Feedback (UPDATED: 11/9/2015)

[GShock]

A map editor, technically speaking, is a feature that allows you to draw a map... and the map is a bit more than just a graphical representation. More than just the modders, it takes map makers but before that, it takes the map editor itself which is probably part of the SDK and I don't think the DEVs would be willing to release it right now after the 1st title with this engine. There's scenarios to be made for future DLCs that map editor would fool. The OOB instead is about building the army and setting units on the field in starting or reinforcing position. That can be done, for fictional battles in Gettysburg... and it probably will be done later on.

 

Your suggestion about the UI is in the cauldron. In due time I am sure it's among the top priorities.

 

YES the DEVs read these pages.

[Nick Thomadis]

New update has just been available for Steam Windows, Linux, Mac users.

Mac Store version will be updated soon.

Read about it in our blog:
http://www.ultimategeneral.com/blog/patch-111-released

 

Ultimate General: Gettysburg v1.11 

• AI behaves more realistically and decides to charge less frequently.
• AI makes better lines and protects flanks more.
• AI run decisions do not swap so frequently as before.
• AI is more sensible and keeps distance when overwhelmed without risking more casualties. This behaviour depends on the personality and is more frequent for the defensive AI characters.
• Slight reduce in combat tempo/battle speed to feel more realistic.
• Column formation is not so fast moving as before.
• Moving in column and advance will have severe penalty in casualties if executed near enemies.
• Union infantry has more morale to be able to hold their defensive formations. This change affects especially the multiplayer as the Union was quite underpowered in latest patch in online matches.
• Various gameplay balances for not having overpowered Confederates and also have more challenge whichever side you choose to play.
• Units' reload slower while they move so that advancing to a defensive position will be even more difficult for attackers.
• Increased projectile lethality that makes battles more realistic and difficult to predict. A single mistake can cost the lives of many and the battle to be lost prematurely, especially in multiplayer.
• "Chance to change history" map which simulates the whole first day of the battle has been expanded more south so that the fighting at Cemetery hill area has more room for tactics.
• A battle of third day, which leads to the conflict on Benner's Hill with the Union line overstretched is balanced better (it was favoring too much the Confederates).
• "Ewell advances", "Meeting at Cemetery Ridge" "Union attacks Benner's Hill". "The Confederates attack Seminary Ridge" multiplayer maps got new balances. More or less troops for each side or reinforcement time tweaks.  

[davidgcox]

just tried to play it today on my mac desktop.  os 10.6.8.

 

played custom game as union, determined level, scenario was i think it's called july 2 morning drive the confederates from the field.  after about 5 minutes screen froze. no animation.

 

waited to see what would happen and then saw the map.  map flickered between several screens.  saw the map plus elevations.  then saw the map plus elevations with dead bodies.  then saw the above with unit identifiers but no movement at all. no graphics no animation.

 

very frustrating.  had to force shut down.

[Nick Thomadis]

just tried to play it today on my mac desktop.  os 10.6.8.

 

played custom game as union, determined level, scenario was i think it's called july 2 morning drive the confederates from the field.  after about 5 minutes screen froze. no animation.

 

waited to see what would happen and then saw the map.  map flickered between several screens.  saw the map plus elevations.  then saw the map plus elevations with dead bodies.  then saw the above with unit identifiers but no movement at all. no graphics no animation.

 

very frustrating.  had to force shut down.

Did you play on Window or Full screen mode and what is the resolution you play?

[Jugashvili]

1.11 Feels great. Playing Confederates feels less easy, Union seems to have more of a chance in multiplayer. Spamming the fall back button is still necessary to make Union work but I've been surprised to see the boys in blue actually repel a couple of charges, either due to a slight morale buff or the new fire in melee feature, which is a refreshing change. Limbers dramatically improve the usefulness of arty.

[Demetrios]

Hello! I purchased the game yesterday, but I am not really familiar with this era and tactics (my main incentive for buying the game was to provide my support to Nick, who has earned it through his excellent modding skills and dedication in following his ambitions).

 

What I want to ask is if there is any guidance/ tutorial/ other material on how to make best use of each unit type and what general strategies should be employed on a 19th century battlefield. I understand that cavalry is weak and mainly to be used for recon missions; line infantry is of course the backbone of the army. What about artillery? Am I to station it at hilltops and set it to auto fire with the occasional switch to more efficient firepower? And what about skirmishers? What is their optimal use? Please feel free to educate me/ point me to some material I can use to expand my knowldege on the strategies of the era.

[Nick Thomadis]

Hi Demetrios,

 

Thanks for your kind words.

Here there is a comprehensive Tutorial made by one of the veteran players: http://forum.game-labs.net/index.php?/topic/1868-blunts-tutorial/

 

I would like also to advise about:

 

Artillery

I suggest placing them on high ground, generally in strategic locations, and periodically check them if they have good LoS, switch ammo manually to Shell, Canister for better use if you need them concentrate fire on closest targets.

 

Skirmishers

Use them in flanks and to delay stronger brigades. You can sacrifice them to fight for longer time against infantry but you will risk to become so badly beaten that will be useless for the rest of the battle.

[Demetrios]

Thank you for the swift reply!

[Losenis]

Will anything be done about enemy bridages retreating through your units and causing them to rout? I'm fairly certain that, even if we disregard the faulty AI choosing to rout towards an enemy, a routing mob without formation would not do much to an organized formation shooting at them and ready to meet them. I've seen a brigade with over 80% in both morale and condition drop to zero in both and start routing because of an enemy brigade routing into them, even when that routing brigade was less than 50% its original strength.

[Gking19]

Will anything be done about enemy bridages retreating through your units and causing them to rout? I'm fairly certain that, even if we disregard the faulty AI choosing to rout towards an enemy, a routing mob without formation would not do much to an organized formation shooting at them and ready to meet them. I've seen a brigade with over 80% in both morale and condition drop to zero in both and start routing because of an enemy brigade routing into them, even when that routing brigade was less than 50% its original strength.

Usually when this happens I've seen the enemy troops get decimated, not my troops start to rout. Guess it's just different circumstances.

[PIerrick de Badas]

Hi i play on iPad and i m a bit disapointed. I go through the game in normal but in hard it s just like the ia is cheating. A 80%moral unit of 2500 men with one star can be défeated by 500skrimisher with 2 stars.

Second point the arty refuse to shoot the troops you choose with perfect Line of view.

I m not crying because the game is hard but because the defeat looks really unfair with ennemy Rambo unit and your troops just fleeing 3 horses and 5 skrimisher.

[Nick Thomadis]

New update has just been available to all Steam players. Mac Store version will follow asap. Please read what it includes:

 

Ultimate General: Gettysburg v1.13 

 

Artificial Intelligence

• AI is more positional, protects defensive ground and objectives more persistently. 
• AI will respond faster to player's threats.  
• AI will decide to charge with better decision making.  
• AI uses Generals more efficiently. 
• AI Union will choose always to defend its ground in phase 2 and not withdraw south to Cemetery ridge area.
• AI will choose to fall back when needed more efficiently.
• AI will press the attack more on weakened areas of your army. 
• AI protects flanks more.
• AI overall attacks and defends more efficiently, making lines, flanking and deploying cannons on hills.
• Fix of bug that could cause player units to have enhanced charge and ranged attack vs AI.
• Fix of internal AI clocking which could cause freeze on low-end machines.

Gameplay

• Various fixes in targeting for better auto-management of units, especially the artillery.
• USA vs CSA balance of military strength is better balanced. The Confederates should not be overpowered now. 
• Union and Confederate Generals have increased command radius for better management of their units.
• Fatigue balanced so that charge and run has more cost. Now, over-charging your troops will usually have negative impact.
• Melee now endures more and can be devastating.
• Melee mechanics improved. Soldiers group to attack better.
• Artillery has less cover bonus (it was requested so infantry has better chances to assault fortified artillery positions + artillery fire fights become more interesting).
• Artillery has been rebalanced so that solid shots are more useful from long range while Shell and Canister are still devastating for the attackers.
• Slocum may arrive sooner in some battles when Union is desperate to defend.
• Multiplayer battles slight re-balances on some maps. With the new gameplay changes, the Confederates will no longer be overpowered but will continue to be superior in their spirited charges and in morale.
• Column is now more vulnerable to melee and ranged combat attacks. You should think twice now to use such "irregular" tactics in your multiplayer matches.

Battle flow

• Battles of 2nd Day morning in which Union prepares for major counter attack the battle duration is now longer (it was too short in some battles).
• Some 3rd day battles got improvements (better positioning of units, objectives captured faster per second, position of Union XI corps replaced with VI corps as more rested and logical to be used.
• Union VI Corps participates in more speculative 3rd day battles. Reinforces Union Defenses more logically on the critical battles.
• Union reinforcements do not delay so much to arrive in the first battle.

Other

 

• Unit formations bend more realistically on hills, increasing the 3D terrain perception.

[R.E.B.Blunt]

Got whooped by the master... Look at his cannons ratio... Good Lawrd

[Nick Thomadis]

Got whooped by the master... Look at his cannons ratio... Good Lawrd

Was a good shooting practice on those open fields and me targeting you with canister on the front and on the flanks with shell and solid shot

I won due to casualties inflicted because you managed to capture Baltimore Pike in the end. Good battle!

[R.E.B.Blunt]

Ya I was trying to rush there before you could entrench your guns.... I was too late...

[David Fair]

Good Lawrd indeed!  

 

When 8 of the top 12 units with the most kills are artillery units the game is about WWI or some other epoch of military history - not at all like the ACW or any period of history with black powder artillery.

 

Sigh - will a version of this game ever be release that is somewhat closer to the American Civil War?

 

Halleck, Hunt, Gibbon, Tidball and others all stated that a battery on the front lines with canister was roughly equal to the firepower of a 200 man regiment.

 

In UGG artillery batteries are as effective as entire brigades.  These results are UGGLY...

[BlouBulle]

Just bought this, 10/10. One thing I would like to see is custom battles like the one's in Total War Series where a player can choose what units he will bring to battle, I would be willing to pay for that feature and a few extra units for variety. The battle would end when one team looses too much moral (much like real civil war battles).

 

[knpsack]

Where can I download the patch?

[BKGaming]

Long time Darthmod fan, just bought UGG from GOG.com, would like to know if Darth or the devs plan to add Galaxy (GOG's new client) features to the game, such as achievements. Just wondering since the game seems to still being worked on and I know Steam has these features. Thanks.

 

EDIT: Thanks to whoever moved this, sorry for posting in the wrong board.

Edited May 28, 2015 by BKGaming

[Nick Thomadis]

Long time Darthmod fan, just bought UGG from GOG.com, would like to know if Darth or the devs plan to add Galaxy (GOG's new client) features to the game, such as achievements. Just wondering since the game seems to still being worked on and I know Steam has these features. Thanks.

 

EDIT: Thanks to whoever moved this, sorry for posting in the wrong board.

Thank you! We are currently working on a big patch (the final for the game) that will also offer GOG compatibility for Linux and Mac. After this we will see if it is needed to upgrade for all GOG new features.

[BKGaming]

Thank you! We are currently working on a big patch (the final for the game) that will also offer GOG compatibility for Linux and Mac. After this we will see if it is needed to upgrade for all GOG new features.

 

Thanks Darth, we've actually talked a few times on the total war boards (different name there) and it's always a pleasure to talk you. Glad to see the game coming a long nicely, played about 15 min and had my butt handed to me. Glad to see Linux support and I hope we'll see other GOG features added down the road then.

 

Thanks again. 

[Nick Thomadis]

Hello Generals,

 

The new update v1.5 is finally available. Read what it includes in our blog:

http://www.ultimategeneral.com/blog/last-major-update

[Riekopo]

I started playing again after taking a long break from the game. A few things started annoying me in my first battle. I still don't really know what condition is supposed to be. It means nothing to me. It just seems to be some kind of weird abstraction. Two of my artillery units were far behind my lines the whole battle, but their condition and morale went to 0% for seemingly no reason and then they retreated. It doesn't make any sense. Retreating units of the enemy captured one of the points behind my lines. I do not think a retreating unit should be able to capture a point. Then, the battle was delayed, but I have no idea why. All points on the map belonged to me so I see no reason why the battle should have been delayed. If I lose my points because of this inexplicable delay I will probably lose interest in continuing the campaign.

 

Edit: The battle was delayed multiple times for what seems to be no reason to me. I ended up losing half my army because of it and lost half the progress I made. That annoyed me so much that I just stopped playing.

Edited June 14, 2015 by Riekopo

[CSA Watkins]

@ Riekopo  This is a great Game.....

 

http://forum.game-labs.net/index.php?/topic/746-on-line-guide/

I don't know when it was last updated, but "IF" you read thru take notes like I did, you will be well on your way to being a better General.

​Blunts Tutorial is a great guide to help manage your game  woos  http://forum.game-labs.net/index.php?/topic/1868-blunts-tutorial/

 

Condition

Morale directly affects (and is affected by) a unit's condition. This factor is a combination of the current physical state of the unit and an "abstracted" status of its supplies. The unit's condition is affected by its speed, terrain and the distances it has to cover. The use of firepower increases unit fatigue and the need for resupply. You have to be cautious when using your run or charge to conserve a unit's condition. Constant assaults will exhaust and disorganize them. Infantry units are also not suited to engagements involving long marches. Remember that a unit in bad condition will lose its morale more quickly. You can replenish the unit's condition by placing it in a safe location and near a General.

 

Batteries will Play themselves out and deplete to 0 morale/ condition when left to keep firing freely. You have to watch them,keep batteries closer to main Battle, but not too close.

Change to Canisters/Shell this will stop the Battery firing from great distances. Solid Shot has little effect at distance n will deplete all there ammo, in short order.

Group a few Batteries in Reserve to preserve, than rotate/replace others that are wearing down n need to rest n rearm...

 

There is only so much ammo a caisson can carry, Ammo must be replenished

If you stop them firing before they run out of ammo they will replace ammo i.e Condition. Don't leave them isolated,

 

Watch some of the Game play Video's by some of the best players, more than once.

You are the only one stopping yourself from mastering this game, determination is need in learning,

to where you can give players a good go in MP and/or getting Victories Playing AI on the hardest Level...

 

Managing you Army properly will give you a nice Battle/Good Fun. Read the online Guide. Get a grip with Games mechanics. Read Blunts Tutorial a few times,take notes.

Take Screenshots if you are having difficulties n post link with descriptions of said difficulties. Help is around the corner.

This is a great SS tool,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,    http://imgur.com/ easy to master n use to post album's in one link in your Post.....

 

Lots of use had trouble n not just you with the games mechanics/understanding at first..

The only time I had a  'problem understanding a game n getting frustrated, throwing my Hands in the air... was when I didn't 'first help myself.

This is a great game, Play with Defensive AI, Study/Read into ACW Military Tactics, realize your Army is just that an Army with limitations,

 

Utilize your Commanding General in a way that helps to rebuild Morale/Condition Faster. Keep you Army together to Support there Battle/Increase Fire Power....

Pull Arty Back/ Change Ammo types to conserve. Pull back units to rest, rotate Batteries/Brigades in n out to keep up a great Defense / Offence.Know when to fall back/charge...

Manage..manage..manage,, understanding Unit limitations..understanding Game mechanics is the Key....

to a great game in SP//MP..,,

 

Battle will Be delayed if the AI or you try to retake a VP....

Watch out for the sneaky AI as He will try n slip behind you to Back Cap a VP....

Cover you ass with a small unit n a Recharged Battery or 2, just in case of that.....

 

I don't know what else to say my friend,,,Good Luck n Never Give up...............

[EdJaws]

Lots of good tips 1st. TN. Reg. Watkins, thanks for posting. I'll be studying Blunts Tutorial in depth and, as there is lots of info, I'll try to incorporate each section into a battle bit by bit.

I'm new to the game and find it a fascinating take on how movement orders are implemented. Simply brilliant Mr. Thomadis.

I'm more a turn based strategy, and not a real time, game player but I play and like UG:G and Command Ops, both of which you can pause. The only thing that might add to it would be a couple of time shifts, say slow, medium, and fast with the current speed as medium.

I hope to contribute more feedback in the future.

Ed

Edited June 15, 2015 by EdJaws