Grand Tactician: The Civil War (1861-1865)

[Asid]

[Asid]

Patch 1.11 - AI, Fixing, Rebalancing, Quality of Life
Thu, January 5, 2023



This update focuses on improving the game play experience by fixing bugs & improving the AI.

A New Year, a New Patch!

Gen'l,

Patch 1.11 has been released. This update focuses on improving the game play experience by fixing bugs & improving the AI. In addition to this, there is also something new added, like:

    Number of ships limited in fleets depending on the commander's stats,
    Reworked entrenchment placement controls in battles,
    New Zouave uniforms (including the Louisiana Tigers),
    Updated game Manual.


Read the full patch notes below.
Patch Notes 1.11

Most Respy,
The Grand Tactician Team

Latest Patch 1.1109

As always:
- Thanks for the development patch community for testing and supporting!
- Save games of prior versions should be compatible

Note: the download volume is large this time as we have increased the resolution of all paper maps.

Detailed Patch Notes:

Campaigns:

    fixed: fleets show speed 0 kn for a few game hours after reloading
    fixed: AI picks either too many or too few projects
    disbanded units now return their weapons back to armory
    fixed: auto construction of prison camps not happening if no camp existed yet
    probably fixed: units that have retreated to a fort are reloaded as garrison if not moved
    rebalanced campaign temperature values (for old saves it takes a few days to reset)
    fixed: paroling prisoners in enemy pow camps possible
    added info about import price effects of sea raiders in the blockade tooltip of the trade node
    added ship amount limitations depending on commander’s rank and administration skills
    added tooltip info about blockade details of fleets at unit status element
    fixed: weapon upgrades for zero strength units could lead to not-researched equipment, eg. gatling guns
    company production data is now saved and immediately reloaded
    fixed: switching panels while recruiting tabs are opened lead to overlapping screens when reopening management panel
    fixed: sea raiders perk sometimes not leveling up
    added uniforms of Zouaves and Louisiana Tigers
    clicking invasion alarm icon now refers to the approximate position and shows estimated numbers
    fixed: loading sometimes leads to similar alarm icon entries
    detailed (mouseover) unit info is now available for papermap levels too
    estimated position of enemies hidden behind FOW are now also shown on top papermap levels
    rebalancing of AI offensive actions & area importance values
    fixed: csa artillery units created of regulars act show corrupt uniform and no weapon
    AI now better tries to capture towns before continuing advances


Battles:

    AI always always launches probe attacks if attacking on campaign map, no matter the strength relations (though waiting for reinforcements)
    fixed: wrong tooltip for clearing input in load/save panel
    increasing game speed via keys in deployment phase now ends deployment mode
    units behind now not leave cover if out of fire range but lay down
    reworked barricade and trench placements
    fixed: available engineering points are only applied after constructing a complete entrenchment line, so that long entrenchment lines can be constructed without sufficient points
    improvement of fallback directions
    adding more objectives for larger battles
    improvement of AI fortification positions
    enhanced quartermasters report & lower supply reserves
    fixed: units are resupplied before EOD when reloading a save


Other:

    additional entries for campaignprefs.txt
    fixed: pause KEY is unpaused when moving troops
    fixed: minor visual paper map issues, increased resolution
    improved: cam center on units
    manual update

[Asid]

Whiskey & Lemons
Tue, 21 March 2023



Gen’l,

There were many legendary generals in the American Civil War, like “Stonewall” Jackson, “Old Pete” Longstreet, “Grumble” Jones, “Bull Head” Sumner… each with their own unique stories. In the Grand Tactician DLC, it’s your story.


The Way to the Top – or Not.

Whiskey & Lemons will introduce a new career mode. You will start by creating your character, determining your Civil War personality via a questionnaire, and taking command of a regiment.

As a regimental commander, you are but a small gear in the huge military steam engine. You will have very limited influence over the war, and you will receive orders from your AI commanders. According to your actions and performance, you will generate prestige and get promoted to higher places, where your actions will matter more.

As the DLC campaign will be regiment level, on a zoomed in campaign map, divisions will be the smallest units moving on the campaign map. Single brigades can also be used as garrisons to protect important terrain.

Once commanding a division, you will be able to control the unit on the campaign map. With increased prestige you will be able to influence politics or projects, but this is very limited before rising to the top, commanding the armies of the Union or the Confederacy – provided that you will ever make it that far. Or want to – you can play the whole campaign without accepting any promotions, if you so wish.


Your Story.

There are many things that can get in the way. Your previously mentioned personality could be one of them. Personality is determined on six axes: Loyalty, Piety, Social Life, Heroism, Stress Control and Political Views. These may provide positive and/or negative traits to your career.

You may also attract companions that will be part of your staff. For example, if you are known for lack of loyalty, you may be followed by a Committee Investigator, reporting to the military brass, who may end up limiting your freedom of action by giving political guidance you cannot ignore.

There are also other new features. You will be able to choose to buy your own equipment, recruit your own staff and carry out actions that all will influence your, and your nation’s Civil War journey. You may also get injured in combat, with some of your injuries becoming permanent disabilities.

When you start to gain fame, you may end up with a grudge with some of your fellow officers. This may have a serious impact on your performance in the battle-field, like what happened between Bragg and his lieutenants. And getting rid of them may prove difficult, as it will require further prestige to overrule choices made by the President.

It will be very different, if you become known as “Old Tippler” due to your drinking habits, keep falling off the horse during battles and get into drunken fights with your fellow officers, or as “Skedaddle Joe” due to lack of courage and losing the respect of your men.

Everything you do and experience during the campaign, will be recorded into a Biography. When the campaign ends, you may read your whole story, and see how you compared with historical civil war commanders.




The Other Things.

We’re looking to release Whiskey & Lemons during Q2 of 2023. The plan and development has suffered some real-life related delays, mainly caused by a war in Europe, where the development team is from.

But, while on some fronts there have been delays, on others extra progress has been made. We’re constantly working on the game engine even if the DLC content has not proceeded as earlier planned.

Also the band is recording new music to the game. Along with the DLC release, we will also release the new music as a Soundtrack, the same way we did with the game’s original music – meaning buying the soundtrack is not mandatory to hear the music in the game. The Soundtrack II (working title) allows listening to the tunes outside of the game, and the revenues will go to support our great band, Wasel and the Weasels.

With the DLC release, we’ll also release the next major patch, which is focused on fixing reported issues, implementing some player wishes (like different color fire arcs on paper map), and some performance improvements.

Most Respy,
The Grand Tactician -Team.

[Asid]

Quiet before the Storm?
Fri, 9 June 2023



"While the citizens have been anxiously waiting for news, it seems like there's a suspicious calm at the frontlines. The reporters of Grand Herald say, it's because the generals of the recently formed Grand Engineering Corps are developing plans and testing them in preparation for the advance."

It's June, and Whiskey & Lemons DLC has enetered internal beta. During this phase we will test, balance and finalize the DLC game play, while all the new playable content is already in. While testing, there's still work going on with giving finalizing touches to remaining art, like maps and music. While we were aiming for a Q2, 2023 release, it's fair to say, that "Summer 2023" is more accurate at this point. Of course we will give more information, when further details are available. With the DLC, we will also release the latest patch to Grand Tactician: The Civil War (1861-1865), which includes fixes and improvements to the base game.

The DLC will bring an all-new Career-mode, where player will start the campaign commanding a single unit. With success and promotions, player can climb to more important positions with more influence in the course of the war. While following AI commanders' orders, players can manage their unit(s), staff, and personal activities.



The Career-mode brings many role-playing elements to the game, allowing a different kind focus in the game, without the need to manage the whole war.



The Career-mode can be used in all the campaign scenarios. In addition, a new Regiment-scale focus campaign can be played in the Eastern Theater. This campaign starts in June 1861, before the start of the large scale fighting. Will the war drag on for years, or will the blue troops march irresistably On to Richmond?



While the DLC development has been ongoing, we have also consolidated our development team's future: from now on, the development team goes by name Grand Engineer Corps e.U. This change was made to register the name for our future projects, which means we are going to continue further developing Grand Tactician. What the future brings, though, is another story. More about that later...

Most Respy,
The Grand Engineer Corps

[Asid]

Whiskey & Lemons DLC Store Page is Open!
Fri, July 7, 2023

Visit the store page, and Wishlist now!



Whiskey & Lemons DLC Store Page is Open!

General,

The sound of guns can already be heard over the horizon. Soon you and your men will join battle to make history.

We're heading for a Summer 2023 release for the upcoming Whiskey & Lemons DLC, that adds role playing elements to the Grand Tactician: The Civil War campaigns. Create your own character, follow your commanders' orders, gain prestige and promotions. When in position to do so, play a key role in your nation's war-effort. This is your Civil War story!


Visit the store page, and Wishlist now!



Grand Tactician: The Civil War - Whiskey & Lemons
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2138830/Grand_Tactician_The_Civil_War__Whiskey__Lemons/


Grand Tactician: The Civil War (1861-1865) -25%  £37.99  £28.49

[Asid]

Whiskey & Lemons Release Info
Tue, August 1, 2023



Whiskey & Lemons DLC to be Released on 25th of August!

Gen’l,

We're happy to announce, that the DLC to Grand Tactician: The Civil War (1861-1865), Whiskey & Lemons, will be released on 25th of August, 2023(17.00 UCT / 10.00 PDT)! On the same day we will also release Volume 2 to the game's Soundtrack, and a major update to the main game. Details below:


Whiskey & Lemons.

Whiskey & Lemons DLC introduces a new career mode, where you can play any campaign in the game starting from a low position, caring only about your unit and your career, with the AI taking care of the rest. With prestige and promotions you may rise all the way to the top of your nation's military leadership, which will open up more options to influence the war effort. Career mode includes role playing elements for character development. The possibility to take only a smaller role in the campaign may also suit players that feel the main campaign is too overwhelming. In addition to the career mode, W&L DLC introduces a new regiment scale Eastern Theater focus campaign.

Whiskey & Lemons will sell for USD 24,99. On release, the DLC will have a 10% discount.

For more details and wishlisting, visit:
WHISKEY & LEMONS STEAM STORE PAGE: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2138830/Grand_Tactician_The_Civil_War__Whiskey__Lemons/


GAME PLAY VIDEO FROM CAREER CAMPAIGN




Soundtrack Vol.2.

Volume 2 of the game's Soundtrack features 20 more old time and traditional tunes from the Civil War era, hand picked & recorded live by Wasel and the Weasels. Like with Soundtrack Vol.1, the music will be included in the game, even if you don't own the Soundtrack or any other DLC. Buying the Soundtrack will allow you to enjoy the music also outside of the game - it's also a good way to support Grand Tactician -project, and especially the talented musicians!

Soundtrack Vol.2 will sell for USD 9,99.

For more details, including the track list, and wishlisting, visit:
SOUNDTRACK VOL.2 STEAM STORE PAGE: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2504240/Grand_Tactician__The_Civil_War_18611865_Soundtrack_Vol2/


Bundle.

We will also update the Bundle option for the game, which includes all the content for 10% off.


Major Patch 1.21.

With the DLC release, there will also be a major new patch for the main game. The patch includes bug fixes, some new features, balancing, performance & AI improvements, and the new music.

For more information:
SEE THE FULL PATCH NOTES in the post below

Most Respy,

Grand Engineer Corps

[Asid]

Upcoming New Patch 1.21
Tue, August 1, 2023



With the upcoming release of Whiskey & Lemons DLC, we will also release a major patch to the game. Here are the patch notes as of AUG 1. This list will be updated when the patch is released.

Campaign:
- machineguns: the project(s) will add a number of these weapon in the inventory, but (mass) production will not be available (1.1216)
- AI will not use high quality commanders for artillery units (1.1216)
- fixed: sometimes battle results are switched when returning to campaign (1.1216)
- if all units in OOB are filtered out the screen does not show the last unit anymore to prevent unwanted UI behavior (1.1201)
- now showing approximate arrival of reinforcing groups in auto-resolve panel (1.1201)
- AI commander replacements now take into account all attributes instead of only experience (1.1201)
- “orders available” and “orders placed” weapon filter settings cannot be activated both now (1.1201)
- fixed: victory balance calculation of sieges takes into account not yet arrived units (1.1201)
- removed: old siege panel still visible if a unit was selected and started a siege (1.1201)
- AI: no construction of POW camps pre-war and lower probability while pow camps are already under construction (1.1201)
- Officers list is updated if a commander is promoted, officer will be rearranged in correct rank in list (1.1201)
- fixed: upgrade info for markets shows wrong efficiency pickup (1.1201)
- fixed: federal building levels in production panel are not updated correctly, added further federal building info (1.1201)
- fixed: reloading resets the recruitment queue for a state (1.1201)
- fixed: using auto-placement for a certain building sometimes leads to placing it twice (1.1201)
- railroad movement now restricted to occupied and owned terrain (no longer state-wide) + colored on map to indicate availability (1.1201)
- fixed: some railroad tracks were not visible when selected for construction (1.1201)
- slave workforce ratio now depending on support for CSA side (1.1201)
- forts taken via amphibious assault are now also counted for achieving campaign objective “capture 10 forts” (1.1201)
- AI readiness is now checked for each step in offensives, not only at start (1.1200)
- fixed: Union occupied forts on CSA terrain are shown red (CSA) at scenario start although having a Union garrison (1.1200)
- rebalancing of order delays over long distances (1.1200)
- fixed: dummy navy commanders have no rank and cannot be promoted (1.1200)
- rebalancing of weapon weighting in AI offensive decisions, in the past artillery heavy player units often prevented AI offensives (1.1200)
- fixed: replacing wia/kia commanders of fort batteries sometimes removes non-dummy commanders from roster (1.1200)
- lowered national morale effects from naval engagements (1.1200)

Battles:
- measures against AI blobbing (1.1210)
- fixed: sometimes waypoint marks are removed while orders are given if enemy is close (1.1211)
- fixed: end of day supply situation sometimes leads to huge morale drop (1.1211)
- Performance Improvements (1.1200)
- improved attacker/defender detection for campaign battles
- fixed: an issue where entrenchment levels did not reset when moving (1.1200)
- fixed: removed entrenchments are shown red when reloading (1.1200)
- added separate fire arc colors for 3D map & papermap (for mods: unitprefs need to be adjusted) (1.1200)
- fixed: sometimes fire ranges are resetted when reloading a battle (1.1201)
- fixed: reloading on day #2+ may lead to different fatigue and cohesion values (1.1201)
- units that are engaged in close combat are not causing a flanking status on enemy units anymore (1.1201)
- shortcuts are now deactivated during end of day cycle to not accidentally stop speed acceleration (1.1201)
- AI will now try to advance if no initial objective was occupied, even if strength is insufficient (1.1201)
- fixed: multiple short slowdowns (~600ms) if AI performs assault moves (1.1201)

Other:
- Soundtrack Vol.2 music: 20 new tracks of music, now total of 41 (1.1216)
- scaling fixes for certain UI elements on high resolutions (1.1216)
- fixed: when creating an avatar the switch between political and volunteer officer is not possible (1.1201)
- certain config files can now be added to campaign scenario folders to overwrite the standard prefs: unitprefs.txt, commanders.txt

[Asid]

Whiskey & Lemons Release Info
Fri, 25 August 2023



Whiskey & Lemons DLC Out Now!

Gen’l,

Whiskey & Lemons DLC has just been released on Steam, with Epic Games and GOG following very shortly! If you buy it just after release, you will get a 10% discount.
WHISKEY & LEMONS STEAM STORE PAGE: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2138830/Grand_Tactician_The_Civil_War__Whiskey__Lemons/

At the same time, we've released the game's Soundtrack Volume 2, with 20 more old time tunes recorded live by Wasel and the Weasels:
SOUNDTRACK VOL.2 STEAM STORE PAGE: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2504240/Grand_Tactician__The_Civil_War_18611865_Soundtrack_Vol2/


We have also released a new patch 1.1223 to the main game:

SEE THE FULL PATCH NOTES below

[Asid]

Latest Patch 1.1224
August 25, 2023


Latest patch 1.1224, uploaded August 25, 2023:

As always:
- Thanks for the development patch community for testing and supporting!
- Save games of prior versions should be compatible

Patch 1.12 adds 20 additional music tracks for free (please support our artists by buying Soundtrack DLC Vol 2.0).


Detailed Patch Notes:

Campaigns:

    stock of machine guns now linked to projects
    AI does not use high quality commanders for artillery units
    fixed: sometimes battle results are switched when returning to campaign
    AI readiness is now checked for each step in offensives, not only at start
    fixed: Union occupied forts on CSA terrain are shown red (CSA) at scenario start although having a Union garrison
    rebalancing of order delays over long distances
    fixed: dummy navy commanders have no rank and cannot be promoted
    rebalancing of weapon weighting in AI offensive decisions, in the past artillery heavy player units often prevented AI offensives
    probably fixed: replacing wia/kia commanders of fort batteries sometimes removes non-dummy commanders from roster
    lowered national morale effects from naval engagements
    if all units in OOB are filtered out the screen does not show the last unit anymore to prevent unwanted UI behavior
    now showing approximate arrival of reinforcing groups in auto-resolve panel
    AI commander replacements now take into account all attributes instead of only experience
    “orders available” and “orders placed” weapon filter settings cannot be activated both
    fixed: victory balance calculation of sieges takes into account not yet arrived units
    removed: old siege panel still visible if a unit was selected and started a siege
    AI: no construction of pow camps pre war and lower probability while pow camps are already under construction
    Officer’s list is updated if a commander is promoted, officer will be rearranged in correct rank in list
    fixed: upgrade info for markets shows wrong efficiency pickup
    fixed: federal building levels in production panel are not updated correctly, added further federal building infos
    fixed: reloading resets the recruitment queue for a state
    fixed: using auto-placement for a certain building sometimes leads to placing it twice
    railroad movement now restricted to occupied and owned terrain + colored
    fixed: some railroad tracks were not visible when selected for construction
    slave ratio now depending on support for CSA side
    forts taken via amphibious assault are now also counted for achieving campaign objective “capture 10 forts”
    fixed: too passive AI in late game
    fixed: sometimes fort bombardments loop when fleet moves out of range


Battles:

    measures against AI blobbing
    fixed: sometimes waypoint marks are removed while orders are given if enemy is close
    fixed: end of day supply situation sometimes leads to huge morale drop
    fixed a few issues related to commander rallying
    Performance Improvements
    improved attacker/defender detection for campaign battles & fixed an issue where entrenchment levels did not reset when moving
    fixed: removed entrenchments are shown red when reloading
    added separate fire arc colors for 3D map & papermap (for mods: unitprefs need to be adjusted)
    fixed: sometimes fire ranges are resetted when reloading a battle
    fixed: reloading on day #2+ may lead to different fatigue and cohesion values
    units that are engaged in close combat are not causing a flanking status on enemy units anymore
    shortcuts are now deactivated during end of day cycle to not accidentally stop speed acceleration
    AI will now try to advance if no initial objective was occupied, even if strength is insufficient
    fixed: multiple short slowdowns (~600ms) if AI performs assault moves
    removed cohesion and cut off morale malus if morale is too low to prevent routs just of these factors
    added AI micro movements also for groups that don’t follow objective chains to prevent unreactive AI units


Other:

    fixed: when creating an avatar the switch between political and volunteer officer is not possible
    certain config files can now be added to campaign scenario folders to overwrite the standard prefs: unitprefs.txt, commanders.txt
    fixed wrong nations.dat export file in modding excel
    scaling fixes for certain UI elements on high resolutions