AGEOD Forums

It's weather in the southern states. IMHO this is the only unrealistic feature in AACW. I also know that Pocus and Phil have commented that this will be worked on and both admit that it will be no small undertaking. I was just hoping to get some idea on when this will be addressed be it weeks or months. Having hits due to Harsh Weather in non mountain regions of southern states in March and April is kind of a downer as is showing a snow covered south for an entire winter.
Having lived in and around the south for 58 years I would be happy to give my opinion on what weather patterns should be, especially in the deep south.
The only hits that units should take in winter should be because of men abandoning their ranks to play a round of golf on a beautiful February day. Just kidding.

It has been revised and corrected already, but not yet implemented. In a future patch for sure

Great. Can't wait.

I know it is going to be fixed, but I had to throw my 2 cents in. I think it is really funny to see snow all over the south especially in Alabama (which gets snow once every 5 years or so), but none in many of the northern states.

Will troops take hits when on the march in the hot, humid, sticky, miserable summers in the deep south????

I don't believe so, but it should. I know at 100 degrees and about 70% humidity outside, it gets pretty difficult to do anything for an extended period of time.

Jagger wrote:Will troops take hits when on the march in the hot, humid, sticky, miserable summers in the deep south????

Yah, good qeustion...

I have spent some years in the deep south. During the summer, I don't know how anybody can do anything in direct sunlight from about 11AM till around 6:30PM in the evening.

Although during the Civil War, they didn't have air conditioning, refrigerators or electricity. So maybe they were acclimated. Myself, I couldn't imagine voluntarily living in the deep south without a few serious cooling devices.

In gaming terms, I probably would reduce marching distances during the summer in the coastal states-Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, coastal areas of Texas and probably Georgia as well. Any forced march would produce extra hits.

Also weren't there quite a bit of serious and common tropical diseases in the deep south during the Civil War...malaria, yellow fever, etc. I imagine tropical diseases would sweep through and devastate troops from time to time. Myself, I have seen clouds of mosquitos carry off old men, small children and the more frail women from time to time.

Tempratures in the 1860s are below the current for today and using today's weather trends and patterns may not be totaly accurate, particularly in the spring months.

Based on temperature data that shows the delta from 2005, the 1861-66 were 1-2 degrees Farenheit cooler on average (converted from degrees C) :

____JAN_ FEB_ MAR APR MAY JUN_ JUL_ AUG SEP OCT NOV_ DEC
Avg 1.69 1.47 2.02 1.73 1.76 1.20 1.45 1.52 1.64 2.19 2.26 1.44

This would mean that winter would be longer than it is today, as the biggest delta were in OCT, NOV, MAR and APR

SOURCE:

Northern Hemisphere Monthly and Annual Temperature Anomalies (degrees C), 1856-2005
(Relative to the 1961-1990 Mean)
(April 2006)
Source: P. D. Jones D. E. Parker
T. J. Osborn Hadley Centre for ClimateK. R. Briffa Prediction and ResearchClimatic Research Unit Meteorological Office
School of Environmental Sciences Bracknell, Berkshire,
University of East Anglia United Kingdom
Norwich NR4 7TJ, United Kingdom

I don't think useing the weather patterns from today would make too much difference. I am pretty sure that Alabama of the 1860's had the same 4 seasons we do now, you know: Almost Summer, Summer, Right after Summer, and Christmas day.

It could very well make a difference as far as weather in March/April and OCtober/November. I would check historocal references as to the severity of the weather based on histroical observation before I could agree, given the recorded differences in temperature. That time of year, the difference could very well be the difference in freezing or not freezing.

As for "mild" weather in the south, I got hypothermia and frostbite in a snow storm in mid March at Ft Benning Georgia. I have seen it snow in April in Missouri. Severe weather is possible into April away from the coast and not neccessarily in the North either.

The coastal regions are less prone to the "harsh" weather. Going to school in Charleston SC, I would remeber that it would snow inland and we would get rain during the winter (It did snow 1 time in my 4 years there).

As far as bad weather goes, I would prefer snow to 32 degrees and freezing rain.sleet. It does not have to snow to be bad.

I look forward to the realistic weather. The game is great but I couldn't embark on the full campaign PBEM scenario until this is fixed.

Chris

How in heaven's name did those soldiers wear those heavy, wool, long-sleeve uniforms during the summer, through marches and battle? Good God!

Idea about hot weather penalties seems fine too me. It would slow down union player just a bit.
Just my two cents

OK, I have been searching the net to find weather info for Alabama. I have found one report from Mount Vernon, which is about 20 miles north of Mobile. The report runs from 1840-1892. There is a chart showing the full month of December from 1882. It is broken down into Max/Min temperature and precipitation. During the month the highs range from 58-81 degrees, the lows where 28-58 degrees. The precip for the month was 1.63" total, occuring on 2 seperate days. Neither of the days was snow as the temps those two days never dropped below 55 degrees.

Now I am not saying that it doesn't snow down in the south, it just does not do it every winter. The only places in AL that get snow on a regular basis are the hills in the eastern portion of the state, these hills being called the Appalachian Mountains.

I live in the northern part of the state and in the 32 years that I have been here, we have only had 3 storms that shut down anything. This year we did get some snow. If you will look at a sheet of paper, you will see how much snow we got. The snow was gone within 30 minutes of the sun coming up. By the way, a majority of the Christmas's around here are spent in my short sleeve T-shirt and shorts.

I know that all weather over the south is not just like Alabama's, but I am sure that the entire south does not get a full blanket of snow ever winter.

I agree that the weather must change and that is it overdone (Snow in Mobile in May is a bit over the top).

I do beleive that excessive rainfall can adversrely affect trafficability for a moving army (particualry for wheeled transport and artillery), and when combined with near freezing weather can be a source a serious issues for an Army in the field.

I am just cautioning against "overcorrection".

Is there a way to mod these changes?
What files control the weather?

It may be easier for us to experiment with this ourselves first, then have Ageod make the correct changes.

Vorticon wrote:How in heaven's name did those soldiers wear those heavy, wool, long-sleeve uniforms during the summer, through marches and battle? Good God!

Most nineteenth-century soldiers were smaller and skinnier than the average American today. And they were especially slim after a few months (or years!) of life in the field and on the march. They probably weren't cold in the summer, but they weren't carrying the sweat-producing layer of fat that most of us have today.

tc237 wrote:Is there a way to mod these changes?
What files control the weather?

It may be easier for us to experiment with this ourselves first, then have Ageod make the correct changes.

the new weather matrix is done, I now need some time to produce the improved code that can handle it.

Sounds good Pocus, I look forward to the changes.

Pocus wrote:I now need some time ...

Philippe, you are a marvel. I can only reiterate what so many have said before, that AGEod games would be only a shadow of themselves if not for you.

All right. Enough praise. Now, get back down in that hole and finish digging the general's latrine...

denisonh wrote:I agree that the weather must change and that is it overdone (Snow in Mobile in May is a bit over the top).

I do beleive that excessive rainfall can adversrely affect trafficability for a moving army (particualry for wheeled transport and artillery), and when combined with near freezing weather can be a source a serious issues for an Army in the field.

I am just cautioning against "overcorrection".

Well, at the moment it's June 1863 in the game I'm playing, and half of Missouri is covered in snow --- not to mention California!

I was going to say "snow in Missouri, nothing wrong with that", when I realized you said in June. Now that does seem odd to say the least;-).

el_Gato wrote:Well, at the moment it's June 1863 in the game I'm playing, and half of Missouri is covered in snow --- not to mention California!

I haven't seen any of this myself. I've seen snow in mid-March, maybe in places like Kentucky, but there's nothing abnormal about that. In Ohio this year even, we had a major snowstorm in April.

But snow in June I've never seen-- only of the illegal kind.


Alan