phase of Antietam? They just spawn at the bridge and if you have men there, they'll get shot at.

Likewise, if you're almost on top of Henry Hill, someone reported to me, that Jackson just spawns a top the hill as well and is able to shoot down on you immediately. It could be made better perhaps :) 

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1 hour ago, Grognard_JC said:

Do you really think that's it ? I doubt it. Porobably balance issue IMO.

As in the Union should have it easier in the beginning and not the CSA? Or that its easier to learn the game playing as CSA from the beginning?

In terms of learning the game, I agree both initial battles for either side should provide equal ability/challenge to learn how to play.  Plenty of unfavorable odds in later battles to beat players down lol

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48 minutes ago, Koro said:

I just fell victim to the map getting cut off at Antietam too. Is this necessary to do? I lost two units up there that were otherwise holding the flank in the woods up there..

And is it possible to have a more elegant way of introducing the units in the third phase of Antietam? They just spawn at the bridge and if you have men there, they'll get shot at.

Likewise, if you're almost on top of Henry Hill, someone reported to me, that Jackson just spawns a top the hill as well and is able to shoot down on you immediately. It could be made better perhaps :) 

Indeed! I sometimes got attacked by teleported troops this way. I think a general rule should be to stick to UGG, that is EVERY unit comes from off-map.

Plz devs, do not start working like the Creative Assembly. The more they created games, the more they lost after each new one!

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