Having played for a week or so now one of the most aggravating things I am finding is the lack of medium scenarios and and longer, more open ended single theatre campaigns. I think this could be alleviated by allowing the AI to play on the players side.
It would be great to give some or all departments over to the AI in the 1861 campaigns and just be able to focus on a small area... very similar to the way TC2M handles AI in the chain of command
I know this simple idea would have some devilish details, but there ya are.
It would be great to give some or all departments over to the AI in the 1861 campaigns and just be able to focus on a small area... very similar to the way TC2M handles AI in the chain of command
I know this simple idea would have some devilish details, but there ya are.
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Franciscus
- Posts: 4571
- Joined: Fri Apr 20, 2007 8:31 pm
- Location: Portugal
This game is terrific; the more I play it, the more I appreciate it. But of course everyone has a wishlist, so here's mine. I've tried to list my highest-priority wishes first.
1. The AI. The AI is quite respectable for a wargame, and I know Pocus is working actively to improve it. A couple specific suggestions.
(a) Sometimes the AI seems to let CSA units wander around in the freezing cold during winter months. Unless it's got a good reason to do so, I would think the CSA would hunker down indoors in cold regions. Bad weather obviously can hurt units, and time is on the CSA's side anyway. Perhaps avoiding weather should be a higher priority for the AI.
(b) In my first game, the AI still hasn't taken Fort Monroe from me, and it has attacked Fort Pickens once or twice without success. At least it isn't repeatedly attacking either place and repeatedly losing lots of units, so its current behavior is certainly OK. But I wonder if it could be given a somewhat more accurate assessment of what force it needs. I've already given it one level of advantage on Fog of War; perhaps we could have a similar option to give the AI a somewhat better idea of the composition of a fixed defensive position.
(c) As others have said, I'm not sure the AI optimally organizes its forces. (Then again, neither do I.) It actually does an OK job, in my experience, and I know Pocus is working on it. I wish I could offer more specific suggestions on how to improve it. I hope any AI fix doesn't make it worse, because it's often OK as is.
2. Some way to filter out fixed units on the minimap or main map or both.
3. Some way to filter the mini-map to show only particular types of units. I would think this would be a more manageable fix than the AI fixes!
4. The minimap changes color when you select the "states" option, as does the main map. But when you select the "supply" or "military control" options, the minimap doesn't change color. It would be nice to see a quick national overview of supply and military control.
5. Related to #4: it would be nice to have (as part of the ledger) a "strategic map" -- a full-screen version of the minimap for planning purposes. It could have filters to show supply state, military control, population, economic output, etc. It would also make it easier to take screenshots for AARs to show people at a glance my brilliant plans and movements!
6. Some easier way to order a unit to join a particular unit upon reaching a destination, especially a destination inside a city. (Perhaps I don't understand how to do this; it seems to be trial-and-error for me. I drag the moving unit to the city and hope I sorta touch the city in the right place to hook up with a particular unit inside that city.)
7. The music is great, but I wouldn't mind more tunes for the sake of variety.
8. As others have said, it would be nice to be able to jump around from unit to unit more easily when examining the elements of several units. As is, one must click, "unclick", then go to the next unit. Not a big deal, but a bit cumbersome.
9. At first I found it annoying that I couldn't do anything while I had the elements window open. I think I've gotten used to it, but I still occasionally wonder why I can't interact with anything else with the elements window open.
10. I could use a slightly clearer explanation (in the manual or a tooltip) of how many "units" I need to blockade a particular body of water. Does any warship count as one unit?
11. An easier way to take screenshots. Yes, I can hit printscreen and then alt-tab out -- except that I seem to have trouble alt-tabbing out of this game. Instead, I now use an external screenshot program, but often those programs rely on function keys by default, which creates a conflict with the AACW interface. (In fact, currently, every time I take a screenshot, I use F10, which means I get the shot -- and then get the "background" screen, lol. I've pulled up the background screen more than any player in AACW history, methinks.) Not a big deal, but hey, this is a wishlist, right?
That's all I can think of for now. Thanks for making such a great game!
1. The AI. The AI is quite respectable for a wargame, and I know Pocus is working actively to improve it. A couple specific suggestions.
(a) Sometimes the AI seems to let CSA units wander around in the freezing cold during winter months. Unless it's got a good reason to do so, I would think the CSA would hunker down indoors in cold regions. Bad weather obviously can hurt units, and time is on the CSA's side anyway. Perhaps avoiding weather should be a higher priority for the AI.
(b) In my first game, the AI still hasn't taken Fort Monroe from me, and it has attacked Fort Pickens once or twice without success. At least it isn't repeatedly attacking either place and repeatedly losing lots of units, so its current behavior is certainly OK. But I wonder if it could be given a somewhat more accurate assessment of what force it needs. I've already given it one level of advantage on Fog of War; perhaps we could have a similar option to give the AI a somewhat better idea of the composition of a fixed defensive position.
(c) As others have said, I'm not sure the AI optimally organizes its forces. (Then again, neither do I.) It actually does an OK job, in my experience, and I know Pocus is working on it. I wish I could offer more specific suggestions on how to improve it. I hope any AI fix doesn't make it worse, because it's often OK as is.
2. Some way to filter out fixed units on the minimap or main map or both.
3. Some way to filter the mini-map to show only particular types of units. I would think this would be a more manageable fix than the AI fixes!
4. The minimap changes color when you select the "states" option, as does the main map. But when you select the "supply" or "military control" options, the minimap doesn't change color. It would be nice to see a quick national overview of supply and military control.
5. Related to #4: it would be nice to have (as part of the ledger) a "strategic map" -- a full-screen version of the minimap for planning purposes. It could have filters to show supply state, military control, population, economic output, etc. It would also make it easier to take screenshots for AARs to show people at a glance my brilliant plans and movements!
6. Some easier way to order a unit to join a particular unit upon reaching a destination, especially a destination inside a city. (Perhaps I don't understand how to do this; it seems to be trial-and-error for me. I drag the moving unit to the city and hope I sorta touch the city in the right place to hook up with a particular unit inside that city.)
7. The music is great, but I wouldn't mind more tunes for the sake of variety.
8. As others have said, it would be nice to be able to jump around from unit to unit more easily when examining the elements of several units. As is, one must click, "unclick", then go to the next unit. Not a big deal, but a bit cumbersome.
9. At first I found it annoying that I couldn't do anything while I had the elements window open. I think I've gotten used to it, but I still occasionally wonder why I can't interact with anything else with the elements window open.
10. I could use a slightly clearer explanation (in the manual or a tooltip) of how many "units" I need to blockade a particular body of water. Does any warship count as one unit?
11. An easier way to take screenshots. Yes, I can hit printscreen and then alt-tab out -- except that I seem to have trouble alt-tabbing out of this game. Instead, I now use an external screenshot program, but often those programs rely on function keys by default, which creates a conflict with the AACW interface. (In fact, currently, every time I take a screenshot, I use F10, which means I get the shot -- and then get the "background" screen, lol. I've pulled up the background screen more than any player in AACW history, methinks.) Not a big deal, but hey, this is a wishlist, right?
That's all I can think of for now. Thanks for making such a great game!
Quite a lot of good suggestions. Most are not there by lack of time, not because we are against them. I think the 'filtering out' fixed units on the minimap will arrives very soon though. As for the AI, I'm working on it yes.
Hofstadter's Law: "It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's law."
tc237 said "Elements Details Display: Currently the player has to close the display before they can select and view another unit.
Is it possible to leave the display up, while the play views different units, then when finished the player closes the display?"
Pocus replied "For the same unit, you can cycle thu all elements by clicking on the NATO symbol on the Unit panel, until the last element is seen, it will closes automatically and you can proceed to the next unit."
What tc237 is suggesting is what I came here to post after playing the demo. I understand how it works when selecting the elements of a unit. But what the system needs is the ability to switch to a different unit in the stack along the bottom and it automatically update the element box to the first element of that unit. That way you don't have to close the element box, select a new unit and open the element box again.
Is it possible to leave the display up, while the play views different units, then when finished the player closes the display?"
Pocus replied "For the same unit, you can cycle thu all elements by clicking on the NATO symbol on the Unit panel, until the last element is seen, it will closes automatically and you can proceed to the next unit."
What tc237 is suggesting is what I came here to post after playing the demo. I understand how it works when selecting the elements of a unit. But what the system needs is the ability to switch to a different unit in the stack along the bottom and it automatically update the element box to the first element of that unit. That way you don't have to close the element box, select a new unit and open the element box again.
You can do that by hand, open the file ACW\sounds\sounds.ini, the intro music is at index 33, just switch the entry 24 and 33 and you will get Bonnie Blue Flag instead as an intro (but this won't random...)
Hofstadter's Law: "It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's law."
I have to hunt around to find a leader that is still eligable for promotion to divisional leader to get the tooltip that tells me how many leaders I have set to promote at the end of the turn (and so how many war supplies I need). Can this info not be added to the economic/reinforcement/replacement screens as well? There seems to be plenty of room and it's the obvious place to put it along with all the other financial info already displayed for the next turn. It could also be part of the F1 display (along with the much asked for locked unit addition to this display )
Cheers, Chris
)
Cheers, Chris
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bloodybucket
- Sergeant
- Posts: 91
- Joined: Thu Jun 21, 2007 2:41 am
- Location: Shoreline, WA
Since I finally found the right place for this 
Here's my wishlist relating to a turnlog.
I'd like to have a file generated at the end of every turn (Player option to turn this on or off) that would have a summary of turn events to include a detailed report of each battle fought, in a format that most common spreadsheet programs could digest. like csv or whatnot. This should have at a minimun the information that shows in the message log, but the more the better.
Also, a screenshot of the overall situation (similiar to the Jump Map but larger, if not more detailed) should be generated at the end of each turn.
A feature that would allow the player to capture the data on the contents and orginization of all armies, corps and divisions, once again in a spreadsheet freindly format, would be awesome.
The main point of all this would be to aid in the production of quality AARs, to allow a player to save a record of his efforts, and especially in the case of the strategic screenshot, to allow the manufacture of animated GIFs that could be used by players to interest others in the game.
It was just such an animated GIF that got me interested in TOAWIII.
The products generated by players with such tools would be great advertising for AACW.
Here's my wishlist relating to a turnlog.
I'd like to have a file generated at the end of every turn (Player option to turn this on or off) that would have a summary of turn events to include a detailed report of each battle fought, in a format that most common spreadsheet programs could digest. like csv or whatnot. This should have at a minimun the information that shows in the message log, but the more the better.
Also, a screenshot of the overall situation (similiar to the Jump Map but larger, if not more detailed) should be generated at the end of each turn.
A feature that would allow the player to capture the data on the contents and orginization of all armies, corps and divisions, once again in a spreadsheet freindly format, would be awesome.
The main point of all this would be to aid in the production of quality AARs, to allow a player to save a record of his efforts, and especially in the case of the strategic screenshot, to allow the manufacture of animated GIFs that could be used by players to interest others in the game.
It was just such an animated GIF that got me interested in TOAWIII.
The products generated by players with such tools would be great advertising for AACW.
The more hotkeys the better. It would be nice to have a few that go through the commanders. One for commanders that are not Army/Corp/Divisional.
One for commanders that are and one for all commanders.
It would also be nice if commanders that were part of the Army/Corp/Divisional command structure had their name highlighted on the F1 display (maybe different colours depending on the level).
In fact I hardly ever use the F1 display as it doesn't give me the information I need. Locked units shown on this display is a request I have seen many times.
Cheers, Chris
One for commanders that are and one for all commanders.
It would also be nice if commanders that were part of the Army/Corp/Divisional command structure had their name highlighted on the F1 display (maybe different colours depending on the level).
In fact I hardly ever use the F1 display as it doesn't give me the information I need. Locked units shown on this display is a request I have seen many times.
Cheers, Chris
A couple small ones...
1. In the unit box at the bottom of the screen, can we change the "selected" units color from gray to something that stands out more?
2. It would be nice to have a map symbol for fords and ferries. Currently, I am guessing here, you have to have the word "ford" or "ferry" in the name of the river under the tooltip? You see how one can get confused. As these are natural chokepoints, it would be great to get a clear picture of just where they are and how they fit into your network of supply, etc.
Thanks!
2. It would be nice to have a map symbol for fords and ferries. Currently, I am guessing here, you have to have the word "ford" or "ferry" in the name of the river under the tooltip? You see how one can get confused. As these are natural chokepoints, it would be great to get a clear picture of just where they are and how they fit into your network of supply, etc.
Thanks!
Battle reports with more text, please. Story line or something like that to add to the flavor. Ready to help
Forrest said something about killing a Yankee for each of his horses that they shot. In the last days of the war, Forrest had killed 30 of the enemy and had 30 horses shot from under him. In a brief but savage conflict, a Yankee soldier "saw glory for himself" with an opportunity to kill the famous Confederate General... Forrest killed the fellow. Making 31 Yankees personally killed, and 30 horses lost...
He remarked, "I ended the war a horse ahead."
He remarked, "I ended the war a horse ahead."
I would like to see weapon ranges more finely tuned for models.
Currently, artillery is equally effective whether firing at a range of one or a range of 8.
Same with infantry. Equally effective at range one or three.
During the Civil War, artillery was most effective at cannister range which is approximately rifle range. So artillery should see a significant increase in effectiveness at range 3 or less.
Rifles could hit out to range 3 but range 1 was where they were most effective.
It would be nice to have models with fire values based on range rather than using the same att/def value regardless of range.
Currently, artillery is equally effective whether firing at a range of one or a range of 8.
Same with infantry. Equally effective at range one or three.
During the Civil War, artillery was most effective at cannister range which is approximately rifle range. So artillery should see a significant increase in effectiveness at range 3 or less.
Rifles could hit out to range 3 but range 1 was where they were most effective.
It would be nice to have models with fire values based on range rather than using the same att/def value regardless of range.
I would like a total log of all events regarding every single thing happening in the game after i press the "End Turn" button.
Whatever happens, sorted on category, and with filter button, i wish to be able to read it to understand what went wrong in my strategy and why. To be able to better my strategy, to devise counterplans, to better manage the troops and supplies, i need to know what goes on and if i don't see it written, i can't.
An interesting second effect would be that anyone could crosscheck what he saw happening in the turn with what the manual said and immediately identify and report a bug when the game is not acting like it should. The ability to access such details would also be very useful to modders when testing their alternative settings. It would definitely save a lot of time to everyone regardless of his position in this game....dev/beta/modder/player.
An example of what the log is missing now, is the replacements. You have no idea of where and if they got placed...
Another example regards units disappearing from the map. The log tells you your leader is recovering from wounds in a city (after a lost battle) but not where the other leaders in his stack have gone or where are the stack's units.
The player thinks it's a bug, or wonders where are the units as the log doesn't say "This leader died in battle" or "This Corps has been annhilated". Just *poof* units gone.
Would i really find out a railway has been cut off? Yes because i see the icon....in such a huge map there's a high % that i miss that, unless i check every single region in the map...
The manual is 50 pages long more or less and it can't explain the mechanics of the game in detail...it also is missing examples, and as i said in the other posts, the game only has 2 tutorials.
The log is a tool to understand better the game and take the best enjoyment out of it. It also helps improving the game and it's not mandatory to check it if you don't want to. Actually, the examination of war events is the primary job of every HQ in every Army in the world.
I don't see no reason why this log shouldn't be done.
I have 20 E-mail boxes, i manage them easily with "rules". Some receive 50+ mails a day, and are further split into subfolders thanks to the rules. This way in few minutes i know what i must check, what i should check, what i can avoid to check and what i can delete without checking.
The same should be done in such log, sorted on categories, and in full page...in a sort of second "ledger" view. This is really on the top of my wishlist
Whatever happens, sorted on category, and with filter button, i wish to be able to read it to understand what went wrong in my strategy and why. To be able to better my strategy, to devise counterplans, to better manage the troops and supplies, i need to know what goes on and if i don't see it written, i can't.
An interesting second effect would be that anyone could crosscheck what he saw happening in the turn with what the manual said and immediately identify and report a bug when the game is not acting like it should. The ability to access such details would also be very useful to modders when testing their alternative settings. It would definitely save a lot of time to everyone regardless of his position in this game....dev/beta/modder/player.
An example of what the log is missing now, is the replacements. You have no idea of where and if they got placed...
Another example regards units disappearing from the map. The log tells you your leader is recovering from wounds in a city (after a lost battle) but not where the other leaders in his stack have gone or where are the stack's units.
The player thinks it's a bug, or wonders where are the units as the log doesn't say "This leader died in battle" or "This Corps has been annhilated". Just *poof* units gone.
Would i really find out a railway has been cut off? Yes because i see the icon....in such a huge map there's a high % that i miss that, unless i check every single region in the map...
The manual is 50 pages long more or less and it can't explain the mechanics of the game in detail...it also is missing examples, and as i said in the other posts, the game only has 2 tutorials.
The log is a tool to understand better the game and take the best enjoyment out of it. It also helps improving the game and it's not mandatory to check it if you don't want to. Actually, the examination of war events is the primary job of every HQ in every Army in the world.
I don't see no reason why this log shouldn't be done.
I have 20 E-mail boxes, i manage them easily with "rules". Some receive 50+ mails a day, and are further split into subfolders thanks to the rules. This way in few minutes i know what i must check, what i should check, what i can avoid to check and what i can delete without checking.
The same should be done in such log, sorted on categories, and in full page...in a sort of second "ledger" view. This is really on the top of my wishlist
Jagger wrote:I would like to see weapon ranges more finely tuned for models.
Currently, artillery is equally effective whether firing at a range of one or a range of 8.
I know for a fact that McNaughton is working on this in his mod. I'll tell you this - he has a good history of coming up with superb modifications. I'd just say, "wait and see".
My guess is that AGEod will adopt some of the things he modifies.
Jagger wrote:Same with infantry. Equally effective at range one or three.
During the Civil War, artillery was most effective at cannister range which is approximately rifle range. So artillery should see a significant increase in effectiveness at range 3 or less.
Rifles could hit out to range 3 but range 1 was where they were most effective.
It would be nice to have models with fire values based on range rather than using the same att/def value regardless of range.
Spot on. Very important, IMO.
[SIZE="3"]Emplaced Gun Replacements - [color="RoyalBlue"]Restriction Option[/color][/size]
While I can understand not being allowed to specify what units get what replacements (although we can promote the replacement a little bit with the passive setting), it seems to me that a player should be able to specify which fort artillery units (heavy, emplaced) get strengthened and which ones do not.
I think this is key for the CSA, and it makes sense that you don't just have huge guns going here and there, especially when certain forts are more critical than others.
Them heavy artillery replacements is expensive, Johnston.
While I can understand not being allowed to specify what units get what replacements (although we can promote the replacement a little bit with the passive setting), it seems to me that a player should be able to specify which fort artillery units (heavy, emplaced) get strengthened and which ones do not.
I think this is key for the CSA, and it makes sense that you don't just have huge guns going here and there, especially when certain forts are more critical than others.
Them heavy artillery replacements is expensive, Johnston.
Hobbes wrote:When I have 7 war supplies left and a unit costs me 7 war supplies if I buy it the text turns red. This seems scary and I feel I don't have enough to buy the unit. I assume I do. I don't think the text should go red until you have actually overspent.
Cheers, Chris
Done, because it took me a mn. Tell me if I missed some in 1.06d
Hofstadter's Law: "It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's law."
GShock wrote:I would like a total log of all events regarding every single thing happening in the game after i press the "End Turn" button.
Whatever happens, sorted on category, and with filter button, i wish to be able to read it to understand what went wrong in my strategy and why. To be able to better my strategy, to devise counterplans, to better manage the troops and supplies, i need to know what goes on and if i don't see it written, i can't.
An interesting second effect would be that anyone could crosscheck what he saw happening in the turn with what the manual said and immediately identify and report a bug when the game is not acting like it should. The ability to access such details would also be very useful to modders when testing their alternative settings. It would definitely save a lot of time to everyone regardless of his position in this game....dev/beta/modder/player.
An example of what the log is missing now, is the replacements. You have no idea of where and if they got placed...
Another example regards units disappearing from the map. The log tells you your leader is recovering from wounds in a city (after a lost battle) but not where the other leaders in his stack have gone or where are the stack's units.
The player thinks it's a bug, or wonders where are the units as the log doesn't say "This leader died in battle" or "This Corps has been annhilated". Just *poof* units gone.
Would i really find out a railway has been cut off? Yes because i see the icon....in such a huge map there's a high % that i miss that, unless i check every single region in the map...
The manual is 50 pages long more or less and it can't explain the mechanics of the game in detail...it also is missing examples, and as i said in the other posts, the game only has 2 tutorials.
The log is a tool to understand better the game and take the best enjoyment out of it. It also helps improving the game and it's not mandatory to check it if you don't want to. Actually, the examination of war events is the primary job of every HQ in every Army in the world.
I don't see no reason why this log shouldn't be done.
I have 20 E-mail boxes, i manage them easily with "rules". Some receive 50+ mails a day, and are further split into subfolders thanks to the rules. This way in few minutes i know what i must check, what i should check, what i can avoid to check and what i can delete without checking.
The same should be done in such log, sorted on categories, and in full page...in a sort of second "ledger" view. This is really on the top of my wishlist
I see a reason why this extensive and extended log is yet not done: because it would asks for 10 to 15 days at least of development time, and time is always short on our side
The good news is that I try to log a maximum of things in the Hostlog and AI logs files, and you can read it even if you are not a beta player. Enable 'Error logging' in the options window, and you will get a lot of info to read. Same thing for the battle log.
Hofstadter's Law: "It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's law."
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