Is AI even on, and other observations

[Franz Ferdinand]

I have just played 60 turns as Prussia, and France has completely trashed the Austria. Half a million Austrian causalities and 100k Russian causalities. War score is over 300, and most of Austria (almost every major city, including Wien, Buda, Pest, Prague, Venice, etc.) is occupied by France for quite some time now. French NM is 180, and Austrian is 30.

Nonetheless, France has never tried to fire Pressburg peace despite it being December 1806. I switched to France and had quite a sight. France is laying on top of 800 EP, but it did not pass a single decree or military reform (modifier, not an actual big reform). Furthermore, it is not using diplomats at all (it has 120 at the moment), and France did not annex Two Sicilies despite having that option. It seems that AI does not really do diplomacy nor is using EPs for decisions. Also, France's order of battle is a mess, and it did not promote a single general despite having 20+ generals eligible for promotion. Spain heavy immobile fortress guns are somehow in Paris, Russian and Spanish units are all over the map in neutral territory despite a plenty of opportunity for action, and combat is really weird and unrealistic (plenty of topics on this, so I will not comment further, but 80% casualties just never happens, ever).

Is AI even on? Furthermore, diplomacy is still near non-existent with weird arbitrary rules, and game crashes ever so often. It is a bit of a clusterfuck, not to mention that turn process time takes forever, way way way longer than TEAW (and I have a good i7 and a plenty of ram, so no reason for this). I am really looking forward to the next patch, hopefully this will change things for the better, but SP is not really playable at the moment, and even PBEM is limited due to lack of diplomacy options, dynamics and combat system, making it not a lot of fun. Right now I am switching back to TEAW and waiting.

I am glad that I got the game two minutes after the release because I like to support a small studio, the game looks stunning and has a ton of potential (Ageod Napoleonic game has been my dream ever since MoTE turned out the way it did), but oh boy will I be more careful next time and wait for reviews and forum comments. I know that you guys will patch it up, but we should not have to wait a few months after the game is released for it to be playable.

This is just some honest observations, so I hope that no one takes it the wrong way. Ageod has a very special place for me when it comes to games, but games should be better tested before release.

[Franz Ferdinand]

Oh, and the treaty of Pressburg for some reason just removed all my forces from Austria (I am Prussia and do not have any other alliance except for Saxony) and nullified my conquest. I presume that this cannot be WAD. Also, historically, the loses for 1805 Austria campaign were maybe 10% of what they are in the game after a year. Soldiers during this time were brave, but they were not suicidal androids. After 20-30% casualties, almost every army would retreat and call it a day.

[veji1]

I have just played 60 turns as Prussia, and France has completely trashed the Austria. Half a million Austrian causalities and 100k Russian causalities. War score is over 300, and most of Austria (almost every major city, including Wien, Buda, Pest, Prague, Venice, etc.) is occupied by France for quite some time now. French NM is 180, and Austrian is 30.

Nonetheless, France has never tried to fire Pressburg peace despite it being December 1806. I switched to France and had quite a sight. France is laying on top of 800 EP, but it did not pass a single decree or military reform (modifier, not an actual big reform). Furthermore, it is not using diplomats at all (it has 120 at the moment), and France did not annex Two Sicilies despite having that option. It seems that AI does not really do diplomacy nor is using EPs for decisions. Also, France's order of battle is a mess, and it did not promote a single general despite having 20+ generals eligible for promotion. Spain heavy immobile fortress guns are somehow in Paris, Russian and Spanish units are all over the map in neutral territory despite a plenty of opportunity for action, and combat is really weird and unrealistic (plenty of topics on this, so I will not comment further, but 80% casualties just never happens, ever).

Is AI even on? Furthermore, diplomacy is still near non-existent with weird arbitrary rules, and game crashes ever so often. It is a bit of a clusterfuck, not to mention that turn process time takes forever, way way way longer than TEAW (and I have a good i7 and a plenty of ram, so no reason for this). I am really looking forward to the next patch, hopefully this will change things for the better, but SP is not really playable at the moment, and even PBEM is limited due to lack of diplomacy options, dynamics and combat system, making it not a lot of fun. Right now I am switching back to TEAW and waiting.

I am glad that I got the game two minutes after the release because I like to support a small studio, the game looks stunning and has a ton of potential (Ageod Napoleonic game has been my dream ever since MoTE turned out the way it did), but oh boy will I be more careful next time and wait for reviews and forum comments. I know that you guys will patch it up, but we should not have to wait a few months after the game is released for it to be playable.

This is just some honest observations, so I hope that no one takes it the wrong way. Ageod has a very special place for me when it comes to games, but games should be better tested before release.

There are several issues in your post that some of us have already raised :
- The EP spending AI sometimes seems to just go idle.
- Force structure is a mess, armies tend to disperse, with a particular passion for lonely leaders, arty and cav travelling nonsensically.
- There should be a correction in the algorythm so that forces stay in their national territory except when attacking an ennemy : Spaniards camping in France or Russians all over Europe makes no sense.
- The diplomatic engine is way too complicated for the AI to be able to use it honestly, it should be simplified.

[veji1]

Oh, and the treaty of Pressburg for some reason just removed all my forces from Austria (I am Prussia and do not have any other alliance except for Saxony) and nullified my conquest. I presume that this cannot be WAD. Also, historically, the loses for 1805 Austria campaign were maybe 10% of what they are in the game after a year. Soldiers during this time were brave, but they were not suicidal androids. After 20-30% casualties, almost every army would retreat and call it a day.

Although I agree with your general sentiment, don't forget that losses here are not only casualties but prisonners and "dispersed", ie deserters/stragglers who join back your conscript pool.

[Pocus]

Point 2 and 3 are being addressed, at least partially, in the next round of public beta patch. I'll forward your remark on #1. For #4, the AI can be active diplomatically, but her tempo is slower than one of a human player. The solution to script more peaces and diplomatic moves is not good, see how Pressburg is already difficult to cope with.

[veji1]

Point 2 and 3 are being addressed, at least partially, in the next round of public beta patch. I'll forward your remark on #1. For #4, the AI can be active diplomatically, but her tempo is slower than one of a human player. The solution to script more peaces and diplomatic moves is not good, see how Pressburg is already difficult to cope with.

It's true, ideally a better working diplomatic engine should help dispense with "scripted peace" events.