DarthMod Napoleon v2.4 Open Beta Update 5 (12/4/2012)***CLOSED***

[LEGIO_XXX ULPIA]

why is the feedback bad?

I`m no professional just trying to help..

you misunderstood me!

Your feedback is very constructive!
I've the same problem with BAI!

[Hawkeye74]

Oh irony how you mock me. ")

Like I was saying I`ve tested the older versions even dropping the beta files into them, all in 2.3 does have (on defence) some sense of itself cav and art have issues, and on the offensive the overlapping issue is the problem, and the loonie tunes cav charges, which are very dramatic and pleasing but strip the AI of any sort of countering.

Sorry for the misunderstanding I almost had a sulk. ')

Peace

[DARTH VADER]

Now you tell me about smoke. The beta is updated... play and witness the power of Napoleon TW Engine in its full potential!
Your feedback has helped, and also yours Hedge Knight. You should now play some more naval battles to see the difference.

[Major Hogan]

I lack the time to properly playtest these coming days, but I could not resist and played one quick game to see what you did to the mod Darth . Will drop some first thoughts and come back later...

The first thing I noticed was how the artillery smoke rised high in the sky, very straight (while there is a wind effect for the musket smoke) without really dispersing. That is not convincing to me, I'm sorry to say.

The dust colour is better now it is more brown. Good job!

Musket smoke seems less dense... have to compare that with plays with update 2.

[DARTH VADER]

Well I need more feedback to optimise. I am all ears.

[Hockeywarrior]

I'm glad the smoke is now more white, and the brownish dust looks much more realistic. It also looks like the smoke drifts upwards more now than it did before so that's good.

I'm getting a weird glitch but maybe it was just a one time thing -- it seemed that every time a musket was fired I got a lense flare effect blinking my screen constantly. Anyone else get this?

[Bendit]

v2.4_OpenBeta_Update3 feedback on the dust from infantry/cavalry movement. To me the dust colour is now much too brown. In update 2 it was much more realistic IMO. To present my case I have spent an hour putting together a collection of real dust photos 'in action'.
http://postimage.org/image/64zjsfns3/

Due to the very fine, floating nature of dust, it reflects light differently. Almost always, it appears to the eye much brighter and whiter than the local dirt/earth. As a general rule: the higher that dust floats, the finer the dust, and the more white it appears.

Other changes in Update 3 read very well. I look forward to more testing and giving of feedback. Just this one change seemed glaring to me so I thought to gather supporting evidence and give feedback early.

[Hockeywarrior]

Hmm it seems that I can't stop my game from flickering constantly during battle with this version. Every single musket flash at various distances makes the entire screen flicker which makes playing a huge pain ... no one else has this problem? Maybe I should reinstall the mod clean.

[DARTH VADER]

New update. Please share some opinions.

[Face_Face]

The smoke looks good, but it might look even better if it carried farther out from the point of origin.

[Hawkeye74]

I have had some time to play test the BAI.

On the defence, I'm not seeing any change really, if anything it`s gotten worse.

The AI cannot stand still, it`s attempts to form lines, usually at a 45 degree angle to my own, which leads to the further out units knocking into my own then mass blob melee.

Or the units overlap one another and mass melee. Usually there is one or two single units stumbling around on their own, getting into range and firing, but they are no threat and are easily picked off.

I know it's easier said than done but the AI needs to stand still, and allow me to come to it, not instantly turn into a blob and round around in a whirling circle until it blunders into my lines.

However, testing on the Peninsula campaign the AI does seem to do what it should, on occasion, but not in the main campaign; I have no idea why as I would assume that the same mechanics are in operation for both.

On the Attack, all the AI does now is mass melee into my lines, overlapping as it does without firing a shot. On several occasions, the units run up, get shot to pieces and run away, run up get shot to pieces, run away. If the units are unfortunate enough to reach my lines they don't last long and run away.

In Previous versions on defence the AI stood his ground and made me cross the area whereby he would pound the bejebuz out of me and then let loose with musket once I was in range. That`s where we need to be again.

On attack, the AI has completely lost the plot, no tactics no counter nothing, before in previous versions the attack was nails. That`s where we need to be.

In terms of the smoke, in my opinion it`s just not thick enough, I shouldn't be able to see 10' in front, it`s too transparent for my liking, but that's just my opinion. And I keep getting a glitch, just for a split second the screen goes gray, at first maybe I thought it was the system but I'm running on two different systems one with ATI and one with Nvidia, on both I`m experiencing the same thing. It only happens when I`m at ground level and am within musket smoke.

I know it`s a work in progress, and everyone seem to be focused on the aesthetics of the DMN, but it's the gameplay that makes it.

Let hope the BAI can be sorted out and have the intelligence that it was exhibiting back.

by completely removing the AI`s brain or putting it back, one way or another it will I suppose get it to stand still.

Good luck D

[ardjan96]

nice! can't wait to play!

[ardjan96]

one little question: is a 1024 mb graphics card enough to play it?

[DARTH VADER]

Hawkeye74
Can you tell me if with this update5 the BAI is better?
About the smoke, it can be made thicker, but I need more opinions about this.

[Face_Face]

With the newest beta the BAI doesn't shuffle nearly as much as it did. On defense it re-organize its line right after I hit start, but it seems to stop doing it once combat starts.

On the offensive the AI seems to want to send most of its infantry against the extreme flanks in a suicidal charge. I mean sure it works some times but its far to easy to bring my opposite flank around and surround them.

Perhaps some more middle ground so that they focus on turning my flanks whilst not charging headlong into grenadiers.

[Hockeywarrior]

Darth:

For some reason I'm still getting constant screen flickering with every musket shot. I think it's cased by an issue with the lens flare. I'll try a clean reinstall and let you know if that fixes it.

Regarding the smoke, is there anyway you could make it so that musket smoke floats upwards more than just sideways? And perhaps also make it a tad more white? Other than that, I like the effects overall.

[BrodY]

From what I've gathered so far, the new smoke FX stuns me every time I start up a battle. It creates that awesome, chaotic, feeling I have a feeling would be pretty realistic on a battlefield filled up with smoke. It really holds me on edge every time the enemy closes in for melee charges... since I can't really see what's happening under all the smoke really well done, Darth. My respects to you!

[Hockeywarrior]

Darth:

For some reason I'm still getting constant screen flickering with every musket shot. I think it's cased by an issue with the lens flare. I'll try a clean reinstall and let you know if that fixes it.

Regarding the smoke, is there anyway you could make it so that musket smoke floats upwards more than just sideways? And perhaps also make it a tad more white? Other than that, I like the effects overall.

Nope, that didn't fix it. Damn! This is almost preventing me from playing the game it's so distracting.

[Hawkeye74]

Having looked more at the smoke, it is fantastic, I think the only issue I have with it is that it doesn't stick around long enough. The cannon smoke though, is I think, just right. The way it drifts up and spread across the ground, I would as I mentioned before wish it was just a little thicker.

I'm OTF but I give some feedback as soon as I can.

[Bendit]

With regards to people's thoughts about battlefield smoke, different graphic cards render the Darth smoke very differently. I replaced one ATI card with another, using exactly the same graphic settings, and the smoke looks very different. It looks much more realistic with the newer card on the same settings. So our feedback, while important, is going to be incredibly subjective.

I like the new lite weapons trail effects Darth has introduced. Not like lasers, but sometimes one catches sight of a cannon ball flying through the air. It's a good lite effect.