>>>Ultimate General: Gettysburg Feedback <<< Patch 0.86 14/8/2014

[Nick Thomadis]

14/8/2014

We introduce Order of Battle and Statistics to the game along with Decision Maps… and finally we offer the first Multiplayer version! Present multiplayer server supports only 100 players. We are going to extend the number on Friday.

Patch notes: http://www.ultimategeneral.com/blog//ultimate-general-released-7thpatch-hotfix

 

31/7/2014

The 6th patch brings AI and gameplay mechanics improvements that provide enhanced realism and challenge. Furthermore, we have refactored the rendering code that previously caused freezes and CTD.

Patch notes: http://www.ultimategeneral.com/blog/ultimate-general-released-6thpatch-hotfix

 

19/7/2014

We finalise the weekly 5th patch with various polishes to AI and gameplay, some bug fixes and the first version of 3D animated menu.

Patch notes: http://www.ultimategeneral.com/blog/ultimate-general-released-5thpatch-hotfix.

 

17/7/2014

We provide an urgent hotfix patch 0.84 which includes some major targeting bug fixes that affected very negatively the AI, better Mac stability, more battle flow fixes and important polishes to the gameplay mechanics. Patch notes: http://www.ultimategeneral.com/blog/ultimate-general-released-5thpatch

 

12/7/2014

Patch 0.83 is dedicated to major battle flow fixes. You will be able to play the battle of Gettysburg in all possible sequences, up to 6 phases, without the previous annoying premature battle ends. AI & Gameplay improvements are included as well. Patch notes: http://www.ultimategeneral.com/blog/ultimate-general-released-4thpatch

 

5/7/2014

0.82 patch brings Mac support (Very soon it will be enabled) and focuses on major AI & Gameplay improvements that were needed according to user feedback. Of course there were many essential bug fixes that make the game much more stable and we have addressed the annoying save bugs that could prevent you to continue your battle campaign normally. Patch notes: http://www.ultimategeneral.com/blog/ultimate-general-released-3rdpatch.

 

27/6/2014

Many things you have asked to improve or fix are now available in our newest patch. Important new features are the elevation map layer and the revamped, more realistic combat pace accompanied by an enhanced AI. Have a look at the patch notes: http://www.ultimategeneral.com/blog/ultimate-general-released-2ndpatch

 

18/6/2014

First patch is live now. It offers Group formations, AI & Gameplay improvements and many important bug fixes. You can read the full list of changes at this link: http://www.ultimategeneral.com/blog/ultimate-general-released-1stpatch

 

Enjoy!

Game-Labs

[MikeK]

Very nice.  It sounds like it is released. I can't find the download link. 

[Heimdall2061]

I've been having some bad desync problems with multiplayer- my roommate and I played three games, two of which definitely desynchronized midway through. The game didn't tell us it desynced, but we realized when different things started happening. I hope that gets fixed reasonably soon. It's weird that the AI just seamlessly takes over when it happens- not bad, just odd, because we had no way of knowing at what point we got desynced.

 

I'm very excited about multiplayer in general- it's a lot of fun!

 

I hope a multiplayer campaign is in sometime soonish.

[Rickter]

I have completed a few multiplayer games with out incident (BIG IMPROVEMENT FROM BETA). I am starting to become concerned with the "feel" of multiplayer. The games pretty much end up going the same exact way every game, as a very experienced RTS player I was constantly paranoid about units sneaking behind me, It never EVER happens. Why I think this is the case is because of the size of the map or possibly the line of sight. I can constantly see everything on the map which leaves no element to surprise. Or possibly because the units are limited to brigades instead of being able to detach regiments and sneak around flanks etc.

 

TLDR: Multiplayer is playing very slow and predictable. ability to control individual regiments and or increasing FOG of war may help this issue.

[Practical Lobster]

So, defense may be a bit too strong now. I have only played a single battle since the patch (on Determined), but as the Union I inflicted 26,000 casualties on the Confederacy, at a cost of only 10,000 men. This is not really to speak to any great talent of my own, because 5,000 and 7,000 casualties (in two phases on the second day) were both caused by simply sitting back on Seminary Ridge and letting the Confederacy charge me. While frontal assaults are not necessarily easy affairs, the "Determined" AI had no concept of letting its troops rest, and just battered units already at half strength and no morale into my line.

 

I suffered almost no losses in that sort of engagement. At the very least it would seem that there is a problem of too much determination, and not enough common sense. While admittedly on the third day Pickett's assault on Seminary Ridge was a success, I simply fell back to the Cemetary line and repeated the devastation of the past day on them. The first day, by contrast, had been a series of bloody holding actions on my part which cost me the morale and integrity of many of my units. But then the second day and fresh troops meant I had no problems at all and effectively sat back and did nothing.

 

Is this perhaps Works as Designed for the Union though? Sheer numbers winning the day?

[MikeK]

Repeat with Dynamic and Cunning with comparable results?

[Capt. Harry Flashman]

Love the multi player! fabtastic addition

[Paul_KT]

Played my first multiplayer today.  Great battle, seemed well balanced (it was the phase 1 scenario) and I didn't see any bugs.

Played as the Confederates and had real trouble holding all my VP with fewer, larger brigades against skirmishers, but had a really good time.

 

Some form of chat so I could say thanks for the game to my opponent would be great.

[reminder]

As it is, I can't even get through the first Confederate map because when I push Union southeast of gettysburg, some of them try to leave the map and I enjoy permanent freezes/crashes. Without an autosave it's all battle wasted.

 

Also, it bugs me a LOT that when enemies start routing, some of them just start running TOWARDS AND THROUGH my infantry units. Even when they have a lot of other places to retreat. Seriously, when do soldiers start running towards the enemy while routing? The funny thing is, retreating towards the enemy becomes a great tactical move as routed units like that get through with minor casualties, reform and eventually sandwich and rout my units due to huge morale penalties for being shot from behind.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying the game greatly, but it is still a gem in the rough. Please fix it so it could shine as it should.

[Alex13F]

Is there multiplayer support for Mac? I haven't seen any notes on it and I haven't seen a way to play a multiplayer mission.

[Husserl]

Is there multiplayer support for Mac? I haven't seen any notes on it and I haven't seen a way to play a multiplayer mission.

 

Not yet, but it will be.

[tornsage]

Still beating the game easily - no particular selection of AI matters - it's stupidly easy to completely destroy the union army in 3 phases - I do not see how this is not clearly understood as of yet. The game is simply no challenge whatsoever and I cannot get a session to start on multiplayer.

 

[N.C.rebel]

Remember this is early access and game is constantly improving

[dagdriver]

Tried a couple of times, still havent been able to get into MP matches - theres never any battles available when I go there, and when I try to start a session no one joins. 

[RichardMcCor]

tornsage - what tactics do you use to beat the AI.

Share that with us so we can give feedback to the dev team along with you.

[Elvin]

I'm in a similar situation, I can beat the AI on any difficulty, as both sides. The only real thing I find I need to worry about is cycling troops on and off the front line, so I can always keep pushing. The confederates have the numerical superiority on the first day, so as long as you keep about 1/4 of your troops in reserve it isn't a problem.

 

The reason the AI struggles here is that it does no unit cycling. The same units will sit on the front line until they rout, at which point they're effectively out of combat for several in-game hours. Whereas my cycled troops, once they get to ~20% condition, are replaced by a full condition and morale brigade, while the replaced unit can withdraw and rest. The other useful tactic is to keep a large brigade in reserve, and once your front lines have engaged for some time, charge the large brigade into their lines. This often causes mass routs, and even if it doesn't it means your troops can still shoot into the melee, while their troops are all tied up in melee, resulting in them receiving massive casualties.

 

What I've found myself doing is attempting to unlock all the scenarios, by either attacking and taking only one or two key points, or as defenders deliberately abandoning points. It leads to some much more interesting fights, often where Confederates have to attack Union forces that are 30% larger than itself.

[Zelekendel]

Just tested all 3 difficulties with the first scenario. On Cunning, the AI defends weakly and when pushed off the ridges, it mostly sits and waits, and does not plan a counter-attack. 

On dynamic, the AI did give a fight but the problem is that it simply sent single brigades attacking f. example Archer in McPherson's Woods, basically slaughtering its troops in irrelevant and suicidal attacks. The results in casualties were very lopsided.

On determined, the AI did not push as suicidally as on Dynamic as you'd expect, instead, it again gave a relatively weak effort at defending like on Cunning, and after the ridges were taken, instead of sitting and giving up like on Cunning, they all decided it was a good idea to march all the way to Oak Hill (or that's my theory) all the way along my firing line - with a part of its units. A part were again held back doing nothing. In no case did the AI make a determined effort at taking back the poorly defensible Seminary Ridge (it has huge LOS problems and bad cover on the side of the town for the defenders).

 

The primary focus should be on winning the war of attrition - and actions should be prioritized according to this. The ai tends to stick around in uneven firefights and willingly exposes its flanks, and rarely seeks to flank the player. 

 

There is much that needs to be done to make this AI give a fight to someone with a basic grasp of civil war tactics. But it does give a nice tutorial and a learning opponent (plus a suitable fight against casual players) for the real deal - the multiplayer campaign - whenever that might appear!

 

See the situation at the end:

 

[Husserl]

Thanks for the feedback, the AI is under constant revision/improvement. Sometimes we need to test some specific elements during the EA that may affect the AI performance negatively in some battles. However, we need these tests on our way to make the AI as it should be. 

[Zelekendel]

Yes, and perhaps I was a bit too rough - I do have 90 hours of this game under my belt and the #1 position on the MP leaderboard, so I might be selling myself a bit short in relation to the AI! Keep it up.

[MikeK]

See the situation at the end:

 

The Union has a line, but what are those Union batteries doing near the Seminary with Pettigrew on the reverse slope?

 

If the player simply rests troops and bombards, the AI will attempt movements, sometimes with several brigades but yes often with one. It does somewhat to deliver flanking fire on the tactical level, and to me seems at times reasonably sensitive to being enfiladed.

[reminder]

Just to illustrate my previous post

 

How an epic victory turns into a minor victory

 

Baxter in not on the screen - he's trying to get the northmost VP from Heth's skirmishers. The western part right after McDonald is guarded by cannons. All in all, it should be a decimating push from the north, with all troops having >80% condition, good morale and great positions in flanks. However, the fortune turn when Paul routs THROUGH Davis and Devins Skirmishers through Pettigrew. The battle gets extended, in less than an hour they reform and rout Pettigew/Davis due to attacking them from behind. The whole maneuver to corner the union becomes detrimental.

 

I assume that this charging/reatreating is partially due to congestion of Union troops, but in that case something must be done with the routing pathfinding. There is still more than enough space on the map for both units to rout properly.

 

Also, a realistic suggestion from an old game called Civil War Generals - routing units should try to reach the safest edge of the map, if they do not regain enough morale before reaching it - they should reatreat from the field automatically until the next phase (if they still have the majority of the troops). The pathfinding issue should become much easier to fix if game tried to get them out of the map rather than find a place for them to reform. Then again, you know better what would be easier to do.

[RichardMcCor]

Multiplayer crash ended with an long hang towards end of game and then an window with an error saying GC heap on the screen. I tried a screen shot

[HugoBardo]

Had a first multiplayer game yesterday against a skilled player...he beat me hard! very good time and no bugs, just some hangs and freeze for 1-2 sec sometimes.

 

Continue this way!

[RichardMcCor]

A bunch of hangs last night on multi-player and some stuck troops on scenario 1. Twice a brigade entered the screen, marched north on their normal route and just stopped with the walking graphic playing over and over. I could click 'em but not move 'em. I entered them as a bug report. Hopefully it went through. Cannot tell if it did or not

[Feretier]

Had my first mp game today ,Day 1 Arriving, everything was fine, no lag no freeze no nothing. One thing was hard to manage tho... my stress and my enemy cavalry !!

That was awesome