The Civil War - Priviews and infos.....(Last updated 28/01/2011)

[Crawdad21B2O]

The ironclads were Hinkel's April fools joke. The original idea was to add a video of a upcoming Nathan Bedford Forrest unit into the game, which would just be a lone cavalryman with a of hitpoints, ridiculous stats, and the ability to fire cannister shot out of his pistol. Hinkel decided it probably wouldn't work and the video "preview" would take way too much time, especially for an april fools joke.

Speaking of canister, and this is directed to Hussertl: Would it be possible to enable all techs researched for the usa/csa, except for emancipation of course?
It's annoying to have to research shrapnel and percussive shot as the union, and it's worse to have to research plug bayonets in what should be the year 1860 as the confederacy. Not quite gamebreaking, but still...

I do like how you fixed the issue with spain, and that you left the unit stats, accuracy, and ranges alone, because I feel like that over at the battle mod, they've nerfed the arty. Campaign battles should be as bloody as possible, in my opinion.

The skins for some of the european factions look a little "special", but it's fun to see 18th century Italian grenadiers in slouch hats.

Speaking of the euro factions, the AI generals don't seem to understand the capabilities of 19th century arty. They tend to hover too near their attacking troops, i'm guessing to inspire them. All too often for them, they end up eating a big grapeshot sandwich just as their infantry get into rifle and canister range. The advance falters, and the AI usually decides this is a good time to dress their lines. The by-now withering fire knocks them down to about 50% casualties, at which point they waver and then melee' bug the out. By the time their bayonet charge reaches our line, my first rank has reloaded and proceeds to shoot the advancing enemy in the face at 2 meters. It's just pure carnage, and I love it.

In this mod, artillery truly is "King of Battle", so far as fighting the euro factions goes. Please don't nerf the arty, and keep the unit stats where they are.

Again, thanks for all your hard work

[Illuminatus Primus]

oh, i forgot to tell ya, that the savegames did not work or i had ctd while loading.
do you think this will be fixed in the next version?

[Illuminatus Primus]

hello?

[GeneralNexus]

Can you somehow change the names of the states?

[husserlTW]

This can be done. Can you make a list with the right names?

[Jlmrtl8302]

Game freezes up and crashes. Think this could be a FPS issue or has this happened with other players of the mod and might be a bug?

[husserlTW]

Game freezes up and crashes. Think this could be a FPS issue or has this happened with other players of the mod and might be a bug?

No, the only series problem with this mod is that you cannot save after 7th turn.

[Jlmrtl8302]

No, the only series problem with this mod is that you cannot save after 7th turn.

ahh must be the FPS for me then. I'll try lowering some Graphics, though I figures my dual GTS 250 VCard(512Ram) would handle that kind of work load.

[Whippy]

Thank you all for this mod. I played around with it last night and it is realy great...VERY much appreciated!!!

What can I do to help improve future versions? (if there are future versions)

I would enjoy adding specific names and details to state units. Let me see if I can explain myself clearly...it may be easier to do by example.

Let's say I am playing as the Confederates and I want to recruit regular infantry in Savannah. Normally these would be added as 1st Regiment, 2nd Regiment, etc. Is it possible for me to change the game to have these units (regular units, not elite units) added with custom names such as "Powder Springs Guards" or "Silver Greys" or what have you? Can these be set independently by recruitment location?

Can I change the names of the states to be more accurate? This will not be TOTALLY possible because of the pre-made borders in TW, I know, but if I could get things closer, I would be happier and I imagine others would be as well

I am not suggesting anyone do this work for me, I am asking you experts if this is at all possible before I go wasting a bunch of time trying stuff that cannot be done. LOL If I am able to do this I would, of course, share freely if anyone was interested.

I SOOooo look forward to starting my campaign!!

[husserlTW]

What can I do to help improve future versions? (if there are future versions)

Every help is welcome. Now I am making the mod again from scratch trying to eliminate the last bugs nad update with the latest version of CA. It is gonna take some time (especially now with Napoleon) so there is plenty of time for more improvements.

Let's say I am playing as the Confederates and I want to recruit regular infantry in Savannah. Normally these would be added as 1st Regiment, 2nd Regiment, etc. Is it possible for me to change the game to have these units (regular units, not elite units) added with custom names such as "Powder Springs Guards" or "Silver Greys" or what have you? Can these be set independently by recruitment location?

Read this tutorial and give it a try. Messing with startpos is a tricky thing but after some tries and CTD's you can make it. Ask Vicar if you have questions, he is a good modder. Yoou can also use my name we know each other.

Can I change the names of the states to be more accurate? This will not be TOTALLY possible because of the pre-made borders in TW, I know, but if I could get things closer, I would be happier and I imagine others would be as well

That's an easier task and you should try this first. Make a list preferably in a spread sheet and enter in one column the present names of regions and if you like cities and towns. In the second column add the right names. When you are ready open ACW_Localization_30.pack with this version of PFM. Go in text\localisation.loc and in right window click tag block over first entry of first column to short it alphabetically. Then search and make the changes.

The entries you are looking for are like these:

1. Cities (region capitols): start_pos_settlements_onscreen_name_settlement:new_england:boston174

2. Regions: regions_onscreen_new_england

4. Towns and port: scampaign_map_towns_and_ports_onscreen_name_town:new_england:new_haven

You'll make the changes only in second column. Do not change the entries in first column like the words in red letters above. When you finish, save the file and try to see your effort on screen!!!

If you are not frightened yet, welcome to ETW modding community!

[Whippy]

Excellent, EXCELLENT, husser. Thanks a ton! I will be ready to delve in in a week or so (I am moving into a new house tomorrow and will need to settle in)

I think I will mess around with ETW a bit in order to get my feet wet and then see about getting ahold of NTW to translate what I learn over there. I think that the most time consuming part, after learning the process, will just be the data entry part and a bit of research...but that is also the FUN part! Lucily I am a quick learner so do not forsee many problems getting to understand how the "guts" work, but we'll see. I will update as I progress. Thank you again for heading me down the right path, very much appreciated. (thanks especially for the red warnings! HAHA)

[omarro]

No, the only series problem with this mod is that you cannot save after 7th turn.

any news about the crash of savegames?

[WAR monger]

This mod is great but, there are somethings that I think should be added or changed in the later versions. You guys are are really making good progress on models and gameplay and I hope to see new ships is soon, but I think the mod would be alot better if its purposes were more well rounded than just for multi player use and it could be perfected so that it pleases most people in terms of singleplayer.

So for one, I would like to start on the gameplay, because in which case was mentioned before is that the AI, has no idea how to handle the kind of weapons used in the game, so if it be possible, I would like to propose an AI mod, in fact I strongly recommend one, which actually helps the AI make better decisions on the battlefield when using the kind of new weapons in the game, for example, mabye flanking and skirmish behavior and probably new infrantry formations that have the units spread farther apart, having the AI use that formation more frequently under heavy fire. If an AI mod could be made then it would lend a better single player experience.

The next thing is a better singleplayer campaign. I'm sure that the team is most likely already working on it, but maybe a few suggestions. If you trying to make a new campaign map, then I would like to suggest that the map only consist of probably from the Colorado territory to the Atlantic, with Canada way up north and Mexico way down South. The factions that I think should present, are Britain (in Canada) and Spain/Mexico (however you want to handle it) stationed in Mexico. I also feel that a Native American faction could be of use in the Western territorials, every other faction in the game can be removed (if its possible to do so). I think there should be some scripts in place that make it damn near impossible for the US to form an alliance with the Rebels, the surrounding nations trusts are up for grabs. I also feel that more regions should be added if possible with key locations and all like Fredericksburg, or Vicksburg and Gettysburg.

And since the Civil War featured a sudden advance in tech (and your gameplay clearly shows it already), you could include the Civil War equivalents of those destructive ETW weapons:
1. Fougasse - demolintion charges, mines
2. Percussive shots (24 Iber Howitzer) - 13 inch mortars
3. Percussive Shells (mortar) - Cohorn mortars
4. Puckle gun - Gatling gun (units come in small #s, 1 or 2 guns in a unit)
It could also be a possibility that maybe huge siege like guns could be included. I guess this would require new modelling, but that's not up my alley.... Although, if my ideas are considered I wouldn't mind helping out in the effort.

Those are my comments, I just feel the game could be much better all around. Damn good work though, and I'm enjoying the mod none the less.

[alton987]

any news about the crash of savegames?

This Mod is awesome and I flipped out when I found it but, you need to update the 1st page with this bug. Whats the point of a campaign mod if it doesn't work after 7th turn?

[husserlTW]

This mod is great but, there are somethings that I think should be added or changed in the later versions.

Thanks!

This Mod is awesome and I flipped out when I found it but, you need to update the 1st page with this bug. Whats the point of a campaign mod if it doesn't work after 7th turn?

You are right.

[husserlTW]

UPDATE: ACW has been updated in version 3.1.

[alton987]

Awesome, your my hero and will some be hated by my wife!

Question if I have 3.0 installed do i need to delete it or just unpack the news files?

[husserlTW]

Delete them first since now 3.1 packs are deferent type. Do not forget to activate them! And... my apologies to your wife, tell her sorry, I can't help it!

[Hazbones]

Since we cannot mod the map to correct the region borders, would it be possible to change the region names to Department Names instead? If you don't know what I am talking about please check google or wikipedia "Military Departments of the Civil War".

Not many people know about the departments and so you can mask the fact that the region borders are jacked up. The borders are still not right for the Military Depts either but again, what people don't know can actually work to your advantage!

For instance, the Department of Tennessee you can use for any of the regions in that area, Dept of the James, Dept of Richmond, Dept of Trans Mississippi, Dept of ... etc.

I would even go a step farther and create new factions based upon each of those Military Departments. That way you can give each Dept state units encompassed by that region. Each Dept would of course now have its own perks and weaknesses based upon the units and economies can function independently. With Texas units (well known shock troops) coming out of the Trans Miss Dept that would make any player want to control that Dept much more than with one single faction with a core group of units recruitable anywhere.

Heck, I might try making a sub-mod myself being a Texan myself...

[husserlTW]

Somebody said that he will change the names. Anyway this must be done by somebody that knows the geography bad the history of those territories. If i have the list I can add it in game.