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Offline Asid

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Re: Grand Tactician: The Civil War (1861-1865)
« Reply #105 on: January 01, 2023, 12:01:40 AM »

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Re: Grand Tactician: The Civil War (1861-1865)
« Reply #106 on: January 06, 2023, 12:08:09 AM »
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



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Offline Asid

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Re: Grand Tactician: The Civil War (1861-1865)
« Reply #107 on: March 22, 2023, 01:17:14 AM »
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.
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Offline Asid

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Re: Grand Tactician: The Civil War (1861-1865)
« Reply #108 on: June 11, 2023, 11:12:02 AM »
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

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Re: Grand Tactician: The Civil War (1861-1865)
« Reply #109 on: July 09, 2023, 12:12:42 AM »
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

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Re: Grand Tactician: The Civil War (1861-1865)
« Reply #110 on: August 03, 2023, 12:23:46 AM »
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


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Re: Grand Tactician: The Civil War (1861-1865)
« Reply #111 on: August 03, 2023, 12:26:25 AM »
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

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Re: Grand Tactician: The Civil War (1861-1865)
« Reply #112 on: August 26, 2023, 01:34:54 AM »
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

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Re: Grand Tactician: The Civil War (1861-1865)
« Reply #113 on: August 26, 2023, 01:35:57 AM »
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

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Re: Grand Tactician: The Civil War (1861-1865)
« Reply #114 on: December 18, 2023, 12:24:37 AM »
Patch 1.13 Released!
Sun, 17 December 2023




Gen’l,

Patch 1.13 is a major update to Grand Tactician (base game) and Whiskey & Lemons DLC. It contains many fixes and rebalancing to the game, and a new Camp-feature for the career mode.


Main changes in the main game include changes in campaign AI, rebalanced construction costs (forts, depots), updates to supply calculations during battles (end of day), along with fixes to bugs reported by the community. The patch was released in beta some time ago and with the help of the community we have improved it further - Thank You for Your help!

The two main updates in Whiskey & Lemons career mode are:

1.    Camp: as the commander you can choose how to spend your time when encamped. You can focus on a number of activities, from supervising and taking part in drilling your troops to advancing your own personal agenda. Your companions will provide a helping hand as well. This feature is described in more detail in the updated W&L Manual.

2.    Offer of Command: Earlier you could advance to higher command positions only by using your perstige. Now, if you are eligible and a position where your skills could be used becomes available, you are sometimes offered the new command free of prestige cost. You may then accept or decline the position.

Cheers, and Happy Holidays!




PATCH NOTES

Latest patch 1.1309, uploaded December 17, 2023:

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

Detailed Patch Notes:

Campaigns:

    fix: Union AI not attacking Richmond
    Rebalanced: Construction costs of forts, depots, telegraph stations
    fix: when returning from manually played siege the casualties (wounded etc) are reseted to the numbers before the siege
    fix: long drawing (smoothing) times of supply paths in certain situations
    fix: removing artillery units from a group still creates (low) demand for artillery ammo and results in low average (near zero) supply ratios
    changed: now no effect of group supply situation for units in replenishment
    fix: no replenishment happening if draft and volunteers are selected
    removed: after starting a manual battle from a siege readiness is always set to zero
    fix: certain river fleet actions block complete navy AI movements
    fix: when initiating a second battle (or battle from a siege) the wounded numbers before the battle are lost when returning from battle back to campaign
    fix: newly appointed commanders when creating new units or replacing other officers are not shown in brackets (preliminary promotion) anymore


Battles:

    units that have lain down are not blocking fire range
    fix: ambient sounds (rain, thunder, wind) not always adjusted by sound volume prefs
    fix: sometimes artillery targeting produces a short stuttering
    fix: initial supply levels; rebalancing of ammo resupply EOD


Other:

    fix: checkboxes sometimes don’t show marks if active and vice-versa
    fix: tooltips often disappear if mouse moves from one button to another


DLC Whiskey & Lemons:

    adding new "camp life" feature
    adding "Offer Command" feature
    offensive, defensive orders now disappearing if order zone is entered [campaign]
    building construction orders are cleared after successful creation
    changed AI auto deployment to exclude units if army group commander
    fix: player may use control over certain units when loading into manually played battles
    fix: EOD redeployment (not initial) sometimes causes player controlled units to be redeployed
    fixed: random questionnaire skips last answer
    added loading/saving of already filled questionnaires
    added limitation for number of action research (20+ caused issues)
    fixed: needed pre-actions for action research not working
    fix: top units (eg. corps) issuing orders (eg. construct fort) in campaign to subordinate units (eg. divisions) are executing this order too
    increased perk experience gain through casualties for East 61 scenario

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Re: Grand Tactician: The Civil War (1861-1865)
« Reply #115 on: February 03, 2024, 01:04:10 AM »
Patch 1.14 Released!
Fri, 2 February 2024



Patch 1.14 Out Now!

Gen’l,

A new major Patch 1.1402 is now released. During the two-week beta period we were able to further improve the patch - Thank You all, who contributed in the beta!

Patch 1.14 provides:
- rebalances to the camp feature (Whiskey & Lemons DLC), incl. W&L manual update accordingly
- sound engine updates, including new sounds in the battles
- bug fixes to issues reported by the community

See the patch notes below

Your Most Obedient Servants,

The Grand Engineer Corps


Detailed Patch Notes:

Campaigns:

    fix: level 3 forts not engaging
    fix: autoresolve battles earn too much unit and perk experience
    fix: reloading saves leads (in rare cases) to units being recognized as garrisons


Battles:

    additional battle sounds and fixes
    fix: ranks for some officers not happening properly
    fix: Shiloh battlemap navigation (Hamburg Ford)
    fix: groups in some historical battles not reacting
    fix: reinforcements in historical battles sometimes arrive at the wrong time (eg Gettysburg)
    fix: cold steel button stuck


DLC Whiskey & Lemons:

    fix: if player unit surrenders, the player may be stuck "MIA"
    fix: campaign won/lost screen does not show image of player character
    fix: recruiting horse artillery not possible
    fix: taken over units are repositioned by AI EOD (day 1+)
    fix: if actions increase unit experience, experience stars won't be visible when surpassing 5 stars (visual only)
    rebalancing of camp times
    fix: if player character weight drops below minimum weight the weight loss is accumulated - into negative values with influences in battle movements
    added tooltip for companions in which camp stations they can be of help
    no check for incidents during EOD/deployment phase to prevent stuck deployment phase
    fix: actions that are carried out multiple times may only deliver effects once (eg. buying stocks)
    fix: “infantry, cavalry etc. specialist” affecting all troops
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Re: Grand Tactician: The Civil War (1861-1865)
« Reply #116 on: March 30, 2024, 11:15:54 PM »
Latest patch 1.1403
23 Mar @ 1:55pm


fixed: Eastern theater campaign, West Virginia objective (both sides) cannot be undone once either side completes it
fixed: AI not changing commanding general in certain situations
fixed: entrenchments not recognized as cover objects in certain situations
fixed: Union can only have 1 officer of LTG rank, is properly promoted when LTG Act is completed
fixed: AI automanage of finances, subsidies
improved: AI picking of projects in certain rare situations
improved: Whiskey & Lemons end of campaign screen

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Re: Grand Tactician: The Civil War (1861-1865)
« Reply #117 on: November 21, 2024, 12:45:50 AM »
Engineers at Work.
Wed, November 20, 2024




Gen?l,

For some time now, an eerie silence has surrounded the Grand Engineer Corps camp. The troops are wondering, what is happening inside the fog of war? What does this mean to the Grand Tacticians, present and future?


Major changes have taken place in the background, with the Engineer Corps going through a reorganization. As the pieces are falling in place, it?s a good time to share some Engineering intel from behind the scenes.


The Greenhorn Volunteers.

Grand Tactician?s story began in 2016, with Oliver (a finance banker turned coder from Austria) and Ilja (a wargame enthusiast in the Finnish Army) deciding to develop a strategy game independently. The idea was to create something unique in the genre, the game taking place in the American Civil War ? a conflict of great interest to us. Soon after Peter (a chemical industry worker and mod artist from Germany) joined the team as an artist, and since then our team of three worked hard to make our dream a reality. We started from zero, new game engine, new coding language, and a lot to learn?

The Civil War (1861-1865) has been a true independent ?garage project?, being developed outside the working hours as a second job. It started as a very interesting (yet ambitious) hobby project, with no commercial expectations. The development didn?t have a fixed schedule, we worked as much on the game as we could, learning as we went. We have been blessed with many helpful and talented people with enthusiasm toward our project and the will to help, and this helped shape the game into what it is today ? not perfect by any means, but something we?re proud of. We managed to create a unique game among its peers. 2000 reviews with > 70% score is high praise!

What we never expected was that so many players would find the game and enjoy it, providing us ideas and constructive criticism from the Early Access of late 2020 continuing all the way to this day. This of course caused immense pressure to deliver. The post-release development has been even more hectic than the time before. At times, there was exhaustion among the ranks, as all the work was still done after returning home from a day (or night) job, work trip or even military exercise. The COVID years and increased tempo at work for some left a mark in the development as well. This was especially true during development of the Whiskey & Lemons DLC. In these circumstances, while frustrating at times, it has been very flattering that our humble game has been compared to titles created by much larger developers with much larger resources at hand.

At the same time we knew we could not continue like this in the future. Demands at work, with family and with the game were taking an increasing toll. We?re not young guys anymore.




The Long Road Ahead.

We always wanted to make Grand Tactician a game series to portray multiple wars of the gunpowder and linear warfare era (17th to 19th Centuries). If for now we disregard the personal issues we had with resources to invest in game development, we also had reached a point in the Grand Tactician -engine where small fixing here and there no longer was achieving sufficient results. Like said, we know the game is far from perfect, and there are the shortfalls here and there we want to improve. These are mostly the ones the community knows very well and have been providing us feedback about (there are also some technical ones, that are not apparent to players). ?Clunkiness?, performance, AI, battle balance, player onboarding, information?

Military minded people remember the approach to putting new wine into old bottles? In order to really improve the battle AI, as an example, working on the AI itself alone no longer helps ? work is required in other areas as well, like the whole unit system, pathfinding, order of battle, parts of the combat systems. Tinkering with all these systems individually to help the battle AI a bit will cause issues in other areas, that in turn need to be reworked, and the butterfly effect continues. And still we would have the old unit system, pathfinding, etc. that we want to improve anyways, and that are affecting other areas (clunkiness, performance?) So, in some cases we need a new bottle for the new wine.

During the eight years we of course learned a lot, but also the tools available have constantly developed. Especially the battle layer we developed first during 2017 is showing age and no longer facilitates much improvement without a rehaul. So, we decided that in order to move forward we need to rewrite big blocks of the game engine. This of course takes a lot of time ? it?s ?revolution vs. evolution?, like game developers like to call it. At the same time it allows further changes like increasing modding opportunities and adding localization.

But, back to reality and the resources? If the volunteers are worn out from years of battle, to rally the Corps, veteran regulars are needed.


The Regulars.

Recently, the Grand Engineer Corps has gone through a major reorganization. As things were still in motion and results were foggy, we kept quiet about this, while already re-working hard the first elements of the game engine. At the same time we released multiple patches to fix the remaining major issues reported by players.

Now we?re very happy to be able to say that things have turned around for us in a major way. We have teamed up with a like minded publisher, the right one for us and for our project ? a Grand Tactician -series. With this move we have been able to transform from exhausted garage-developers into professionals ? volunteers into regulars ? resigning our earlier jobs and now working as full-time game developers! To put it mildly, life is now very different and so are our development opportunities.

What exactly we are working on will be disclosed at a much, much later date. What can be said this early on, is that we?re working on taking Grand Tactician forward in a way that earlier was not possible for us. While not much more can be said at this point, we?re planning on sharing a developer log regularly, approximately every 2-3 months, to give you a small glimpse into our upcoming game. While our vision for the next game is already set ? and this takes into account the feedback we?ve received ?, we do want to give you an opportunity to provide feedback, during development, at a more detailed level. We?ll start with some more technical matters, and ? in full transparency ? intend to hold back the major details, until there is a better opportunity to share them. We hope you share our ambition of making Grand Tactician into something greater, and that to do that we need to let the marketing machine have something to run on, when the time is right!

While our work continues, players of The Civil War 1861-1865 will be supported by the development team like before. The best way is to drop an e-mail to our message box info(at)grandtactician(dot)com, as we are deep ?in the matrix? ? there are only so many pairs of hands. We?ll do our best to help you with issues and questions you have. What is also fair to say at this point is that no new features or downloadable content are to be expected for The Civil War. We hope this is understandable, as large parts of the game?s engine are already cut open on our field surgeon?s table.

Having shared this piece of intel, we continue our long march toward what we hope and believe will be a bright future for Grand Tactician. Touch the elbow!



Very respectfully, your obedient servants
Oliver, Ilja, Peter
The Grand Engineer Corps.
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Re: Grand Tactician: The Civil War (1861-1865)
« Reply #118 on: January 29, 2025, 12:31:05 AM »
Unlimited Battlefields.
Mon, January 27, 2025



Gen?l,

2025 brings a new dev blog -series. In it, we discuss the first main steps in developing the game's engine further. More specifically, what new gameplay features rebuilding the battle layer will allow in the future.


The first entry is about tackling the issue of limited number of battlefields, at the same time improving the link from campaign map to battlefield topography and terrain influence on units.



With this log entry, we start to look into the future of Grand Tactician and what new and reworked features the next title will have when compared to The Civil War. Currently we?re rebuilding the battle layer, so we?ll focus on the changes there during this and the upcoming log entries.

The New Battle Layer.

As discussed in our earlier log entry, there are many aspects we want to change in the Grand Tactician?s battle layer. This is anything from the limited number of battlefields, rigid unit system, and visual scale of the action, to the combat system itself (especially lack of proper melee system), performance, AI? As was discussed, it?s better to do this as one big overhaul vs. trying to improve each sub-system within the main system. While doing a re-write, we can also include other ambitions, like improved moddability, support for localization, and modularity that will later make patching and further development much easier.

The first new thing to discuss has to do with the battlefields themselves. In The Civil War (1861-1865), which we will refer to as GT1 from here on, all battlefields are drawn by hand and then integrated into the campaign map using coordinates, radius, and any randomization options. The system was developed as early as 2016-17 and was among the very first things we ever created for Grand Tactician. As each map took me up to two weeks to draw and integrate into the battle layer (to create battlefield functionality for the units), this naturally meant that only a limited number of battlefields are available in GT1 ? 30 historical ones and 13 non-historical ones to be exact. It took a similar time for Wasel to draw the beautiful papermaps in parallel.

How the GT1 maps were created is discussed in further detail here in an old log entry from 2019. https://www.grandtactician.com/thecivilwar/blog/articles/drawing-the-maps


Image ? This is how GT1?s main campaign map looks with all the historical battlefields.

This approach has its pros, but also quite heavy cons:

1    - As you can see in the above image, most of North America is void of battlefields. As each battlefield is 8?8 miles in scale, the populated area is limited. We added 4 ?random map? sets to fill the void. The maps within these sets (mountainous, farmlands, wetlands, plains) are called ?random? as one in the set is randomly chosen when a battle is initiated.

2    - Only the most important battlefields have sufficient reference material available. The topography of historical battlefields looks very different today, and proper maps (or battle descriptions also focusing on the topography and terrain features) are hard to come by. Even if drawing a map out of only rough or almost non-existent reference material, doing it by hand still takes a lot of time. When we look at different historical periods from the 17th to 19th Centuries, the amount and quality of reference material for the Civil War battlefields is probably the best, all other conflicts have it mostly much worse.

3    - Most importantly from the gameplay point of view, the campaign to battlefield topography link is missing. This means the cunning maneuvers on the campaign map play no role once battle is joined. As the nearest available battle map is loaded, this could be a hundred miles away from the area where the campaign map depicts the battle taking place, with a completely different topography. The river you were following and hoping to anchor your flank to is missing, and so are the roads, hills, forests?


The 20th Battle of Manassas?

We tackled all 3 main issues by developing a map generator, which creates the battle maps from campaign map data. The data is created from multiple bitmaps that cover terrain height, infrastructure and vegetation. Location data allows adding the names on the map in correct locations.

In GT1, whenever you fight a battle in the Northern part of Virginia, you end up fighting it out in the Manassas (Bull Run) map, and always more or less around the Bull Run -line. The new system allows creating an unlimited number of battlefields that will always represent the campaign map situation accurately. The terrain is generated according to data in that exact location, including all the main terrain features you?d expect to see on the map. Now, army placement on the campaign map plays a much bigger role, introducing one important aspect more to the aspiring Grand Tacticians!

While the introduction of the terrain generator does not remove the possibility to use hand-drawn maps, it also introduces two more pros: scalability and moddability. Depending on the campaign map dataset scale (i.e. how many meters does one pixel in the bitmaps represent), and the size of the ?slice? (X pixels vertically/horizontally), the battlefield scale can be easily changed. The data is read from bitmaps and text files, meaning it does not require any dedicated modding tools to create a complete dataset to generate maps.


The Terrain.

We also made some changes in the terrain itself, and the unit to terrain link, to allow more realistic unit behavior in different types of terrain. These aspects are built around terrain types (and properties) and navigation data, that also control units? pathfinding.

In GT1 the terrain types and navigation data have a quite simple connection. The terrain types are limited to only a few (open ground, fields, forest, swamp, water), while most differences are visual only. Further granularity is added through linear objects like roads, streams, fences? Units can move on all terrain but water (if not frozen), and very steep slopes, but otherwise, there are no limits. Also, how the terrain affects units is always the same: forest slows down skirmishers and cavalry brigades just the same, and does not prevent artillery deployment like in reality.

From a pathfinding point of view, all terrain is the same, so when giving a movement order (player or AI), the units do know to prioritize roads for fast movement, but do not make a difference between an open plain or swamp. This leads to units moving through difficult terrain more often than necessary, getting tired and slowing down, which in turn breaks group (for example division) cohesion, and affects especially the AI.

In the new terrain engine, the number of different terrain types has been expanded. For example, there are forests of different tree density. They are now included in the navigation engine, so each terrain type can have its own navigation characteristics. This is further augmented with unit heaviness, which determines how different types of units are affected by terrain. For example, very light units (such as skirmishers) have no issues moving through a forest, but a large cavalry formation or artillery battery cannot enter a thicket, or try to cross a swamp. This is part of pathfinding, so giving movement orders will take this into account, units preferring easier terrain, and going around obstacles ? when allowed to.


Image ? Left: the old terrain system. From a pathfinding point of view open terrain, forests, fields are the same, even if the latter ones slow units down more. Right: the new terrain system. Here each terrain type (different colors) has its own pathfinding properties and characteristics for different types of units.

While at it, we also added further detail on how weather affects the terrain. Instead of raining true/false as in GT1, we now track precipitation and terrain wetness separately. The former increases the latter, and when the rain stops, the terrain will slowly start to dry up. During winter, the same is true with snowing and terrain snow coverage, which increases or melts gradually.

Like said, this is the first building block in the re-worked battle layer. In the next log entry we?ll take a look at how the unit system has changed, and what kind of effects this will have on game play, performance, AI and moddability. Until next time!

Most Respy,
Ilja, Lead Designer
The Grand Engineer Corps.


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Re: Grand Tactician: The Civil War (1861-1865)
« Reply #119 on: March 22, 2025, 02:12:12 AM »
DevBlog #2: New Unit System.
Fri, 21 March 2025



This is the 2nd blog in our new series, which discusses developing our updated engine that will power the next title in the Grand Tactician-series. We're keeping some details, like historical setting, vague on purpose to discuss at a later stage. But, we?ll keep releasing these peeks behind the scenes to let you know what to expect in terms of game play and improvements.


The New Unit System
One of the first things we developed for The Civil War (during 2016-17) was what we call the Unit System. This is how units are created and handled in the battle layer, and it has a big impact on a multitude of other things: visuals, controls, performance, AI, to name a few.

Re-building the Unit System is a key part of improving the battle layer for the upcoming title. The results are very encouraging and we?re excited about the possibilities it brings to the table, both for game play and also for performance and clunkiness (or lack of, this time around) of the battles. This will of course work hand-in-hand with terrain and movement, group-system, combat system(s), AI, and so on.


The Old System
In the old system, we built the units from what we call ?company blocks?. These are sub-elements of the units, and platforms, that are moved depending on the unit?s formation and positioning. The 3D models (or as the game originally featured, sprite soldiers!) are attached to each platform.

In The Civil War (1861-1865), or GT1, each platform has 4 soldier models in 2 ranks. This is to show line formations in 2 ranks and marching columns in 4 files. Only 1 model type is supported, and all special situations are ?hardcoded? (a word we use to determine something that is non-adjustable by editing the game?s preference files). Such special situations include the officer model and the artillery units? model arrangement. The different unit formations (line, assault column, column, square) were built by determining how the company blocks are placed side by side or behind one another.

Tracking each platform allows curving and quite OK-looking column movement (?snaking?) for each unit. When resizing the unit in battle, due to changing game settings or due to casualties, the number of platforms per unit changes. In the system, the more platforms there are, the more severe the performance hit, as the company blocks are used for many combat and terrain placement calculations. The end result could be described as ?clunky?, and it also limited the performance being rather CPU heavy (like the game is, in general, instead of many modern games that stress the GPU more.)



Image 1: Here you can see how the units are built in the system. The ?company blocks? are highlighted in red. Each contains a set number of 3D soldier models (2x4), the officer is added as a separate block, and the 3D unit flag simply floats in the air in the coordinates where the unit is calculated to be stationed in. When giving a movement order, the positioning of each company block is calculated, as seen in the terrain (right).

With the tools we had when developing the old unit system, we had many restrictions. For example, each unit shows only one type of soldier model (except for hardcoded special situations mentioned above), and the number of soldier models in the battle is limited to a few thousand in total due to performance. This means a regiment of 1000 soldiers is normally visualized by way less than a hundred models (in the above image the unit shows some 40). This means a 1:25 scale (one 3D model = 25 real soldiers). Not very ?grand?, right?


The Rebuilt System
Just tinkering with the old unit system would have improved the situation in general by a limited degree. For that reason, we scrapped the old system completely and rebuilt the new one using the knowledge we?ve gained and also modern tools that have only become available more recently.

In the updated GT engine, units are built differently. Instead of using set coy blocks like Legos, we determine the composition of whole units, soldier by soldier. Each unit can contain many different soldier types including special ones such as officers, and drummers, each with their own 3D models and animations. The per soldier data also contains info for combat simulation. What this allows, for example, is units engaging in multiple directions depending on the combat situation and using different kinds of firing systems, such as different numbers of ranks firing simultaneous volleys or in succession.

The units now have more flexible formations for different combat situations they can assume depending on conditions around the unit, the situation of the unit itself, and the training level. As an example, a cavalry unit may use different formations for marching, battlefield movement, ranged engagement, skirmishing, and a few different for charging. Together with the more flexible firing mechanisms and ability to fight in multiple directions the battle micro-AI will have fewer difficulties in countering player?s moves on the lowest, i.e. unit, level. (The battle AI is divided into unit-level ?micro-AI? that reacts to surrounding conditions and a ?macro-AI? that handles moving groups of units and assigning stances.)

From a management point of view, drill is more important than before, as raw troops cannot perform the more complex maneuvers as a cohesive unit. This limits their effectiveness even more compared to GT1.



Image 2: This is a sketch of a Civil War Infantry Regiment in line. With the new unit system, a more detailed unit deployment such as this can be created, including positioning of the flags, officers, NCOs, musicians, and so on.

Sounds rather performance consuming, right? On the contrary: with the new tools and much improved coding magic, instead of showing a maximum of a few thousand soldiers in a battle (GT1 upper limit), we are talking about tens of thousands - and this with better performance than in GT1!

And much of this is moddable.

How this is technically pulled off, shall remain our secret for now, so let?s not dive deeper into details. You may read between the lines we?re quite excited about the opportunities this new unit system brings to the table. But that?s not all! In the next blog we?ll take one step deeper into what it means when we use the new system to simulate ranged and melee combat on the single soldier level - as part of the improved combat model!

Most Respy,
Gen?l. Ilja Varha
Lead Designer - Grand Engineer Corps

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