New Official Patch 1.08L

[calvinus]

Hello everybody,

a new official patch 1.08L for WW1 Gold is online!

Here you can download the patch for the full version:
http://ageoddl.telechargement.fr/3rdParty/WW1 GOLD/Patches/WW1_Patch_v1.0.8l.exe

And here for the demo version:
http://ageoddl.telechargement.fr/3rdParty/WW1 GOLD/Patches/WW1_DemoPatch_v1.0.8l.exe

Finally here the free pre-Gold 1.07I version:
http://ageoddl.telechargement.fr/3rdParty/WW1 GOLD/Patches/WW1_Patch_v1.0.7l.exe

And now the news...


[Version 1.0.7j]
[Version 1.0.7k]
[Version 1.0.7l]
[Version 1.0.8j]
[Version 1.0.8k]
[Version 1.0.8l]
************

Improvements:
- Army Roster display is now updated every time an army activation or coordination takes place, as well as when an army activation ends (only for Gold edition)
- Cost of naval mission "In Port" is now set to zero
- Naval missions "In Port" now can not be intercepted anymore
- All naval missions can now be performed only by naval detachments at sea (except for "In Port" mission, of course)
- Added fleet name to all naval missions notification messages
- Surrendered or capitulated nations do not grant anymore any supply to former allies
- Military AI now carefully checks the supply status of areas when considering the redeployment or reinforcements opportunities if the difficulty level is set 4+

(*) Scenario corrections:
- Grand Campaign scenario: corrected placement of English colonial stack in Nigeria
- Grand Campaign scenario: added fixed English garrisons in Nigeria, South Africa, English Africa and British Indies
- 1914 and Grand Campaign scenario: corrected the English event script that triggered the modification of BEF special corps values
- 1914 and Grand Campaign scenarios: French Vth army can now intercept also in September 1914, even if immobilized

Fixed bugs:
- Fixed a memory buffer overflow that caused a game crash in some rare cases when "AI uses all behaviors" option was enabled
- Fixed a bug in Multiplayer that prevented the connection of 3 or more players in the same time
- Fixed a bug that caused an apparent declaration of war performed by capitulated nations
- Fixed a bug in Multiplayer that cause a game stuck in case of Reaction when the reacting force was not the main army of the front
- Fixed a regression bug introduced by 1.08J that made impossible the declarion of war by neutral countries via diplomacy
- Fixed a rare bug in retreat to nearest supply source procedure during land battles
- Fixed a bug in retreat priorities execution during land battles
- Fixed a bug in Reactions: if the first player attempted a reaction, the following active player was now allowed to react
- Fixed a crash caused by a couple of wrong parametrical texts inside German localizations
- Fixed a rare bug that generated a missing removal of old battles so causing in some occurrences the coexistence of enemy stacks in the same area
- Fixed an erratic stack overflow during the load of savegame

(*) : not working for older savegames

Have fun!
Calvinus

[pk205]

Hello everybody,


- Military AI now carefully checks the supply status of areas when considering the redeployment or reinforcements opportunities if the difficulty level is set 4+

Thanks for the patch.

Sadly, for my current save (started with 1.08k beta and stopped just before the first redeployment phase of Jan 1915) on 1.08l the AI STILL redeploys stacks in cut-off hexes. I play max difficulty and aggressiveness one notch below max (I find the AI to be suicidally aggressive anyway).

I attach my save game at the Dec 1914 interphase. Please end the turn and have a look at how the AI redeploys (check the 4 cut-off Polish hexes in particular).

[Random]

Using the 1.08L patch, the steady movement of the Kaiser's Afrikan Legions to the Falkland Islands continues. In October the Kamerun garrison sailed across the South Atlantic under the very noses of the Royal Navy, making a mockery of the concept of sea control.

In game terms there are now some 80,000 African troops in Port Stanley. Is it just me or is that somehow very wrong?

[calvinus]

Thanks for the patch.

Sadly, for my current save (started with 1.08k beta and stopped just before the first redeployment phase of Jan 1915) on 1.08l the AI STILL redeploys stacks in cut-off hexes. I play max difficulty and aggressiveness one notch below max (I find the AI to be suicidally aggressive anyway).

I attach my save game at the Dec 1914 interphase. Please end the turn and have a look at how the AI redeploys (check the 4 cut-off Polish hexes in particular).

Ok I will debug the AI in your save as soon I'll be back from vacations.

Thank,
Calvinus.

[pk205]

Ok I will debug the AI in your save as soon I'll be back from vacations.

Thank,
Calvinus.

Thanks mate. Have a nice time.

[calvinus]

Thanks for the patch.

Sadly, for my current save (started with 1.08k beta and stopped just before the first redeployment phase of Jan 1915) on 1.08l the AI STILL redeploys stacks in cut-off hexes. I play max difficulty and aggressiveness one notch below max (I find the AI to be suicidally aggressive anyway).

I attach my save game at the Dec 1914 interphase. Please end the turn and have a look at how the AI redeploys (check the 4 cut-off Polish hexes in particular).

Ok I debugged the AI. It works rather fine. Indeed she places camouflaged (empty) stacks in cut-off areas, not really detachments filled by units!

Anyway, I've now made the AI do not place anymore such decoys in cut-off areas, just to avoid confusion, like happened to you!

Next patch.

[pk205]

Ok I debugged the AI. It works rather fine. Indeed she places camouflaged (empty) stacks in cut-off areas, not really detachments filled by units!

Anyway, I've now made the AI do not place anymore such decoys in cut-off areas, just to avoid confusion, like happened to you!

Next patch.

Good one! Now, if you can only make the AI concentrate its forces on the attack instead of attacking me with 1-unit penny packets, I promise I will stop moaning

[calvinus]

Good one! Now, if you can only make the AI concentrate its forces on the attack instead of attacking me with 1-unit penny packets, I promise I will stop moaning

Eh eh, this is indeed the thoughest task for me since when I started working on WW1 AI...
At least there's a lot of time to the next patch...

[Chris Ferrous]

Hello Calvinius

Thanks for all the hard work you are putting into this. And thanks for this latest patch.

Unfortunately I wish to report I am still getting lock-ups even after patching with 1.08L. I bought and downloaded the game last week, it was version 1.08 (no suffix) and I patched as soon as I saw this thread. It has certainly improved things a lot because previously I was experiencing most of the bugs you listed above and I began to think that the game was unplayable.

Despite considerable improvements after patching, the game continues to freeze approximately once every two turns and despite auto-saving after each successfully completed turn I must admit I am growing tired of plotting the same moves only to have the game freeze up before the turn is finished.

My game is currently locked at the end of a battle which I won as defender. I have closed the battle summary screen and read the log, but the 'go to next battle' button will not work. All I can do is open the chat window, read the log (again), and strangely still move my surviving units around. But I cannot counterattack/retreat, breakthrough, go to next battle, or engage. I'm just stuck - again!

Since patching I had thought the problems were confined to AI v AI battles (I am playing as Russia in the 4 player campaign) when there seems to be a problem if the attacking side loses all its units but obstination requires another attack. I also get freezes during the political phase but undoubtedly AI v AI battles / sieges are the worst culprit.

Is this behaviour likely to be because the AI is playing three sides? Or might there still be a solution to this?

Many thanks in advance.

[Random]

Hi Chris, welcome to the wonderful world of La Grande Guerre!

Running fully updated Win XP with plenty of RAM, CPU power and a NVIDIA 8800 video card I experianced many of the same issues that you are seeing and game stability improved greatly with the following minor tweaks:

1. If activated, uncheck the AI uses maximum time option;

2. Make sure WW1G is a trusted application in your firewall and virus scanner programs. Although WW1G does not phone home and does not require internet access, it seems to conflict with these background programs at times;

3. Check the Load All Sounds box in the WW1G configurator, for some reason I got the odd lockup that appeared to happen when WW1G went looking for a particular combat sound.

4. Sometimes the AI just seems to take its d**n time and what seems to be a lockup sorts itself out after a few minutes.

For what it's worth I still have issues trying to play more than a couple of turns in a single session and the game sometimes does odd things if it has been minimized and then restored for any reason. I suspect these things are more related to WW1G on my particular system than with the game itself.

Hope some of this is of use. WW1G is worth perservering with.

Cheers from another Chris...

[Chris Ferrous]

Thanks for your advice Random.

1. I've already come to realise the AI should perhaps NOT be given maximum time!
2. I'll check conflicts with firewalls and anti-virus. Thanks.
3. Now that IS interesting. Missing sounds, even though I have them switched off, really could be the problem during battles! Nice point.
4. I give the AI chance (time, like hours even!) to sort itself out but it's been very rare it's come alive again once frozen.

Since patch 1.08L has been applied I have had NO problems with the smaller scenarios including the new ones that came with the new patch. I've given up for now on my Russian Campaign which may have special problems having three sides played by the AI, and I have now played the 1914 scenario for several hours and there's been no problems at all!

I wholeheartedly agree that this game is worth persevering with. Such depth, it's mind-blowing!

[NefariousKoel]

Is this behaviour likely to be because the AI is playing three sides? Or might there still be a solution to this?

I'm thinking that some issues are to be had with the AI vs AI part of a 4 player game. It certainly wasn't meant to be 1 player and 3 AI methinks as there are some definite oddities playing that way.

[Chris Ferrous]

Calvinus

Thanks again for this latest patch (1.08L).

I'd like to update you on my current experience with this version.

I can now confirm that I have been playing the game quite extensively in single player mode for two weeks WITHOUT a single issue as regards the game stalling at any stage. I've been through all the smaller scenarios and the 1914 campaign and I am now progressing towards the end of 1915 in the Grand Campaign. So the patch was a good job well done.

My only recommendation would be that perhaps players do not play the 4-player Grand Campaign as a single player which may cause some special problems since the AI has to control 3 sides and inevitably it has to fight itself most turns. This is a very minor issue for me, and it is most unfortunate that I just happened to be trying to play as Russia/Serbia in the 4-player game when I first patched. Undoubtedly that gave me a false impression that the game still locked on occasions. Also, it is always possible that it is my system which conflicts with the 4-player campaign.

I can now continue to enjoy this game in depth in the confident knowledge it is fixed!

[Chris Ferrous]

Unfortunately I spoke too soon!

I suppose it's a minor issue since I have had maybe 30 turns of game time without a stall but I have had another stalled battle which prevented me continuing my Grand Campaign.

The incident happened when the German AI for the first time made an attack in colonial Africa. All other battles had always played out properly until then and I was feeling confident everything was fixed.

I attach a screenshot showing that the battle was over, and I had won, but that the game is still waiting for the AI to engage. This type of situation was commonplace, for me anyway, before patch 1.08L came out.

It's most unfortunate that this had been a mega-turn taking maybe 2 hours with Grand Offensives on both fronts and a major shift of the Russian Armies to account for Romania entering the war against them. I don't really feel like doing it all over again!

If it's any help in resolving what these issues are I was using Army activation mode in the 2-player GC. I repeated the turn, without making any moves myself (still takes time!), and the AI duly invaded Nigeria again with the same result. However, I did it again in we-go mode, and although it did enter Nigeria again, this time the battle ended properly.

I still don't feel like plotting the turn all over again though. It's not so much the time, although that grates, it's the fact that often different results ensue, e.g. I held Memel and Caporetto in one 'version' and lost it in another!

Anyway, I've started another Campaign in we-go mode and I'm hoping for the best.

[calvinus]

Do you have a savegame to post here, so I can try to reproduce the battle freeze?

[Chris Ferrous]

Here you go, Calvinus.

This is the save as the turn began. I couldn't save, of course, after it had stalled.

Thanks for your quick response.

[twitter]

I also have a freeze up. Mine is in early '16 and it is after I place my reinforcements and have plotted my moves. The AI does his moves and then the game freezes either at the end of the moves or right before the first battle is set to begin. I tried several times to play this turn and it always freezes in roughly the same spot. I have attached the saved game and map and if you need anything else please let me know.

Thank you!

[calvinus]

Here you go, Calvinus.

This is the save as the turn began. I couldn't save, of course, after it had stalled.

Thanks for your quick response.

Arghh! No battle occurred in Africa, no freeze...

[calvinus]

I also have a freeze up. Mine is in early '16 and it is after I place my reinforcements and have plotted my moves. The AI does his moves and then the game freezes either at the end of the moves or right before the first battle is set to begin. I tried several times to play this turn and it always freezes in roughly the same spot. I have attached the saved game and map and if you need anything else please let me know.

Thank you!

I tried this one too, no freeze. I suggest to try with the Antivirus disabled.

[tagwyn]

Luca: I have bought this game twice?!! Shame on me!! Just throw in the towel and admit it can't be fixed. Sorry. t

[Chris Ferrous]

Thanks for your response, Calvinus. Would it be the case that anti-virus could just randomly lock up the game after several trouble free turns or would such a problem be more persistent?

I must admit that as a result of the 'colonial Africa' stall detailed above and the fact the game DID get through that point when I turned off Army Activation mode, I have since been playing only in 'Strictly Turn based' mode. (I'm not sure if that's what's known as we-go mode but that's an aside.)

Using this simpler mode, which some threads suggest allows the AI actually to fight better, I have had NO stalls at all and I've been playing the 2-player Grand Campaign against the AI through maybe 20 turns or so, so I'd find that acceptable performance. I'll report back if this statement has immediately jinxed it!

[calvinus]

Hello Chris, I tried your save in Army-by-Army mode, but no battle took place in Africa, so I was unable to reproduce the stall. I'll try again later...

[Mowers]

Calvinus, greetings from the Alto-Adige or Sud Tyrol if you prefer!

I hope all is going well with your 3 month old, we had our first baby on June 3rd so we are in the same boat, hopefully life is returning to sembelance of normality for you as it is to us.

I recently tried out Victoria 2 and whilst it has potential its not going to deliver a WW1 game soon, so I am hoping to get back into your game over the coming weeks. I was wondering what the status of the patch was?

[twitter]

I tried this one too, no freeze. I suggest to try with the Antivirus disabled.

Hi Calvinus,

I tried your suggestion, along with the ones in a few posts above, and I still get a freeze during that same turn. I have tried for several days to get passed this turn and it keeps freezing up during the end of the movement phase. I just don't get it. I have played nearly a year and a half of game time with zero problems and then it freezes up on me in the same place. What am I missing?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thank you,

Brian

[calvinus]

Hi Calvinus,

I tried your suggestion, along with the ones in a few posts above, and I still get a freeze during that same turn. I have tried for several days to get passed this turn and it keeps freezing up during the end of the movement phase. I just don't get it. I have played nearly a year and a half of game time with zero problems and then it freezes up on me in the same place. What am I missing?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thank you,

Brian

I will try on another PC, just to see if the freeze is CPU related.
What is the Antivirus installed on your PC?

[Chris Ferrous]

Hello Mr Twitter

What a fascinating position your game is in! I can understand your frustration at not being able to progress any further.

I see that you were running the 4-player Grand Campaign with you acting as Germany (and incoming Allies) while the AI played your enemies plus your longtime ally, Austro-Hungary. As I've suggested earlier in this thread I believe there may be some minor issues running in this mode with the AI effectively playing 3-sides, especially in Army-by-Army activation mode. Is this what you're doing; Army-by-Army activation?

I cranked up your game and it commenced with AI paused, so I took the opportunity to look around the map, more of which anon, then set the AI free and I thought it had stalled. For about 2 minutes my mouse pointer was stuck and I could do nothing but then a reassuring 'Military AI is working' message popped up and the game continued as normal. I made no extra moves then hit the 'execute all moves' button. There was a lot going on, both with your previously plotted moves and AI moves. Lots of battles ensued and all played out normally. I had to hit 'execute' again to force the AI to move on to the next opponent, which I believe was Russia, then again for Austria, and all the resulting battles worked fine. It then went through the political phase OK, and auto-saved the turn (my default) and progressed smoothly to the next turn.

**Now, possibly importantly, all this was done with Army-by-Army activation switched OFF, and with strictly turned based ticked.**

I found this allowed me to progress my game beyond the stall (see above) but I then gave up because I'd plotted the turn so many times often with different outcomes that I'd lost the plot so to speak.

Since using this mode, and avoiding the 4-player Campaign as a single player versus the AI I have had no stalls at all. None. I also play with the music and all sounds configured OFF.

I hope you can continue by unticking Army-by-Army activation.

Now to the map!? I noticed some strange things but there could be a perfectly logical explanation. See attached picture; what is the French GCHQ doing floating at trench level2 just outside Cuxhaven!!??

Also, although it has now resolved after combat or with FOW reshrouding it, there seems to be a stack of about 16 independent Russian Corps somewhere near Breslau? No doubt partly due to 'decoy units', but very strange.

If you confirm you were indeed running in Army-by-Army activation mode then I'll try that on my system and see what happens. Perhaps you'd check whether my upload stalls on your system in the same mode too.

Cheers

[twitter]

I will try on another PC, just to see if the freeze is CPU related.
What is the Antivirus installed on your PC?

I appreciate your checking into this. I fired up the game today and it worked - see post below.

[twitter]

Hello Mr Twitter

What a fascinating position your game is in! I can understand your frustration at not being able to progress any further.

I see that you were running the 4-player Grand Campaign with you acting as Germany (and incoming Allies) while the AI played your enemies plus your longtime ally, Austro-Hungary. As I've suggested earlier in this thread I believe there may be some minor issues running in this mode with the AI effectively playing 3-sides, especially in Army-by-Army activation mode. Is this what you're doing; Army-by-Army activation?

I cranked up your game and it commenced with AI paused, so I took the opportunity to look around the map, more of which anon, then set the AI free and I thought it had stalled. For about 2 minutes my mouse pointer was stuck and I could do nothing but then a reassuring 'Military AI is working' message popped up and the game continued as normal. I made no extra moves then hit the 'execute all moves' button. There was a lot going on, both with your previously plotted moves and AI moves. Lots of battles ensued and all played out normally. I had to hit 'execute' again to force the AI to move on to the next opponent, which I believe was Russia, then again for Austria, and all the resulting battles worked fine. It then went through the political phase OK, and auto-saved the turn (my default) and progressed smoothly to the next turn.

**Now, possibly importantly, all this was done with Army-by-Army activation switched OFF, and with strictly turned based ticked.**

I found this allowed me to progress my game beyond the stall (see above) but I then gave up because I'd plotted the turn so many times often with different outcomes that I'd lost the plot so to speak.

Since using this mode, and avoiding the 4-player Campaign as a single player versus the AI I have had no stalls at all. None. I also play with the music and all sounds configured OFF.

I hope you can continue by unticking Army-by-Army activation.

Now to the map!? I noticed some strange things but there could be a perfectly logical explanation. See attached picture; what is the French GCHQ doing floating at trench level2 just outside Cuxhaven!!??

Also, although it has now resolved after combat or with FOW reshrouding it, there seems to be a stack of about 16 independent Russian Corps somewhere near Breslau? No doubt partly due to 'decoy units', but very strange.

If you confirm you were indeed running in Army-by-Army activation mode then I'll try that on my system and see what happens. Perhaps you'd check whether my upload stalls on your system in the same mode too.

Cheers

Hi Chris,

Thank you and Calvinus for looking into this. I fired up the game today and the only thing I did different this time was to NOT have any of my armies try and intercept the enemy and the turn worked perfectly. I did check my options and I am not playing Army by Army activation - I have been doing this the whole time as I am not ready for Army activation. I am also playing in WEGO mode. I did notice all the movement paths as you did and maybe the AI got overwhelmed in his moves and that is why it froze. But, when I did not try to intercept any of his armies the turn worked smoothly. On a side note - one of my battles wiped out the French left flank and he surrendered right after that leaving only Russia and Britain as my two biggest enemies! I absolutely love this game and cannot thank you both for your help. There will be many more hours of me playing this game! Thank you again!!!!

[calvinus]

Hi Chris,

Thank you and Calvinus for looking into this. I fired up the game today and the only thing I did different this time was to NOT have any of my armies try and intercept the enemy and the turn worked perfectly. I did check my options and I am not playing Army by Army activation - I have been doing this the whole time as I am not ready for Army activation. I am also playing in WEGO mode. I did notice all the movement paths as you did and maybe the AI got overwhelmed in his moves and that is why it froze. But, when I did not try to intercept any of his armies the turn worked smoothly. On a side note - one of my battles wiped out the French left flank and he surrendered right after that leaving only Russia and Britain as my two biggest enemies! I absolutely love this game and cannot thank you both for your help. There will be many more hours of me playing this game! Thank you again!!!!

Good news. Indeed when I tried your save, I was never asked to confirm any interception.

[twitter]

Hello Mr Twitter



I cranked up your game and it commenced with AI paused, so I took the opportunity to look around the map, more of which anon, then set the AI free and I thought it had stalled. For about 2 minutes my mouse pointer was stuck and I could do nothing but then a reassuring 'Military AI is working' message popped up and the game continued as normal. I made no extra moves then hit the 'execute all moves' button. There was a lot going on, both with your previously plotted moves and AI moves. Lots of battles ensued and all played out normally. I had to hit 'execute' again to force the AI to move on to the next opponent, which I believe was Russia, then again for Austria, and all the resulting battles worked fine. It then went through the political phase OK, and auto-saved the turn (my default) and progressed smoothly to the next turn.



Cheers

Chris,

I was thinking about one of your thoughts this morning and it never occured to me until I put it all together - I always wondered why I plot a move and then it end turn and then come back to that same army and it has not moved but its green movement path is still on the map. I'm still learning the game, but it seems (if I read your thoughts right) that even in WEGO mode not all moves are carried out at the same time but in the order of that particular turn?