quicksabre Posted July 2, 2017 Share Posted July 2, 2017 11 hours ago, A. P. Hill said: I respectfully disagree. Just because Artillery can be, OR should be, dissolved by an attack of overwhelming force doesn't automatically discount its value in game. If "you" (plural not singular,) as a player continue to use invalid, or should I say outdated, techniques involving artillery then, yeah, maybe it becomes worthless to you. Granted smoothbore artillery could be put on the line with the infantry, but rifled artillery is always best used from a distance and out of range of immediate attack from infantry or cavalry. If you want to employ your artillery in a manner that is unsafe for it, then by all means you deserve to lose it, and rather quickly too. Unsafe in this case is using European Napoleonic style of advancing your guns in front of your infantry without proper support. In no instance should you ever advance your guns in front of your line Artillery will never be useless, it can and often does deal more damage than infantry fire alone, of course this goes without saying. Management of your artillery because of its fragility is key. I think two things have to be changed for this to work - First, sometimes when melee is happening, nearby units are drawn in. Artillery should not be insta-wiped if there is a non-routing infantry unit in melee with it. That would be worse than current, I think. Second, the AI needs to support its batteries better. If you do a fighting withdrawal the AI won't reliably move up its artillery after initial deployment, which makes it easy to run Cav around the rear to pick them off. If they insta-killed on touch the AI would never have any artillery when an experienced player plays them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draluigi Posted July 2, 2017 Share Posted July 2, 2017 (edited) Artillery at the moment : - is too resilient in melee. I think a good compromise, instead of insta-shatter would be insta-rout. - has that descreasing damage issue with increasing size that i'm obsessed with - fires on anything and everything through any kind of obstacle (trees, buildings, friendly troops) making it overpowered especially to defend against melee attacks. UG : Gettysburg had more realistically restricted fields of fire for artillery, but it was a bit hard at times to figure out why a battery wouldn't fire on a given target, not finding if it was an issue with topography or friendly troops in the way. Edited July 2, 2017 by Draluigi 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Soldier Posted July 2, 2017 Share Posted July 2, 2017 1 hour ago, Draluigi said: - fires on anything and everything through any kind of obstacle (trees, buildings, friendly troops) making it overpowered especially to defend against melee attacks. UG : Gettysburg had more realistically restricted fields of fire for artillery, but it was a bit hard at times to figure out why a battery wouldn't fire on a given target, not finding if it was an issue with topography or friendly troops in the way. These kind of have to be here. Otherwise using artillery would be overly difficult and ineffective to use. Furthermore there is friendly fire when units are in melee - more often than not the 24pdrs firing canister into a melee is what causes my men to Rout and not the enemy because they take some of the damage and morale hit as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draluigi Posted July 2, 2017 Share Posted July 2, 2017 2 minutes ago, The Soldier said: These kind of have to be here. Otherwise using artillery would be overly difficult and ineffective to use. Furthermore there is friendly fire when units are in melee - more often than not the 24pdrs firing canister into a melee is what causes my men to Rout and not the enemy because they take some of the damage and morale hit as well. Well I noticed the friendly fire but it's still way worth it to shoot in the melee. I think UG Gettysburg had a pretty good system. if we could have it back with a feature that would highlight whatever obstacle prevents your guns from firing, it would balance the game and make arty use more realistic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hitorishizuka Posted July 2, 2017 Share Posted July 2, 2017 On 7/1/2017 at 6:35 AM, quicksabre said: You can do this in the camp screen between days. Or are you talking about something else? You can but it screws everything up. The dead officers will never disappear from the roster. The wounded officers will never get healthy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
civsully1 Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 6 hours ago, Draluigi said: Well I noticed the friendly fire but it's still way worth it to shoot in the melee. I think UG Gettysburg had a pretty good system. if we could have it back with a feature that would highlight whatever obstacle prevents your guns from firing, it would balance the game and make arty use more realistic Not sure how the commanders of that time for both sides would feel about this statement Draluigi. Can only equate your statement to what has been seen in the modern era of calling for "friendly fire" on one's own troops in a last ditch call. Which is more often than not fictionalized in modern movies with "rosy" results. I'd have to question tactically the decision to do this. The best case scenario would be to hold "friendly fire" until it was clear that the enemy had overcome your forces and then let loose. I would hope that the game mechanics would inflict equal amount of casualties to both sides if this decision was made at the very least. Maybe more for your troops as they might most likely be the first ones to absorb fire from the rear and perhaps limiting enemy casualties??? And if by chance you would fire into a melee. I'm not sure how your troops would feel or react to you doing so if any survive. Just my opinion. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draluigi Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 13 minutes ago, civsully1 said: Not sure how the commanders of that time for both sides would feel about this statement Draluigi. Can only equate your statement to what has been seen in the modern era of calling for "friendly fire" on one's own troops in a last ditch call. Which is more often than not fictionalized in modern movies with "rosy" results. I'd have to question tactically the decision to do this. The best case scenario would be to hold "friendly fire" until it was clear that the enemy had overcome your forces and then let loose. I would hope that the game mechanics would inflict equal amount of casualties to both sides if this decision was made at the very least. Maybe more for your troops as they might most likely be the first ones to absorb fire from the rear and perhaps limiting enemy casualties??? And if by chance you would fire into a melee. I'm not sure how your troops would feel or react to you doing so if any survive. Just my opinion. Oh obviously this is highly unrealistic too I was just speaking about the optimal tactics in the game at the moment. Friendly fire is not very punishing and I think the best way to lower casualties in melee combat on the defensive is to make it as short as possible Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aka Bear Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 (edited) On 7/1/2017 at 2:31 PM, civsully1 said: Certainly if not fully at least 50% might be more realistic?? I really like the idea stated above about selectively resupplying units so the supply wagon gets to the one/s in most need. Though I think the coding of that might be tough to accomplish. Yeah!...something as simple as toggling on/off on each unit. Like the "hold fire" "h" button, for resupplying, eh? Way it is now, is attempting a "dance of the artful dodger", in steering supply wagons away from those that got. And then, as if one needs more distraction, fending off that aloof cav. brigade, or routed inf. brigade the AI "sneakily" routs behind your advance!...lol Great Game! That seems to become even greater as "time goes by". I CAN see this game eventually going "multi-player", as Generals become ever more skillful then they are at present, rendering the AI?....... Way it is now?...I shall never get much past 2nd Manassas, (CSA Campaign), when the next patch er hotfix, renders my current campaign, a moot point!...Starting to "label" my self as "General-Begin...AGAIN!"....LOL! As far as investing in "Recon. Points" in Campaign mode? Perhaps, further along campaign trail? As it is now? AI had best worry about THEIR recon points!...lol Edited July 3, 2017 by aka Bear Additional info. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam423 Posted July 4, 2017 Share Posted July 4, 2017 Do you plan on having steam workshop implemented into the game? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainKanundrum Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 Hey guys, what is this "localization of dynamic campaign" which is supposed to be added with patch 0.95? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i64man Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 Does anyone has an idea what the next patch will address? For example the resupply status on the next day of a multiple day battle? Or as some of you point out on the Arty batteries effectiveness when max out?.... just want to get an idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HigoChumbo Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 (edited) I've played until the second day of the Battle of Shiloh so far, and here are a few notes I was taking (I'll add more as I advance with the campaign). It's kind of a mixture of inconsistencies and personal suggestions/preferences, so feel free to take them with a pinch of salt: It would be nice to have a tooltip/overlay system to compare weapons and easily purchase them (think of your usual item compare in any MMORRPG). The game should explain what each staty does before the campaign starts (logistics etc), otherwise the choice is pretty random, since the player does not yet k now the mechanics. The game needs a system so that pathfinding can calculate a reasonably optimal movement route, sometimes it's much faster to go around a city/encampment than going through it in a straight line with 35% move speed. Having to micromanage this is annoying (particularly when you are orderning a unit to move to a far away point), specially in a game whose design relies on a slower pace and less micro. You should allow people to change the general's name during the campaign, as well as all the names of the officers if they so want, and not just the unit name. It would be nice to have a differently-colored segment of the stats bars to see the bonus percentage the general is providing to the unit. The lookout icon (eye) needs a tooltip to clarify what the icon is really indicating. Waypoints (shift+click) could be useful sometimes, to issue several orders to both individual units and groups. I don't know how possible this is (I imagine it's not given that it has not been changed since Gettisburg), but it would be nice to have units display the actual number of soldiers it has. It's not a matter of scale (so far looks good enought to me), but it's a bit annoying when you see the number of soldiers go quickly down after a volley or a cannonade without seeing a proportionate visual effect (aka, people dying). Does artillery get a bonus when hitting a brigade laterally? They should have a much more devastaing effect due to the cannonball going through many morem en. When you select several brigades and draw a line with the right mouse button to create a frontline, that drawing system would benefit from being more similar to the "drawn movement line" system for individual units, as in, when you are drawing and go back the line a little bit, it actually erases part of the line to sand rough edges instead of just drastically curving the line as is the case with groups of units. When you click on a brigade in the armory and it gives you the option to asign an officer either from the reserve or the academy, it would be nice to have a third tab with already asigned officers so that you can easily swap them between brigades. Drag and dropping portraits would be nice too. That third tab would be appreciated as well in the barracks, to have a nice, general overview of all your officers. In the army details of the pre-battle screen, both the general and the supply carts appear armed with carbines. There should be a way to cancel an order WHILE you are still issuing it (for instance, if I accidentally click and hold the right mouse button and start rotating a brigade, it would be nice if clicking the left mouse button while doing it cancelled the command). The crossed out eye icon on top of some units needs a clarification. There should be a way to move your troops back a bit without turning their backs to the enemy, it's annoying to get a huge flanked penalty just for wanting to move a few steps back. I'm told that the Fallback command does precisely that despite the "running back" animation. In that case, it would be nice to have a proper animation for that. I miss the Total War feature where you can press a button to highlight the position your troops will occupy when they finish marching. It's really helpful for organizing battlelines when your troops have not yet reached their destination. In the Battle Map, I would change the name of the "Start" button for something that indicates that you are not actually going to actually start the battle but just going to some kind of pre-battle briefing which allows you to go back to the Map/Camp with no consequence. Otherwise new players will think they need to get everything perfectly organized before hitting the button, which is not the case at all right now (as a matter of fact, it's very useful to check the briefing beforehand and then going back to the camp to setup the army) The number of allowed divisions/brigades for a battle should be displayed somewhere in the Battle Map. Having to go in and out of the briefing just to see how many brigades you can bring in just to go back to camp to organize your troops is annoying. same goes for not seeing the map layout. The problem is not so much where the information is displayed,but having to deal with two loading screens just to check that information in order to be able to organize your army according to the upcoming battle, so there could be other solutions for that, like a way of organizing your brigades directly from the briefing with no loading screens involved. It's weird that when two units are engaged in melee there seems to be no friendly fire (or i'ts highly reduced, at the very least), specially if you are firing at the blob of soldiers with grapeshot. A graveyard tab (like in Xcom) would add some flavour, to see all your dead officers and other statistics. Are there no control groups? I'm not sure about this one, but when you select several brigades, is there no way to make them advance in formation instead of either having to move them one by one or having to make a huge, thin line with all the units? There kind of needs to be an autosave after the first day of the Battle of Siloh (or any several day battle, if there are more up ahead)... I had to restart the whole thing (and it's not precisely a small, short battle) just because I had accidentally clicked past one of the introductory messages that I wanted to read to know what day 2 was about and I clicked "restart" to read them and it sent me to the start of the first day with no way around it... After the first day it even lets you go to the camp... most players are going to think it's considered a new battle. Some minor details: In the second Union campaign battle (the one with the train) I think it takes a bit too long for the confederates to show up, even when the time speed cranked up. There are pathfinding issues inside forts. If they walk through them, units get stuck forming weird spaghetti lines for a long time (and I'm not talking about intentional movement penalties). For the two stars upgrades, Firearms Course and Marksman Training are identical. Does the general sometimes just disappear from the battle all of sudden with no warning? Just tested this, the general does indeed disappear with no warning whatsoever. When any other officer is killed you get a notification, but that's not the case for the general. The whole unit immediatly vanishes as well, you don't see the remaining soldiers in the general unit routing or something, though that might indeed be working as intended given the unique nature of the general unit. When issuing a "drawn-line" movement command to cross a river, the arrow gets stuck at the river, while just right-clicking in the other side seems to work just fne. After routing a 1900 men strong infantry unit I sent a fresh 750 men shock cavalry brigade with the best shock equipment to chase them. They were not being fired at by any other unit or even close to any enemy, yet somehow my cavalry started losing men like crazy and ended up routing as well, which ended in both units just running around like headless chicken next to each other. Either cavalry is too useless or routing units are too strong (or both). Edited July 6, 2017 by HigoChumbo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A. P. Hill Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 9 hours ago, HigoChumbo said: ... Some minor details: Does the general sometimes just disappear from the battle all of sudden with no warning? Welcome! That was some list! But of all your points, (all good btw,) I'd like to comment on the one above. Usually the general sometimes just disappearing without warning means one of two things, you either told him to get too close to the action and he's smart enough to know he needs to move out of range, or ... and more often than not ... he was wiped out. Shot. Killed even! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i64man Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 And once killed, he is no more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HigoChumbo Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 (edited) 1 hour ago, A. P. Hill said: Welcome! That was some list! But of all your points, (all good btw,) I'd like to comment on the one above. Usually the general sometimes just disappearing without warning means one of two things, you either told him to get too close to the action and he's smart enough to know he needs to move out of range, or ... and more often than not ... he was wiped out. Shot. Killed even! Thanks for the welcome and the reply My point is, when an officer is killed or wounded you get a notification in-battle, but that's not the case when it's the general the one who dies (I just tested it just in case). The whole unit just fades away and there is not a single warning, no text. You don't see the remaining soldiers of the bodyguard unit routing neither, the whole brigade just vanishes (though that might just be working as intended, given the unique nature of the general unit). Edited July 6, 2017 by HigoChumbo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Sanford Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 Re #15: There is a "Fallback" button that does just that. Backs up formation while still facing the enemy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HigoChumbo Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 2 minutes ago, Fred Sanford said: Re #15: There is a "Fallback" button that does just that. Backs up formation while still facing the enemy. When i press fallback my soldiers just turn their backs to the enemy and run :S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigjku Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 17 minutes ago, HigoChumbo said: When i press fallback my soldiers just turn their backs to the enemy and run :S The animation may look about that way but with that command they do retain their facing. Generally to reposition its best to fall back a bit behind your intended position and the order them to move slightly back up to where you wanted them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HigoChumbo Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 1 minute ago, Bigjku said: The animation may look about that way but with that command they do retain their facing. Generally to reposition its best to fall back a bit behind your intended position and the order them to move slightly back up to where you wanted them. Aaahh, thanks, good to know =) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
civsully1 Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 20 minutes ago, HigoChumbo said: When i press fallback my soldiers just turn their backs to the enemy and run :S Using the F key works for me to make troops Fall Back while still facing the enemy. Maybe you hit Rout by mistake??? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draluigi Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 Quick suggestion: replace Farmers and rebored farmers with flintlocks. No one knows what farmers are at the moment, and the game lacks the early flintlocks that saw widespread use at the beggining of the war. The change would be purely cosmetic obviously (though I don't like having low tier weapons with good melee stats just for the sake of balance, but thats another subject entirely) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Soldier Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 1 hour ago, Draluigi said: Quick suggestion: replace Farmers and rebored farmers with flintlocks. No one knows what farmers are at the moment, and the game lacks the early flintlocks that saw widespread use at the beggining of the war. The change would be purely cosmetic obviously (though I don't like having low tier weapons with good melee stats just for the sake of balance, but thats another subject entirely) Technically, they are flintlocks - I think the description has it like that, but furthermore they very highly resemble Brown Bess muskets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A. P. Hill Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 5 hours ago, HigoChumbo said: My point is, when an officer is killed or wounded you get a notification in-battle, but that's not the case when it's the general the one who dies (I just tested it just in case). The whole unit just fades away and there is not a single warning, no text. You don't see the remaining soldiers of the bodyguard unit routing neither, the whole brigade just vanishes (though that might just be working as intended, given the unique nature of the general unit). Correct, the "General" you're referring to then has to be the one that you named and entered the game with. All other generals and etc., get notifications. Not to worry about getting yourself killed, you should be back for the next round. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aetius Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 Retreat direction is *still* wonky. At 1st Bull Run I had two Union brigades cross the stone bridge, rout, and then attempt to flee to the north between two of my brigades. The first tangled both of my brigades up into melee as it fled, but I was able to pop skirmishers, reset them, and wipe the Union unit out. The second Union brigade didn't even make it into melee. The only thing I can figure is that the algorithm gave a lot of weight to the Union units approaching from the northwest, miles away, and it was enough to cause them to rout-charge my troops. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Sanford Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 1 hour ago, A. P. Hill said: Not to worry about getting yourself killed, you should be back for the next round. Personally I think the game should end and assess a (partial) score in that case. Teach you to be more careful! Or if not end, "end" that character and make the player generate a new one at zero experience (Col, BG or MG) and continue with that one. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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